In true “Big Love” fashion, and like I said in my review from two weeks ago, some issues are brought up only to be resolved when you least expect it. This past episode of the always intriguing HBO series seemed to put all the issues on the table and tried to resolve them within the one hour timeframe. And there was alot.
First things first, the Margene marriage. At the beginning of the episode, when Benny made his return home, it seemed like everybody knew about Marge’s recent nuptials to Ana’s fiancee Goran… except for Bill that is. When she did tell him at his Casino’s office, of course he was upset about it. He accused her of only doing it to help her own business and because she didn’t want to be outed if he won the election. She managed to talk him down by confessing her love for him and giving him a kiss. Than when Marge and Goran were in the immigration office, and the representative told them about the consequences of a falsified marriage Margene had second thoughts. However when she told Bill about it, he wanted her to stay married for campaign purposes. It wasn’t made clear if she went through with it or not. They left the immigration meeting up in the air, and she never told Bill if she was still married or not. I’m sure this will be made clear next week.
Meanwhile Barb let Bill know that she went behind his back to sign Marilyn Densham, and that she was basically setting them up all along. Offering representation against religious protesters, but all the while in cahoots with the companies that start these protests. Basically she tells them to protest so that the Casino would think she’s needed. He, ofcourse, gets upset and fires Barb. However Barb, as we know by now, is as strong willed as Bill and as a partner of the company she decided to re-hire herself. The scene where they all had a meeting and Densham’s plan was exposed was an intense and funny one. Still, for some reason, Densham stuck around the Casino to stir up more crap. She witnessed Margene and Bill’s kiss in his office and confronted Bill and Barb about it (this is when Bill had the change of heart and told Marge to stay married), when this somewhat backfired she let it be known that her new personal mission was to ruin Bill’s campaign.
And Barb actually made a slip up at a women’s meeting which put the campaign in jeopardy, at the time she was overwhelmed with feelings over being fired by Bill. She said that the women of Utah are so hell bent on being perfect for their husbands they raid their medicine cabinet to deal. This completely backfired as Bill’s opponent got wind of it and started to use the remarks in campaign’s against Bill. When confronted about it, Barb says she wouldn’t back down because it is a real issue that needed to be adressed. And even though, when the family were on a live TV interview, she wanted to retract her statement, Bill stepped in and made the same point she made. That it is an issue and that it should be addressed.
Nicki unveiled her new look this week. Even if it was only for a small portion of the episode. In an effort to seem more attractive to Bill, and regain some of her lost youth, Nicki started wearing short skirts and revealing blouses. Still classy, but definitley a change from her compound attire. However, Nicki was about to get the news that Bill’s brother Joey killed her father Roman. She visited Joey’s wife Wanda to see if she knew anything about this, which she does, but she wasn’t speaking a word. She tussled a little with her ex-husband and Wanda’s brother J.J. about where to take her, but eventually she ended up in the Henricksen home. Nicki also made a visit to her brother Alby, who was still upset about the suicide of Dale Tomasson. He actually was on trial for using UEB money to rent the apartment Tomasson committed suicide in. Without having a leg to stand on in court, Alby evaded the answers but it’s clear that the powers that be are not done pressing that issue. Nicki told Alby that now is the time to change his life, like she was doing. However, Alby is still being haunted by the ghost of his father, Very chilling stuff and a great performance by Harry Dean Stanton. Roman’s ghost convinced Alby not to listen to Nicki, he called her a whore and shamed her off the compound. Which led to Nicki reverting back to her old ways.
Another big story this week was that the Henricksen’s eldest daughter Sarah. Her and her husband are moving to Portland, he had a job interview and they on the spur of the moment (let her tell it) put down a deposit for an apartment. Bill saw through this and called her out on wanting to move so she wouldn’t have to be outed as a polygamist if Bill wins his election. They had a lightweight argument about it, and towards the end (as always) Bill forgave her. (On a personal note: I’m so sick of Sarah. Amanda Seyfried is a pretty girl, but her character has become so un-likeable. It seems like she just takes the opposing view on anything her parents ever say. And as much as they’ve forgiven her in the past, she still acts like they are her enemies. I really want her gone. And if not totally gone, I hope this move changes her personality wise because I’m sick of the same old bruting and unhappy Sarah)
I seriously hope I’m not forgetting anything. Meanwhile we only have one episode left in the season, all the big guns will be out. And I’m wondering if we will find out if Bill won the election or not. As it stands, Bill mentioned he was only 5 points ahead at this point. So it looks like it’ll be a very close race to the finish. I get the feeling that Bill will win, but his plan to live an openly polygamist lifestyle looks like it might be postponed. We’ll just have to tune in and see.
