Mikey Likes TV

There are a few enchanting shows on television that are so good, their season finales actually elicit physical pain – the thought of months of and months without new episodes is just that devastating. Big Love is one such show.

There’s so much going on right now it’s kind of a slap in the face to make just 12 episodes at a time. Last night’s season-ender gave us next to no resolution for any of the subplots, and what closure we did get… was not exactly what I had hoped for. Sarah chose to assert her independence by screwing her future-pedophile boyfriend when she should have just moved in with Heather’s family. And instead of finally giving Bill the kiss-off she’s been considering all season, Barb took a big ol’ gulp of the polygamous Kool-Aid and fully embraced her life as one of several wives – as long as she can be the one with all of the power.

Bill is getting slimier by the minute, and last night’s unexpected return of potential fourth-wife Ana was not without some pantry-side canoodling. I like Ana and all, but the addition of another Lady Henrickson would drive me all kinds of nuts. Margene’s naive insistence on her inclusion won’t likely be placated by Barb’s grand gesture.

My love/hate relationship with Nikki dissolved this season when her antics went from whimsical to inexcusable. Her father, however, stopped creeping me out long enough to became one of my favorites. Roman returned from his coma slightly loony and definitely a lesser evil to his son Alby. Alby is good for drama, but he owes all of his success to what an idiot his sister is.

That brings me to my biggest gripe: the power struggle at the compound is never nearly as exciting as the conflicts that play out in the Henrickson’s communal backyard. Part of me hopes that the writers will find some way to include the Juniper Creek folks without spending too much time on political issues that follow them, and if they’re interested, I have ten months to think about how they might do it.

Despite a few of us still holding onto the hope that John From Cincinnati will rise to the occasion before its first (and likely only) season comes to an end, it’s quite clear that it will never be the heir to HBO’s now vacant Sunday Night throne. Flight of the Conchords ensures that the evening remains destination watching, but it can’t very well replace The Sopranos. The pay network is without a flagship for the first time in over a decade, and everyone keeps talking about which of their upcoming programs might fill the fabled cement shoes. Yet no one talks of Big Love.

Amidst annoyingly scrutinized finales, over-hyped launches and shows that have fallen into unacknowledged creative crap-holes, Big Love silently plugs along as the real star of HBO – its modesty almost in tune with that of the devout family in portrays. Critics are divided, audiences are turned off by the premise and Tuesday morning water coolers are dominated by fools rehashing Hell’s Kitchen and Two and a Half Men reruns. It hardly seems fair. Luckily, yesterday’s refreshing confirmation of a third season and an upcoming move back to Sundays might mean that HBO is ready to move their eggs into Big Love’s most deserving basket – and with good reason.

The caliber of the acting and writing improves almost every week, their successful juxtaposition of humor and anxiety is almost unparalleled and with the appearance of the Mormon mob (or Mor-mob, if you will), Big Love seems to be getting more Sopranos-y by the minute. The sinister waif of a man, Roman Grant, is no longer the only creep claiming to be the one true prophet. Dueling sects of polygamist Mormons are about to get dirty, and our dear protagonists (whose lifestyle seems strangely acceptable now) are caught in the middle. For a nice dose of absurd humor, they’ve even added sex scenes choreographed to Avril Lavigne and a transgendered Mormon henchman who likes to brand those who her cross her like cattle.

In a promo more fitting for Desperate Housewives, next week promises Big Love’s “most dramatic episode ever” that “everyone will be talking about.” I don’t doubt that former is true, but they’ll have to win a few more people over before they achieve the latter.

HBO certainly has a knack for getting viewers to empathize with unlikely protagonists. Misogynistic social hierarchy and fervor for Jesus are two of my least favorite things in this world, so it’s kind of odd that I’m head over heels in love with a group of polygamous Mormons. When they were outed for being just that at the end of the last season, I feared their charming, dysfunctional family would never be the same again. And apparently it won’t.

Now that the shit has hit the proverbial fan, Big Love can finally move past the introduction to the large family, and their many conflicts, and onto the dissention among the ranks that is inventible in a situation like their own. Most notably, this dissention comes from the first two women in Bill Henrickson’s life – his first wife, Barb, and his oldest daughter, Sarah. While Barb’s doubts in their lifestyle are now quite obvious, it’s Sarah’s openness with friends and acquaintances about her family, and her disgust with it, that bodes to be the most exciting. Even the looming threat of uber-creep and polygamous “prophet” Roman doesn’t offer as much drama as an angsty teen.

Jeanne Tripplehorn continues to be my favorite part of the show and shares a spot with Connie Britton at the top of my list of TV’s dearest leading ladies. It is my greatest and least realistic hope for this show that it will eventually conclude with her putting herself before everyone else and leaving, but I know it’s impossible. And that makes her brief estrangement even more traumatic. There was always something in Barb’s eyes that gave away how she desperately yearns for the normalcy of a conventional nuclear family. Now it’s in her heavy sighs and delayed responses. Her return to the family at the end of last night’s episode was sad but predictable.

Their pseudo-exposure could have brought them even closer together, but it looks like the Henricksons will become more polarized than ever. It’s sad to see the harmony of the first season go out the window, but if this was a happy show about a man with three wives, it would be pornography.