Thursday, December 20, 2007

No Love for BIG LOVE?

(Spoilers for the HBO Series Big Love, episodes 1-1 and 1-2 below, so, consider yourself warned.)

So, I checked out the first disc of Season 1 of HBO's "Big Love", solely because it is produced by Tom Hanks and because the cast includes Amanda Seyfried and Tina Majorino, who played Lilly Kane and "Mac" MacKenzie on Veronica Mars. (Incidentally, it also has Kyle Gallner, who played Beaver Casablancas on VM, but, I didn't know that until he showed up in a scene. And then I thought to myself, "Wow. Did the producers of Veronica Mars walk onto the Big Love set and yell, "GIVE ME ALL YOUR DECENT ACTORS WHO CAN BELIEVABLY PULL OFF PLAYING TEENAGERS!" or was it vice versa? I digress.)

Anyhooooooo...

I watched the pilot and most of episode 2.

I will say that the show is well-written and has an incredibly talented cast.

And it creeps me right the h*ll out.

"Wait wait!!" I hear you saying. "But, Lawmommy, you have admitted in this forum that you really LIKE watching DEXTER and that is a show about a serial killer who chops other serial killers INTO TINY VERY BLOODY LITTLE PIECES AND KEEPS THEIR BLOOD in a hidey-hole behind his air-conditioner, but the show about POLYGYNY creeps you out?"

To which I say, "Yes. Yes it does."

I can't put my finger on what, exactly, bugged me most. I hated the patronizing attitude of Bill (the husband.) I hated the creepy concept of the "sister-wife". (I've been creeped out by this idea since we covered Polygamy in my Family Law course in Law School, and read an article written (anonymously) by a woman who claimed to be a licensed Utah attorney who was living in a polygynist relationship, who stated that without the assistance of her sister-wives, she wouldn't be able to go to work and support the family. To which I wanted to scream, "HELLO!! HIGH QUALITY DAYCARE IS A MUCH BETTER SOLUTION THAN SHARING YOUR HUSBAND WITH TWO OTHER PEOPLE YOU FREAK!!!")

I think I was offended by the inherently unbalanced relationship between Bill and the three wives.

I think I can honestly say I would find this show easier to watch if it involved three wives sharing three husbands. (Okay, but, then it would probably have to be aired on a different kind of cable channel.)

I was really appalled by the scene in which Barb and Nicki (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn and Chole Sevigny) are treated to the sound of their husband VERY LOUDLY banging the third wife while they try to make breakfast for the rest of the family. I can just say, categorically, that in such shoes, there would have been BLOOD SHED. BLOOD SHED THE LIKES OF WHICH WOULD IMPRESS DEXTER. Not angry egg whisking as was the response of the sister-wives.

But, maybe I'm just not good at sharing. Call me crazy.

I found myself really disliking Bill, and really feeling badly for the character of Sarah (the oldest daughter, played by Amanda Seyfried) for the obvious discomfort she felt with the "I have three mommies and one of them is barely older than I am" scenario.

Soooooooooo....is that the point of the show? Am I supposed to feel uncomfortable? Am I supposed to dislike Bill? Should I even bother continuing to watch soley because I am a fan of Jeanne Tripplehorn, Amanda Seyfriend and Tina Majorino? Should I give this show another episode or two before I throw in the towel and move on to the first season of Heroes or Boston Legal?

Discuss??

LM

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7 Comments:

Blogger BigOrangeDog said...

I think you should give it another few episodes. I've only watched the first season, but I ended up liking it (although yeah, a little creepy). See how the characters develop before you write it off completely. Keep us posted on what you think of it!!

Jen

Thursday, December 20, 2007 2:46:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree - give it a few. It may still creep you out on occasion (it does me) and it may also make you think on occasion, you will probably continue to dislike Bill (I do) but it's a good watch!

Thursday, December 20, 2007 3:50:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is one of your regular readers here (signed in anonymously for, well, anonymous purposes) but my spouse and I are in a polyamorous relationship where we share significant relationships with others outside of our marriage. While we are steps removed from the arrangement in Big Love, we really enjoy the show. We would watch the character alone, no matter what the show was about, but we really enjoy that part of it too. Keep watching, I'm betting that you'll get over the weirdness soon- much like we do when we watch shows about strictly monogamous relationships. haha

Really, it ends up getting good.

Thursday, December 20, 2007 6:08:00 PM  
Blogger maxhelcal said...

OMG!...I don't know whether to shutter away in fear or find out what the heck channel this show is on and tune in! LOL Actually, not my thing to watch....I have the hardest time just watching people on the daytime soaps! I say go watch heros (my personal fav)although Anonymous here sure makes things interesting!

~Michelle

Thursday, December 20, 2007 8:09:00 PM  
Blogger Nicole - Raising Animals said...

You know we really liked season 1 but then we had to wait SO long for season 2, it ended up being really disappointing. We didn't even realize that we were watching the season finale in season 2 until they stopped showing episodes. I hope season 3 is better. Watch out though if you keep watching, you might get addicted; no matter what you think of it now...it'll grow on you! :-)

Thursday, December 20, 2007 8:53:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Honestly, I watched this show for a while, and then I simply lost interest. When you get past the polygamy, you just have yet another show about bored housewives.

Sunday, December 23, 2007 12:28:00 PM  
Blogger Duchess said...

I made it through season one but couldn't hack season two. I say move on to Heroes, which freaked me out so bad I slept with my closet light on for two nights. Or Boston Legal, which I just love, it's so witty.

Friday, January 04, 2008 2:08:00 PM  

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