{"id":1081,"date":"2007-06-11T12:22:26","date_gmt":"2007-06-11T12:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2007\/06\/big-love-really-gets-going-in.html"},"modified":"2007-06-11T12:22:26","modified_gmt":"2007-06-11T12:22:26","slug":"big-love-really-gets-going-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/06\/big-love-really-gets-going-in.html","title":{"rendered":"‘Big Love’ Really Gets Going in its Second Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"biglove_idol.jpg\"HBO\u2019s \u201cBig Love\u201d<\/a> promises delights and intrigue in its second season, as it premieres on its new night tonight at 9 p.m. (ET). Compared to last year, the second season is more comfortable in both its dramatic and comedic skin. The show\u2019s unusual premise was well established last season: Can a man living a closeted polygamist life in \u201cfamily friendly\u201d suburban Salt Lake City keep three wives and ten children happy and fed while being pressured professionally and spiritually by creepy, controlling sect leaders and relatives? Now the show is free to explore story lines, develop characters, and probe serious questions of faith, commitment, and morality with a more honed focus. It romps well and weaves fine stories.
\nThis season opens with \u201cDamage Control,\u201d in which Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) goes to extremes to discover who \u201couted\u201d first wife Barb ( an exceptional Jeanne Tripplehorn) just as she was about to be named mother of the year in last year\u2019s season\u2019s closer. While Bill searches for the leak, wife Nikki (played subtly and deliciously by Chloe Sevigny) and wife Margene (a physically flawless morsel of youth and energy portrayed by Ginnifer Goodwin) try to hold things together. Normally, Barb–who really should be mother of the year–is the stable, able one who keeps the family tethered to their \u201ceternal principles\u201d and each other.
\nBarb, however, has retreated into a world of cross word puzzles and laps in the pool as she tries to recoup her identity. She even admits to her sister wife that she does \u201cnot have a testimony of the \u2018Principal\u2019 (of plural marriage).\u201d
\nMeanwhile, back at the compound, mysteries continues. Who among the many power-players and wackos at Juniper Creek should get the blame for attempting to poison Alby (Matt Ross), the smarmy son of the \u201cprophet\u201d Roman (Henry Dean Stanton)? The story lines are complex and engrossing. It will take a pleasurable season to watch all the twists and turns unfold. What will become of the Henrickson teenagers? What\u2019s up with Roman\u2019s pubescent next bride at the compound? She\u2019s too wily by a mile. What ethical short cuts is Bill willing to make to keep his professional and family life in tact? And at what cost?<\/p>\n


\nAs an active, committed Mormon, I am pleased to see that it is established more clearly now that the Henrickson\u2019s religious beliefs are not the current beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of Bill\u2019s slick business superiors still hold forth with the spires of the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. That bugs me and confuses the distinctions between the \u201creal\u201d Mormon Church and \u201cBig Love\u2019s\u201d bold extrapolations. (Since politics are in the air, whatever one feels about Mitt Romney, \u201cBig Love\u2019s\u201d skewed view, and the plot lines of these entrancing \u201cfaux-Mormons\u201d should NOT be confused for the Mormon lifestyle or faith.)
\nBut some of the most interesting portions are the times when the participants in \u201cthe Principal\u201d (as polygamy is referred to both in \u201cBig Love\u201d and in authentic 19th century Mormondom) express their convictions as well as their turmoil with the theological and societal implications of their faith. As Bill\u2019s Home Plus colleague, Don (Joel McKinnon Miller) declares–with pride? With frustration?–\u201cWe will never assimilate!\u201d
\nIt\u2019s the tension over assimilation that keeps \u201cBig Love\u201d energized. Bill and his outrageous (and in many ways enchanting) extended family will draw viewers in. Week after week I will tune in for serious, witty, well-written, and superbly acted drama with its big lovely zing.
\n— Linda Hoffman Kimball<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HBO\u2019s \u201cBig Love\u201d promises delights and intrigue in its second season, as it premieres on its new night tonight at 9 p.m. (ET). Compared to last year, the second season is more comfortable in both its dramatic and comedic skin. The show\u2019s unusual premise was well established last season: Can a man living a closeted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment"],"yoast_head":"\n'Big Love' Really Gets Going in its Second Season<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2007\/06\/big-love-really-gets-going-in.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Big Love' Really Gets Going in its Second Season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"HBO\u2019s \u201cBig Love\u201d promises delights and intrigue in its second season, as it premieres on its new night tonight at 9 p.m. (ET). 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