The Super Bowl and then the busy week of programming that followed it kept me from watching last week's "Big Love" until this weekend, when I watched it as a screener double feature with tonight's episode. Gotta say that the show at the moment is feeling way, way too busy for me, with Bill's idiotic political campaign on top of the casino problems, whatever JJ's up to, Alby, and tonight's return of several old characters. But since these posts are mainly an excuse for you folks to discuss your thoughts on each episode, I'll let you have at it in the comments.
19 comments:
I'm starting to think that Alby might be gay.
I've always thought about this show that there's a lot going on. I'm not sure if it's too much for me as a viewer, maybe, but more that I just can't stop thinking, how do these people DO all this stuff?
Anyway. They seemed to be taking some narrative shortcuts with everyone suddenly figuring out what was going on between Alby and the Trustee, through a combination of very loose evidence and, seemingly, intuition.
And you know, I'd really like to see a story about a religious homosexual that doesn't end in suicide.
Unless we're going to find out that Laura somehow killed him and made it look like a suicide, Jeremy Bentham-style.
And the girl Nikki has been inside all along was...Chloe Sevigny! Surprise! Seriously though I do love when Nikki goes into protective Mama mode. That scene was creepsville.
Questions about last week include...
A proposed law to try Lost Boys as adults? The political background of this show tends to be of the ripped from the headlines style, but how could you have a law requiring just minors involuntarily abandoned by only one particular community be tried as adults for all crimes they commit? I get that he wasn't really proposing the law in good faith, but still...that doesn't even make sense, unless I'm missing something.
Also...did Bill basically tell everyone he'd prostituted himself as a teen? I'd guess not, but...really, if someone in real life who was homeless as a teen said "I've done things for money that I'd like to forget," what would you think they meant?
Not a question, but...Tommy is cute.
Can anybody explain why Nicki showed up at the hotel dressed like a prostitute? Was her chain of thought really, "I should go to the hotel to stop my mom from getting sealed to my ex, but first, I should get tarted up to make a point?" Really?
@Derek-She's behaving like the rebellious teenager that she should have been 20 years ago, costume and all. She's struggling to find her identity, and she's realizing that the one her parents created for her certainly doesn't fit. Neither does the one Bill's created for her.
A proposed law to try Lost Boys as adults? The political background of this show tends to be of the ripped from the headlines style, but how could you have a law requiring just minors involuntarily abandoned by only one particular community be tried as adults for all crimes they commit? I get that he wasn't really proposing the law in good faith, but still...that doesn't even make sense, unless I'm missing something.
What I've been assuming is that the courts tend to treat Lost Boys with much more leniancy than other kids who commit crimes because of their background, and the proposed law would put a stop to that. That's the only scenario that made any sense to me.
As for this episode, it really didn't need Hollis Green and his creepy band of miscreants to come back. The show was busy enough as it is, why clutter it up even more?
I have to agree with Oskar, why bring Hollis and co. back into the picture?
Is this one of the only episodes that I've seen Frank and Lois get along fairly well?
Last week, the frenetic pace seem to have a connection, this week it was back to a mess, imho.
And also Ana is back and pregnant with Bill's child, conceived prior to their 48 hour seal?
All three wives are going through a crisis of some kind, made seemingly worse by Bill's doings.
J.J. remains beyond creepy and his scene with Adaleen made my stomach turn.
Lastly, I was upset but not shocked to see Dale had committed suicide. Once I saw Laura at the door of his home with his wife, I knew there was going to be lousy aftermath.
Christy, I see where you are coming from regarding regarding Dale's suicide but I suppose the point is in this day and age, within certain confines (I really do not want to point the finger at just the religious) some people believe and feel it is inherently wrong and those should be punished. I think it's ridiculous and unacceptable in this day and age that you can't be who you are (in some societies) but just look at what happened with Prop. 8 in California.
That was a crazy episode.
I always detested Ana, but that was mostly when she was being a big phony, simpering and trying to fit in and doing such a bad job of it, and not even intelligent enough to understand what she was getting herself into. Last night, I felt like she was finally being her real self and I liked her a lot better. It was pretty sleazy that she wants money from Bill while not wanting anything to do with the family AND having a fiance, but hey, she's an opportunist and always was.
