Based on the 2017 novel written by Celeste Ng and known here in Italy as Tanti piccoli fuochi, Little Fires Everywhere is an 8-episode-only TV miniseries starring the talented Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon, who together stage an intense tale about the power of motherhood.
Designed by Liz Tigelaaro, the show is available in Italy exclusively to all subscribers to the Amazon Prime Video service, and was immediately a great success with audiences and critics. Let’s find out together the plot and episodes, the full cast and all the differences with the novel from which it is based.
Little Fires Everywhere: the plot
Set in the late ’90s, Little Fires Everywhere is a TV series that is directly inspired by the novel of the same name, and that touches on the same issues that writer Celeste Ng wanted to bring to the attention of readers in her novel. The story takes place in the small town of Shaker Heights, an eastern suburb of Cleveland, in the state of Ohio, and tells of two mothers from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
The two main characters are Elena Richardson, played by Reese Witherspoon, and Mia Warren, played by Kerry Washington. The first is a journalist, hostess, and mother of four teenagers, while the second is a talented artist who is forced to work part time as a waitress to make ends meet.
The title of the Amazon Prime television series comes from the many little clashes between the two women, who have a different view of life and motherhood. Clashes that will never erupt into an actual fire. At least on a metaphorical level. The destinies of the two families intertwine when Elena rents an apartment to Mia in Shakes, a middle-class suburb of Cleveland.
The artist Mia has always been accustomed to moving from city to city, but at the request of her teenage daughter Pearl decides to stay in the town where the show is set. Disrupting the life of the seemingly perfect Richardson family. A mere pretext to set up a story that touches on issues such as racial prejudice, abortion and differences in social background but, above all, the very power of motherhood, capable of moving mountains and seas.
The plot of Little Fires Everywhere, brushed by the weight of the secrets and the identity crisis of the characters involved, begins with the destruction of the home of the Richardson family, namely the aforementioned Elena and her lawyer husband Bill, to whom lends face and talent Joshua Jackson, the famous Pacey Witter of Dawson’s Creek. The couple has four teenage children, but we will make their acquaintance during the night that has forever changed their existence: the one in which their home is destroyed due to many small fires that have been set in every room of the house and that, in parallel, symbolizes the ruin of their family relationships.
In the first instance, the blame goes to fall on the daughter Izzy, considered the black sheep of the family. The same day, the tenants Mia and Pearl quickly leave town, but the truth will come out of course only in the last episode. In the course of the series, in fact, the narrative shifts with a flashback to a few months before the fire, allowing us to discover all the background that led to that day as inauspicious as decisive.
The seemingly idyllic beginning on the quiet streets of Shaker Heights ends when the entire town discovers that Elena’s best friend, Linda McCullough, is fighting a bitter lawsuit for custody of a little Chinese-American girl against her birth mother, who belatedly regretted abandoning her in a gas station some time ago.
The legal battle literally divides the small town in two, creating two opposing factions: there are those who support the reasons of Linda and her husband, like Elena, and those who side with the real mother of the child, like Mia. Elena, however, will be obsessed by the desire to find out why Mia has taken the matter so personally, and will go so far as to jeopardize the serenity of her own family. Portando alla luce segreti che erano rimasti celati a lungo.
Gli episodi di Little Fires Everywhere
Trattandosi di una miniserie TV, Little Fires Everywhere si compone come dicevamo di soli 8 episodi, che strutturano la prima stagione disponibile in streaming solo per gli abbonati ad Amazon Prime Video, piattaforma proprietaria del colosso dell’eCommerce americano. A seguire, la lista di tutti gli episodi della prima stagione, andata in onda nel 2020:
- Episodio 1 – La scintilla (The Spark)
- Regia: Lynn Shelton
- Sceneggiatura: Liz Tigelaar
- Durata: 55 min
- Episodio 2 – Con tutti i semi (Seeds and All)
- Regia: Michael Weaver
- Sceneggiatura: Nancy Won
- Durata: 55 min
- Episodio 3 – Settanta centesimi (Seventy Cents)
- Regia: Michael Weaver
- Sceneggiatura: Raamla Mohamed
- Durata: 55 min
- Episodio 4 – La tela del ragno (The Spider Web)
- Regia: Lynn Shelton
- Sceneggiatura: Attica Locke
- Durata: 55 min
- Episodio 5 – Duo (Duo)
- Regia: Lynn Shelton
- Sceneggiatura: Rosa Handelman
- Durata: 55 min
- Episodio 6 – Rincorrendo un sogno (The Uncanny)
- Regia: Nzingha Stewart
- Sceneggiatura: Shannon Houston
- Durata: 55 min
- Episodio 7 – La foto perfetta (Picture Perfect)
- Regia: Nzingha Stewart
- Sceneggiatura: Harris Danow
- Durata: 55 min
- Episodio 8 – Trovare un modo (Finda A Way)
- Regia: Lynn Shelton
- Sceneggiatura: Amy Talkington
- Durata: 55 min
Il cast di Little Fires Everywhere
Little Fires Everywhere schiera un cast stellare per riproporre sul piccolo schermo il romanzo di Celeste Ng. Non solo Kerry Washington, Reese Witherspoon e Joshua Jackson, ma anche altri nomi più o meno noti che i fan di serie TV e film avranno sicuramente già apprezzato in altre produzioni di successo.
