Little Fires Everywhere virtual watch party SPOILERS

[Anonymous]

I liked the series and ending, despite Kerry’s crap acting.

I will have to reread the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like most of the show, the ending made no sense.

A group of siblings are "inspired" by their whiny sister to burn down their house? Just like that? Teenagers love their stuff. There's just no way. WTF.

And Izzy just...leaves? With no money, no clothes, and no friends? How did she buy a bus ticket? She must be totally mental if her dream is that Mia will pick her up and become her mom. Mia is an even bigger loon than Elena.

And LOL to the adoptive parents who--what?--left a window wide open for Bebe to crawl into? Did they also prop up a ladder on the side of the house to make it easier for her? Or maybe they just left the doors unlocked and cookies on the kitchen counter in case she wanted a snack? SO STUPID and unbelievable--literally, I don't believe it. And Bebe was in Niagara Falls--is she escaping to Canada? (Also, the wife there is NEVER going to forgive her husband for discouraging her to check on the baby. That's a divorce.)

And Elena just...remembers a bird feather from 7 years ago?

And Mia...good grief. You'd think she's all cried out, but...nope! Still a deep reserve of self-pity and lip-quivering. And she told Parl her parents disowned her. Another lie. They told her not to come to the funeral. That's not disowning. Mia was judgmental as hell then, and she still is. Of all the characters on this show, she is the one I have the least sympathy for.

You voiced all my irritation and then some. The lawyer husband would NEVER have let Elena confess. Oh well. At least I was a little surprised at the ending, and who set the fires.

Once again the book gave a lot more info.
Bebe and Mayling go to China. Linda and mark hire an investigator, but he says it’s useless. They pursue another adoption.
It’s a GREAT audiobook and ending.

[Anonymous]

I thought the show was really engaging and well done, and I liked all the actors surprisingly. The 90s references were fun nostalgia for me.

A few things I did not really believe - maybe the book explained better..
Mia ran away from her safe haven with Pauline just as she was about to give birth? Don't believe it.
And voluntarily impoverished her daughter, risked their lives living out of a car, when all she ever needed to do was sell a painting? I'm sorry but that is batshit crazy. No sane person would ever make that choice for their child. Pearl was extremely in the right to want to throttle Mia and never speak to her again when she found out.
Mia told the Ryans she had a miscarriage and then she disappeared forever? Yeah I think they would have suspected she kept the baby and hired a PI to find her. They were that desperate and clearly had the means.
I LOLed at how quietly and easily Bebe got into the McCullough's house at the end. You would have a state of the art security system installed to keep that crazy bitch out. No, you would move across the country.
Speaking of Bebe. Sorry but the fire station is not foster care. You don't get the kid back. Especially not after leaving it to get frostbite (kid is lucky she didn't lose her hand). If Bebe were a good mother would have wanted to place her child with loving parents who could give her a nice life. I sympathized with the situation she was in with the newborn but not her dogged pursuit of getting the baby back at all costs.
I liked the kids setting the fire to get through to Elena. Although she didn't seem all that upset about Izzy running away at the end. That should have been more emotional for her and I barely remembered the red feather so I don't think she would have.
What's with the lack of birth control?? I didn't buy that such a smart girl as Lexie would have been that irresponsible having unprotected sex, but I'm biased I guess since I was her age in 1997 and I got myself on the pill without my parents' knowledge. Elena should have known better too before Izzy. The pill was around then and she clearly got pregnant very easily (and clearly could have put her husband off of sex very easily).

Overall I did enjoy the show but it could have been phenomenal if they had shored up some of the far-fetched stuff and given better reasons for some of the stuff that happened.

[Anonymous]

PP you should read / listen to the book. It’s very good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the show was really engaging and well done, and I liked all the actors surprisingly. The 90s references were fun nostalgia for me.

A few things I did not really believe - maybe the book explained better..
Mia ran away from her safe haven with Pauline just as she was about to give birth? Don't believe it.
And voluntarily impoverished her daughter, risked their lives living out of a car, when all she ever needed to do was sell a painting? I'm sorry but that is batshit crazy. No sane person would ever make that choice for their child. Pearl was extremely in the right to want to throttle Mia and never speak to her again when she found out.
Mia told the Ryans she had a miscarriage and then she disappeared forever? Yeah I think they would have suspected she kept the baby and hired a PI to find her. They were that desperate and clearly had the means.
I LOLed at how quietly and easily Bebe got into the McCullough's house at the end. You would have a state of the art security system installed to keep that crazy bitch out. No, you would move across the country.
Speaking of Bebe. Sorry but the fire station is not foster care. You don't get the kid back. Especially not after leaving it to get frostbite (kid is lucky she didn't lose her hand). If Bebe were a good mother would have wanted to place her child with loving parents who could give her a nice life. I sympathized with the situation she was in with the newborn but not her dogged pursuit of getting the baby back at all costs.
I liked the kids setting the fire to get through to Elena. Although she didn't seem all that upset about Izzy running away at the end. That should have been more emotional for her and I barely remembered the red feather so I don't think she would have.
What's with the lack of birth control?? I didn't buy that such a smart girl as Lexie would have been that irresponsible having unprotected sex, but I'm biased I guess since I was her age in 1997 and I got myself on the pill without my parents' knowledge. Elena should have known better too before Izzy. The pill was around then and she clearly got pregnant very easily (and clearly could have put her husband off of sex very easily).

