Big Love - General Discussion

[FormerMod-a1]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from Big Love.

[susyg]

Hi,

I just discovered this show and am watching it on Amazon Prime. The first season is great. Anyone want to talk about it?

[RedheadZombie]

It's also been re-airing M-F on HBO.  I requested this forum and I'm really excited to talk to other viewers.

[RealityCowgirl]

It's also been re-airing M-F on HBO.  I requested this forum and I'm really excited to talk to other viewers.

Watching that round as well. While the "Green"/casino period isn't my favorite, I'm reminded why I loved this show in the first place: the characterizations. Frankly, the ony one I couldn't stand was Bill. Even the nuttier characters were written so brilliantly, I couldn't help being entertained by them. Great writing - at least compared to the dreck available elsewhere (then and now).

[RealityCowgirl]

I wrote in the all-episodes discussion that I couldn't stand Bill. I realize that that's a vast oversimplification. (I also realize that I spend far too much time and mental energy thinking about TV characters, real and fictitious. But that's another issue...)

I turned to Sister Wives largely to see what a "real life" polygamous family is like after following this show. Until I discovered the early-evening HBO airing two or three weeks ago, I hadn't seen "Big Love" since it went off the air. As I rewatch today, I find myself having more context for understanding Bill. Still don't like him. But I have a new appreciation for how he was written after watching Kody and the other polygamous clowns who have graced my TV screen recently. I see bits of each of them in this character.

I always assumed that the writers knew exactly what they were doing with this key character, and that my response was one of several they would have found totally in line with that writing. It's interesting to see how they conveyed that unearned sense of entitlement/power (and frequent cluelessness about exactly what was going on around him) that we see in these actual polygamous men.

Edited June 26, 2014 by RealityCowgirl

[RedheadZombie]

I actually like Bill.  I like the background of his grandfather being prophet of Juniper Creek (and probably murdered by Roman Grant), and then being cast off at age sixteen as a "Lost Boy".  I think the writers researched scrupulously.  The inter-mixing of those born to the principle and those converted fascinates me.  I loved how they portrayed Bill overwhelmed enough to turn to Viagra, and actually asking for one night off from the wives' a week - Barb refused, then granted him two days a month off.

 

I think he's a conflicted man, but honestly tries to do the right thing by his faith.  He has the conflicted relationship with younger brother Joey, who is a former football player, alcoholic, and sweet guy but weak.  Bill's father is almost evil, and his mother Lois is the coolest character on the show.  I found myself amazed at what Bill accomplished coming from a cluster fuck of a family and background.  I love those moments when Bill is sucked back into the Juniper Creek drama, for instance when the Greens got his parents and Ben in Mexico.  Bill knows he came from a twisted and corrupt background, and tries to keep his family away from that corruption.

 

Bill is not perfect, by any means - and I'm glad.  I did not like his storyline with Anna.  He knew his religion would not have approved of having sex with her outside marriage.  He kept her a secret because he knew he was not handling the situation right.  And his foray into Weber Gaming - he knows that gambling is wrong, but was looking for a bit of vengeance against Roman, and also was allowing himself to fear for the long game in protecting his family financially.  Bill was also driven by anger and vengeance when he allowed Roman to hide in Nicki's house after he was shot.  Bill usually recognizes and acknowledges his short comings.

 

Something that I wish the show would have handled more in depth - Bill's sister.  She died somehow, and I've never been clear on it.  I remember a phone conversation between Lois and Bill, and Bill maybe thinking Lois was unaffected by the loss, but Lois was too overwhelmed by emotion to even speak on the phone with Bill about her.

 

One of my favorite Bill moments:  Joey is in jail for poisoning Albie (even though Wanda did it).  Lois has attempted to manipulate Wanda into taking Lois' gun and shooting someone (Albie?) at the courthouse.  Wanda takes Lois' gun, puts in the baby carrier with Baby Joey, takes it into the courthouse, and shoves it at Bill, telling him Lois was going to kill someone.  Bill's reaction was absolutely slap stick and he ends up dumping it in the trash.  Bill Paxton does humor and drama equally well.  I also really like the scene where Margie convinces him that Nicki wants him to perform oral sex on her, and when he attempts, Nicki starts slapping him over the head.

