Little Fires Everywhere Is About Legendary Character Actresses Yelling at Each Other

Television has been significantly more boring since Kerry Washington exited the cluttered landscape, along with melodramatic behemoth Scandal, in 2018. Things haven’t been the same since! There are fewer monologues about impassioned love affairs with the president, crazed screaming matches, and pensive wine-drinking in expensive shawls. Her new show, Little Fires Everywhere, seems prime to correct this imbalance.

Based on Celeste Ng’s 2017 novel of the same name, the series, according to a press release, “follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and an enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.” Featuring the legendary character-acting talents of both Washington and Reese Witherspoon, the show also seems to involve a house burning down, a suspicious new neighbor, and plenty of rich people shenanigans in labyrinthine mansions.

I would like to know, though, if Reese Witherspoon chose her perma-role as an embattled, neurotic housewife. I’m not complaining! Few character actresses embody the minutiae of the suburban fugue quite like Witherspoon, who flexed much of the same skills in Big Little Lies. Pairing that with Washington’s keen eye for melodrama and high camp? I worry that my television might explode from the sheer force of their acting capabilities. The series premieres March 18 on Hulu.