Little Fires Everywhere: 5 Ways Pearl and Mia Are Mother-Daughter Goals (& 5 They Aren’t)

Little Fires Everywhere, the recent Hulu hit starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, could be described as a show about class conflict, about suburban social relations in the 90s, about segregation and racism. It’s a show about husbands and wives, about romance and coming of age, of defying convention. The series encompasses all of these things, a tribute to the brilliant direction of Lynn Shelton, but most of all it’s a show about motherhood.

Motherhood takes many forms in the show, each of them complicated and some beautiful, but of all of them, the dynamic between Mia and Pearl is the most intricate and the most beautiful, standing out as a bold, radical love that survives hardship and defies convention.

10 Goals: They Have A Special Bond

Moving around a lot and having little money means that Pearl and Mia have had to make do with having the bare minimum. This makes life challenging for them, but it also results in them having accomplished an intimacy in their relationship which is uncommon. Such a bond is evident through the scene where Pearl and Mia lie sharing a bed in their new house, and Pearl laments that she will miss Mia when she’s in her new bed alone. Most teen-age daughters have a difficult time admitting affection to their mothers so honestly.

9 Not Goals: Too Many Secrets

It becomes clearer and clearer that even if the two are extraordinarily close in many ways, there are large secrets that exist between them. The more evident the presence of the secrets becomes, the bigger the wedge that grows between the two. Some of the secrets make sense that Mia wouldn’t tell Pearl, or would be afraid to, but it’s sad when Pearl only learns about her uncle Warren’s existence at the end of the series when he was such an important part of her mother’s life.

8 Goals: They Are A Team

The first scenes of Mia and Pearl show them sitting in their car in a parking lot, all of their belongings packed in. Cut to them brushing their teeth in the bathroom of a supermarket, which may seem shocking to many, but the two don’t behave with shame or as if their life should be any less full because of this. They act as if it’s just another day, with Mia applying some lip-gloss to her lips and then passing it on to Pearl, who nods in approval. They live a difficult life, but it’s made fuller by their companionship.

7 Not Goals: Mia Is Hard-Willed

It’s difficult for Pearl to have a say when Mia instantly asserts her opinion regarding any issue at hand. Mia has naturally and understandably been hardened by life. She has lost the people closest to her and been cast out by her family. She has lived for years as a single black mother with no assistance, and so her instinct is to assume the worst. This means that she is a great protector of Pearl, but that she also ends up quelling Pearl’s voice.

6 Goals: Mia Encourages Self-Advocacy

Mia does not baby Pearl. Because she is such a confident and capable character one is urged to expect that when Pearl is treated discriminately by her guidance counselor, the following scene will feature Mia raging in to enact justice. This does not happen.

Pearl voices her complaints to her mother, and Mia, unphased, simply imparts that Pearl knows how to advocate for herself. It’s an unusual dynamic to see at first, but ultimately presents greater respect for Pearl than if Mia solved all of her problems for her.

5 Not Goals: No Community

Constantly traveling means that Pearl and Mia have no steady community. It’s a freeing life, moving from town to town and constantly having a new start, but Pearl’s character reveals how lonely she ultimately is left feeling, especially when at odds with her mother. The two are all each of them have, and Mia’s lack of honest communication takes a toll on the strength of their relationship. The end of the series sees Pearl going to meet her grandparents, a move toward building a more open and stable life.

4 Goals: Their Unconventional Style

Pearl and Mia don’t care what people think of them. When Pearl wants a bicycle, Mia makes her one out of old parts from the side of the road, collaged with paper from the town handbook. It looks nothing like anyone else’s bike, and Pearl loves it.

Pearl is seen wearing a T-Shirt embroidered with the lines of one of her favorite poems, clearly made by herself. Pearl does care more and more about what others think as the series goes on, but this eventually proves to be a phase and caused more by resentment of her mother’s lack of communication. Pear’s writing at the end of the series particularly asserts her status as an independent thinker.

3 Not Goals: Mia Calls The Shots

It isn’t until the last episode of the series that Mia allows Pearl to have a say in how they lead their lives. Up until the last episode, it’s made clear that Mia always chooses which town the two go to, and Mia decides when they leave. Pearl exists in a state of constant uneasiness, anticipating when Mia will make them uproot any life they have begun to create.

2 Goals: Fights Can’t Shake Their Sturdy Roots

Mia and Pearl go through some severe fights. It seems at times as if Pearl truly doesn’t want Mia as her mother anymore, resorting to Elena over Mia and particularly because she consistently asks Mia to contact Pearl’s biological father–even after she knows that they are in hiding from him because he could try to take Pearl away from Mia. But when Mia suggests that Pearl might prefer them, Pearl confirms her love for Mia and her desire to remain her daughter, and it’s obvious that their arguments could never change that.

1 Not Goals: Their Life Is Based On Lies

The series ends on a positive note, with Pearl and Mia unified in their travels having had open, honest communication about Mia’s past, but the future still stands on shaky ground for them. Their life together has been based on so many lies that it’s difficult to imagine their path forward will be an easy one. Perhaps a second season will cast some light on the subject, or perhaps the viewer is destined to linger in the not knowing, accepting the hopeful promise of that final scene.