[RedheadZombie]

I didn't appreciate Barb so much on the first go round.  On my second viewings of the show I'm appreciating her a lot more.  She agreed to the principle because she was unable to have more children.  Maybe Bill coerced her, maybe not.  She does right by her family, and typically puts others before her.  She has a true love and appreciation of her sister wives, and I think she works hard at avoiding the manipulation that's inherent to women in polygamy.

 

I've seen several times where Nicki steps in on Barb disciplining her own children, and she tolerates it pretty well.  I loved the scene where Nicki caught Ben sneaking into the house.  Ben is bitter and lashing out at his mother and saying he wants to be a polygamist, and Nicki reaches out and twists his ear and tells him to stop torturing his mother.  Barb doesn't believe in physical discipline, but she doesn't reprimand Nicki in front of Ben.

 

Barb knows she's head and shoulders smarter than Marge, and ten times more emotionally healthy than Nicki, but she rarely pointed these facts out to them.

Edited June 27, 2014 by RedheadZombie

[Lillybee]

I watch this show because I am fascinated with the extreme versions of Christianity of things like the Duggars. I am frightened that these things exist in the real world.

[ub40fan]

How did Bill and Barb get to know Nicki and Margene to begin with?  How did they all get together?  I'm just now watching for the first time and trying to catch up.

[Avaleigh]

I DVR'd the episodes of season 3 that they reaired on HBO and was reminded that this was easily my favorite season of the show. It was really exciting and I felt like everything really came together or hit the fan. We got a lot of pay off in that season, so you new viewers who are just getting into the show have a lot to look forward to.

Season 4...it's true that it's a letdown and particularly absurd in terms of plotlines, but the performances were still top notch and I still felt there were compelling scenes in every episode.

As far as the first season, one of the things that I liked was the that we had another polygamist family living in the suburbs to compare with the Henricksons and we didn't really have that after the first season.

Margene to me was very likeable in the first season. Nicki was awful then IIRC. I think I disliked/hated Nicki most during seasons 1 and 5. In season 3 she was easily my favorite.

Barb breaks my heart in every season but there was something particularly heart wrenching about the conversation she has with Bill when she says to him "I feel robbed. Like they've stolen you from me." Sad.

ETA

They met Margene because she started working at Home Plus. Bill was attracted to her and she says she wasn't good at her Home Plus job (people were always yelling at her apparently) so Bill brought her home to be the babysitter. This is slightly retconned in the fifth season but it's still basically the gist.

Nicki grew up on the compound so Lois has always known her. Plus Nicki mentions something about remembering how Bill had a "light" about him when she was a little girl, so she seems to have known him or at least known of him well before she came to the Henricksons to nurse Barb.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Avaleigh

[RedheadZombie]

How did Bill and Barb get to know Nicki and Margene to begin with? How did they all get together? I'm just now watching for the first time and trying to catch up.

Here's something that may help you - If you go to YouTube, there are three Big Love: In the Beginning episodes that are five minutes long. The first is Barb visiting with Nicki in the hospital after her first baby is born. The second is when Bill brought Margene home as the babysitter. The third is when they all lived in the same house, and the wives tell Bill they want their own houses. There's also a small clip called Catch up on Seasons 1-4.

[Lillybee]

It was said on the show that Bill really married Nicki to get a loan to start up his Home Plus store. Sad but I think that it may be true.

[Lillybee]

I may be weird but I kinda like the way Nicki dresses,

[RedheadZombie]

It was said on the show that Bill really married Nicki to get a loan to start up his Home Plus store. Sad but I think that it may be true.

Do you remember the episode? I don't remember that. I believe Bill married Nicki for the principle, and chose her because she did a good job of caring for Barb. I think the show has always maintained that Barb only agreed to the lifestyle after she was unable to have more children.

If it's true that Bill married her for that reason, I don't think Nicki would be hurt. She believes in marrying for the principle, and once stated marrying for love would frighten her, because what would keep the couple together if that love fades.

I do think Bill and Nicki have a deep connection because they share such a damaging childhood. They get each other in ways the others can't. The same is true of Nicki and Albie. I won't spoil it in case someone hasn't seen the last season, but Nicki basically tells Albie they are broken or damaged because of their childhood. It was a moving scene because they finally showed there is love between the two of them.