And I thought it was quite hilarious when Barb, all crushed from finding out about the pre-marital sex, confronts Bill and he says, Hey, I've made some mistakes! Barb has cut him way to much slack over the years and needs to grow up and grow a pair. Oh, she can get indignant, all right, but she still keeps to her place in the Mormon hierarchy as Bill's inferior.
And Bill's plan to out them all as soon as he is elected is beyond ridiculous. What part of "Polygamy is against the law!" does he not understand?!?! He'll be booted out of office so fast it will make his head spin.
Looks like Ben is in some real danger....
And that was creepy about Cara Lynn being sealed (almost) to that troll! Yuck! The whole "sealing" thing and Joybook thing is so gross. Oh, and Nikki's mom, lying back on the bed, ready to be "consummated" (while fully dressed) by her daughter's creepy ex-husband? OMG..... But really it is an interesting change to see that even unattractive people have lust and have sex. Sex: it's not just for hotties! But oh, my. The thought of being touched anywhere by J.J. {{{SHIVER}}}}
@Trilby - Bill said in a previous episode that polygamy is a misdemeanor so he wouldn't be impeached for it. But honestly it's still an incredibly near-sighted/blind trajectory he's on if he thinks he'll get away with it.
I also feel pretty bad for the actor who plays JJ. Seems like he's always getting cast as the creepy psychologically abusive guy (Juliet's ex in Lost, one of the vampire dudes on True Blood). But if the shoe fits... he does that creepy menacing thing very well.
A proposed law to try Lost Boys as adults? .... how could you have a law requiring just minors involuntarily abandoned by only one particular community be tried as adults for all crimes they commit?
He would just propose a non-binding senate resolution expressing the will of the legislature that they be tried as adults. Purely symbolic, but the sort of red meat that you throw to the base.
Agree that these episodes have been too busy; my assumption is that when the show's order got cut to 9 episodes this season, the remaining four episodes worth of plot got crammed into these past two shows. "One Roof" in particular seemed to have some time line issues. Of course, seems the better proposition would be to leave things like Ana on the cutting room floor.
I actively disliked the second half of last week's show after thinking the first half was one of the better shows they've done. This week was back-and-forth: The Dale elements were good, as were the bits of business with the wives. The mass sealing at the motel was pretty horrifying. Bill looking to get his own "big house" was a nice touch.
But I feel like Bill's continuing descent into douchebaggery needs more room to breathe. They're also playing the Marylin subplot a little too closely to the Ralph Reed/Jack Abramoff scandal to not see what's happening a mile away.
I agree that the last few shows have been way, way too busy, but I like TL's comment that the writers may have planned to stretch these plotlines over a few more shows. Ben Koldyke's performance as Dale in this episode was really pretty remarkable.
i really don't get where they are going with the sissy spacek character. i'm not going to complain because i love seeing her acting chops at work, and because she gave us the first taste of some actual swear words on this show, but how is this all going to come together in the end?
i am also excited to see that they have given each of these women their own path very independent from bill. margene with vsn, barb with the casino, and nicky has really found a calling with saving her daughter. i wonder how those new focuses in their life will influence their decision of moving into The Big House (creepily reminiscent of the compound) with Bill.
one last thing - i was really glad to hear that one of these parents is finally admitting that they are worried about what this public outing will do to their kids.
i really don't get where they are going with the sissy spacek character.
Just a guess (although it was pretty well telegraphed in the last episode):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff_Indian_lobbying_scandal
The death of Alby's lover was a telegraphed punch if ever there was one. It was even filmed in an excessively obvious way, starting with the view of his foot, then the pan out to the swinging corpse, with Alby weeping below. It would have been so nice if that particular story line could have ended differently, for a change.
He would just propose a non-binding senate resolution expressing the will of the legislature that they be tried as adults. Purely symbolic, but the sort of red meat that you throw to the base.
