Big Love

I'm currently finishing the Season 2 dvd of Big Love, an HBO series which is in its third season. The primary stars are Bill Paxton as the husband and Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin as his three wives. Yes, they are polygamists.

The first few shows of Season 1 were of course the set-up, and I must say I was not hooked. In fact, I left the series for awhile, but after hearing a Bill Paxton interview on "Fresh Air," I decided to pick up where I left off. Now, I am hooked.

Season 1 deals primarily with how this family of multiple partners navigates the home-side and the public-side of their entwined lives in a suburb of Salt Lake City. It also introduces us to The Compound at Juniper Creek which is an enclave of polygamists who live under the direction of the Prophet, Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton), on property two hours away from the suburbs into the desert of Utah.

Season 2 ups the ante as Bill branches out from his business as owner of a big box store into providing video poker machines to shady gambling businesses in the Southwest. This move is complicated by Roman Grant who had the idea first.

Throughout the series, we learn more about how the wives keep the peace, make trouble, manage their shared husband, and deal with their personal histories.