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Big Love ongoing thread (1 Viewer)

Michael Reuben

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Immediately, because I enjoyed his film Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, and I'm looking forward to watching Nine Lives.

Besides, he's got storytelling genes. ;)

M.
 

Phil Florian

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Count me among those that will return. It is a good mate with Sopranos in that when boiled down it is still a drama about families, both those in the home and extended ones beyond their front doors.

I was actually surprised there was quite a bit of dark tension at the end of it. Harry Dean Stanton (a welcome return for me...he is always cool) is playing a genuinely creepy character from what will no doubt be the darker side of Bill Paxton's family. I had thought the show was just going to be about Bill and his three wives and how much fun it is to juggle such a handful! Not so. Now we get some creepy cult elements to boot. Very cool.

I think the show did a great job of setting the tone. It was more of a "slice of life" style episode that got us into the rhythms of the family life. Without much exposition we have a pretty clear idea of how things work on a basic level, who contributes what, how the families get together and a bit about the outside world. Nicely done. It will be cool to learn more about who is in on the family secret and who isn't.

Any idea of the Mormon reaction to this?
 

MikeM

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The pilot episode was just interesting enough to stop me from changing the channel, but just barely. Next week's episode looks promising, and I'm a huge fan of Bill Paxton, so I'll tune in a few more times at least. I hope it picks up a bit though...




Umm...they're not happy. ;)

Polygamy drama causes Mormon outrage
The Mormon Church, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, outlawed polygamy or 'plural marriage' in 1890, and are appalled by the series, which they insist "reinforces old and long-outdated stereotypes" about the Morman faith.

The religious body also brands Big Love "lazy and indulgent entertainment".

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/13032006/36...n-outrage.html
 

Adam Lenhardt

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I thought the episode was pretty explicit in the seperation between the Hendricksons and the LDS folks. The other waitress was LDS, and her father was ominously a state trooper. The discussion made it pretty clear that the Hendricksons had to leave the church when Bill took on Wife #2.

Not bad. I highly doubt it'll be a show to plan my week around (or subscribe over), but I think it'll be worth catching on tape.
 

Joseph S

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I don't doubt that one for a second. "Make sure he drinks plenty of this toxic juice that looks like a sewer, so he feels better." :) I'm just curious as to why poison the father if the wealthy son isn't all that close to the family?
 

mattCR

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I think they addressed that to some extent. It looks as though his first wife had ovarian cancer, and a hysterectomy. As a result, she allowed for the marriage to his second wife for more children.
 

todd s

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I thought when Barb turned down Viagra affected Bill. He would go and visit wife #2 or #3. :)
 

JonZ

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Thats what my G/F said, but I think thats against the rules. It was Barbs night.

Remember the scene when he was sitting outside onthe chair and it looked like Barb was going to talk to him. She noticed Marg in the window, she turned around and went inside.
 

Jeff Pounds

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Plus, they had the disclaimer at the end about the Mormons officially forbidding the practice in 1890 or whatever.

I actually thought that the show was quite good. As someone else pointed out above, Bill Paxton was fantastic. I've always been a Bill Paxton fan, and it's good to see him get something that he can really sink his teeth into. And speaking of "reuinions"... as a Tulsa native, it was cool to see two fellow Tulsans (Jeane Tripplehorn and Mary Kay Place) on the show! ;)

I thought one of the more interesting aspects of the show was the very beginning. Probably for most men, the first thing that they would think of, in terms of polygamy, would be the prospect of sleeping "legally," so to speak, with multiple women. The show kind of turned that on its head right off the bat by showing Bill's "problem."

I'll definitly be tuning in again...
 

Phil Florian

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I think the LDS reaction is a bid for attention or an effort to distance themselves a bit more from the subject, though as the Bard might say, they doth protest too much. Maybe.

