Big Love Season Two

[MigratingOsprey]

i also loved the speech pattern of hollis - even when he was lauding bill for his partnership, it was classic

also when he made the demands for all his assets to be turned over - just the deliver is great

also referring to selma as his brother was a neat little bit

 

[Gaddabout]

Spoiler

I don't think Roman's dead. I think the writers just wanted to turn Albie loose to crank up the heat at the end of the season. We get to find out what he's been doing this season, and why he was spying on Bill and the family.

Like always, the dynamics between Bill's wives and Bill is always the most interesting element of the show. They really needed to show the tension at DefCon 1 to make it more realistic, and they waited until Bill's manhood was in a vice at work. Cruel and unusual punishment ... but makes for great TV!

 

[AZCB34]

Best. Episode. Ever.

Absolutely.

I don't know how to do the spoiler thing on here...the plot lines are really getting deeper and deeper without going off the deep end as it were.

 

[Gaddabout]

I don't know how to do the spoiler thing on here.

Beginning bracket ["spoiler"]; your text; end bracket ["/spoiler"].

Remove the quotes from inside the brackets and you'll have your tags to do spoiler hides.

 

[AZCB34]

Spoiler

No way Roman is dead. They would not kill off the perfect antagonist for Bill...Albie is just too out there.

I liked the storyline with Ben although I felt the way his realtionship ended was a bit...I dunno...too forced?

Bill getting ganged up on the by the wives...gotta be his worst nightmare.

It was refreshing to hear Barb discuss her view on her relationship with Bill/the other wives. I would love a look back at her going through the issues when Nikki came aboard...which was why I was interested in the Ana storyline.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

As creepy as Roman is, Harry Dean Stanton continues to turn in remarkable performances and somehow manages to give the character a smidge of empathetic value. I don't know how he does it, but I always end up viewing Roman as more complicated that pure evil, which is exactly what they character deserves. Has he won any awards for this role yet? Seriously, he gets my vote for some kind of supporting actor award.

this is a great post. i totally agree. it's weird. you want to hate roman, but as creepy as he is, there is something there that makes you want to dig deeper. the odder thing is, i don't think he's genuine in thinking he's the prophet, but there's something else that's deeper, and yeah, it is a type of empathetic value that just escapes me.

now THIS past episode . . . HOLY CRAPTASTIC of an ending!!!

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

you know, when this show first started i was intrigued but figured it was a chick flick or just another drama and thus not for me. and now i just realized that despite the fact that the concepts are sexier with entourage (stars, women, partying), john from cincinnati (surfing culture and the supernatural), and flight of the concords (music and humor), i actually think i look forward to big love most of all of them. that speaks volumes for the writing and acting. this realization actually shocked me.

 

[Mulli]

Spoiler

loved that episode. What Barb did to Brynn, the girlfriend was great. Ben saying, "She is the one for now. If their is another one, I'll just get a second wife" was an excellent line.

Question: How did Eddie get the 1.2 million? That didn't make sense to me.

 

[Heucrazy]

Spoiler

loved that episode. What Barb did to Brynn, the girlfriend was great. Ben saying, "She is the one for now. If their is another one, I'll just get a second wife" was an excellent line.

Question: How did Eddie get the 1.2 million? That didn't make sense to me.

Spoiler

Barb cheap shotted Ben by talking to Brynn IMO. And Eddie got the 1.2 mil by stealing it. I'm guessing embezelment, but they never did get into specifics.

Nikki is going to freaking lose it after her dad got shot. And boo that because it means more Albie now and Albie is even creepier than Roman.

 

[Mulli]

Spoiler

Barb cheap shotted Ben by talking to Brynn IMO. And Eddie got the 1.2 mil by stealing it. I'm guessing embezelment, but they never did get into specifics.

Nikki is going to freaking lose it after her dad got shot. And boo that because it means more Albie now and Albie is even creepier than Roman.

Spoiler

Bill's mom said Eddie got it from a sick woman who was supposed to be dead, but isn't. Some sort of inheritance or something. What choice did Barb have? Ben is a messed up, but typical teenage boy. I really love how this show shows how the principle affects the kids.

 

[Gaddabout]

Spoiler

Bill's mom said Eddie got it from a sick woman who was supposed to be dead, but isn't. Some sort of inheritance or something. What choice did Barb have? Ben is a messed up, but typical teenage boy. I really love how this show shows how the principle affects the kids.

Spoiler

Ben's storyline was necessary to show these polygamists are different than those other polygamists you here about. Ben's family takes their practice seriously. To Bill and his wives, it's not about satisfying a whim.

 

[AZCB34]

Spoiler

Ben's storyline was necessary to show these polygamists are different than those other polygamists you here about. Ben's family takes their practice seriously. To Bill and his wives, it's not about satisfying a whim.

Spoiler

I disagree. I think there is alot of conflict with the polygamist lifestyle for both Barb and Bill. I really question if Bill truly thought he would become a polygamist but kind of ended up there unexpectedly. I believe they want a better life for Ben and that is a life that doesn't include polygamy...clearly I would say Barb wants that and I think Bill does too although he would accept Ben going the polygamy route alot more than Barb would.

 

[AZCB34]

Are we using this spoiler function too much? Isn't the very fact there is discussion in a thread like this enough for people to know there would be spoilers in it?

 

[Gaddabout]

Are we using this spoiler function too much? Isn't the very fact there is discussion in a thread like this enough for people to know there would be spoilers in it?

