After last week’s episode brought us up to speed on the goings on surrounding Bill Hendrickson and his merry band of Faithketeers, the second episode of the season is diving head first into some of the main conflicts brought to light last week.
We open on a hearing by Representative Colburn, denouncing the practice of polygamy and the state’s lackadaisical attitude toward it. Colburn is running for state senate and will be damned if he’s going to leave this hot-button issue alone. Bill is in attendance at the hearing and decides he wants to run against Colburn in order to defend “The Principle” against zealots like Colburn who know little or nothing about the plight of Bill and the people of Juniper Creek. Sarah’s priceless reaction to Bill’s news: “Another day, another revelation.”
Clearly there are people in the family who have problems with Bill’s new pet project, particularly the three wives, seeing as how they are already stretched thin with Hendrickson Home Plus, Blackfoot Casino, and this whole crazy mess of a life they lead. No one is as staunchly against this idea than Margene, who has shown a little more backbone this season in matters of how the house is run and who plays what role within the family. We find out that Margene is on track to make over $130k this year selling her little bibelots (I learned this word this week and I’m using it, so deal with it) on TV, so her sense of self-worth is through the roof right now. I expect that before this is all over, she’ll get taken down a peg by somebody (probably Nikki).
Speaking of Nikki, she’s none too pleased that her ex-husband J.J. has been hanging around and gets even more irate when Bill invites J.J. and his cancer-stricken wife over for dinner. They discuss what will be best for their daughter Cara Lynn, but end up being as civil as bears fighting over a the last bit of lost hiker. They clearly have major issues with each other, and Nikki having been picked out of the Joy Book by J.J., which he now wants to put Cara Lynn into, isn’t gaining him any favors from anybody. Also, J.J. has no fingernails. Discuss.
While the family’s faith continues to put them in crisis, Sarah’s crisis of faith is bubbling over and she decides that instead of hemming and hawing over what she thinks is going to be acceptable to her family in terms of a church wedding, she and Scott say fuck it and decide to get married by the justice of the peace. Sarah tries to enlist brother Ben and estranged friend Heather to witness their nuptials, but neither is crazy about the situation. When she tells cashier Heather the news while sitting in the drive-thru, Heather responds with “Congratulations. Your total is $4.68.” Her bitterness over Sarah’s life choices in the last few seasons (drinking, having sex, bailing out on going to college together) isn’t something she’s willing to forgive, but she does promise to be there for her friend. Ben has a similar reaction when hearing the news, and when he sees what Sarah’s drink of choice is at dinner he disgustedly questions, “Is that wine? I gotta go,” though he reluctantly agrees to be there for his sister.
I have always enjoyed the dynamic of Ben and Sarah and am curious how their relationship will progress now that she has decided to formally shun the teachings of The Principle. Ben has slowly but surely grown closer to his faith, though not always in the most reasonable or mature fashion. He fully believes that life and faith are inextricably joined, though I don’t think he understands the ramifications of that viewpoint. Sarah sees the bad things that faith has done to her family, but seems blind to the immediate positive aspects of it (community support, sense of something larger than yourself, plenty of raisin salad). I guess this is something that happens in a lot of families where one sibling rejects the views of their parents while another is drawn to them. Ben and Sarah have been carving out their respective identities over the past three seasons and it seems like this could be the season where they will have to decide what kind of people they really are.
All of this action leads up to the burial of Roman Grant, the prophet of Juniper Creek. As Alby mentally prepares to take over the reins of the compound, Adaleen reminds him that nobody is fit to fill Roman’s boots. Nikki takes the opportunity to tell Bill that she never really believed that her father was the true prophet and that he should take that crown instead of focusing on this silly state senate business, but Bill has decided that not only will he will run for state senate, but he will do so as a polygamist (most likely a republican polygamist). Sarah makes a last-ditch effort to convince Bill that getting married is what she needs to do and that she needs to do it her way and Bill ends up surprising everybody by allowing the wedding to happen in their backyard, and the whole family gets to look on as Sarah and Scott say their “I dos.”
Now that Sarah and her beloved are joined by the state, she seems to have reached a level of understanding with her family. I have three theories about what may or may not happen to her in the future:
1) Her family will live in relative peace with her life decisions and allow her to live the way she wants, religious or not.
2) The Barb Hendrickson Guilt Committee will hold regular meetings to entice Sarah to nurture her spiritual existence, driving Sarah and Scott further away, possibly out of the state.
3) FBI will pump her and Scott for information about her family, driving a stake between the Hendricksons. Whether or not she gives them the info they need will twist the story in any number of directions.
All in all this was a surprisingly sweet ending for a show that often relies on soap opera-esque cliffhangers to entice viewers to tune in next week. It’s a nice reminder that despite the circumstances of their lives, the Hendricksons are a family who cares about each other to put aside difference in order to do what’s right … sometimes.
Looking back on these last two episodes, I’m truly confounded by the sheer number of storylines intersecting through the lives of the main characters of Big Love, as well as how each individual member of the story is connected to each other (J.J. is Wanda’s brother!?). It gives the story that heightened level of drama we’ve come to expect from a series as ambitious as any other on TV, but it can sometimes be in danger of seeming outlandish. Anybody and everybody in the real world has their share of stresses and sticky situations that intersect with the lives of those around them, but the level to which these stories are growing is not only getting hard to keep track of, but bordering on absurdity. As always, I give the writers of the series enough credit and trust to make the right choices for the story. I think we’re just in the metaphorical thick of the series, and the outlook to us casual viewers is murky at best.
Parting thoughts:
• Alby’s new “friend” Dave is a mentor at an organization called “Alignment” which teaches young boys how to not be gay. I’d say he needs to have his accreditation reviewed.
• Seriously, why doesn’t J.J. have fingernails?
• Congrats to Chloe Sevigny on winning the Golden Globe for her portrayal of Nikki. Nobody plays cloying polygamist harpy quite like her. Kudos!
No comments:
Post a Comment