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Did Mary Louise Kill Perry's Brother on Big Little Lies?

Big Little Lies: This Theory About Perry's Brother's Death Is DARK, but Really Makes Sense

After weeks of trying to uncover how her son Perry died, Mary Louise Wright is being put in the hot seat. The second season of Big Little Lies brings Meryl Streep's character to Monterey, where she's on a mission to get to the bottom of her son's death. But in the series finale, some truths about her past will be exposed. The IMDb description for the final episode of the season reads, "Celeste questions Mary Louise about a tragic event from Perry's childhood; Madeline worries their lie is tearing the Monterey Five apart." The tragedy referenced is the death of Perry's twin brother, Raymond, who we know died when he was 5 years old.

Mary Louise and Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman) are in court battling for custody of Celeste's sons Josh and Max, and while Mary Louise is trying to prove that her daughter-in-law is unfit to parent, we'll see Celeste try to prove the same about Mary Louise. During episode two of this season, Mary Louise describes her son Raymond's death as an accident.

"Right after the accident, right after we lost Raymond, I was sure I would not be able to go on," she says. "I was never sure about anything in my whole life, that I wouldn't go on, but I did. Because of Perry."

It's unknown how exactly Raymond died or what the "accident" entailed, but we can't help but wonder: did Mary Louise kill her son Raymond and try to make it look like an accident? We previously suspected that Perry killed his twin brother based on his uncontrollable temper, but what if his anger toward women stemmed from watching his twin brother die at his mother's hands? Because as violent as Perry was to Celeste, he never raised a hand to his sons.

"Perry's violence towards women was overdue violence towards his mother."

Following the penultimate episode of the series, one Reddit user also speculated about the source of Perry's anger. "Especially now knowing that Mary Louise will have to answer to what kind of mother she was, I felt like that was a pretty solid indication that we'll find out that, in a way, Perry's violence towards women was overdue violence towards his mother," user thebenswain wrote. "I think it sets up perfectly for Mary Louise to actually get her wish, which isn't AT ALL to have custody of the kids, but to paint her son as a sympathetic figure who was more of a victim than an aggressor."

After Mary Louise's lawyer embarrasses Celeste on the stand about her sexual encounters and reckless behaviour, Celeste — a lawyer herself — is ready to do the questioning. If she's trying to prove that Mary Louise does not deserve custody of her twins, she will have to dig deep to expose her mother-in-law for who she really is: a woman harboring her own dark secret. In the preview for the finale, we see Celeste holding her iPad looking seriously shocked. Whatever she discovers could be the key to winning the custody battle, and we are ready!

The series finale of Big Little Lies will hopefully reveal the truth about Raymond's death, lead to a confession about Perry's death, and tie up all the other big lies the women of Monterey have been keeping.

Image Source: HBO
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