Spoiler

No.

Back to the Barb/Bill/Ben fiasco ...

Spoiler

I'll agree with Barb. That one's been obvious, and they've really cranked up her frustration over it in recent episodes.

Bill I'm less convinced of. This whole idea of the gambling machines has been about Bill wanting something so profitable as to make his family bullet proof from prosecution. I felt the end of the most recent episode, with Bill passing on the Aaronic priesthood to Ben, was Bill's way of reinforcing his faith with Ben. Bill's problem is how Ben went about the courtship ... Bill has already shown the rest of us how he thinks a courtship should go.

 

[Ryanwb]

I'd love to kick that Albie guys butt from here to Reno

 

[Gaddabout]

I'd love to kick that Albie guys butt from here to Reno

Spoiler

This show has it's own codified sense of justice. You can almost smell Albie's day of reckoning coming, which makes his whole power move more enjoyable. He's a bumbler and a usurper, not even close to being a politician like his father.

OTOH, it's becoming harder and harder to root for Bill. He's become nearly as good as those on the compound as justifying his own selfishness. If Barb left now, I'd consider it righteous and I don't know if there'd be anyone else left to be the moral conscience.

I'm very interested where they're going with all of this. The whole show is losing a lot of moral high ground the closer Bill gets to completing this gambling deal. If Bill's just another polygamist profiteer who preaches piety while playing by the rules of the world, what point are they trying to make with this story? They've really lost their way in trying to make social commentary on the traditional American marriage.

 

[Mulli]

Gaddabout, why do they have to be trying to make a point with the story? While I agree that Bill is as bad as all the other he battles with, Barb was a big bee-yatch this last episode.



Anyways, is this show coming back for a third season?

 

[Gaddabout]

Gaddabout, why do they have to be trying to make a point with the story?

Because writers of this caliber aren't just storytellers. The stories don't flow if there are no parallels to something the rest of us can relate to.

Think of it like being a white man trying to write a story for a black man. I don't know the culture, and I would be embarrassed if I tried to write as if I did. But I could write a story about a character I relate to that happens to be black.

I feel the same way as a viewer. There are two reasons people watch anything, whether it be TV, movies, plays, or random people at the airport: catharsis and voyeurism. This show doesn't have a strong voyeurism element.

 

[Mulli]

Because writers of this caliber aren't just storytellers. The stories don't flow if there are no parallels to something the rest of us can relate to.

Think of it like being a white man trying to write a story for a black man. I don't know the culture, and I would be embarrassed if I tried to write as if I did. But I could write a story about a character I relate to that happens to be black.

I feel the same way as a viewer. There are two reasons people watch anything, whether it be TV, movies, plays, or random people at the airport: catharsis and voyeurism. This show doesn't have a strong voyeurism element.

Interesting.

 

[D-Dogg]

This show doesn't have a strong voyeurism element.

I disagree...I am attracted to the voyeuristic aspect of this show.

 

[Gaddabout]

I disagree...I am attracted to the voyeuristic aspect of this show.

I'm betting if this show had been centered around high-profile (and may I suggest more typical) polygamists like Warren Jeffs, you wouldn't say that. Who could relate to that? But there would be a strong voyeuristic element to it because who isn't baffled by that kind of culture? Instead they create Joe Blow from the suburbs who happens to have three wives and some pretty normal kids. For me, anyway, catharsis drives the show. They downplay the compound mentality so we don't get freaked out and turned off by the characters.

 

[D-Dogg]

I'm betting if this show had been centered around high-profile (and may I suggest more typical) polygamists like Warren Jeffs, you wouldn't say that. Who could relate to that? But there would be a strong voyeuristic element to it because who isn't baffled by that kind of culture? Instead they create Joe Blow from the suburbs who happens to have three wives and some pretty normal kids. For me, anyway, catharsis drives the show. They downplay the compound mentality so we don't get freaked out and turned off by the characters.

I think it actually rides a line between the two ideas you mention. It surely paints a different color on polygamy than you originally think of (and I actually have no problem with this kind of polygamy...if someone is that stupid to do it more power, I guess). But I still feel the voyeur aspect of this show...the lifestyle is so bizarre and there are the myriad of compound connections. We ride along there in the truck, but see it also through Nicki's eyes.

I think it is an incredibly well-written show and provokes thought without directly doing so (example: Nicki's stated nature of marriage..."how can one survive on love alone?").

 

[AZCB34]

At some point before the season is done, Bill will have refound the moral high ground IMO. I guess he has lost his waqy but will eventually find his way back to righteousness. The question is, will his family implode before he gets back to that righteousness?

 

[Gaddabout]

At some point before the season is done, Bill will have refound the moral high ground IMO. I guess he has lost his waqy but will eventually find his way back to righteousness. The question is, will his family implode before he gets back to that righteousness?

His only recourse at this point is to kick it back to the compound, but I don't see how that's going to win back points with his family.

 

[AZCB34]

His only recourse at this point is to kick it back to the compound, but I don't see how that's going to win back points with his family.

I don't think that is his ONLY recourse...although at this point it would certainly seem like that would be the only way. I think this gaming company thing will be gone in the next few episodes and I think the fact Nikki did what she did at the end of the most recent episode and what she then does this week will be the catalyst for Bill to remember where he came from, what type of person he was and what type of person he wants to be.

There is no way ANY of his wives would willingly go to the compound...even the subservient Nikki.