Hulu's newest drama, Little Fires Everywhere, features some juicy suburban housewife meltdowns with a healthy side of queer teen drama.
Reese Witherspoon plays Elena Richardson, an uptight housewife who believes that following the rules to a tee is the way to get ahead in 1997 suburbia. Mia Warren (Kerry Washington) is a down-on-her-luck mother of one who is clearly running away from something and just moved into town. Mia and her daughter Pearl decide to rent one of Elena's properties and as Mia becomes Elena's "house manager" and Pearl develops feelings for one of the Richardson sons, the two families quickly become deeply intertwined in one another. "The story explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood—and the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster," reads the show's description.
Elena's youngest daughter, Izzy, rebels against her mother's traditions. She hates the rules set before her and is constantly fighting back against who the world wants her to be something she's not, rejecting her mother's insistence for her to wear her hair a certain way, dress girlier, and even the name Elena wants her to use (Isabelle).
She's certainly an outcast at her high school. Kids constantly bully her and at one point, Izzy opens her locker and finds a copy of Ellen DeGeneres' "Yep, I'm Gay," coming-out TIME Magazine cover.
In episode 3, it seems for a second like she's turned over a new leaf. Izzy gets all dolled up for the school's homecoming dance, wears a dress and her mother's lipstick, and dances with a boy. But with a few furtive glances, we realize that she's doing all this do get the attention of another girl, one that's been bullying her all along.
Meanwhile, Elena and her husband Bill are attending a birthday party that's disastrous for a wildly different reason. Without revealing too much, we find out that there's a history between the Izzy and the other girl that Bill knows but never told his wife about.
Little Fires Everywhere is a delicious slow burn of a series that waits patiently to reveal its twists when they're the most volatile. We're only three episodes in but we're absolutely hooked and can't wait to see what happens next.
The first three episodes of Little Fires Everywhere are streaming on Hulu now, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday. Watch the trailer below!