Edited July 5, 2014 by RedheadZombie

[Red Fields]

Me, too. She is my favorite character on the show.

[Avaleigh]

In maybe the fourth or fifth episode of the first season Alby throws it in Nicki's face that Bill married her only to get a loan from Roman and he acts surprised that she didn't know this. He goes on to call her collateral and Nicki looks hurt but doesn't address the matter again in that conversation.

It's hinted at again by Bill, Barb, and Roman at various points so it does seem that something of the sort took place. Nicki also asks Bill indirectly about whether or not he actually loved her when he married her and seems insecure about his answer and the implication is that she's thinking about how her father helped secure her marriage since they're at the compound during this scene and Roman's presence is especially felt. Bill claims that he loved her but I've always been fairly skeptical as to whether or not this is true.

[Avaleigh]

Nicki's storyline during the third season is riveting (if totally unrealistic) but there was one moment that was so hard for me to understand no matter how I spin it in my head.

Pushing her father down the stairs and not hiding the fact that she did it so that all of the horrible choices and sacrifices she made were for nothing. She shouldn't have helped him in the first place but going with the idea that she's been brainwashed since birth, maybe we can give her a pass for getting involved in the first place. But then she hears Kathy's true and horrifying story, she sees that she was put in the joy book, she's hurt, she's in the perfect position to help put her father away and gain sympathy from the man she's crushing on, but she chooses to side with and help her father instead. So after all of that she pushes him down the stairs, doesn't hide the fact that she did it, then actually expects loyalty from him a couple of episodes later knowing perfectly well what sort of person he is.

I guess all of the contradictions are what made Nicki such a great character but this was a moment that wash hard for me to understand. Similarly, I never really understood all her waffling back and forth about having another baby and or having extra nights especially in the later seasons. Suddenly in the fourth season she wants one so much that she's willing to go to the Big Bad JJ's son's clinic?

[Lillybee]

It may just be me, but I think that Bill is a selfish bastard. He wants what he wants when he wants it and doesn't seem to care who he hurts to get what he wants.

[Avaleigh]

Haha, Lilybee, I feel like you described almost everyone on the show with the possible exception of Joey.

It may just be me, but I think that Bill is a selfish bastard. He wants what he wants when he wants it and doesn't seem to care who he hurts to get what he wants.

Haha, Lilybee, I feel like you described almost everyone on the show with the possible exceptions of Joey and Heather. Edited July 9, 2014 by Avaleigh

[Lillybee]

I am watching season 3 now and I noticed that Albie's wives are now wearing almost the same dresses that were worn in Warren Jeffs compound. I wonder if that was deliberate.

[RedheadZombie]

I am watching season 3 now and I noticed that Albie's wives are now wearing almost the same dresses that were worn in Warren Jeffs compound. I wonder if that was deliberate.

 

Oh I think it's very deliberate.  They make it clear that Roman is corrupt, and Albie and his mother lie about Albie being the new prophet when Roman was shot.  They also tried Roman for accessory to rape (I think) and that's the charge they convicted Jeffs on.  They also talk about wives and children being reassigned as punishment like Jeffs did.  I think the "Joy Book" came straight from Jeffs as well.

[Lillybee]

Albie is a horrible person but I feel so bad for him. It must be horrible to be secretly gay in that type of society.

[larapu2000]

I finally finished a marathon viewing of the show from start to finish, and I have some thoughts and questions to share:

 

-Bill's mother is one of the greatest characters ever created.  Every moment Grace Zabriskie is on screen, I know I'm going to enjoy that moment.  Sheer awesome nuttiness.

 

-Jesse Pinkman and Amanda Seyfried made an adorable couple (albeit age inappropriate, and YES, I was mad at her for not having college plans, too).  That pregnancy storyline was gut wrenching and wonderful in so many ways (at least in my opinion).  It was refreshing to see an outright refusal to consider abortion, which is rare to almost non-existent in TV and movies.

 

-As someone that's not as familiar with Mormons and their beliefs, I found all of the little Mormon details like no coffee/caffeine, drinking milk, etc, really fascinating and was amazed that it appeared the show took great care to get right.  It wasn't done in outright or obvious ways, either.  

