This episode is the best yet, Big Love continues to strut it’s stuff.

While at some sort of landmark preservation assembly, Bill starts realizing how beautiful Barb is and how much he loves her when she is speaking to a city councilman and his wife. On their way out they make a journey far off to the side of the road and have sex in the car, without the assistance from Viagra. This happens with the two again, during the next day’s lunch break, inside of Barb’s house, and two more times at an extravagant hotel.

Nicki suspects Bill is having an affair with a soon-to-be fourth wife after she catches him driving on his way home from Barb’s during the middle of the day. So she spills the false beans to Wanda (Joey’s wife), who later calls Bill about it… and Bill denies it.

At work, Bill and Don give a ring to the ‘polygamy czar’ anonymously and says that his mother was scammed by Roman, as well as ten other people. The ‘czar’ admits that he has been trying to find a way inside this case for a while now. Later on Wendy tells Bill that she spied on Don at a restaurant and ‘knows’ that he is a polygamist, Bill confuses her and tries to persuade her otherwise. This isn’t enough to stop her from confronting and verbally attacking Don’s first wife in the restroom. At Juniper Creek, Roman is angry because his son and henchman Alby has done a terrible job of auditing the books, Roman states that he doesn’t need him any more. Roman’s soon-to-be adolescent wife Rhonda and Alby then exchange words, with Alby ending up yelling at her, she then says to never talk like that to her again.

Marg decides to befriend the new neighbor, and after a couple of exchanged visits, Nicki and Barb confront this and inform Marg that she has to be very careful. Nicki adds that Margene is the weakest link, she explains, that she can’t lie like Barb, and cannot keep a secret like herself.

When Nicki is in her bathroom, she finds a hotel soap wrapper, she asks Margene if Bill had sex before they were married and then confronts Barb and tells her that Bill has found a fourth wife. While Ben is in shop class, he has a ‘moment’ when he is watching a drill going in and out of a piece of wood. He then decides that he wants to go to a Mormon seminar, but his girlfriend is heavily against it.

After Bill and Barb have another phone conversation, where they decide to meet up at the hotel again, Nicki decides to check the redial… only to find out that he had called Barb, when she sees Barb closely tailing Bill down the road. Teenie wakes up in the middle of the night to find a man waiting outside the sliding door, everyone is awoken and with Bill not here Nicki is forced to handle the situation herself. Alby says that Bill only married Nicki to get a loan from her father, which in turn greatly pisses her off. She yells that if Alby ever comes near the house again, she will kill him.

When the family is all sitting in the living room, she decides to tell everyone that they’re ready to bring another child into the family. Nicki and Barb have a moment, refilling their love and trust for one another.

More amazing writing to be found here, yet again I loved Nicki and Barb going in circles around each other. The relationship with Bill and Barb in this episode was quite beautiful, he showed her favoritism for her, as she is his first wife. Sarah didn’t have a storyline in this episode, but she was still thrown in to show that she exists, Ben had some more hilarious moments with his sex issues, and I see a grim future with Margene and her new friend, she will find out sooner or later. Nicki finally grew a nut and spoke out for herself, now she just has to drop the bomb to the family that she indebted them $60,000.

This episode brings a little more Comedy to the show, while retaining the same drama we’ve come to know.

The episode opens with a very funny scene, in which Bill comes home, during a very cold night, and has to go through a few alarm pads courtesy of his new security system. Only to find out that he’s at the wrong house, it’s not Margene’s night, so then Bill has to go through some more key pads wearing only a blanket and underwear to Nicki… to find out that she switched nights with Barb. When he gets all the way back to square one, he finds one of the kids in the bed, forcing him to sleep on the couch. Bill has weird dreams, or nightmares for that matter, in which he is being chased by the sound of tapping fingers, him and Don discuss the idea that the dream might be some sort of revelation, but Bill is sketchy on the matter.

In the store, Bill walks up to a State Trooper standing in front of a TV, after they mingle a little bit over the price he slams Bill with a document giving Juniper Creek the right to audit his books, apparently he works for the ‘prophet’.

