I know I’m watching the Little Fires Everywhere premiere to see Kerry, Reese, and Josh on screen together, and that works for me. But is it enough to keep everyone watching?

Just being honest here. I fully intended to check out the source material before this series was so close to release, but you know — life and all.

So, I decided it was perfectly fine for me to go into the Hulu limited series unencumbered by expectations from reading the book. It worked for Big Little Lies after all, and I must admit that a part of me is hoping Little Fires Everywhere will quench a bit of the remaining thirst where that limited series is concerned.

Little Fires Everywhere is set sometime in the early ’90s (if Reese’s character’s car phone is any indication) in Shaker Heights, OH and tells the story of the Richardsons and the Warrens, a well-off family and the mother/daughter pair that set their world asunder.

Okay, there is so much more to it than that, but short of pasting the book synopsis here and spoiling you on minor details, I don’t feel like it’s right to get into any more detail just yet.

I want to preface all my thoughts by declaring that I have only watched the Little Fires Everywhere premiere, meaning the first three hours, which is what Hulu will be dropping for all to see when the show makes its debut on March 18, 2020. So, this is literally a premiere review, as I have no idea what turmoil, drama, and chaos lay ahead for the Richardsons and the Warrens.

Let’s start with first impressions. As I said before, my interest in the Little Fires Everywhere premiere stems from admiration of the adult leads and general curiosity as to whether or not Reese Witherspoon will continue to deliver Big Little Lies-esque event series.

And while I’m still curious what has drawn them all to these roles and this story, none of them has particularly impressed me as of yet. I’m only three hours into the eight-hour adventure, though, so I’ve basically finished this story’s Act I.

I’m torn as to how to feel about Reese Witherspoon’s Elena Richardson. Sometimes, I feel like she genuinely has a good heart and is trying to use her money and influence to help other people. And other times, I feel like she wields her fortune and look-at-how-unracist-I-am attitude to keep herself feeling powerful and in control.

I both like and hate her in equal measure. And I think that might be how Elena feels about herself, too. I think she likes and hates herself in equal measure most days. It’s like she can see how her influence in any given situation can both help and hurt the person in front of her, and she tries to not be horrible. But no guarantees.

I am likewise torn as to how I feel about Kerry Washington’s Mia Warren in the Little Fires Everywhere premiere. She definitely has her reasons to be guarded and dismissive of people she meets, but I also can’t help but feel alienated from her because of her stand-offish manner.

I don’t feel like I know what makes Mia tick yet, and that leaves me frustrated and unsettled. I feel like she sees the measure of people better than any other character on this show, but it’s because she’s skeptical of everyone at first glance, and that naturally makes her more observant.

My read on Joshua Jackson’s Bill Richardson is limited because his role is limited. I have no idea what role he plays in the latter part of this story, but his part in all this so far has been formulaic at best. I am reserving judgement of him until after the Little Fires Everywhere premiere. Hopefully he proves to be not awful.

While the parents leave me scratching my head, emotionally speaking, I have strong feelings toward just about every teenage character on this show. I love Pearl’s attitude. I love how she sees the best in everyone and gives everyone a chance to prove themselves good rather than awful. But not everyone is good at their core.

Enter Lexi Richardson and her entitled obliviousness. It astounds me that this little girl doesn’t see how awful she is. Then there’s Moody Richardson, who seems to have inherited all of his mother’s goodness and none of her haughtiness. I honestly believe he is the kindhearted boy he seems to be. Tripp has a completely uncomplicated air of assholery about him that I’m pretty sure is right on target.

And last, but never least, Izzy and her stubborn, rebellious desire to rage against everything her sister and mother appear to be. But it’s not just rebellion for the sake of rebellion, but rather a targeted strike to determine just how far her mother’s love will stretch to reach her. Will it be far enough?

I say all of this because my attitudes toward the characters pretty much determine how I feel about the Little Fires Everywhere premiere. When Elena and Mia are on screen together, I cringe with discomfort, waiting to hear what awful thing laced with thinly veiled arrogance Elena is about to say, and how the quick-to-judge Mia will respond.

When the scene involves the teens and tweens, I’m almost always more excited and hopeful. It’s frustrating that no matter how far I think the adults have come, something keeps shoving them back into their corners, keeping everyone contained in their expected reaction boxes.

There is so much more story left to tell, especially considering the scene that started this whole thing off, but I’m having trouble keeping myself fully interested.

I’ve heard great things about this 2017 novel by Celeste Ng, but as I have literally no idea what lies ahead for these characters and Shaker Heights, OH, I am just here, waiting to see what the remaining five hours will do to convince me this story is one that absolutely had to be shared in a different medium.

As of right now, it’s had bright spots, but nothing that has grabbed me enough to want to immerse myself in all things Little Fires Everywhere. I really hope that changes after the Little Fires Everywhere premiere.

I haven’t figured out the how, where, why, and when of this story, especially regarding the series’ flash forward opener, but I’m hopeful the remaining five episodes will speed this story up a little and show me why Little Fires Everywhere was a book that grabbed so many readers’ attention. So, I’m gonna dive back in and see where this show takes me.