 

-If Bill wanted to stay far, far away from the compound, how did Nicki even come to care for Barb during her illness?  Was it through Joey/Wanda?  I get that he might have married her to get the loan for Home Plus, but it's never really established why she was around to begin with-or why Barb would have been okay with a compound lady taking care of her.

 

-Did I miss something-why did Joey stay behind in Mexico?  I would have liked to have learned what happened to him and Wanda.  I loved the actor and his sad eyes.  

 

-The only main character I found remotely likeable was Margene.  Bill was a selfish, stubborn asshole, Barb was a condescending control freak, and there are no words to describe Nicki.  How in the world she didn't get slapped or punched in the face every episode is beyond me, and how she was never held accountable for ANYTHING defies explanation.  They all had their moments where I liked them or perhaps sympathized, but Margene is the the only one that went out of her way to give to others and accommodate the wishes of the other wives.  She yielded way to much way too often, but better a fool than an asshole, in my opinion.

 

-I thought Alby's reaction to his lover committing suicide was the most gut wrenching moment of the show.  So horrible on so many levels.

 

-Bill is the worst negotiator/manipulator/businessman ever created.  His smug arrogance should have gotten him murdered sometime around the beginning of the second season.

 

-Rhonda was by far the greatest villain on the show.  Ha ha, seriously.  Better than even creepy Roman (brilliantly played by Harry Dean Stanton-loved  his performance).  I was kind of scared shitless every time she turned up, because you knew something horrible was about to happen.

 

-I thought the "Nicki had a daughter that no one ever mentioned" was a bit ludicrous, but I liked Cara Lynn and thought that character helped develop Nicki more, but it made no sense that no one would have kept that secret from Bill for long, especially to use as a weapon.

 

-I'm glad Bill died.  It was like his death freed everyone in his life.

[larapu2000]

Something that I wish the show would have handled more in depth - Bill's sister.  She died somehow, and I've never been clear on it.  I remember a phone conversation between Lois and Bill, and Bill maybe thinking Lois was unaffected by the loss, but Lois was too overwhelmed by emotion to even speak on the phone with Bill about her.

 

It seemed to me that she committed suicide because she was so unhappy with her life.  That was the impression I got.  And that perhaps Lois felt responsible because Frank was responsible for it.

[blubld43]

My favorite actor on this show was undoubtedly Bruce Dern!  Loved his portrayal of the Dad who really just doesn't give a shit.

[ub40fan]

Harry Dean Stanton and Bruce Dern were always my favorite male characters.  They both do crazy really well.

[Avaleigh]

I just saw the episode where Margene talks about how she was procured by Barb and it just made me hate the character of Margene and the writers all over again for this retconned nonsense. The worst part was when Margene tried to act like Barb was the one to recruit Ana when it was Margene who originally forced the issue. Barb and Nicki were both against the idea of Bill dating Ana but Margene was the one to insist. When Barb said no Margene told her to her face that she wanted Bill to date Ana and it was obvious that she didn't care how much this upset Barb or Nicki. Fast forward to Barb's second cancer scare and her fears of dying and leaving her children and she decided it would be better to embrace Ana as opposed to fighting it. Once she got to know Ana she realized that she liked her and that Ana made her feel better about her own choices wrt the principle. The way Margene made it seem like Barb went after Ana simply so that she could have a friend was actually what Margene did and it frustrated me no end that none of the other spouses bothered to point this out.

 

I also really disliked the storyline with Greg and Cara Lynn. It made so little sense and I felt like I didn't understand the motivation for either character.

[Phoebe70]

Yes!  I did not like the Ana episodes at all.  I don't think she had chemistry with any of them, with the exception of Margene.  The episode where she moves in, and subsequently leaves, didn't seem believable to me.  How did they not discuss with her that they pool their finances together, or that Bill makes the decisions?  It just seems like these are basic principles they would discuss with her before their "marriage."

[ub40fan]

I just have to say that while I loved the first several seasons of the show, Barb's spiritual quest and Margene's juice selling bored me silly.  I wanted more Roman and Frank and Alby and Rhonda...the juicy stuff.  I know this will tick someone off out there, but I think people who make decisions based on religious dogma are out of their minds.  Look how nuts Bill got whenever he thought his family was being threatened...it turned him into a religious tyrant.

[rungirl911]

Just started to re-watch last night but had to turn it off (fiancé doesn't like to "rewatch" like I do) so I will restart tonight.    stopped it right on Bill jumping into bed with Margene after the family dinner.