Nicki gets a call from a credit card company about her apparent debt, due to her recent shopping sprees, sparking another funny bit when Barb walks in and tells her she needs to take care of her children because she finally got called in (she’s a substitute teacher), when Barb leaves Nicki gets another call from who she thinks is another credit card company, but it is her father, and he wants to see her. Nicki then dumps all of these responsibilities onto Margene because she is going to see Roman. Margene accidentally sets off the alarm, causing her to get picked up by the security guy, but she still has to bring Teenie to her Eclipse Play, and due to the fact that she can not sew, she gives Teenie some long stalkings or panty-hose (or something), making her the subject of humiliation at the play.

After contemplating more about Roman’s actions, Bill and Don bring the letter to his lawyer, where he determines that Roman does have rights to audit them. (The lawyer’s assistant was drumming her fingers on a table.)

Nicki goes to see Roman, where he was in the middle of injecting heroine or some other drug, and has a chat about her debt. He goes on that Nicki has exceeded the $500 limit on the card he co-signed for, so he bribes her in that he wants to know what’s going on with Bill’s second store.

Bill’s brother Joey visits him at work, where he explains that he will be needing his Super Bowl Ring back from Ben, in order to woo ‘old people’ into writing checks for his business he wants to start.

Nicki confronts Bill, telling him that she went and saw Roman, and he asked how the business was going. She was aware that it was not her place to ask, and did not want to ruin anything for Bill.

At work, Sarah and Heather have a conversation about why Barb agreed to let Bill marry a second woman, she gave two stories, hers, and Barb’s. She states that Barb said ‘she started to believe in the principle’ and Sarah’s is that ‘Barb loves her father too much, and was afraid to lose him.’ This sparks a sudden interest in the matter for Sarah. Another one of Sarah’s peers invites her to a party, where Heather says she wants nothing to do with it, but Sarah wants to try it out and have a little ‘fun’. When they arrive at the party, Sarah is soon left alone with her friend making out with some kid, she lays down and stares at the eclipse, where Heather comes into vision and offers to bring her home. Sarah asks Heather to promise to never tell anyone about her family, and Heather does so.

Bill, Ben, Don, and Jason go on a father-son hunting trip, wherein Ben asks Bill ‘how he will know if God is talking to him.’ Bill tells him that he has to stay wholesome because there are many different addictions in the world, and that sometimes you think it is God speaking, when it is only your own demons. They are interrupted by Jason on the walkie-talkie when Jason says that he encountered a wolf and his dad is not nearby, Bill says to leave it be, and it will leave you be.

At home, Nicki calls the ‘Suze Orman Show’ about her debt where she is ‘yelled at’ for not sharing her debt with her husband, or even knowing the amount of debt that she is in. Nicki goes to count how much money she really owes and is grief-stricken when she finds out she owes near $60,000. She then locks herself in the bathroom, when the other wives finally see what’s up Nicki starts yelling at Barb. She explains that she can’t go making decisions without consulting the other wives first.

Nearing the conclusion of their hunting trip, Ben kneels down and ties his shoe, when suddenly a wolf appears out of no where, slowly coming from behind Ben. Bill then shoots the wolf dead before it can get any closer to Ben, in a state of empowerment, Bill states to Don that they are going to go after Roman.

Things are really making a move, and there are so many different plots that could explode at any second and screw up the lives of the Henricksons. The episode started off with a bunch of funny bits, and then elevated the drama a little bit, especially with Nicki again. As much as I don’t like the character, I really love the wonderful job that Chloe Sevigny is doing portraying her. A little bit of safety was achieved in Sarah’s storyline, but it had me worried for a second, I thought Heather would want revenge for Sarah ditching her or something. Still can’t wait to see how things are settled between Bill and Roman, and between Nicki, her debt, and Bill. I’m really starting to love this series.

A much more low key episode than the last, quite interesting at that.

Nicki visits the Monte Cristo Hotel to makes reservations for her son Wayne’s birthday party without giving the family any notice. Marg and Barb gossip about it a little bit, with Barb trying to get Marg to spill the beans, when Nicki walks in. Barb asks Nicki, but she won’t say anything. Bill and Nicki eventually talk about the party, and when he asks to see who’s invited he is outrage. Nicki says she only invited immediate family (153 people) and that her father would pay for it… only causing Bill to get more frustrated. Margie oversees this and excitedly tells Barb what went on… when Nicki walks in again, the timing of this woman.

