Little Fires Everywhere (2020)

This miniseries adaptation of Celeste Ng's New York Times bestseller is good, not great, but certainly interesting in its deviations from the source material. First is the casting of Kerry Washington. In the novel, Mia is not racially ambiguous but by casting an African American actress, it reified layers of racial subtext. The racial undertones are extremely uncomfortable, intentionally so. Reese Witherspoon as the "well-meaning", oblivious white lady is very unlikable, kind of curious that she would cast herself in what is surely the villain role. For the first several episodes, Washington isn't very likable either. The way she plays Mia is very off-putting. If she was just a little more sociable, she would be more sympathetic. The actress that plays young Washington nails her mannerisms precisely. But the young Elena and Bill look nothing like Witherspoon and Joshua Jackson--he actually looks older than Jackson. The second half of the series is better than the first, in my opinion, after all the secrets have been revealed to us. I think that's because I didn't care much for the secrets.