(CNN) "Big Little Lies" wasn't crying out for another season, and frankly has to overcome some skepticism about doing one. Casting Meryl Streep has gone a long way in that regard -- making "Big's" list of big names even bigger -- while creating a cat-and-mice game that's again considerable fun, if unlikely to quite match the original's beguiling mix of soapiness, humor and mystery.

Adding perhaps the greatest actress of our time to a roster already filled with movie stars was certainly a shrewd maneuver, and Streep obliges with a quirky, combative performance that nearly swallows the whole show, even with relatively limited screen time amid a large ensemble cast.

She plays Mary Louise, who's ostensibly there to help out daughter-in-law Celeste (Nicole Kidman) with her kids, but who can't stop asking uncomfortable questions about what exactly happened to Celeste's late husband, which provided the payoff to the first season.

"I can't complain," she says by way of greeting one of Celeste's friends, before suspiciously (and passive aggressively) adding, "Actually, I can. My son is dead."

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