Overall I did enjoy the show but it could have been phenomenal if they had shored up some of the far-fetched stuff and given better reasons for some of the stuff that happened.

That’s why she started the schedule. It was to ensure there were no more oopsies. Did you miss the part when Elena was handing the baby to the babysitter and the husband whispers to her - that was fun last night? And she was at the GYN discussing BC when she found out she was pregnant. I don’t think she was dilly dallying around after the last birth. That was likely her follow up GYN appt post-birth. Remember she went back to work after each kid after each “6-week vacation”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought the show was really engaging and well done, and I liked all the actors surprisingly. The 90s references were fun nostalgia for me.

A few things I did not really believe - maybe the book explained better..
Mia ran away from her safe haven with Pauline just as she was about to give birth? Don't believe it.
And voluntarily impoverished her daughter, risked their lives living out of a car, when all she ever needed to do was sell a painting? I'm sorry but that is batshit crazy. No sane person would ever make that choice for their child. Pearl was extremely in the right to want to throttle Mia and never speak to her again when she found out.
Mia told the Ryans she had a miscarriage and then she disappeared forever? Yeah I think they would have suspected she kept the baby and hired a PI to find her. They were that desperate and clearly had the means.
I LOLed at how quietly and easily Bebe got into the McCullough's house at the end. You would have a state of the art security system installed to keep that crazy bitch out. No, you would move across the country.
Speaking of Bebe. Sorry but the fire station is not foster care. You don't get the kid back. Especially not after leaving it to get frostbite (kid is lucky she didn't lose her hand). If Bebe were a good mother would have wanted to place her child with loving parents who could give her a nice life. I sympathized with the situation she was in with the newborn but not her dogged pursuit of getting the baby back at all costs.
I liked the kids setting the fire to get through to Elena. Although she didn't seem all that upset about Izzy running away at the end. That should have been more emotional for her and I barely remembered the red feather so I don't think she would have.
What's with the lack of birth control?? I didn't buy that such a smart girl as Lexie would have been that irresponsible having unprotected sex, but I'm biased I guess since I was her age in 1997 and I got myself on the pill without my parents' knowledge. Elena should have known better too before Izzy. The pill was around then and she clearly got pregnant very easily (and clearly could have put her husband off of sex very easily).

Overall I did enjoy the show but it could have been phenomenal if they had shored up some of the far-fetched stuff and given better reasons for some of the stuff that happened.

That’s why she started the schedule. It was to ensure there were no more oopsies. Did you miss the part when Elena was handing the baby to the babysitter and the husband whispers to her - that was fun last night? And she was at the GYN discussing BC when she found out she was pregnant. I don’t think she was dilly dallying around after the last birth. That was likely her follow up GYN appt post-birth. Remember she went back to work after each kid after each “6-week vacation”.

Yes the book went into more detail on this, they were using condoms, but then got careless about it.

In fact most of these points are laid out better in the book.

[Anonymous]

Surprised no one has brought up the biggest missing piece of the book:

Elena was a lot more sympathetic in the book because her relationship with Izzy was frayed NOT because Izzy was a difficult baby and she was ready to rush back to work, but because Izzy was born pretty severely premature and Elena was TERRIFIED of losing her for the first several months of her life, and therefore held her at bay and had trouble bonding with her. In the book she says she never got over the fact that she might lose her, and the fear of that engulfed her and ruled their relationship.

That is so much more relateable and gives you so much more compassion for Elena.

In the show, she does have that great speech in one of the early episodes with Mia that touches on the fact that she loves Izzy so much that it consumes her, but I don't know why they changed this plotline. I guess to make it easier for her to slip off and have the almost affair with Jamie? Or to make Elena more unsympathetic. I thought it was a big flaw. But otherwise enjoyed the book.

Agree that they would have secured an alarm as soon as they knew Bebe was trying to get the baby. And agree that the couple would have hired a PI to find Mia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surprised no one has brought up the biggest missing piece of the book:

Elena was a lot more sympathetic in the book because her relationship with Izzy was frayed NOT because Izzy was a difficult baby and she was ready to rush back to work, but because Izzy was born pretty severely premature and Elena was TERRIFIED of losing her for the first several months of her life, and therefore held her at bay and had trouble bonding with her. In the book she says she never got over the fact that she might lose her, and the fear of that engulfed her and ruled their relationship.

That is so much more relateable and gives you so much more compassion for Elena.

