I know I’m not alone in saying that Big Little Lies is one of the most exciting, satisfying TV series in recent memory. (Mild spoiler alert starting in fourth paragraph.)

For some decades, I hardly watched TV. I had overdosed on TV when I was about 10, when I returned to Japan after living overseas (São Paulo and New Jersey). After eight years abroad, my Japanese was rusty at best. Once back, I had lots to catch up academically, lest I be held back a few school years. In addition to a tutor that my parents hired, I read manga voraciously to (ostensibly) brush up on my reading, even learning about the French Revolution through this genre. I also watched Japanese TV for hours upon hours to (purportedly) hone up my listening comprehension. I watched TV so much I was bloated. I was TV bulimic. So I staged my own intervention and stopped watching TV altogether.

Four decades later, I am rediscovering the pleasures of TV. I am elated by the freedom to choose: when, where, how much, which, of the incredible selection of brilliant TV series, without ads! I still can’t help but regard TV as an indulgence, so it is far from a daily habit; more of a binge-when-bedridden or a way to bond with my teenagers. Series I’ve watched and loved: Big Little Lies, This is Us, Transparent, Jane the Virgin, Catastrophe, Stranger Things, Fleabag. On my to-watch list: The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, Genius, Girls – and so much more to discover.

Which brings me back to Big Little Lies – the gorgeous TV series set in lush Monterey, with beautiful people in amazing clothes doing superb acting. My daughter and I watched it in its entirety (seven episodes) during spring break. Nicole Kidman is dazzling in the role of Celeste. In just a slight raise of her eyebrow while listening to her girlfriends, or in a sustained blank stare in response to her therapist’s line of questioning, she is able to say a million words. Her acting reminds me of Meryl Streep’s. I had no idea she was that good; now I want to see every one of her movies.

On surface, Celeste’s entire life is perfect. Weeks after having watched the series, I still fantasize about her house, her wardrobe, her shoes.

What I could not help but notice was that Celeste’s darkest, most violent secrets often played themselves out against the backdrop of a most stunning collection of shoes – tasteful, luxurious shoes in different styles and hues that are lit up, like pieces of art. I saw that Celeste was quite fond of shoes, yes, but that her habit had not yet filled up the storage space available to her. And that while she was tidy, she was not obsessive-compulsive in the way she displayed her shoes; there was something almost nonchalant in their arrangement. I also noticed more than a handful of booties, a reminder that it actually gets cold in California. Every time the camera was in their dressing room, my eyes immediately began scanning the shelves of shoes. All the while the s#@* was hitting the fan.

Shoes and women. We women the world over, we love our shoes. I have seldom if ever met a woman who said that she was indifferent to shoes, or that she owned enough shoes. About 10 years ago, I was in Boulder, in a shoe store, the kind where Birkenstocks and Merrells are sold. It was sales season, and there were fleece-clad women everywhere, scouring for shoes – a buzz, a frenzy. It could have been the Saks shoe salon on Boxing Day. I chatted with several of them while we looked for the perfect pair to go with our yoga pants. “Why do we love our shoes so much?” I said to nobody in particular, then answered my own question: “I think I know why: shoes will never betray you. You put on 10 pounds, your pants don’t fit, they reject and they shame you. But your shoes – they’re still there for you, they love you just the same. That’s why shoes are our best friends.”

As her marriage unravels and spirals out of control, Celeste’s shoes are undisturbed, sitting, beautiful and serene, bearing witness to all the pain and suffering. When all is said and done and destroyed, Celeste’s shoes will be there for her, waiting to give her solace. They will be there for her to walk into the café to meet her BFF (played by Reese Witherspoon), to stride into a job interview at a law firm perhaps, to elevate her to a newfound glory, certainly. Shoes will never betray you.