Personaggi e interpreti principali
- Elena Richardson, interpretata da Reese Witherspoon, è una giornalista e madre di quattro figli adolescenti.
- Mia Warren, interpretata da Kerry Washington, è una fotografa di talento che lavora part time come cameriera.
- Bill Richardson, interpretato da Joshua Jackson, è un avvocato e marito di Elena.
- Linda McCullough, interpretata da Rosemarie DeWitt, è un’amica d’infanzia di Elena.
- Lexie Richardson, interpretata da Jade Pettyjohn, è la figlia maggiore di Elena e Bill.
- Pearl Warren, interpretata da Lexi Underwood, è la figlia di Mia, studentessa 15enne particolarmente dotata e portata per la poesia.
- Izzy Richardson, interpretata da Megan Stott, è la figlia minore di Elena e Bill ed è considerata da sempre la pecora nera della famiglia.
- Moody Richardson, interpretato da Gavin Lewis, è il figlio minore di Elena e Bill.
- Trip Richardson, interpretato da Jordan Elsass, è il figlio maggiore di Elena e Bill, popolare atleta della comunità.
Personaggi e interpreti secondari
- Bebe Chow, interpretata da Huang Lu, è una collega di lavoro di Mia.
- Mark McCullough, interpretato da Geoff Stults, è il marito di Linda.
- George Wright, interpretato da Obba Babatundé, è il padre di Mia.
- Regina Wright, interpretata da Melanie Nicholls-King, è la madre di Mia.
- Joe Ryan, interpretato da Jesse Williams, è un avvocato di Manhattan.
- Jamie Caplan, interpretato da Luke Bracey, è il primo fidanzato di Elena.
- Pauline Hawthorne, interpretata da Anika Noni Rose, è la mentore artistica di Mia.
Nella serie su Amazon Prime appaiono in alcuni episodi anche le versioni più giovani dei personaggi principali. In questo caso Elena è interpretata da AnnaSophia Robb, la rivale Mia da Tiffany Boone, e infine Bill da Matthew Barnes.
Le differenze con il romanzo
Little Fires Everywhere è l’adattamento televisivo del romanzo omonimo scritto da Celeste Ng, conosciuto qui da noi con il titolo Tanti piccoli fuochi. Il libro è stato scoperto proprio dall’attrice Reese Witherspoon e dalla produttrice dello show Lauren Levy Neustadter, ancora prima della pubblicazione nel 2017. Thanks in part to Witherspoon’s contribution, who chose it as the title of the month for her book club, the book immediately became a bestseller first in the U.S. and then the rest of the world. Although the miniseries is faithful to the novel in many ways, it still has a few different aspects.
The first is quite obvious, and concerns Mia and Pearl’s ethnicity. In the TV series they are African-American, while in the book there is no mention of their skin color. Mia’s sexuality is also very different, and in the show the loving relationship that binds her to her mentor Pauline emerges. In the novel, the two are just very good friends, and Mia turns out to be practically asexual. Also Izzy’s homosexuality, in the series, is a major theme: in the book, however, she is not bullied for her orientation, but because she is problematic and different from her classmates. The story related to Pearl’s conception is also different, as is the origin of the fire, the biggest mystery that characterizes the entire story. Of course, we will not reveal the author, to avoid running into inevitable spoilers.
Little Fires Everywhere 2: when the second season comes out
Thanks to its captivating plot and the interpretation of the two protagonists, Little Fires Everywhere has been able to “inflame” the minds of many viewers, who have immediately decreed its success. Conceived as an 8-episode miniseries, Tanti piccoli fuochi should not return with a second season. In fact, the writers have repeatedly stated that at the moment there are no plans for a new cycle of episodes, and that the story is in fact concluded. The writer of the novel, Celeste Ng, has entrenched herself behind a more neutral “never say never”, but nothing concrete has been announced by the production.
Watch Little Fires Everywhere on Amazon Prime!
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