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Forget TImon, I want a Newsreader storyline. What's this guy up to in his spare time? What's his home life like? Is he like this when his wife asks how his day went?
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909 Watches TV: Peaky Blinders
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ABOUT YOUR FATHER
I was going to mention the newsreader in this episode because I thought he would have a grand announcement, and he definitely did have one. First we get to that point. As some of you probably know, Mark Antony commits suicide after having lost his war with Octavian. See, we completely skipped the war after all. Obviously I'm not too happy about that, and I already said it's a problem, but the show had to end. The scenes with Pullo and Caesarion are all pretty good, but it seems Vorenus has met his demise in attempting to smuggle the kid out of Egypt. The bits with Octavian wanting to bring back Cleopatra to Rome are a step too far however. You know why? We jumped from this guy being a kid straight to him being sociopathic, no character building or any of that. It's jarring, it was strange this whole time, and it took me out of the last season. Anyway, the real moment that matters here is Atia's reaction after having done all this bad shit to other people. Nobody deserves it more. This was a great episode but there's too much happening and the packing in storylines deal got a little bit tiresome with me.
The show is too short to do a full description of my favorite things. The best scenes though are pretty much every time the Newsreader is on screen, Caesar's death scene, Pullo in the arena, Pullo doing pretty much anything, Pompey's beheading, and of course Pullo and Octavian killing Evander. The worst are everything with Timon, I was never into any of that and because of the way things turned out, everything with him feels pointless. The first season is also a lot better than the second. You can also pretty much tell who my favorite characters were.
I was going to mention the newsreader in this episode because I thought he would have a grand announcement, and he definitely did have one. First we get to that point. As some of you probably know, Mark Antony commits suicide after having lost his war with Octavian. See, we completely skipped the war after all. Obviously I'm not too happy about that, and I already said it's a problem, but the show had to end. The scenes with Pullo and Caesarion are all pretty good, but it seems Vorenus has met his demise in attempting to smuggle the kid out of Egypt. The bits with Octavian wanting to bring back Cleopatra to Rome are a step too far however. You know why? We jumped from this guy being a kid straight to him being sociopathic, no character building or any of that. It's jarring, it was strange this whole time, and it took me out of the last season. Anyway, the real moment that matters here is Atia's reaction after having done all this bad shit to other people. Nobody deserves it more. This was a great episode but there's too much happening and the packing in storylines deal got a little bit tiresome with me.
The show is too short to do a full description of my favorite things. The best scenes though are pretty much every time the Newsreader is on screen, Caesar's death scene, Pullo in the arena, Pullo doing pretty much anything, Pompey's beheading, and of course Pullo and Octavian killing Evander. The worst are everything with Timon, I was never into any of that and because of the way things turned out, everything with him feels pointless. The first season is also a lot better than the second. You can also pretty much tell who my favorite characters were.
I am watching BIG LOVE next.
muzzington
Queen Elizabeth Look-alike
BIG LOVE
SEASON 1
PILOT
This is not really framed as a pilot in the sense that there's nothing here to hook the viewer for more than one episode. That is, unless you're interested solely in the concept, but in that case you were probably sticking around anyway. Obviously this is a broad concept. I'll start with the show intro. I am not a fan of this intro and will probably never watch it again. Sorry, the Beach Boys fuckin suck. Anyway, this show is about Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloe Sevigny), and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin). Obviously these three are of different ages and different look, that's the point. They have a lot of kids, all of whom get very little attention from their dad. Bill is starting a second department store, they need more money and don't have enough time. His dad Franklin (Bruce Dern) looks like he's dying, and it seems like his mom Lois (Grace Zabriskie) is killing his dad. Nice to see Sarah Palmer in something else! They also live on a fundamentalist compound, which sounds like it has potential for trouble. There's a problem too. You see, Nicki's father Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) is like Mormon Polygamy Mafia. And it turns out that Bill has been staked in his business deals by said Mormon Mafia. I don't know where the show goes from here but this doesn't strike me as the best episode to go first. We get dropped in and don't know anything about the characters.
