Big Love – Episode 6-4 Review

Shows

The last time we left the Henricksen’s it seemed a lot of their family issues had been resolved. Of course Big Love never really resolves any issue, not for long, and this past Sunday’s episode was a perfect example. The week prior Barb learned all the details of Marge and her eldest son Benny’s affair of the heart which led to a kiss, which led to Benny getting “exiled” by his father Bill. Bill managed to forgive Marge, Benny didn’t forgive Bill, and Barb was overwhelmed with emotions which came out in a bit of a rage towards Margene. The affair was barely mentioned this episode (except for Nicki telling Marge it will all be resolved when Barb is tucking Benny back into his bed, which makes perfect sense) because several of some past issues came back up with great dramatic effects.

Bill is still going strong on the campaign trail after last weeks triumphant speech, but his initial plan to out the families polygamist life was met with some reservations. Marge was the first to speak on it, she admitted she never thought too much about these issues because she never thought Bill had a chance of winning, which looks pretty likely now that he’s been getting endorsements from some major political players.  In an effort to chastise Marge for not being with the family and being too selfish, Barb ended up admitting there were major issues she’s scared of in outing themselves. Nicki was a little less concerned with the political issue and berated Marge for her “ToastMasters” speeches she found on her laptop, which summed up tells the story of Marge being a self-made single mother which Nicki totally resented.

Nicki had additional issues this week. Her mothers “sealing” to Nicki’s ex-husband J.J. took place and it, understandably, freaked her out. Not only that her mother was marrying her ex-husband, but that fact that it was taking place at the Motel Nicki herself was sealed in her early teens. She arrived to the “celebration” in a short skirt and make up, saying that she lost her youth when she was sealed. Of course her mother, who for some reason is Okay with being sealed at this point, has some harsh words for her attire. Things really heated up for Nicki when she learned that her estranged daughter Cara Lynn was being “sealed” at that very moment, Nicki barged in just in time to stop the sealing between her daughter and some older (older, like early 60’s) man who planned to make her his 7th wife. Nicki swore to “kill” her J.J. if he ever touched her again. I’m sure more will come of this, although for once Cara Lynn did seem to be upset enough to defy her father.

Marilyn Densham, played with so much spunk and attitude by Sissy Spacek, came to stir up more drama this week. Bill’s Casino partners Tommy and Jerry Flute, who turned down Densham’s proposal before, had a change of heart and scheduled a meeting to hear her plans to represent the casino’s interests in Washington, much to the chagrin of Bill. And to further upset him, she made a pop-in visit with Barb and spoke about the meeting, which Barb had no knowledge of. They ended up talking about family life, Hot Chocolate, and being the only woman in a “boys club”, this talk spurred Barb (still upset at Bill over last week) to demand a seat at the meeting, which ended up going over very well for everybody other than Bill who tried his hardest to knock Densham’s every word during her presentation.

We find Benny traveling to Mexico with his Grandmother Lois and Grandfather Frank, along with Frank’s newest “acquisition” Jodean. What starts off as another trip to get parrots for Lois’ new business, ends up being a huge cliffhanger for fans. The flamboyant bird vendor Don Dona we meet in the middle of the episode turns out to be just as hardcore of a gangster as any, with some unfortunate ties apparently. There is still a lot of information to come from this issue, but at the end of this arc we saw Lois and Frank meeting face to face with Roman’s old nemesis/brother in law Hollis Greene.

The single best scene in this weeks episode however came from Alby’s secret lover Dale Tomasson. Played by Ben Koldyke, he continues his homosexual affair with Alby even after Bill personally tells him that Alby is a psychopath and divulges inside information on his attempted murder of his father and other sick escapades. In a knock out acting performance, Dale talks to his church about trying to stop his homosexual feelings. In this scene he’s completely desperate and goes into a history of trying to get help dating back to his teens. Stories of years of counseling, beatings and even electroshock therapy end with the church basically telling him if he really wants to get into heaven he’ll find a way to fight these feelings. A truly heartbreaking scene, and again Koldyke does an Excellent job conveying the very layered and complicated emotions that go along with this. Than when Bill finds out about him and Alby and asks him point blank if they are having a homosexual affair, things turn for the complete worst for Dale. Alby’s wife is the one who witnessed the two leaving their secret meeting spots and told Dale’s work, but she also told his wife. About to lose his job, his wife and pretty much get kicked out of his church, it’s no surprise that Alby walks into their “secret apartment” to find Dale swinging from the ceiling after a successful suicide.

Next week should be a great one, this season is really shaping up to continue the winning streak Big Love has been having. I wasn’t sure how the Bill as a politician thing would go, but I find myself enjoying it and everything that surrounds it.