Shailene Woodley Gets Baby Bangs On Big Little Lies

Photo: Courtesy of Jennifer Clasen/HBO.

As expected, Big Little Lies brought the drama for the season 2 premiere on Sunday night. Picking up months after Perry's (Alexander Skarsgård) death, the “Monterey Five" are carrying on — even if in the most unlikely ways. Madeline Martha Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon) is selling houses, eating cupcakes, and preparing her daughter for college; Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman) is back in therapy and dealing with her unhinged mother-in-law (Meryl Streep as Mary Louise); Renata Klein (Laura Dern) is being Renata; Bonnie Carlson (Zoë Kravitz) is angry and struggling over The Lie; and Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley) is moving on... with new bangs?

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Photo: Courtesy of Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/courtesy of HBO.

After a tumultuous first season, Jane deserves some relief after Perry's death. She spent the majority of the show thus far overcoming mental hurdles about her sexual assault, quite literally trying to run away from her past. Now, with her assaulter dead, she can truly move on: with a new job, a new love for Sufjan Stevens, and a new haircut and color — blunt bangs that are several shades darker than her natural color — that all seem to signal a fresh start for the single mother.

After lacking so much control over her life and emotions last season, the sudden and drastic hairstyle change makes a lot of sense for the character. Woodley even told Good Morning America that Jane's transformation mirrors the triumph over her trauma. "Jane had so much trauma that she was living with and at the end of [season one] something occurs that made me feel like she would’ve made a drastic physical change so she could identify with herself as herself separate from the story of what happened to her," the actress explained. "You know when you have a massive breakup, sometimes you want to cut your hair or do something different — it was like that, but on a more dramatic scale. "

People couldn’t stop talking about @shailenewoodley’s bangs in #BLL2. pic.twitter.com/0z90tDUMLm
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 11, 2019

Unfortunately, Twitter isn't fully on-board with the new look. While Jane may enjoy the haircut (she does look happier), BLL fans aren't so sure. The consensus: Jane deserves better than a set of jet-black baby bangs.

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The most offensive part of the narrative of Big Little Lies season 2 so far is the hairstyle they gave Shailene Woodley. It triggered my PTSD from Courteney Cox’s bangs in Scream 3. The only people that can pull off blunt baby bangs are toddlers and Dora the Explorer. pic.twitter.com/RV2crXJGTA
— Casey Moore (@caseyleemoore) June 10, 2019

someone needs to sit down with shailene woodley and give her an honest talking to about those bangs
— ?Aleyna Rentz (@aleyna_rentz) June 10, 2019

Some people are even implying that the bangs don't represent a happy turn of events, but instead a sign that Jane has even more secrets to hide.

Shailene Woodley’s bangs do not paint a portrait of a woman without something to hide. #BigLittleLies
— Jame[s]lay (@jameswebb1987) June 10, 2019

You’re telling me Shailene Woodley dyed her hair AND got bangs but the detective couldn’t figure this case out? Pft. #BigLittleLies
— Ronni (@Belligerence) June 10, 2019

shailene woodley covering up the murder of her abuser and then getting bangs, just... wild
— m (@pinkishmr) June 10, 2019

Even one of her most steadfast friends isn't so sure about the look: About halfway through the episode, you can hear Madeline talking to who we assume is Celeste on her AirPods (of course) about her regret over allowing her friend to think she can pull them off. "I’m beating myself up that I told Jane I liked her bangs," she says.