Big Love , the HBO series about a suburban polygamist family in Utah, is nearing the (cue HBO guy’s sonorous voice) EXCITING CONCLUSION of its second season.
I wasn’t too, too interested when the show started, and was a little put off by what I’d read about it – articles telling me that the show’s creators – a gay couple – chose the subject in part to expand America’s mind on the matter of marriage.
Whatever.
I don’t think I saw every episode the first season, and wasn’t committed to it, so probably only half paid attention to what I was watching anyway, but I’ve paid much more attention this season, and despite my regular annoyances, which I’ll share in a moment…as the EXCITING CONCLUSION approaches…I’m pretty hooked. Last night’s episode, as far as I’m concerned, was one of the best.
Setting the stage briefly. Bill Hendrickson is the owner of a large Home Depot-like store in Utah, an enterprise that has been so successful he has expanded to two stores at this point. He grew up on Juniper Creek, a large outlaw polygamist community, but was kicked off. (see Jennifer’s helpful comment below for the explanation. That’s what I get for not watching carefully.). He married Barb, a Mormon, about twenty years ago or so, and about 8 years ago (I’m judging from the ages of the children), he re-embraced “The Principle” of plural marriage and took on Nikki, a daughter of Roman Grant, the Juniper Creek prophet (the reasons for which I really don’t get – the reasons he married Nikki, that is), and then a few years later, Margene, a much younger woman he met working in one of his stores. I think there are 7 children so far, ranging from teens to toddlers, and Margene is now pregnant.
There are two main storylines: first the lives of the Hendricksons. Up to the past couple of episodes, the weight of that storyline has been on the threat of exposure of their life to the outside world, but the emphasis has finally shifted recently, in what I’ve been waiting for, and the ommision of which has been, to me, a flaw in the program – the dynamics of power within the family, between the “Sister Wives” themselves and between them and Bill. The cracks are finally appearing – the cracks of competition, a bit of jealousy, of a sense of loss, and of the price and true face of this expression of patriarchy. Last night, the teen daughter – the fruit of Bill’s first marriage – in a conflict with her mother says something like, “If you ask me, what we have here isn’t different from the compound at all” – “The compound” being Juniper Creek, the land of crazies and women whose lives are given over to patriarchal whims and desires.
The other major story line involves Juniper Creek itself and the power struggles within that compound, as well as between the outlaw polygamists, the government and other outlaw polygamist groups.
Lest you think this is all very out-there and fantastic, you might take a look at the Salt Lake City Tribune’s “Polygamy” section (which includes a blog by their reporter on the beat), and you’ll see how well the show’s producer’s have done their research – much of the Juniper Creek stuff is inspired by events related to various polygamous groups, and there are, indeed, suburban families in plural marriages who see “living the Principle” as their religious (and civil) right.
The acting on the show is consistently great, the unfortunate exception being the male lead, Bill Paxton, who has all the emotion of a Bryce Canyon rock formation. Less. Yeah, he’s supposed to be stoic, I suppose, but Paxton is really awful – although anyone who saw Twister ten years ago would know that, you’d think.
But the others, from each of the wives, to Mary Kay Place as Roman’s wife and Nikki’s mother, to Bill’s hapless, failed football-player brother who really didn’t want to take a second wife, but is anyway, reluctantly,  to the one who makes the show and just cannot be dead – Harry Dean Stanton as Roman himself – are quite good. It’s taken a while, but the characters are really fleshing out, really coming into their own.
One of the criticisms I’d read about the first season was that the religious element wasn’t really clear, and that the producers made an effort to make that more explicit this season, which they have.  There are discussions about the relationship about what the Hendricksons do and mainstream Mormonism, deeper discussions of “the Principle,” more sense of the spirituality of various characters – although not all, and it doesn’t go very deep – it still seems rather superficial, although we have seen Barb, the first wife, pray this season, and last night, in the midst of a discussion of Bill’s rather insane decision to involve himself in sales of video poker machines,  she had a great line in which she said something to Bill like, “You need to remember that there’s another Patriarch above you, and his name is our Heavenly Father.”
So, as I said, I’m slowly enjoying this show more – the characterizations are getting more interesting, the exploration of this world of ex-LDS plural marriage is getting more interesting and detailed, and stuff is starting to boil and brew and potentially blow up, which is always entertaining to watch.
And oh, Bill…good move. Taking compulsive spender Nikki into a casino when you’re trying to convince the wives to get on board with the whole poker machine thing.  That’s going to turn out well.