They really did turn the whole male fantasy on its head. I was feeling sympathy exhaustion for Bill. To be truly in a loving relationship with one person can be taxing at times (in good and bad ways, of course). To do this truly with THREE must be super difficult. He really is trying to be the equal partner in all the relationships, at least so far. He was pretty "hands on" with the kids to one extent but I wonder if that will go as far as changing diapers, getting up in the middle of the night, etc. Or will he become a more "50's" style dad. Work hard making the money and expect to be left alone when he comes home.

I am sure Roman lives like this. Man, he skeeves me to no end. Stanton rules! Did we find out if Bill's dad had multiple wives? It seems the multiple wive's thing wasn't the only reason for their commune. It looked like a "back to simpler times" sort of plan, too. Though not for Roman and his wife (who seems to share her daughter's love of "things.").
 

DeeF

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Overall, I thought the episode was pretty bland. I recognize that these first episodes need to set up the whole thing, all the various story threads and characters.

But I think this one went for too much. There's a fairly bizarre turn into Carnivale land, with the Bruce Dern character being poisoned by his wife. And there's a bit of Sopranos, too, with Harry Dean Stanton trying to strongarm Bill Paxton (which he may still do).

I thought this show was about polygamy? and its inherent relationship problems.

Overall, I'd give it a C+, though I'm still interested to see what happens.

P.S. Most intriguing thing: the young girl who reveals that she has married Harry Dean Stanton (the Prophet) -- is she somebody's daughter?

P.P.S. I'm 6th generation Mormon -- my great-grandfather was Heber J. Grant, the Prophet and President of the LDS church from 1917-1945. He had three wives, and I'm the product of his third wife Emily Wells.
 

Phil Florian

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DeeF...whoa, that's some good sharing! Great perspective for this discussion.

I still think this is about polygamy and its relationships...in fact, only the Roman stuff near then end steered away from this slightly. But every other aspect of it had at its center the polygamy thing. How they share their husband separately (in bed, anyway), how they spend it together, how they handled finances (or abuse it), who works, who doesn't, how he relates to a lot of his kids, how the wives relate to each other, etc. I think in a subtle way they hit a TON of topics on polygamy that no doubt will be explored in greater detail in the coming episodes (the next episode has "Viagra" in the title so we have some f/u from stuff set up in ep. 1 already...). We have one wife from "outside" the system (Boss wife), one from deep in the system (2nd wife) and one we aern't sure about but is new to the whole game (3rd wife). I don't know how they could have made it MORE about polygamy.
 

BridgetJZ

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A couple of things:

1) bland?? really?? I think that they did a great job with character development and background information. The interactions b/w the wives was fascinating.

2) Interesting about your mormon connections. I've spoken to a few mormoms about the show and they said that it didn't offend them, which is a good thing. I think that HBO did a good job of making sure that a clear split was made b/w polygamy and mormonism.

3) I missed the preview for this Sunday's episode. Is it available anywhere online?
 

Ronald Epstein

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I tried to expand my television horizons and
watched the pilot episode of Big Love.

I dunno. It didn't grab me. Nothing great here.

I'll watch one more week just to give it a chance.
 

DeeF

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Oh! Sorry to have been overly emphatic in my sarcasm.

Of course, the show is about polygamy. I was just mentioning how surprised I was at the plot turns which seemed borrowed from other shows.

If the show is about polygamous relationships, and how difficult they are (marriage problems x 3), then I think that's good.

But if the show is about how evil and insidious most polygamist communities are (the prophet Roman stuff), then I think that's bad, and I'll be a little upset.

So far, nothing has upset me, particularly. Mostly... I thought it was pretty ordinary stuff.
 

Jeff Pounds

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DeeF,

On the polygamy front, it seems to me that they are showing both sides of the coin. On the one hand, we see a well-adjusted, successful example with Bill's family, and then the screwed-up version with Roman, et al.

However, that - to me - is mearly the backdrop of the show; like the Mafia for The Sopranos or a Hollywood for Entorage. From my perspective, Big Love, like the aforementioned shows, are about human relationships first and the "background" second.
 

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