[Warning: This article contains spoiler-y info about season two, episode five of Big Little Lies.]
Each week of Big Little Lies brings myriad new moments to dwell on long after the episode ends. But this week, fans of the HBO series can’t get over something that didn’t happen — despite leaked photos depicting the moment, the infamous ice cream scene between Reese Witherspoon and Meryl Streep was missing. The build-up was there. The characters were there. Yet, when the time came, it became evident that the scene fans had been waiting for all season was not going to play out the way they expected.
Let’s rewind for a minute. Back in August 2018, photos surfaced of Big Little Lies filming a scene in which Witherspoon’s Madeline hurls an ice cream cone at the back of Streep’s character, Mary Louise. Of course, no context was provided at the time — although, given Madeline and Mary Louise’s barbed banters so far this season, it wasn’t hard to imagine that an argument between the two might escalate. It didn’t take long for the photos to go viral, with fans living for the moment and anxiously waiting to watch the entire scene onscreen.
Then, shortly before Sunday’s episode of BLL emerged, Vanity Fair’s Still Watching podcast reported that the show will not air the highly anticipated soft-serve assault. Was it just a rumor? Would the episode prove the prediction wrong? Alas, fans would soon find out the scene had, indeed, been cut.
WHERE IS THE ICE CREAM THROW?!? #BigLittleLiespic.twitter.com/VNWBvv0U1J
— Ryan Kathleen Greene (@RyanKGreene) July 8, 2019
*weeps over this missing scene*#BigLittleLieshttps://t.co/hppAn8W0iS
— ali (@inner_moppet) July 8, 2019
No ice cream cone throw!! I feel deceived!! #BigLittleLiespic.twitter.com/vjAzCHbWW2
— Kevin UNBURDENED Blais🗽🥥 (@itskevinblais) July 8, 2019
WHY DID THEY CUT THIS!?!?!#BigLittleLies@ReeseWpic.twitter.com/8qaPLnTzIc
— Niles (@ElphieErivo) July 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/captainmarrveI/status/1148044483877113857
https://twitter.com/lovelybonves/status/1148044453682262017
THEY CUT MADELINE THROWING THE ICE CREAM AT MARY LOUISE I DEMAND A RE-EDIT OF THIS EPISODE WE WERE ROBBED #BigLittleLies
— •b• 🌙🩵✨ (@_tinkerB) July 8, 2019
https://twitter.com/atomicxbrunette/status/1148044271850835969
Woe is us! The scene as-is was good — because obviously any scene with Witherspoon and Streep is — but it would have been brilliant to see Witherspoon nail Streep in the back of the head with her double-scoop, sprinkled ice cream. Fans clearly need to see a deleted scene or blooper reel before season two is over, or a fan revolt might be imminent (not really since, let’s be real, we’d all watch these women no matter what… but, still).
Making matters worse is the fact that Witherspoon alluded to just how amazing the scene was when she spoke to Variety at the launch of AT&T’s new Hello Sunshine Video on Demand channel. “No, I didn’t feel bad about it, I felt really good about it. Once you see the show, you’ll know why I did it, and then you’ll be really happy. You’ll be like, ‘Yes!’” Witherspoon said.
And, hell, anyone who has tuned in to Mary Louise this season knows what Witherspoon means. That’s why we were hoping to see the ice-cream-hurl come to fruition. You owe us one, HBO.
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