We're midway through the second season of "Big Little Lies," and fans have already caught a glimpse of some heavy mama drama.
Renata (Laura Dern), Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz), Jane (Shailene Woodley) and Celeste (Nicole Kidman) all returned and were joined by Celeste's mother-in-law, Mary Louise (Meryl Streep).
They may share the commonality of motherhood, but it's clear their parenting styles differ from one scene to another.
Here are the parenting techniques of the "Big Little Lies" cast.
(Warning: Big and Little spoilers ahead.)
Characteristics: aggressive, willing to intervene or "mow down" any person or obstacle that stands in the way of them saving their child from any inconvenience.
Since season one, Renata's made it clear that it's her way or no way, especially when it comes to her precious daughter, Amabella.
Renata protects her and would never want her to experience an ounce of adversity. In the first episode of season two there's a scene where she basically tells Amabella's teacher that her child should be his No. 1 priority.
In episode three, Amabella had an anxiety attack which left her hospitalized, and Renata completely lost it on the doctor who was treating her, the school principal and the teacher -- blaming them for Amabella's health scare, rather than looking at herself as a parent.
Renata mows anything down that gets in her or Amabella's way, and therefore can be considered a lawnmower mom.
Later, Renata announced to her husband that she was "sparing no cost" for Amabella's over-the-top birthday party, despite the family's heading for bankruptcy. Like we said, nothing is getting in this mom's way.
Characteristics: flexible, compassionate, optimistic, living in positivity, embracing chaos.
We're seeing a different Bonnie in season two. The guilt over Perry's death is haunting her daily, and her depression is affecting her once-vibrant spirit as well as the people who love her.
But since viewers met Bonnie it was clear she had a pretty chill, laid-back approach to child rearing. She and her husband Nathan, who happens to be Madeline's ex, share a daughter together and eventually Bonnie's step-daughter, Abigail, moves in.
Bonnie even takes Abigail to Planned Parenthood -- a decision that creates friction between Bonnie and Madeline, Abigail's mother. But it wasn't a surprise that Abigail confided in Bonnie rather than her own mother.
Bonnie is relaxed, young, fun, interesting and overall the "cool mom." Wabi-sabi is defined in Collins Dictionary as "finding beauty within the imperfections of life."
Bonnie is optimistic, living in positivity and incorporates the wabi-sabi aesthetic into her parenting techniques.
Let's just hope we get the old Bonnie back as the new season reaches a close.
Characteristics: protective, pays close attention to children's needs, wants or desires.
Mary Louise joined the "Monterey Five" this season as Celeste's overbearing mother-in-law.
After the death of her son, Perry, she arrived to help with her grandchildren, Celeste's twins.
But it's clear Mary Louise is after much more than quality time with the boys. She's very distrusting of Celeste and refuses to believe that her Perry would've done anything to hurt anybody, including his wife and Jane, whom he raped and impregnated.
Mary Louise challenges Celeste's parenting tactics on several occasions -- like when she questions how she's helping the boys grieve their father's death. There have also been a chain of events that led to Sunday night's episode where Celeste smacks Mary Louise -- fueling her suspicions that Celeste is an unfit mother.
Because of her overprotective nature, Mary Louise is now serving Celeste with custody papers. Let the showdown begin.
Mary Louise hovers and therefore is a helicopter mom.
Characteristics: protective, demanding as a tiger mom. Caring and nurturing as an elephant mom.
Madeline is feisty and wants the very best for her family. When her daughter Abigail decided she wasn't going to attend college, Madeline was less than thrilled and fought for the latter.
She's always the first to speak up at school functions and defend her fellow parents. In season one, Madeline sticks up for Jane and Ziggy when Ziggy is accused of hurting Amabella at school. Her ferocity and passion for fairness and success makes her part-tiger mom.
Madeline isn't overly aggressive like Renata though. Being that she's a thoughtful parent, she also exhibits traits of an elephant mom.
Characteristics: consoling, encouraging as an elephant mom -- providing children with a warm, safe haven. Going with the flow as a wabi-sabi parent.
Jane is sweet, caring and goes out of her way to make her son, Ziggy, feel loved. It's refreshing to see, considering all she's been through from a rape-related pregnancy to moving, to being part of "the lie."
(MORE: Free-range to elephant parenting: How to find the right parenting style for you)Although the pain of being raped by Perry is still very much real, Jane never lets it get in the way of her being a source of emotional protection to Ziggy.
Even when Ziggy learns from another classmate that Perry is his father, Jane does her very best to deliver an explanation to him. She believes he deserves to know the truth about his father, regardless of the circumstances.
Jane puts Ziggy first and that makes her an elephant mom. She also embraces the chaos like a wabi-sabi parent would.
Characteristics: consoling, encouraging, provides children with a warm, safe haven.
Like Jane, Celeste is a very caring and nurturing mother. In season one, her twin boys weren't exactly in the forefront of the story until it was revealed that it was one of them who was hurting Amabella -- not Ziggy like the characters initially thought.
When Celeste realized her son was targeting Amabella as a result of him witnessing the domestic abuse his mother was experiencing at the hands of his father, she shifted the focus from her marriage to her kids.
Celeste got an apartment for herself and the boys in an unsuccessful attempt to leave Perry. Since Perry was killed, she does her best to be there for the boys even though she's grappling with the loss as well.
This season, Celeste has had a few moments of weakness. She crashed her car after taking sleeping pills, and on Sunday, partied a little too hard and took a stranger home for a one-night stand.
Now that she's facing a custody battle, let's see if Celeste fights as hard as any mother would for her children.