Can't wait to watch it straight through! 

[ghoulina]

I started watching this show years ago, but never finished. Now that it's free on Amazon Prime, I'm rewatching on my Kindle. Can I just ask, why one earth is Margene always working in the back yard in her little denim skirts??? 

[lachesis]

I saw the first season when it aired and am now catching up on the rest of the seasons on amazon prime. Almost finished with season three... I've really had to power through this season. It seems like every character is insufferable and grating... I did like Nicki when she was working at the courthouse. She seemed less rigid and so pretty in her work clothes!

[Avaleigh]

Season three Nicki was easiy my favorite. She was there for Sarah in terms of comforting her and she was sensitive enough to not out her to Bill and Barb after she caught her having sex with Scott. I enjoyed her flirtation with Ray Henry and felt terrible for her even while understanding that it was only right and good to end it that way. I loved the scene of her drinking and bowling with Ana. I remember feeling desperately sorry for her upon getting confirmation that she'd been married before Bill and that she was just fifteen when it happened. When JJ cconfronts Nicki about whether or not she wants to see Cara Lynn again after so long- -Nicki's head shake and and drive back to the house--so moving and sad.

[Clemency]

I agree, very unrealistic!  And I really liked Ana, too.  I liked the idea of her being a 4th wife--I didn't think she'd last for the duration, but the way she decided to marry them and then instantly freaked out about their lifestyle (which she should have been well aware of by that point) was just so unbelievable.

[crgirl412]

I got through all of S1 and all but the last 2 episodes of S2 while at my sister's and got to use her Kindle. 

 

I'm glad that I found that there is a forum on here for it!  I'm sad because I'm sure that TWOP (RIP) had a really active one that I could've gotten all caught up on!! :(

[crgirl412]

Bill Paxton, as an actor in this role, is so inconsistent.  Sometimes he's hit his mark 100% but other times I'm cringing with embarrassment at how bad he's played a particular scene.  Wasn't the director paying attention when he shot the scene or re-watched it in the editing room???  I can't believe he was nominated for a Golden Globe!!    

[SparedTurkey]

I've been rewatching the series and I realised I go through different stages with the wives. For seasons 1+2 I was very much  Free!Margene. Season 3 I was very much Free!Nicki! while in the 4th and 5th season I was very much Free!Barb! (Though I have to admit that I was always Free!All!Wives at all times really, but you know)

 

However, at no stage was I ever on the Bill train. He is such an insufferable little shit. I couldn't imagine putting up with him - he is such a misogynistic child! I was always always on the Free!Don! train. He was half as arrogant, if a little dumb, and I couldn't see why he stuck with Bill for so long and continually took hits for him.

 

I did wish that Sarah and Heather had ridden off to BYU together. That said, I liked her relationship with Scott in that it didn't resemble Bill's relationship at all and Scott actually seemed to respect her, even when she got a bit crazy over babies in season 4. I was a little concerned for Heather at the end of the series though. I hope she didn't turn into Barb 2.0.

 

I liked the idea of season 5 but it was so poorly done. There is no way the press/citizens would not be camped out on the Henrickson property for a million years. There is also no way that no one went to their open house.

 

I miss this show - even when it was overdramatic in seasons 4-5, the acting was good enough to make it a great show (From the wives, to Bill to all the second tier players - Adeleen, Alby, Lura, Lois etc.)

[ghoulina]

I'm almost done with season 4, haven't gotten to season 5 yet - but I feel this show has really jumped the shark. I really enjoyed the first 3 seasons, but what in fuckity fuck is going on this season? It's like one major plot twist after another, too much going on and only a smidgen of it is actually believable. I'll finish the series, because I'm stubborn like that. But damn....

 

 

And hell yes to Free Don! I always liked Don. Bill treats him like shit.

[eyebleach]

Albie is a horrible person but I feel so bad for him. It must be horrible to be secretly gay in that type of society.

I'm in the midst of rewatching and I had forgotten just how early on Albie's homosexuality was revealed.  I can't imagine living in that society, coming from such an amazingly screwed up family AND being gay.  No wonder he was such a lunatic.

