Big Love: Season Two

I can understand the fantasy that many men have about polygamy. The thought of being able to sleep with more than one woman is one that many men have had. I also understand that there are people who do live in a pleura marriage. I have had the same wife for over 33 years, a daughter, two sisters in law and a mother in law. That is more than enough women in my life. The thought of have to mediate between multiple wives, a squad of children and multiple in laws is just something that fills me with dread. This is the life of the characters in the HBO hit series, ‘Big Love’. It shows the lives of a family that consists of a husband, three sister wives and seven children with another on the way. The financial and emotional drain of one household is normally enough for a man but this one has to deal with everything in triplicate. It is sort of matrimonial bureaucratic living. Typical of HBO they show a man who seems to be a regular guy leaving home and going to work. What HBO does is pull back the curtain to show what is not immediately apparent, his polygamy. The show is dramatic, well written and extremely well acted and directed. With the end of the Sopranos and the Wire on its way out this remains the one jewel in the HBO crown. The executives and legal department over at HBO are quick to remind people that the religion shown here does not reflect the Church of the Later Day Saints. It is loosely based on a fundamental offshoot but typically makes it clear that this practice is not acceptable in the general religion.

The man in the center of the story here is Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton). He is a successful business man owning two large hardware stores. In public he is often seen with his Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn). She is actually his first wife. In polygamous terms this means she is the wife that is legally married and acts as the general manager of the family. She is referred to as ‘Boss Lady’ by her sister wives, usually behind her back. Barb and Bill have three children; Ben (Douglas Smith), Sarah (Amanda Seyfried) and Teeny (Jolean Wejbe). Bill also has wife number two, Nicki Grant (Chloë Sevigny) with two small children and third wife Margene Heffman (Ginnifer Goodwin) also with two little ones and as of the end of last season another on the way. As the season starts the proverbial cat is out of the bag. Barb was excepting a ‘Mother of the Year’ award from the governor and someone told the people in attendance that she is in a polygamous family. Barb had just gone back to school for her Masters Degree but this revelation knocked her completely off balance. She would ignore her household responsibilities taking endless laps in the pool. She is also caught in the middle of an increasing number of arguments with Bill and the other wives. Her eldest, Ben has come out in favor of polygamy much to the chagrin of Barb. She is beginning to have doubts about the viability of multiple marriages. She is also concerned that Margene is getting to close to Ben. They are only a few years apart and there seems to be an attraction there.

Bill has a lot of additional pressure on him this season. He is trying to gain more financial stability by going into a new business. Unfortunately, it is video gambling machines. The company that is selling the business is okay with polygamist but the dark side is there is another interested, Bill’s father in law, Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton). Roman is the father of Nicki, the head of United Effort Brotherhood and the Profit, the head of the compound Bill and Nicki came from. Roman is rich and powerful and is has been an enemy of Bill and his family for many years. Bill’s best friend and right hand man at work, Don Embry (Joel McKinnon Miller), a fellow polygamist, is dead set against taking on a gambling business but remains loyal to Bill. The wives demand a vote on the new business resulting in Barb against and Nicki in favor. This leaves the tie breaking vote to Margene who is not used to any power in the family. Nicki steals a large sum of money from her father and is caught in a power struggle between Roman and his psychopathic son Alby (Matt Ross). When Roman is shot by a rival faction Ably is there to have himself declared the new Profit.

Margene is going through a lot this season. She is pregnant and has wide mood swings. She also finds out that Bill has been dating another woman, a waitress named Ana (Branka Katic). Margene is overjoyed at the thought of a forth wife and befriends Ana in secret. Now Margene wants to be more than a wife only at home. She wants Bill to take out her in public, places that don’t know Barb, and introduce her as his wife. The turmoil of the Hendrickson households extends to Sarah. She starts to date a man she met in a polygamy recovery group. He is much older and more experienced that her which concerns Bill when he finds out. Also making Sarah’s life difficult is the appearance of Rhonda (Daveigh Chase) the manipulative 15 year old bride to be for Roman. Rhonda’s main goal is to get on TV as a polygamy survivor to boost her singing career.

This is the type of series that on paper may not seem to be interesting or perhaps interesting for the wrong reason. It defiantly demonstrates the down side of a polygamist relationship with the added pressures on every front. The stories are built slowly, paced to perfection. They give enough time for the audience to get to know and understand the huge cast of characters. Just trying to keep straight the family trees is more than the usual effort required for television. A lot of the situations that Bill and his families get into are in direct response to their marital arrangements, other such as teen rebellion, business rivalries and are common to most of us. True most married men are not allowed to date but for Bill this is more an interview process than anything else. In some ways this series can be counted as a night time soap opera. There are twists and turns in the numerous intersecting plot lines that any soap would love to have.

This is perhaps one of the finest casts ever assembled for a dramatic series. Almost all of them have made a mark on the big screen and help make every episode like a feature film. Bill Paxton gives his character an emotional depth that makes the audience care about what is going on in his life. He plays Bill as a deeply religious man who is convinced that he is worshiping God the way he should. While he wants to provide for his family if he can take down Roman that is just icing on the cake. This gives Bill a human side, one that plots against someone in his way. Jeanne Tripplehorn has a daunting task with her role as Barb. She shows the many sides a woman like this has to exhibit. She loves her husband and has come to truly love her sister wives but enough is enough she does not want to split her time with Bill more for a forth. Tripplehorn has the emotional control to show the audience that Barb is a real woman in an unusual circumstance but still one that can be identified with. Having come up from the fashion world’s ‘it’ girl to a former queen of the Indies Chloë Sevigny has a strong background in unusual roles. She does present Nicky as a bit of a brat, always the princess, daughter of the Profit but now just the number two wife. She plays Barb and Margene against one another for her own personal agenda. You have to just love the performance of Ginnifer Goodwin as Mergene. She is sweet, almost innocent and child like. This is contrasted by the information this season that she is also the most sexually adventurous of the three. She always means well and tries to do her best but is often lost amidst the plots and plans that surround her.

This second season release is excellent with incredibly robust audio and brilliant video. The video is in anamorphic 1.78:1 and has a great depth to the color palette. The Dolby 5.1 audio is realistic and gives the whole room the feeling of being there. If you are not a fan of this show yet but love well constructed television then get this. It is almost certain that you will wan the first season as well.

Posted 11/29/07