I see. I've never heard of a candidate campaigning on a promise of a non-binding resolution. Seems like it would come off as toothless, even to his own base. But then again, he didn't win, so maybe that's the point.
As for the suicide, believe me, I haven't forgotten Prop 8 or any of the other pressures that gay folks face in this country. It's just that dangling feet at the end of an episode/movie featuring gay people in very conservative religions or communities is starting to get tiresome to me as a viewer. I know it's "realistic" in the sense that it happens, of course. But it doesn't happen to everyone. Most people struggle and then survive. That feeling that it would be naive to expect happy or at least not-devastating endings for repressed gay characters is starting to feel really outdated to me. I had that sense of foreboding this whole episode--uh oh, he's gay and Mormon and people are going to find out and he's freaking out about it. Something BAD's going to happen. I spent the whole episode hoping they wouldn't go the obvious way and they did. Again, unless Laura or someone else did it, I guess. But still.
And like a lot of the events on this show, especially this season, it felt rushed into as well. Like the Ben/Margene kiss. You can see them putting the pieces in place to justify the outcome, but it doesn't feel earned.
I see. I've never heard of a candidate campaigning on a promise of a non-binding resolution. Seems like it would come off as toothless...
Well, I should add that I'm just trying to come up with a plausible explanation for what he might do; TV writers don't often find themselves constrained by issues of separation of powers or equal protection when they have a plot point to hit! (See also the final episodes of "The Shield.")
i have read all the comments and feel like i must be stupid or something because i enjoyed both episodes very much and feel the show is proceeding along with major characters undergoing challenging forces. Barb's full force recognition that Bill is no saint!!!! powerful. Alby may be a sociopath but his grief was real and believable. Nicki telling her brother she loves him no matter what? Nicki "rescuing" her daughter like no one ever rescued her? Margene finding herself and standing up to her sister wives? For me these have been powerful and moving moments. Again, i feel i must have missed something big time or am not as sophisticated as all of you as I felt there was some great work being done here. Just my 2 cents....
Like a lot of people I missed last week's episode because of the Super Bowl and finally got caught up with the last two this morning.
TL, you put it better than anyone...."Bill's descent to douchbaggerry". I always tolerated Bill's manipulation of his wives but was really ticked off when he asked Don to take a bullet for him when the polygamy charges were being looked at. And his self righteousness and hypocrisy seems to have no end.
The Ben-Margene storylne, his subsequent banishment, the political campaign, the emergence of the Sissy Spacek character, the return of Anna and its ramifications, the casino plotline, Sarah and the abandoned baby, Frank and Lois and the bird smuggling operation, the zillion subplots involving the compound characters....are the writers of BIG LOVE required to submit a new subplot added to the existing ones per episode?
I commend the writers of the series for trying to keep the action as unpredictable as possible, but I too am feeling like there are too many plates being balanced in this juggling act. They are at a point now where its becoming a chore for the viewers to sit through an episode with out feeling mental weariness...and its failing the "clock test"- that is,how many times you check to see how much more time is left in an episode.
Sometimes "less is more"...which is why a small uncomplicated film like CRAZY HEART is proving with its box office success.
Actually, heleneharris, I did like all the same things you did about the episode. I guess I forget to say the things I like sometimes when I have so many questions and criticisms as well. But I really do love what this show does, over all, which is probably the same reason I'm hard on it sometimes.
And I've never really "liked" Bill in any sense of the word, and certainly have never approved of how he acted in...well, any realm of his life. Honestly I don't see how anyone could. But it's all part of what kind of life this family is living, and all the fascinating things that go with it. I have had a few moments of feeling sad for Bill, like in the excellent "Come Ye Saints" and even to a certain extent this episode, but I've never really cared whether I liked him or not. I know I'm not going to agree with his decisions, so that kind of frees me up to just watch where they lead instead.
Just a quick observation: the huge house/compound that Bill shows to the wives at the end of the episode is supposed to be the "campaign headquarters," right? So, despite all his rhetoric about living "out in the open," it's all a big sham. He's using political campaign funds (or at least tax write-offs) to pay for his home. Who's not going to see through that?
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