I started watching BIG LOVE after Chloe Sevigny won her Golden Globe earlier this year and i was instantly hooked to the drama, intrigue and suspense, yet normalcy of the Henricksons. And Sunday night’s 4th season finale was no exception. As someone who thought the whole show would be too weird and wrong to watch, since it’s about the very provocative subject of polygamy, I now find BIG LOVE one of my guilty pleasure can’t-miss shows of the week.
The element that keeps me watching is the characters. As the audience, you end up having such conflicting feelings for each character. You love them and hate them, all in the same episode. This season, we really see a significant change within the three wives, as they grow and become much less dependent on Bill. Barb, his first wife, actually ends the season off by telling Bill, “I don’t think I need you anymore”, leaving the audience wondering if she’ll even stay within the dysfunctional family. As the audience knows, Barb has always been the most divided on Polygamy, and we always get the sense she’s in the marriage primarily because of her love for Bill, and finally, she admits she wants a different life than the one they’re living. Even the staunchly Polygamist Nicki confesses she may no longer want to share Bill, and Margene, so preoccupied with her conflicting attractions to various other men and her business, seems indifferent.
Bill himself has become so flawed as a character, the audience is left with very little faith in his beliefs. He seems to be acting now, out of selfish power-hunger, and not for the good of his family, that he consistently preaches. And with his extramarital pregnancy (baby conceived before the woman became his fourth wife) , we’re left wondering if this ‘Principle of Plural Marriage’ that they live by, is just an excuse for Bill to sleep with various women. This couldn’t come at a more appropriate time, with the whole Tiger Woods debacle.
Also, hats off to Sissy Spacek for playing the role of conniving political lawyer wonderfully. As someone who is obsessed as they come to Gangster and Crime-related shows and movies, like THE SOPRANOS, I’m used to quite a bit of swearing, but I must admit, BIG LOVE has sensitized me so much so that, I found it refreshingly shocking when Spacek would open her mouth and F-Bombs would drop. So unlike the hilarious Mormon-friendly swearing like “What the H?”
At only 9 episodes, this season was way too short, and they tried to cram as much storyline into the short season as possible, with their trip to Mexico, the opening of the Reservation Casino, and Bill running for office. So gripping and twisted that I can’t imagine what craziness will come next.
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