Not only is Bill Henrickson juggling three wives, three houses, seven children and multiple housewares stores. Now he’s roping his dim brother into a scheme to turn the tables on Roman, the self-proclaimed prophet of a rural fundamentalist polygamist compound who is extorting money from Bill.
“What have we done to deserve such calumny?” Roman asks in the quasi-Biblical language he favors.
On Bill’s home front, it’s all about “new beginnings” – Margene’s pregnancy, Nicki’s clean start after runaway credit-card debt, and Barb’s excitement about her nomination for a “mother of the year” award.
“Big Love,” HBO’s mesmerizing drama about a group of practicing polygamists in suburban Salt Lake City, has its season finale 8 p.m. Sunday. The escalating intrigue is calibrated to leave us wanting more. HBO recently renewed the series for a second season.
Not nearly as violent as “The Sopranos” but even more intricate in its study of family dynamics, faith, honor and social mores, “Big Love” is a contender for the year’s most distinctive, boundary-pushing drama.
Bill Paxton is oddly sympathetic as Henrickson, a righteous straight-arrow kicked out of a polygamist compound as a teen and now popping Viagra to keep up with his turn-taking wives. The put-upon patriarch works triple time to deal with their diverse moods and sexual needs, while delivering sermonettes about the glory of family.
First wife Barb, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, is a picture of sweet serenity and maternal wisdom. She appears perfectly motherly, until she and Bill have “an affair,” stealing extra time together outside the carefully orchestrated family calendar. By this week’s installment, they have renounced that indiscretion and pledged to honor the multi-family construct they believe is God’s will.
Second wife Nicki (Chloë Sevigny) is the daughter of wealthy “prophet” Roman Grant, played to wonderfully creepy effect by Harry Dean Stanton. A shopaholic, the button-down Nicki is a jealous mess in a prairie dress. Nicki narrows her eyes and plots against her “sister wives,” while spouting homilies about togetherness.
Younger third wife Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) spent much of this season attempting to establish a friendship with a couple across the street. The repercussions were frightening, so the immature Margene is back in the fold, folding laundry (and messing up the colors).
To avoid lawsuits and sustain dramatic tension, the series regularly acknowledges that polygamy is illegal in Utah. The official views of the church ban on polygamy are recited often to remind viewers of the dangers facing the Henrickson menage. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints outlawed polygamy in 1890; certain “fundamentalist” Mormon cults continue to practice it despite legal and religious sanctions.
Neighbors catching glimpses of the arrangement, store employees curious about the comings and goings of the Henrickson clan, and friends questioning who’s who are all sources of anxiety for the family. It’s almost possible to pity this family whose big love dare not speak its name.
Most fascinating is the sense of righteous religiosity probed by creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer. If television holds a mirror to cultural issues of the moment, surely “Big Love’s” depiction of the modern dance around religion says folks employ all sorts of “revelations” to support their leanings. Any discomfort this picture causes is purely intentional, timely and insightful.
The characters of “Big Love” earnestly quote Scripture to justify everything from adding another wife to opening another big-box store. Praying before dinner, they hold hands – and hands and hands – asking blessings on their humble home-sweet-adjacent-homes.
It’s tough to know what to wish for these folks. Do you root for the teenage son and daughter to break free? Do you want Bill to find peace away from Roman so he can hold his family together? Do you pray Nicki never updates her wardrobe?
Let’s just hope they continue to be spellbinding in an hour that offers as much sly and understated humor as profound questioning of the meaning of faith, marriage and family.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