[SparedTurkey]

In watching Season 5, I have no idea what the showrunners were going for. They did a complete 180 on Nicki and made her so unlikeable and so unrootable. The things she said and did to Barb, particularly around the wedding were just awful. She became so self-righteous and judgemental in the worst possible ways. In the earlier seasons she was hard, cold but had moments where she was sweet. The way she treated Cara-Lynn over the Mr Ivey thing was despicable. For all her talk of safety net, support for abused compound women and acceptance of her own crappy childhood she couldn't extend her compassion to her own child. To try to throw Cara-Lynn in a boarding school followed by the horrendous midnight chat, calling her daughter a liar and a manipulator just ruined her for me. And yet just three seasons ago she was just lovely to Sarah over her miscarriage. It feels almost like the showrunners changed Nicki just for the actress to have some more meatier stuff to do (which, I mean, I love Chloe and always thought her performances were great). It seems like Nicki's character mirrored the show's decline into throwing everything at the wall.

Edited September 9, 2014 by SparedTurkey

[SparedTurkey]

 

I think he's a conflicted man, but honestly tries to do the right thing by his faith.

I completely disagree. I found him arrogant, selfish and childlike. He couldn't handle it when someone deigned to disagree with what he wanted. And doing the right thing by his faith means nothing when he refuses to do the right thing by his wife/wives/children/family/Don. There is a line in a 5th season episode I just watched, when he wanted to reseal and Barb just couldn't go through with it. He said to Barb, to paraphrase, that he was sick of people ignoring what he wanted, when he always compromised for them and what they want. I don't think Bill compromised ONCE in the entire show. Everyone bowed to him, when he flitted from Home Plus, to the casino, to the Senate. When anyone disagreed, they were told to get onboard. No buts. He threw tantrum after tantrum. He felt he had to compete with Don over whose life was the hardest, after Don had almost been murdered, because it is all about him. Bill may not be as bad as Roman, or Alby or even Frank but he isn't so different in his general attitude.

 

And my god, his hissy fit over Barb taking a spiritual journey makes me nuts. What a child. Trying to make her the bad guy? Giving ultimatums over whether or not she loves her family, just because she feels she has the priesthood. Come on. Yes Barb is a slightly fussy, messy control freak on occasion but she kowtowed to every single thing Bill wanted for their entire marriage. She even divorced him. I really wanted Barb to go live with Sarah and Teeny. Some of the things Bill said to her verges on emotional abuse in my opinion.

 

I never fully understood if the audience were supposed to root for him. Watching the show, I also thought no. But listening to the Inside the Episodes, it seemed like they wanted people to root for him. All I was rooting for is for the wives to divorce him and run. Or just for someone to say no and not give in.

 

Although I did appreciate from a storytelling point that Ben turned out as much of a pompous ass just like his father.

Edited September 9, 2014 by SparedTurkey

[Marigny]

I just finished marathoning this show on Amazon Prime. Bill is such a selfish asshole. He reminds me so much of Jim Bob Duggar it's scary. The fact that he drug his family into the spotlight with no consideration for the effects it would have on their income, Don, the kids, the wives, etc. is mind-blowing.

 

I can't stand Nicki. If Varuca Salt & Rhoda Penmark had a kid, Nicki would be it. 

 

Rhonda - Best villain ever. 

 

In a perfect world, Barb & Margene would run away from this mess but still be a support for one another. 

[SparedTurkey]

I wish there were people around for a rewatch. This was a very well made show for the most part.

 

 

Bill is such a selfish asshole. He reminds me so much of Jim Bob Duggar it's scary. The fact that he drug his family into the spotlight with no consideration for the effects it would have on their income, Don, the kids, the wives, etc. is mind-blowing.

He truly is. And got worse with every passing season. I couldn't ever tell who I felt worse for out of anyone around him. Except Frank. And you could tell Ben was just going to turn into the spittig image - it would have been good to see more of Barb's reaction to that.

 

Rhonda was hilarious...and sad. I wonder how true to life that was.

 

I have a soft spot for Nikki...before they made her ridiculous.

 

I do with Barb and Margene had left together - much like Sarah.

 

There is absolutely no way Bill would have gotten through an election campaign without the polygamy leaking. No way at all.

