Big Love season 3 (1 Viewer)

[Quentin]

Great, great stuff. It truly WAS the road trip from hell!

So many revelations to the family - the Viagra, the birth control, the pregnancy, Ben's crush on Margene (I don't blame him...yowza) - all as they deal with the feeling of rejection by Ana, the aftermath of the trial, and more.

I won't spoil it here, but if you saw the teaser a plot thread I thought was dead is going to rear its ugly head. Nasty.

 

[Bryan Toth]

I love this show, and the episode was definitely intense, but in the back of my mind all I could think of was that it was "National Lampoon's Vacation" on acid. (they even used Miriam Flynn as one of the distant relatives for Margene's character!) Still ... some important revelations ... although I figured the baby sub-plot would drag out a little longer.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

Poor Bill, questioning everything when the angel was flying high, but behind him.

 

[mattCR]

Bill's marriages are falling apart, in a way. But Barb sees the light in it for real this time.

Roman proved again he is absolutely evil. Wanda is too unstable to care for herself.

Nikki, however, is on the virge of finding herself outside the marriage..

 

[Richard Travale]

There were a few heartbreaking moments in this episode. Margene having the breakdown, poor Kathy trying to get away from the Greene clan and Wanda asking Kathy to be the #1 wife.

 

[Michael Henry]

Can someone smarter than me run down the deal with the letter?

Is this letter mean that the church was still ok with polygamy but was going to sweep it under the rug?

What does this have to do with Bill and his family?

 

[Quentin]

Why is Margene unhappy? Is this fallout from her mother's death?

In recent episodes we've seen Margene come a long way - she's come out of her shell, learned to assert herself, become part of the casino plan, fully embraced the religious calling, fallen in love with her family, and more. So, what's the problem? Is this Ana fallout?

I don't get it. And, frankly, it annoys me because I like to see the smokin' hot young one be bubbly!

 

[Quentin]

It is a letter that confirms the LDS elders still believe that polygamy is a cornerstone of their religion despite what they were doing for public relations sake.

Imagine if you held to a religious tenet despite public outrage and scorn, and found a document that confirmed your religion truly believed in the tenet you stuck to. Having that document gives Bill and his family leverage for acceptance in the LDS church.

 

[mattCR]

OK, Wilford Woodruff was the prophet of the mormon church in the late 1800s. When Utah was coming into the union, there was a lot of negative thought and persecution of mormons for their practice of polygamy. Prophet Joseph Smith (founder) had been a polygamist, and it was fairly common practice. On September 24, 1890, Woodruff ended the support of the church for Polygamy... because without doing so, the feds had basically said they'd declare mormonism a cult and crush them.

HOWEVER, amongst polygamist circles, it has long been said that Woodruff was pressured by the US Government, and he had written a letter to the leader of many of the churches steeped in polygamy and informed them that it was not the will of God for them to be punished for their practice, and if sometime in the future mormonism could grow and show it's way as healthy and the word of God, then polygamy would return.

The "Woodruff letter" is insanely sought after by the Church of Mormon, who at times has been duped into buying historical documents.

In came back into prominence when famed 1980s forger Mark Hoffman managed to come up with the entirely fictitious "Salamander Letter" and inspire a semi-bidding war at one point over the quest to get the "Woodruff Letter to the Disciples".

The letter never came up. But it is a real sticking point of those who believe in religiously ordained polygamy; if it did exist, it would validate that their lifestyle is not just "OK" with God, but seen as a prominent positive lifestyle within the church.

IF it was found, for people like Barb, who believe but question, it would be the same as saying "your instinct was right all along, you are doing the RIGHT thing."

The Woodruff Letter has never been produced by anyone, so it's more a myth then any reality.

 

[Michael Henry]

Good info Matt thx...

I was actually baptized Mormon (and I have been to the Temple in Utah) but I have not followed it since being 8 yrs old - I am now 39(!)...and never heard of ANY of this...

It's actually fascinating!

 

[mattCR]

Not Mormon at all here

I'm a big old agnostic. Then again, I believe in Polygamy as a concept if the situation is right, so what does that say?

Still, the Mark Hoffman story is one of the best stories of modern day criminal caper EVER

 

[Hogie]

I believe Margene is unhappy because she has to stay home every day with the kids and has no adult company. She threatened to spill the beans about Nikki's job, saying Nikki should quit and stay home with the kids so she could go back to work.
Nikki's in a real pickle, isn't she?

 

[Qui-Gon John]

3 more episodes?

I thought they were doing 12 Episode Seasons.

This would make this season only 10 Episodes.

Anyone know the deal regarding this?

 

[mattCR]

Holy cow is Nikki in deep s----

 

[Richard Travale]

I think they're all in deep s***.

 

[Quentin]

Man...how selfish can a person be? Witness Nicolette Grant, sociopath.

She basically lives in her own self-absorbed world where anything and everything can be justified. And, she abandoned her kids with not so much as a sigh. Yikes.

The family is clearly going to be outed. I don't think it can be avoided anymore. Whether the DA does it, or Barb's sister, or everyone. At this point, they just need to prepare to survive it and move on. Get that casino built ASAP, and leave Nikki to go to jail on her own.

 

[Patrick Sun]

This was the episode where people finally knew where they stood. Good stuff.

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

One of the things I find interesting is... can the government do anything about someone living a polygamous lifestyle if only one is a legal wife? Since there's such a thing as a common law wife, could that status in and of itself be grounds for a bigamy charge?

 

[Quentin]

They could. The living arrangement for the Hendrickson's is technically illegal. However, there is no one complaining and the state typically does not act as plaintiff for such 'small fish'. They go after the big, problematic polygamists like Roman. People abusing it.

I doubt the DA would prosecute for polygamy. Obstruction of justice? Tampering? Conspiracy? Oh yeah, he likely would. Unfortunately for him, pretty much everyone saw him kiss Nikki. He would likely lose his job if he exposed the truth. So, once again, she may be safe...with the law. Not at all with Bill and the family.

 

[Brandon Conway]

I find the letter thing interesting because its a total misnomer. The LDS Church has never changed its doctrinal position on polygamy - it has always been considered doctrinal that some polygamous marriages are divinely instituted (see: Jacob, Abraham, and so on for Biblical examples).

The question is not whether it's doctrinal, but rather if at a particular time it is being sanctioned by God. The Manifesto that ended the practice of polygamy in 1890 did not deny the doctrine, but only the continued practice.

So whether such a letter exists is a true red herring - it really doesn't matter from a doctrinal perspective.