In the show, she does have that great speech in one of the early episodes with Mia that touches on the fact that she loves Izzy so much that it consumes her, but I don't know why they changed this plotline. I guess to make it easier for her to slip off and have the almost affair with Jamie? Or to make Elena more unsympathetic. I thought it was a big flaw. But otherwise enjoyed the book.

Agree that they would have secured an alarm as soon as they knew Bebe was trying to get the baby. And agree that the couple would have hired a PI to find Mia.

oh my gosh that's right i completely forgot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought the show was really engaging and well done, and I liked all the actors surprisingly. The 90s references were fun nostalgia for me.

A few things I did not really believe - maybe the book explained better..
Mia ran away from her safe haven with Pauline just as she was about to give birth? Don't believe it.
And voluntarily impoverished her daughter, risked their lives living out of a car, when all she ever needed to do was sell a painting? I'm sorry but that is batshit crazy. No sane person would ever make that choice for their child. Pearl was extremely in the right to want to throttle Mia and never speak to her again when she found out.
Mia told the Ryans she had a miscarriage and then she disappeared forever? Yeah I think they would have suspected she kept the baby and hired a PI to find her. They were that desperate and clearly had the means.
I LOLed at how quietly and easily Bebe got into the McCullough's house at the end. You would have a state of the art security system installed to keep that crazy bitch out. No, you would move across the country.
Speaking of Bebe. Sorry but the fire station is not foster care. You don't get the kid back. Especially not after leaving it to get frostbite (kid is lucky she didn't lose her hand). If Bebe were a good mother would have wanted to place her child with loving parents who could give her a nice life. I sympathized with the situation she was in with the newborn but not her dogged pursuit of getting the baby back at all costs.
I liked the kids setting the fire to get through to Elena. Although she didn't seem all that upset about Izzy running away at the end. That should have been more emotional for her and I barely remembered the red feather so I don't think she would have.
What's with the lack of birth control?? I didn't buy that such a smart girl as Lexie would have been that irresponsible having unprotected sex, but I'm biased I guess since I was her age in 1997 and I got myself on the pill without my parents' knowledge. Elena should have known better too before Izzy. The pill was around then and she clearly got pregnant very easily (and clearly could have put her husband off of sex very easily).

Overall I did enjoy the show but it could have been phenomenal if they had shored up some of the far-fetched stuff and given better reasons for some of the stuff that happened.

I wish they didn't cut that out. The BEST part of the book is the end, when Elena spends her life looking and wondering about Izzy.

[Anonymous]

Kerry Washington and Lexi Underwood barely mustered a single tear in their last scenes. The tearless crying really bothered me. Mia kept wiping her eyes, and I was silently screaming, "There's NOTHING there to wipe!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I wish they didn't cut that out. The BEST part of the book is the end, when Elena spends her life looking and wondering about Izzy.

So, in the end, her fear of losing Izzy came true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I wish they didn't cut that out. The BEST part of the book is the end, when Elena spends her life looking and wondering about Izzy.

So, in the end, her fear of losing Izzy came true.

Yup and it’s an AWESOME bombshell. I was listening to it on the elliptical at the gym and ugly crying.

[Anonymous]

So for those that read the book, can you clarify a few points.

- Does Izzy ever catch up with Mia?
- Do Mia and Pearl live happily every after?
- Does Pearl connect with her father?
- Does Elena stay married?
- Do the rest of Elena’s kids ever find Izzy? Do they remain close?
- What happens to the adoptive parents?

Watching the situation with Bebe unfold reminded me of when I was in HS (in the 90s). Family friends adopted a baby from two college students. I believe they had to wait a year for the adoption to be final. Right before the year was up the birth mother came back and asked for her baby back. It was awful but the adoptive parents have her back. That lasted all of three days and the baby was returned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So for those that read the book, can you clarify a few points.

- Does Izzy ever catch up with Mia? No
- Do Mia and Pearl live happily every after? Unknown
- Does Pearl connect with her father? Unknown
- Does Elena stay married? Unknown, but I assumed yes
- Do the rest of Elena’s kids ever find Izzy? Do they remain close? Unknown
- What happens to the adoptive parents? Can’t remember if this is addressed

Watching the situation with Bebe unfold reminded me of when I was in HS (in the 90s). Family friends adopted a baby from two college students. I believe they had to wait a year for the adoption to be final. Right before the year was up the birth mother came back and asked for her baby back. It was awful but the adoptive parents have her back. That lasted all of three days and the baby was returned.

[Anonymous]

The book ends somewhat abruptly. I can’t remember if it’s an epilogue or what. The trial ends, and then there is an entire chapter or very very long segment about Linda getting Mirabel ready for bed. The way that it is written you just know that something is coming.

Then Mark and Linda hire a detective Who says that it is pointless to try to hunt for them in China.

Izzy disappears. Elena spends her life looking at faces in crowds for her.