With the loss of some of my ...
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 scenery. Let's put it this way: I enjoy
Big Love more than I did most of
Six Feet Under, but I would have been satisfied if the entire story had been told in one season. (Given the fact that the family was exposed at the governor's mansion, of all places, that sounds like a pretty good excuse for Bill to wake up and pick Barbara as his wife and soul mate — or should that be sole mate — once and for all.)
