Meryl Streep's Big Little Lies One-Liners Are TV Gold

From Oprah Magazine

• In the Season 2 premiere of Big Little Lies, we finally got to meet Meryl Streep as Celeste Wright's mother-in-law, Mary Louise Wright.

• By far the best part of the show was watching all of Mary Louise's quick-witted comebacks and one-liners. Read on to catch them all.

There is no denying that the highlight of season 2 of Big Little Lies was the divine Meryl Streep.

The 70-year-old Oscar-award winning actress returned to the small screen playing Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Perry Wright (Alexander Skarsgård), who was killed after an altercation with his wife, Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman). It was her friend Bonnie Carlson (Zoë Kravitz) who stepped in to save her, while the rest of the "Monterey Five"—Madeline Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon), Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley), and Renata Klein (Laura Dern)—witnessed the entire thing.

Besides getting to see Streep in yet another incredibly convincing role, our favorite part about her as Mary Louise were all of the comebacks and back-handed compliments she delivered to many of the characters—especially Madeline.

Read on for a roundup of the best—and start taking notes, because you may want to start using some of these the next time you encounter a difficult situation (or bully).

On having lost her children:

"I hope that you don't live to bury your children, Celeste, because you would not be standing," Mary Louise says to Celeste during the season finale.

On Jane's feelings:

"Are you struggling, Jane? With your conscious, perhaps?" Mary Louise asks Jane after she goes over to comfort Wright about trying to take the twins away from Celeste.

On Madeline's intentions:

In episode two, Mary Louise is yet again taunting Madeline. "On your awesome days, I suspect you are a godsend. But on your bad days, decidedly less so,” she says.

Certainly, it's not a nice comment—but words aren't why this moment is so chilling. As Mary Louise speaks, she plays with her crucifix necklace and strings it onto her chin. The strange gesture is oddly intimidating, and demonstrates her sense of superiority to Madeline. She feels righteous in her disdain for Madeline. And that is the moment we knew Mary Louise was a force to be reckoned with.

On meeting Madeline's oldest daughter:

“Oh, you must be the one who’s off to college," Mary Louise says when she meets Abigail in episode 5. If you recall, earlier in the season Madeline and her daughter got into a huge fight because Abigail decided she wasn't interested in attending college.

On not passing judgement toward Renata:

"I don’t know your life choices. I don’t know you other than you're a friend of Celeste’s and you seem like a very nice person who lives in a big house with no furniture," she says in episode 5.

On Renata's busy lifestyle:

When Renata reveals to Mary Louise that she's going through bankruptcy, Wright takes the chance to share her two cents.

"That must be especially devastating for a working mom to lose her house, her belongings—because just to think about the sacrifice and all the missed dinners with kids and not being able to host the after school play dates, there are just so many many moments lost. And for what, a screening room, maybe a boat?" she says.

On Celeste slapping her:

After Celeste smacks her across the face, Mary Louise responds, "What should we call that, foreplay?" a dig towards her daughter-in-law's sex life with her deceased son, Perry.

On grief:

"It's meant to be shared, grief. It's insurmountable, too difficult to battle, to be waged alone," she says to Celeste in episode 4.

On telling Celeste she needs to get it together:

"You’re a mess, Celeste, and until you’re better, we just have to think about protecting the wellbeing of our boys. We should at least be able to agree on that. We need to do what’s best for the boys."

On prescription drugs:

When Celeste catches Mary Louise looking for something in a drawer, Wright tries to shame her by saying, "I won’t lie I have been having trouble sleeping as of late, so I thought you might have a little helper or two."

She also added, "You have quite an impressive array. You have to be so careful with these opioids, dear."

On facing bullies:

"You know when I was very young, my family just moved. I was going to a brand new school, so I was especially scared and my father gave me the best advice, he said, 'Mary Louise you just seek out the bully and make friends with her.'"

On her feelings towards Madeline:

"I don't like her. I have tried but she's not a likable person," Mary Louise says about Celeste’s friend Madeline.

Celeste then tells Mary Louise she's wrong about her friend—and that Madeline has been a lifeline to her. "You're mistaken.”

On her feelings towards Celeste:

"I do look at you as an enigma. That's how Perry first described you to me. Did you know that?”

On kids acting out:

"Fine young men don’t suddenly become fine young men all of sudden in a whoosh, you know. It starts with being fine young boys, and part of being a fine young boy is listening and respecting your mother," she says. "She works so hard for you. That’s why the sun shines on her so."

On height:

"You’re very short. I don’t mean it in a negative way. I find little people to be untrustworthy. My apologies," she says. "It’s just that I pride myself in being a very good judge of character, but you have always presented such a difficult read. You seem like a nice person, loving, but also you strike me as a wanter."

Mary Louise continues, "There are people in life that content themselves with what they have, and then there are others you just want. You don’t have to take it personally. I’m a wanter myself."

On Perry's death:

"I want to know what happened that night. I’m very tempted to ask you, but I doubt I would get the truth. Would I?" she asks Madeline.

After Madeline tells her that Perry slipped, Mary Louise quickly responds: "Yes, that seems to be the company line. Depending on whose company you keep."

On Madeline:

Madeline confronts Mary Louise about the way she spoke to her at the coffee shop. Mary Louise is quick to apologize—right before serving up one of her best backhanded compliments of the season 2 premiere.

"I apologize. Truth is it had nothing to do with you. When I was in boarding school, I had a best friend—or so I thought—who revealed herself to be quite treacherous and caused me a lot of pain," she says. "She was just a itty bitty little thing with a big, bubbly personality that was designed to hide that she was utterly vapid inside. You remind me so much of her. I suppose I punished you for that. That’s wrong of me, and I apologize."

On fast food for dinner:

Mary Louise pokes fun at what Celeste has been feeding the boys by saying, "One cannot survive on fast food every night. You know that they banned these in cities."

On grief:

After her grandsons, Josh and Max, say they miss their dad and Celeste tells them it will get better, Mary Louise steps in with her own two cents. "They’re grieving Celeste. Their father’s death is not something to be recovered from like a cold," she says.

After Celeste tries to shush her when she screams out loud, Mary Louise shrugs and says: "Oh what, my grief is too loud for you?"

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