‘The Undoing’ is the Sexy, Dirty, Pulpy ‘Big Little Lies’ Follow Up You’ve Been Waiting For

HBO’s The Undoing is set in a world that may as well be pure fantasy for most of us: the New York City of the 1%. While the show definitely opens on a grisly murder scene in Harlem, most of Susanne Bier‘s directing lingers on the luxuries of the leading characters’ lives. Nicole Kidman‘s Grace Fraser takes her time selecting which designer dress to wear for the day. Her son Henry (Noah Jupe) helps himself to the kitchen’s Vitamix before heading off to an opulent prep school. Her father (Donald Sutherland) lives in a penthouse that could be converted into an art museum.

The Undoing is absolute wealth porn and I am one hundred percent here for it. It is the juicy, sexy, dark, over-the-top opulent follow up to Big Little Lies that I’ve been craving and it puts into perspective what it was about Big Little Lies that made it so irrepressibly popular in the first place. No, we weren’t there for the maternal drama, but rather the sumptuous world of the upper class just as their picture perfect lives spiral apart. (Or at least I was.)

Even though The Undoing is not really a sequel to Big Little Lies, it’s hard not to connect the two series. That’s because The Undoing was written and created by Big Little Lies alum David E. Kelley and both series star and were executive produced by Nicole Kidman. Both shows are also lavish miniseries adaptations of popular thrillers. However, unlike Big Little Lies, The Undoing is set on the East Coast and follows a celebrity psychologist who is disturbed to realize her picture perfect husband (Hugh Grant) might have duped her about…well, everything.

Of course, The Undoing isn’t the first new miniseries from a Big Little Lies alum that looks tailor-made to satiate that hit show’s fanbase. Earlier this year, Reece Witherspoon starred in Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere. That show picked up the threads of classism, motherhood, and female life as performance art that Big Little Lies had also played with. Unlike Big Little Lies, though, Little Fires Everywhere was focused on the middle class. The fashions were mundane ’90s throwback ware. The problems faced by the characters? Utterly realistic. I was impressed by the acting in the series, but Little Fires Everywhere did nothing to scratch my itch for pure escapism. The Undoing does, though.

The Undoing tells the story of Grace and Jonathan Fraser, a golden couple in New York City’s vaulted social circles. Grace Fraser is a high-end psychologist, known for her scathing insights, while husband Jonathan is a doctor known for his work battling children’s cancer. Everything turns upside down when Grace meets Elena (Matilda De Angelis), a young mother of a scholarship student at their son’s school. Elena soon seems to be shadowing Grace, intimidating her at the gym and kissing her at a party. The Elena winds up brutally murdered. The twist? Jonathan has disappeared and may have been straight up lying about a whole lot.

The Undoing is a show that balances two opposing tones at all times. First there’s the veneer of sophistication that appears in almost every single scene. The decadent clothes, insane real estate, and hoity-toity parties are all shot with an auteur’s eye. However, the subject matter of the show? A beautiful woman’s murder, a lying husband, and betrayal? It’s the tawdry fare of pulp fiction and printed tabloids. The Undoing gives us a glittering look at life for the 1% only to undercut their so-called greatness with torrid scandal. And I love that!

I love the decadence of The Undoing‘s visuals as much as I love its trashy subject matter. It’s a double dose of escapism that fills a voracious hunger in my soul. I know I should prefer the thoughtful social criticism of Little Fires Everywhere, but I’m honestly way more psyched for the “naughty rich people drama” of The Undoing. That was the thing that pulled me into Big Little Lies — the balance of tawdry drama and wealth porn — and that’s what The Undoing is finally giving me.

Where to stream The Undoing