Bill has a little surprise for Margene… a brand new car (in the color of the dress referencing to the past episode) and she is ecstatic… and later on takes Ben (who is seemingly her best friend or something) speeding through the neighborhood. The security company later arrives to install the security system, which brings worry to the three wives, causing them to start questioning Bill’s reasons and asking him if there is anything that they should be aware of.

On his way to work, Bill is confronted by his new neighbors, then calling Barb to take care of welcoming them later. When he arrives at work, there are policemen in the offices, and apparently there was a ‘break-in’ of sorts. The employee explains that a man, of whom fit the description of Roman, came in and demanded a $22,000. She then states that he made her make a notation ‘Fifteen percent, Second store’, Bill plays dumb and asks if they took down his license plate number. Bill and Don both know what’s going on, and Bill assures Don that nothing will happen.

Barb brings the new neighbors a cake, and explains to them, in lie, about other neighbors. Saying that Margie is a single mother whom Bill supports when she needs, and they bought the other house and are renting it out to Nicki. A bunch of family members start pulling in for Wayne’s birthday party, and so does Roman later on… Bill yells at Nicki questioning why he was invited after he had warned her not to, and explains that Roman is why he installed a security system.

Joey is in the back yard giving congratulations to Ben for making varsity baseball, and offers to give him his Super Bowl Ring. Ben is overjoyed and thanks him. Lois gets a bad first impression from Margene, mostly due to the fact that she mauled her upon her entering. Lois also starts comparing Bill to his father, and expresses her dislike for Margene. Bill defends her and then brings her up to help explain why and how she became his third wife.

Nicki starts to open Wayne’s gifts and starts giving off bad vibes, and she looks extremely pissed off, because Marg, Lois, and Bill aren’t even there. Nicki’s mother chats with her and tells her she doesn’t approve of her actions or ‘vulgar materialism’ as she puts it, causing Nicki to run into her room crying.

If it weren’t hectic enough, Bill’s father just arrived out front. Sarah tells Lois, and Lois finally goes out and confronts her husband (she had been forced to use a back window to get in and out of her house earlier, because Frank was waiting in front with a gun), where she reveals that she did in fact poison him because he shot her dog, which according to Frank was going to die any day.

Bill notices Nicki’s absence at the party and goes upstairs looking for her, only to find her and Roman talking on her bed. On his way out, Roman warns Bill that there is ‘no place to hide’. He now knows about the security system. While everyone is leaving the party, the new neighbor stares away and then walks back into his home. Nicki states that she ‘doesn’t fit in’, and Bill tries to talk to her but is interrupted by the alarm system, apparently no one took the pony (which Wayne was riding on earlier), and he set off the alarm.

Another good episode, but also very strange and hectic. It wasn’t as good as the previous episode but was still very entertaining, Roman’s character still creeps me out, other than the party there really wasn’t much else developing, though the actress who plays Nicki had another burst out performace, the episode seemed to be centered around her.

Viagra Blue was an amazing episode, now this series really has my attention.

The episode begins with Bill and Margie having sex, and very loud sex at that (with the help of a little Viagra), disturbing the other two wives, especially since it is Barb’s day. The two converse, and Nicki decides to ‘take the bullet’ and talk to Bill about it. Not only does she dismiss the fact that these are her issues (she states that Barb has the issues), but she and Bill have a little fun as well. Margie comes upstairs with laundry and overhears them, she then drops her laundry and goes to hide downstairs.

Bill is dead set on setting up a security system inside the house, afraid that Roman may try and break in or something. Meanwhile Roman visits Frank in the hospital and tells him to give Bill a message: that he is ‘no longer allowed in the compound’. The Henrickson family holds a get-together with fellow polygamist and work partner Don Embry. While all of the women are preparing snacks, the tension continues to build between Margene and Nicki. Don tells Bill that he is dating another woman, and reveals that he hopes to marry her, in effect asking Bill if he’s ready for a fourth.

Ben and his friend (and Don’s son) Jason are at the movies on a double date, while Ben’s date makes a few moves on him. You can tell that Jason is getting extremely jealous during all of it and asks them to calm down. Anyone sense a future gay storyline coming up between these two? They already had a gay moment earlier in the episode.

