Question: With the loss of some of my favorite shows over the past few seasons, I have a new favorite HBO's Big Love. What are your thoughts, now that the first season has ended?
Answer: I'll reprise the line I used in my initial review of the series: "It's more of a curiosity than a necessity." For my analysis of the season finale, check out my Dispatch. From the start, I've not been entirely sold on this premise being enough to carry an entire series, no matter how excellent the acting and production values. A miniseries, yes, and some of the domestic subplots have been quite intriguing as members of this extravagantly blended family try to keep the details of their lives secret from neighbors, coworkers, friends' parents and so on. Some of the material back in the compound is wildly entertaining, with those hilarious performances by Grace Zabriskie and Bruce Dern, and while I tend to zone out during the Bill-Roman conflicts, I'm always happy to see Harry Dean Stanton chewing the
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Big LoveEver wonder if we're ever going to get a chance to see Nicki's good side? Keep wondering, then, since we're sure not seeing it this week. Nothing like a shopaholic wife who runs up your bills, ignores collection-agency calls, mistreats your other wives (well, none of us can relate to that one, but you know what I mean) and goes to her evil dad for help, thus exposing you to even more downside. Her one mitigating move for the night is helping Ben with his embarrassing-sheets problem, but I'm betting she'll use that knowledge to some bad end, too.
In other areas, isn't Teeny just about the cutest kid you've ever seen on TV? I know that's why they cast her, of course, but still... who couldn't love her jumping around the backyard in her moon costume, b
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