DVD Flashback Friday: Big Love, Seasons Two and Three

When I reviewed season one of Big Love back in February, I wrote that the first season had me hooked. I recently completed the third season, and so far I’ve enjoyed the series. So much so, in fact, that I’m a bit nervous to start the nine-episode long fourth season – I heard that the show really jumped the shark in season four. Even Chloe Sevigny, who places second wife Nicolette Grant, thought the season was poorly done. I’ll be reviewing the fourth season later this summer, s check back to see if I agreed with Chloe.

Season Two picks up where the first season left off, and the Henrickson clan is facing some challenges. Bill decides to buy an electronic gambling company called Weber Gaming and the decision doesn’t sit well with everyone in the family.

The compound also gets raided, and “prophet” Roman’s 16-year-old wife Rhonda flees to the Henrickson’s. Rhonda isn’t so sweet and innocent, though – she’s sneaky and manipulative and causes havoc wherever she goes. Roman gets arrested and his son Alby tries to seize power on the compound.

Meanwhile, Bill starts flirting with a Serbian waitress named Ana. Margene befriends Ana herself to try and convince Ana that she should join the family as a fourth wife – but Barb and Nicki aren’t so open to the idea. Bill and Barb’s daughter Sarah, who resents and dislikes polygamy, starts to pull more and more away from the family. She starts dating a man tan years her senior whom she meets at a support group for former Fundamentalist Mormans. Her brother Ben moves in the opposite direction and embraces polygamy by dating twins from the compound.

What I found most angering in this season was Bill and Barb’s indifference toward Sarah and Ben’s lives and decisions. Bill didn’t seem to care at all that his daughter was disgusted by polygamy, and Barb didn’t want to address the reason why she felt it was OK for her to live in polygamy, yet was discouraging her son from following that path.

Season Three largely focuses on the integration of Ana into the Henrickson family, the trial of Roman Grant and the slow destruction of the family. The drama surrounding Roman’s trial and the Henrickson family’s involvement was really captivating, but I didn’t love the storyline involving Ana.

Ana started formally dating the family and eventually agreed to become the fourth wife. Soon after, problems arose – probably because no one told her what it was like to be a polygamist. Issues of jealousy sprouted up right away, as Barb tried to bond with Ana and Margene felt her friend was being stolen out from under her. Ana also didn’t react well to finding out that all her money was supposed to go into a communal account – even her tips.

Roman’s trial became intensely complicated when his wife (and Nicki’s mother) Adaleen pressured Nicki into using a fake name to get a temp job at the DA’s office so she could leak information about the case to her mother. Nicki is a great character because she’s so unlikable but Chloe Sevigny plays her so well. I loved watching Nicki have to struggle between doing as her mother instructed and sabotaging her own family. Things got very complicated when Bill’s brother Joey decided to take a second wife and she was testifying against Roman.

I really enjoyed the latter part of the third season as it focused less on Ana and more on other problems within the Henrickson family. The fallout from Roman’s trial caused a lot of problems for Joey, Wanda and his second bride-to-be Kathy, and it increased the intensity of the power struggle between Alby and his parents on the compound. Barb, Nicki and Margene found out that Bill was taking Viagra, and it was revealed that Nicki had been taking birth control – something that outraged her husband and sister-wives. Early in the season Sarah discovered she was pregnant and we see her try to hatch a plan to hide the pregnancy (and baby) from her family. Throughout the season we also learn more about Nicki and her childhood growing up on the compound.

I really hope season four isn’t as awful as everyone says it is, because the first three seasons of Big Love have been excellent. I highly recommend the show despite the bad season four reviews. HBO has renewed the show for a fifth season, and I hope the show will redeem itself then.