Mandatory Streamers: Meryl Streep makes her Big Little Lies Season 2 debut
Welcome to Mandatory Streamers, our latest column covering the best new streaming content coming your way every week! For the week of June 3, Meryl Streep makes her highly-anticipated debut in the hit HBO series as Big Little Lies returns. The second season will explore the malignancy of lies, the durability of friendships, the fragility of marriage, and the vicious ferocity of sound parenting as fans prepare for relationships to fray and loyalties to erode as the potential for emotional and bodily injury looms. Check out the best shows debuting and returning online this week as well as the latest renewal announcements below, and be sure to visit our mother site Mandatory by clicking here!
HBO
Big Little Lies, Season 2 Premiere: The Emmy winning series is back as the Monterey Five – Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), Celeste (Nicole Kidman), Jane (Shailene Woodley), Renata (Laura Dern) and Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) – are joined by Celeste’s visiting mother-in-law, Mary Louise (Meryl Streep), and their husbands, Ed (Adam Scott), Nathan (James Tupper) and Gordon (Jeffrey Nordling), in this seven-episode season. The second season of the subversive, darkly comedic drama will premiere on Sunday, June 9.
Hulu
The Handmaid’s Tale, Season 3 Premiere: The revolution is here. The third season of the Golden Globe-winning series is driven by June’s (Elisabeth Moss) resistance to the dystopian regime of Gilead and her struggle to strike back against overwhelming odds. Startling reunions, betrayals, and a journey to the terrifying heart of Gilead force all characters to take a stand, guided by one defiant prayer: “Blessed be the fight.” The season will begin streaming on Wednesday, June 5.
Claws, Season 3 Premiere: TNT’s dark comedy series follows the rise of five treacherous manicurists working at the Nail Artisans of Manatee County Salon, where there is a lot more work going on than silk wraps and pedicures. Season 2 saw Desna (Niecy Nash) trade one crime boss for another as the Russian mob took control of both the pain clinic and the salon. With new management comes new problems for the women to handle. The third season, streaming following the premiere on Sunday, June 9, explores what’s in store for the can’t-be-messed-with squad as they run a fronting casino and criminal organization of their own.
Netflix
Tales of the City, Miniseries Premiere: Inspired by the books by Armistead Maupin, this next chapter follows Mary Ann (Laura Linney), who returns home to San Francisco and is reunited with her daughter (Ellen Page) and ex-husband Brian, twenty years after leaving them behind to pursue her career. Fleeing the midlife crisis that her picture-perfect Connecticut life created, Mary Ann returns home to her chosen family and will quickly be drawn back into the orbit of Anna Madrigal (Olympia Dukakis) and the residents of 28 Barbary Lane. The limited series adaptation, which spotlights LGBTQ people both in front of and behind the camera, will be available to stream on Friday, June 7.
Renewals
Vida, Season 3: Starz has renewed their dramedy Vida following the premiere of its second season! The series, which won 2019’s GLAAD Media Award, centers on two Mexican-American siblings, Emma (Mishel Prada), and Linda “Lyn” Hernandez (Melissa Barrera) from East Los Angeles who couldn’t be more different or distanced from each other. The premiere season found the two forced to return to their old neighborhood, where they are confronted by the past and surprising truth about their mother’s identity. As the season progressed, the two go on different introspective journeys as they learn of their mother’s secrets and how it affected how they live and act now. Vida is available to stream via the Starz official website.
