MARY LOUISE (aka: MERYL STREEP) knows no BOUNDAIRES
Great article about the Mary Louise character:
https://www.elitedaily.com/p/who-is-mary-louise-wright-on-big-little-lies-meryl-streeps-character-is-terrifying-17981474
QUOTE:
Mary Louise's arrival suggests Perry is merely a reflection of his upbringing. Mary Louise is introduced the first time viewers see her walking into Celeste's bedroom and waking her up. On the face of it, it's a favor. Celeste has overslept. But it also says this is a woman who has no problem walking into her daughter-in-law's room when she's asleep.
These hints at Mary Louise's lack of boundaries continue through the first episode. Thought the scenes where Mary Louise curb stomps Madeline are hilarious, they're also red flags. The reason that Maddie is a monster to those around her is her willingness to break these boundaries. She's just met someone who doesn't believe they existed in the first place.
Mary Louise doesn't show her true colors until the dinner scene when she begins a campaign of brainwashing her grandsons into focusing on their anger over their father's death. Every child who loses a parent that young is bound to have a lot of feelings about it, but working through them with a therapist is the solution. Mary Louise wants them to dwell on it, nurse it, and eventually release it on their peers.
But it's her primal scream over Perry's death that should be the final straw for Celeste. The boys are terrified of it, it's inappropriate in the extreme. Her willingness to impel everyone around her to accommodate her pain and rage as the predominant emotional force in the house is downright petrifying.
But like with Perry, Celeste's instinct is to bow to it, not to push back. Her silence indicates acceptance to the boys. Perry's work turning his sons into potential abusers now continues through his mother.