‘Big Little Lies’ Goes Out Large With Season 2 Finale Viewership
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It was pure courtroom drama and David E. Kelley playing to his strengths for the Season 2 finale of Big Little Lies on Sunday – and viewers flocked to it in record numbers.
The “I Want to Know” climax of the custody battle that has fueled most of the Emmy-winning HBO series’ latest cycle saw Nicole Kidman finally face off against her Meryl Streep mother-in-law literally and figuratively. The Andrea Arnold-helmed finale also saw the so-called Monterey Five make a cop shop decision that could be the launch off point for a possible Season 3.
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If it happens, a third season that would have a high bar to beat the record-setting Season 2 that has just ended.
With a BTS controversy over final cuts and aesthetic decree, the seventh and final episode of BLL’s second season snared a total of 3.1 million viewers. Over linear airings, as well as HBO Go and HBO Now, that’s the best the SoCal-set series has ever done. The July 21 episode tops the previous all-time high of July 7’s “Kill Me” episode and its audience of 2.8 million over multiple platforms.
In addition, and on all those platforms, the Season 2 finale is up 19% over the Season 1 BLL ender on April 2, 2017.
Looking just at linear viewers, the Season 2 finale drew 1.98 million sets of eyeballs, also a series high. That’s a 6.4% bounce over the “You Get What You Need” Season 1 finale, which was the previous linear best for Big Little Lies.
Overall, the second season of Big Little Lies has averaged 10 million viewers per episode in gross audience. That’s an 18% uptick from the average for Season 1– and that’s real drama.
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