Sarah’s newly acquired friend keeps dropping hints that she knows about what Sarah comes from, causing Sarah to confront her about it. Heather tells her that she wants to remain friends anyway and Sarah says she doesn’t even approve of polygamy. Bill is put through the daunting task of having to bring his father home from the hospital, wherein Frank bribes him that he will protect Bill from Roman, if Bill gives him $5,000. Bill is outraged and brings up the fact that his father threw him out on the streets when he was 14 years old, he quickly gets all of Frank’s things and wheels him out saying ‘Watch your back’. On Bill’s way to bring his father back to the compound he is halted by Roman’s men, where Frank gets out and walks home. When Bill arrives at home, Barb oversees him praying in his car, for God to ‘show him the way’.

Bill makes a side trip to Margene’s home and apologizes to having sex with Nicki on her bed. He assures Margene that she is a very important part of the family, and it (and he) was not complete until he married her. After they have a moment, Margene tells Bill that she still needs a car. On his way out Bill receives a call from his mother, where she says that Frank wants to ‘kill her’ and it’s all his fault. She says that Bill told him that Lois poisoned him. In the ending scene Bill takes a Viagra and completes his trip to Nicki.

I really liked all of the tension between the wives in this episode, it was quite the ride, and really funny at times. The episode was very well done, with the perfect blend of comedy and drama, enough so to keep me hooked on the series, a big step up from the wonderful pilot episode. There were a couple of strange signals sent by different characters, mainly by Roman and Sarah’s friend Heather. I don’t think Heather is very trustable, she seems pretty psycho to me, and then Roman is just a complete whack-job and I can’t wait to see what happens with all of this. I also suspect, as I said before, a gay storyline for Ben, or he goes full blown gay but there were definitely some obvious signs. I can’t wait to see how this all plays out! On a side note the acting on this show remains stellar, very well done by pretty much everyone.

Think life as a polygamist is a dream come true? Think again.

Big Love follows HBO’s unprecedented knack for creating brilliant and promising shows. Meet Bill Henrickson, husband to three, father to seven, and just opened up the second of his ‘Wal-Mart’-esque superstore; ‘Henrickson’s Home Plus’. It all sounds a little too perfect, and in fact is… balancing the needs of his three wives is quite the daunting task. Due to all the stress he is going through, Bill is having problems ‘getting it up’ for Margene (the third wife), or so she thinks, due to her baby fat… but really he’s just unable. Nicki, his second wife, shows jealousy towards Barbara (first wife), because Bill gave her the money to work on her house, and now Nicki wants the money to do hers.

Bill gets a call at work from his shady brother Joey, with the news that their father is very sick, and needs to be taken to the hospital. The only problem is that their mother refuses to bring him, or let anyone for that matter, mostly due to the fact that she doesn’t want attention attracted to them. Bill is forced to make a trip to his birth place, the Juniper Creek compound… bringing along Barbara and Nicki, who are really not happy with each other at the time being. Inside his mother’s home, Bill finds his father on the ground foaming at the mouth, but Lois still won’t allow hospitalization. When Lois leaves the house for work, Bill and Joey sneak their father to the hospital. What are the kids up to you say? Well, Bill’s son Ben wants a new gun, his oldest daughter Sarah becomes friends with an apparently religious girl who’s father is none other than a state trooper, daughter Teenie needs food for her pet lizard, and two of the younger boys are begging for someone to play with them in the shared family pool. All three houses are interconnected through the backyard, including a family pool.

In the parking lot of his new store, Bill runs into Nicki’s very creepy father Roman, who is also the head of the Juniper Creek compound, who wants compensation for helping Bill open up his first store, by demanding 15% income from the second. Bill says he won’t do so, adding great tension between the two, this isn’t the last you will be seeing him. Bill receives more news about his father, and apparently he has arsenic poisoning. While lying in bed, Bill ponders the fact that his mother may have poison him.

Is the thought of multiple wives still appealing? I would sure hope not.

Overall Big Love looks to be an incredibly promising and very unique show. The possibilities for the show are seemingly endless, and I have full faith that HBO will deliver (as they always do).