[Avaleigh]

I would absolutely be down for a rewatch of this series if people are up for it. It's a show that I wish had been more popular. I've long complained over the way HBO treated this series. It got the royal treatment the first two seasons and then sort of became a victim during the writer's strike. If they'd taken the time with the final three seasons and paid more attention to continuity it would have been a much better show. 

[Adeejay]

Big Love was one of my favorite shows, so my daughter gifted me the dvd set of all five seasons.  I really enjoyed Seasons 1-3 but not 4 & 5.  I just couldn't get over the Season 3 finale.  Joey somehow managed to sneak into Roman's heavily guarded fortress, where he just happened to be alone and smothered him to death; unseen by his 14 wives, 32 children and all the other inhabitants (except J.J.) living on the compound.  I never understood why Lois, Joey and Wanda continued to lived there considering all the things Albie and Roman did to them and put them through.  Don't get me started on Season 4's ridiculous plot of Bill not only running for a seat in Congress but actually winning.  Given that just about everyone in the State of Utah knew he was a polygamist, how was that possible?  The less said about Season 5, the better.

[SparedTurkey]

Rewatching the first season a few things stand out:

 

1) Bill was always an arrogant, chauvinistic tool from the pilot to the end. He never grew or changed. He just was the same thing from beginning to end. He didn't have any respect for any of his wives. In that respect he is as similar to any of the Compound men. Ben however, wasn't always an ass. He was just a normal teenage boy in the beginning but eventually changed to becoming just like Bill. Not a positive.

 

2) After watching how paranoid they were about being revealed as polygamists in the first season there is just NO way they would run for Senate. They were terrified Pam + Carl knew about them and immediately went on the offensive. And that was just when they were worried about opening a second store

 

3) Barb and Marjie irritated me always, but I always wanted them to run away and be free from the beginning. And to take Nicki to counselling because of course she was damaged after being Roman's daughter, JJ's ex and then sold like chattel to Bill. And for Sarah to run away to university with Heather. Heather always deserved a better Henrickson than Ben.

 

4) There is just NO way they would escape criminal/legal consequences after their Senate run. Nicki for sure would be investigated for her part on the Roman trial. No WAY would that be left alone. Margie's age wouldn't be able to be swept under the rug with a new ID - the media would have found that out within a week.

[justjen]

My boyfriend and I just started watching this show a month or so ago On Demand. We are in Season 4 right now, we watched the 5th episode last night. This whole Senate run is horseshit. So far I feel like this season is like an alternate universe where everything we know about these characters and their personalities has been erased, except Bill -- he's just a dickhole infection (really DON'T like him). Nikki would never act like that, Barb is suddenly a doormat, Margie -- she's allowed to grow up (and not just because I love her to pieces), Tancy got a new face...

I would watch a show that was just Bill's mom though. Boyfriend that she is me from the future.

[bunnywithanaxe]

I started watching the show mid season 3 because I was channel surfing and saw Chloe Sevigny stuck on a roof. I fell in love with Nikki right away, and rewatching it makes it worse. She is just so awful! <3

[SparedTurkey]

I agree 100%. They pushed it with JJ and the whole genetic experimentation thing-even though apparently it was based on something true (although I did not for a second believe Nikki would ever go to JJ's clinic for help) - but the Senate stuff was way too much to swallow. Also that Sissy's character wouldn't out Bill to win becuase why exactly?

I do wish that one of the women (if not all) in the final season had realised that Bill was just not worth it. Sarah did, to a degree. It would have been a really lovely way to end it.

That said, at least the actors brought their A game the whole way through. No slacking off from that cast.

[SparedTurkey]

I think Nikki was pretty badly treated - more so than the other wives even - and largely existed to serve the plot of the season.

I don't for a second buy that Season 1 Nikki would ever have turned into Season 4/5 Nikki. No way would she have gone along with Bill and his political aspirations. I can see her turning in to Season 3 Nikki, where she starts being nicer to her family (i.e. Sarah), starts realising things and how much she was hurt.

I don't see her inability to testify against her father as being at odds with pushing him down the stairs. That compound is shown to be secretive, not to trust the outsiders and generally paranoid. If Nikki had turned state's witness, well, that would have been more out of character I think. Especially given the lack of support she received (and really, if Barb knew Bill was messed up just being a lost boy, I can't imagine why she wouldn't have assumed Nikki was just as damaged, if not moreso).