Big Love: Complete First Season [DVD] [2006] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I have to admit that I didn't expect to like this HBO original series, but the intriguing cast of characters and the plotlines drew me in. "Big Love" is the story of Bill Hendrickson and his very extended family, including his three wives and seven children, who have to constantly be on the alert that they will somehow be "outed" by the community at large. This is important not only from a legal standpoint, but from a financial one, since Bill is part-owner with another polygamist in a budding chain of big-box home improvement stores, and thus preserving a stellar public image is important to the success of his business.

Bill grew up on a compound of fundamentalist Mormons that still practice the principle of polygamy, and he was thrown out of the compound and his family when he reached adolescence and became perceived as competition for the affection of young girls who were coming of age. At this point, betrayed by his family and his religion, he turned his back on the teachings of his youth until his first wife Barb became gravely ill.

Jeanne Tripplehorn portrays Barb, Bill's first wife and the sweetheart of his youth. You get the feeling that if he could, Bill would really like to ditch his other two wives and ride off into the sunset with Barb. Barb is a confident and educated woman who is very mindful of her own mortality due to having recovered from uterine cancer several years earlier. She is also very mindful of the fact that she must share Bill with her "sister wives" in order for Bill to abide by his conscience by "living the principle".

Bill's second wife Nicki, portrayed by Chloe Sevigny, is the daughter of compound Prophet Roman Grant. Nicki is very much her father's daughter, calculating her every move, and always playing everyone in the family in order to get her own way. Her many stunts include running up a 58K credit card debt, and when the debt is discovered by Bill, pretending that she slept in a homeless shelter for a night to play the part of discarded wife in order to garner Bill's sympathy. In fact, she had spent the night at a comfy hotel. However, she is also capable of fierce loyalty and courage, going out into the street one night to confront her mentally off-balance brother, Alby, when he shows up in a menacing mood at the Hendrickson household, and also defending Barb against her passive aggressive sister's cutting remarks.

Bill's third wife, Margene, is only 23 years old and is fighting feelings of being somewhat trapped since she already has two infant children and must spend most of her time alone since she cannot risk having anyone know the true nature of her arrangement with Bill. Nicki treats Margene like a personal assistant when she needs her, and like an errant child whenever Margene makes a mistake in judgement. Margene realizes her importance to the family, though, when she discovers Barb's youngest daughter feels guilty for submitting her own mother for mother of the year since she feels that Margene and Nicki are her mothers too and doesn't want them to feel left out.

The main thread winding through this first season, though, is Bill's antagonistic relationship with Prophet Roman Grant, played to perfection by the superb Harry Dean Stanton. Stanton's portrayal of Roman Grant is chilling, as he comes across as part Tony Soprano and part Elmer Gantry. Roman has made a loan to Bill in return for a share in his business. However, Roman is overstepping his bounds and trying to collect revenue on the second of Bill's stores as well as the first. The entire season is about Bill's naive attempts to shed himself of Roman's shadow. Bill can't seem to learn the lesson that when you play hardball with a crazy man, the crazy man returns fire with Napalm. In many ways their season-long struggle seems like a long running Warner Brothers cartoon with Bill's Wile E. Coyote versus Roman's Roadrunner. In the season finale, the Hendrickson family's polygamous lifestyle is revealed to the world in the most unlikely and embarassing of venues. The final scene shows Bill sitting in the backyard, staring at his three houses, and pondering what he may have lost.

Even the supporting roles are intriguing and performed with excellence. There are Bill's completely dysfunctional and bickering parents who would rather see each other dead than happy. Then there is Bill's brother Joey, a recovering addict and former football star, and Joey's wife, Wanda, who is devoted to Joey but has probably watched "Arsenic and Old Lace" one too many times. Finally, there are Bill and Barb's three children, who were not born into polygamy but are trying to find a way to have normal childhoods and also protect the family secret. I truly enjoyed this first season of "Big Love", and I can't wait to see where the second season takes matters.

As a big Bill Paxton fan, I was determined to watch "Big Love," and I would not say I was at all disappointed.

The series has been criticized by some for "glorifying" polygamy, but I think some of those critics have missed the point. The show actually takes a very even-handed look at what a polygamist family COULD be like: Paxton's family is far from perfect, but it seems to be held together by the sheer force of his character's love for all three of his wives. Whether or not you think it is practical, feasible, or even moral for one man to genuinely love three women, on this show that's what's going on.

This is balanced by some of the creepier, more cultish aspects of organized polygamy, personified by Harry Dean Stanton in a wonderfully understated villainous turn.

Where the show really shines for me is in the depiction of the extremely complicated relationship Bill's three wives have with each other. They see each other as sisters, as rivals, as friends, as enemies, as servants, as bosses . . . sometimes all within the same scene. These are very deep relationships, and all three of the actresses are very well suited to their roles.

Another fine aspect of the show is the depiction of how difficult it is for this family to keep the fact of their polygamy to themselves, lest they be looked upon as pariahs. It is a difficult task for them, and has great practical and moral implications within their lives, and the lives of their children.

Like most of HBO's original shows, this one works both as terrific entertainment, and as fundamentally sound art TV. Also like most of HBO's shows, this box set is probably a bit more expensive than it ought to be. But the episodes are terrific, and hopefully this will be merely the first season of a long run.

HBO has crafted another complex, well made show. "Big Love" with it's polygamy background hits DVD as a "hot button" concept show, and as such has achieved the requisite controversy that it was banking on. Well, I'm not particularly shocked and nor will I comment on any political/religious debate. I will review this show as a family drama, which is exactly what it is, albeit with a particularly large and extended family.

The show is extremely successful when dealing with the intricacies of raising three families in the modern world. I particularly enjoyed the details paid to the lifestyles in the home. The juggling, scheduling, jealousies, and secrets are all shown to good effect as the wives attend to the daily logistics of their situation. Home as politics--this is an interesting living arrangement, and one that hasn't been presented dramatically very often before. Throw in kids and in-laws and things can be very messy. But as the wives compete with each other in many regards, they support and love each other as well. The complexity of the relationships in "Big Love" stand as it's greatest achievement.

Some of the other storylines were a bit extravagant. The biggest plot driver involved the polygamist sect that our family had distanced itself from, and yet could not break free of. The power struggle played out here was entertaining, but not always as compelling as normal, everyday life. It was a bit overcooked....while a few lesser storylines were undercooked.

The actors are beyond reproach. Some veterans--Harry Dean Stanton, Mary Kay Place, Bruce Dern and Grace Zabriskie--are all used to good effect. Chloe Sevigny is a delight in perhaps the showiest role. The rest of the cast is solid. But I must make particular mention of Jeanne Tripplehorn. She's been around such a long time, but has never had a better role or performance. It is quiet and understated, but by Season's end--you've come to realize that she's the heart and soul of this family and this show.

I recommend this show as something different and adult. Dramatically, it's a bit inconsistent--but has so much talent behind it, it's definitely worth the time. It has the potential to be GREAT, so I'm looking for season 2. KGHarris, 9/06.