I feel it only appropriate to squeeze at least one item out of watching all 5 seasons of Big Love, so here goes…
5. The Worst Season: Season 4. This is the season even Chloe Sevigney (who plays bitter second wife Nicky, ironically the best thing about this particular season) said sucked. It started out strong but narratively fell apart–an unfortunate Big Love pattern–half way through. Even though this season is a mess and chaotic, I still find the best moments of it (like the great final shot where Bill outed himself as a polygamist, thrusting his family into the public eye) better than the best moments of season 5 which didn’t have too many. It’s a debate about which is better: boring but mostly realistic versus insane but sometimes exciting. If the consensus weren’t so unanimous that this is the worst season, I might be tempted to say it was second worst.
4. Season 5: The one we just finished, the final season was a let down in every sense of the word. Life sucking minor characters like Nicky’s daughter (who didn’t even exist until season 4), Barb’s mom, Bill’s parents, etc. dominated every scene that wasn’t devoted to Bill and his three wives bitching at each other. The religious arguments between Bill and Barb about something called a “priesthood holder” and all this Mormon mumbo jumbo is interesting in that it shows a couple having an actual religious argument on TV…but it also shows why that stuff isn’t on TV. And having Albert Grant be the central villain (it was the excellent Roman Grant for seasons 1, 2, and 3, and Nicky’s ex for season 4) just showed that he’s never been as dynamic as his dad at villainy.
3. Season 1: The second most boring season after season 5, but since it’s the first season the premise still feels fresh. It’s ironic that the two seasons with the freshest angles (season 1 sets up the premise, season 5 shows them living in public with it) are also the slowest paced and least interesting. Still, if you want to know what it would actually be like to be a polygamist this season might be the most realistic.
2. Season 2: A very good season. The show’s not great (and never will be) but it absolutely makes good on its premise, shows more promise than season 1, has twistier plotlines, moves faster, and introduces the series 2nd best villains: The horrible Greene family, a “family” of weirdo polygamists so vile even Roman Grant didn’t want them in his compound.
1. The Best Season: Season 3 beats season 2 by a nose. This season’s not perfect and locking up the show’s best villain (the folksy but menacing Roman Grant played with smooth malice by Harry Dean Stanton) for much of it and killing him off at the end of it slowed momentum, but it still feels like a pretty great period for the show where everything felt possible…before it came back for two more seasons that largely ruined the show’s legacy.
I cling on to listening to the newscast talk about getting boundless online grant applications so I have been looking around for the top site to get one. Could you tell me please, where could i acquire some?
Super job on the write-up. A number of thanks for sharing it with us, you must have gone through plenty of work to complete it so well.