"I went to a place to eat. It said 'breakfast at any time.' So I ordered french toast during the Renaissance". --Steven Wright ... If you are a devotee of time travel, check out this song...

Monday, August 27, 2007

Big Love Season 2 Concludes: Polygamy and Great Performances Affirmed

Big Love concluded its second season on HBO tonight with an affirmation of the Henricksons by Barb. Of course there were other important threads, but the most important was Barb's resolution of her status in the family - to Bill, Nikki, and Marge.

As I noted in reviews of previous episodes, I think Barb has been struggling to find herself and her truest feelings about her polygamous marriage all this year. A large part of this process has been dealing with what the public knows of her family. Season One ended on the humiliating outing of Barb as polygamous by the judges of the state contest for best mother - behind the scenes, but still degrading for Barb.

In the visit to the gambling casino a few weeks ago, Barb looked happy at the end, when Bill announced to his new partners that Barb and Margene were both his wives.

Tonight, it was Barb who did the announcing to the neighbors. This will be a profound change for the Henricksons - they will no longer be denying their lives to at least the people on their block.

Two other great performances tonight were given by Amanda Seyfried as Sarah, who finally gave herself to her boyfriend, and Harry Dean Stanton, who played Roman just right after coming out his drugged days and nights.

I won't tell you the ending, in case you haven't seen it, but suffice to say that Bill will have his hands full, at least business-wise, in Season 3 - but, of course, that's the way it's been from day one in this marvelous, winning series.

See also reviews of other episodes: 2: Oh, Happy Day, and Not ... 3: Sons and Mothers ... 4. Help Me, Rhonda ... 5. The Waitress and More... 6. Just Lust ... 7. Margene's Mama ... 8. Polygamy and Misgivings ... 9. Swing Vote Margene ... 10. Polygamy as the Ultimate Cool/Bad ... 11. Family in Crisis






The Plot to Save Socrates


"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

4 comments:

dawn said...

HiPaul, Sorry I have't been around lately but I was busy. I liked this ending and find the show unique. I have read that this is taken from the life of similiar familys, that I cannot imagine but I guess they say to each its own. Any way I read your Dexter post and I can't wait either. You are a 100% right about that show. Have a g reat day

Paul Levinson said...

Dawn! Good to have you back (I was just going to e-mail you and ask if you were ok :)

I'm glad you like Dexter - that way I'll know I can count on someone to ask me where my reviews are ... :)

Anonymous said...

This has to be one of the top 3 episodes ever for this show. I love how they layer the stories. There's so much going on, but it's never too much. Apparently the Ana storyline hasn't died yet either. This was a GREAT season for Big Love.

Paul Levinson said...

I agree - it was better than Season One, which is saying a lot, because that was a great bunch of television, too...

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