DVD Flashback Friday:Not much love for season four of Big Love


I’m finally caught up on Big Love and I’ve got to say, I feel pretty relieved. I watched season four in about two or three days because there are only nine episodes and it’s been raining. I’d heard absolutely terrible things about the fourth season and if you’re a fan of the show I’d love to hear what you thought of the season. Personally, I didn’t think it was that bad. There was definitely WAY too much going on, and too many storylines were dropped throughout the season. But it was also thrilling, dramatic and complex. Their greatest mistake was changing the opening credits – “God Only Knows” was the perfect theme for the show!

Season four focused on Bill Henrickson’s decision to run for senate in Utah and whether the family would be outed as polygamists – and how. We also saw Barb take over management of the family’s casino, Nicki deal with the realities and effects of her troubled childhood and Margene come into her own as a successful businesswoman. And Bill’s daughter Sarah, now married, has to deal with how to reconcile her new life with her family.

Sissy Spacek guest starts throughout the season as a powerful Washington lobbyist, and she’s great. Other new(ish) characters are Wanda’s brother JJ and Dale Tomasson, a state-appointed trustee of Juniper Creek’s UEB assets.

OK, now I’m going to talk about the episodes in a little more detail, so if you haven’t seen the show or the fourth season, stop reading.

Seriously, stop. It’s a really good show and you don’t want to spoil it for yourself.

OK, first I’m going to talk about things I liked about the fourth season.

Lois. Bill’s mom has always been one of my favorites, and this season I really enjoyed her. She’s spunky, complicated and frustrating and I always root for her. After all, her husband Frank is a monster. Lois is a perfect example of what’s wrong with the polygamist compound – she’s unable to rise above her conditions despite being offered help because of the history of oppression. Her bird smuggling enterprises were hilarious, and though I know some people didn’t like the frequent trips to Mexico, I was completely pulled in by the troubles she faced with Ben, Frank and Jodeen.

I liked the development we saw in Bill’s wives this season as well. Margene flourished in jewelry sales, and things got more complicated between her and her “son” Ben. You knew it was going to happen, especially as Ben got older. I also liked most of what I saw of Barb at the casino. Taking Barb away from the setting of the Henrickson’s family home was a risk, and not everyone liked it. I liked seeing Barb struggle to fit in with the Native workforce, though, and I liked seeing her come into her own again as a smart, strong woman. I could have done without the subplots about drugs and stolen Native babies, though. My favorite transformation was Nicki’s. Nicki is a great character because she’s so unlikable, yet sympathetic. In the third and fourth seasons I really came to feel sorry for her (and sometimes for her brother Alby as well) because she was just so damaged. The life she’d had. Her parents were horrible. She was married off to an old, gross man at a very young age. She’d had to give up her daughter. I loved watching Nicki start to understand herself better and start dressing like a “normal” person.

Like I said, though, there was definitely too much going on in the season. What with Bill’s political ambitions, Nicki’s long lost daughter, Ana’s pregnancy, Alby’s relationship with UEB trustee Dale, Lois’ trips to Mexico, Joey’s enraged vengeance, the casino, Home Plus, Sarah’s marriage, and the appearance of JJ and his medical experimentations, it was a lot to jam into nine hour-long episodes. I wished they’d focused more on the fallout after Bill asked his longtime business partner Don to take a bullet and out himself as a polygamist. I wished they’d left well enough alone with the casino and saved the drug problem for the next season. I wished they’d focused more on Nicki’s relationship with her daughter. I wished they’d never brought back Ana, or at least hadn’t introduced the ridiculous idea that Margene would marry her boyfriend so that everyone could remain in America.

Throughout the whole season, one thing really stood out to me: I hate Bill Henrickson. I’ve never liked Bill, but in season four I really, really hated him. He’s arrogant, overly ambitious, thoughtless, selfish, egomaniacal, chauvinistic, hotheaded…I could go on all day. He claims that family is number one but consistently only looks out for himself and pursues his own ambitions at the expense of those who love him. One of the worst things he did was ask Don to out himself as a polygamist, therefore cutting him off from Home Plus and making life miserable for his family, all for the sake of Bill’s political campaign. Another terrible thing he did was tell Ben to leave after he found out that Margene had kissed him, all for the sake of his hurt pride. And then he outed his whole family as polygamists, even though he knew that none of them really wanted it. Not his wives, not his children. Not the people he’d gone into business with. No one. It was all for him and his “vision”.

So what will happen in the fifth season of Big Love now that the Henrickson’s are out as polygamists? I’m going to guess a lot of trouble for the kids at school, a lot of problems for Barb, Nicki and Margene in their daily lives, and a lot more of Bill’s ego. I hope that the fifth season will be a little neater and fluid than this past season, but I’m still a fan of the show and looking forward to new episodes.
 

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