SEASON 1
PILOT
This is not really framed as a pilot in the sense that there's nothing here to hook the viewer for more than one episode. That is, unless you're interested solely in the concept, but in that case you were probably sticking around anyway. Obviously this is a broad concept. I'll start with the show intro. I am not a fan of this intro and will probably never watch it again. Sorry, the Beach Boys fuckin suck. Anyway, this show is about Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) and his three wives, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloe Sevigny), and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin). Obviously these three are of different ages and different look, that's the point. They have a lot of kids, all of whom get very little attention from their dad. Bill is starting a second department store, they need more money and don't have enough time. His dad Franklin (Bruce Dern) looks like he's dying, and it seems like his mom Lois (Grace Zabriskie) is killing his dad. Nice to see Sarah Palmer in something else! They also live on a fundamentalist compound, which sounds like it has potential for trouble. There's a problem too. You see, Nicki's father Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) is like Mormon Polygamy Mafia. And it turns out that Bill has been staked in his business deals by said Mormon Mafia. I don't know where the show goes from here but this doesn't strike me as the best episode to go first. We get dropped in and don't know anything about the characters.
VIAGRA BLUE
It's obvious the title is a reference to Bill needing Viagra so he can pound all three of his wives. Good for him but I'm wondering if the emphasis on it in this episode will lead to some kind of addiction or an eventual collapse when he just stops doing it. Anyway, we have a bit of a sex scandal on this episode of Big Love. The wives have a schedule Bill is supposed to adhere to and he can't control himself, so it isn't happening the way it should be. Everyone is encroaching on each other. This isn't a super eventful episode. We do learn that Bill's friend from the hardware store is also a polygamist, and this fat fuck is about to add a fourth wife. Bill is also going to be banned from the polygamist compound with the Mormon Mafia guy, which doesn't seem like a big deal but maybe I don't understand why that's a problem? Bill's daughter Sarah (Amanda Seyfried) also befriends the daughter of a state trooper and states that she doesn't believe in polygamy either. Now I see why THAT'S a problem. I also think Bill's oldest son is gay. All these things better have some good kind of payoffs. Just look at the cast and you can see why anyone would be hopeful for good material.
It's obvious the title is a reference to Bill needing Viagra so he can pound all three of his wives. Good for him but I'm wondering if the emphasis on it in this episode will lead to some kind of addiction or an eventual collapse when he just stops doing it. Anyway, we have a bit of a sex scandal on this episode of Big Love. The wives have a schedule Bill is supposed to adhere to and he can't control himself, so it isn't happening the way it should be. Everyone is encroaching on each other. This isn't a super eventful episode. We do learn that Bill's friend from the hardware store is also a polygamist, and this fat fuck is about to add a fourth wife. Bill is also going to be banned from the polygamist compound with the Mormon Mafia guy, which doesn't seem like a big deal but maybe I don't understand why that's a problem? Bill's daughter Sarah (Amanda Seyfried) also befriends the daughter of a state trooper and states that she doesn't believe in polygamy either. Now I see why THAT'S a problem. I also think Bill's oldest son is gay. All these things better have some good kind of payoffs. Just look at the cast and you can see why anyone would be hopeful for good material.
HOME INVASION
Around here is where the show starts becoming more and more geared around season long plotlines. The one introduced here is whether or not they'll be caught being polygamists by their neighbors. Now I also see the need for the compound. It's a place of retreat should they be caught, where they can act the way they want to outside of their homes, but now they can't. They've also installed a security system which could be a source of future problems because nobody knows how to use it. Anyway, now this dude Roman wants to audit Bill's business and he apparently has the right to do so because of how much he put into it to start it. He also is a fucking prick. Barb is also tasked with preventing the neighbors from learning anything, but her job is made so much harder by Nicki. Nicki is the drama wife of these three and wants to give her son Wayne a birthday party, which entails about 30 fundamentalists (including Roman) coming over to their house. Bill Paxton's acting in response to this reminded me a lot of Trespass, which is a very funny movie everyone needs to watch. He, that movie, and Twister are also large reasons why I decided to watch this show.
ECLIPSE
Even though Margene has a car now, the writers of this show had to come up with something to make her seem helpless, and this time they did a very good job of showing how she will have a hard time fitting in. We also learn a lot here and in the following episode how this whole polygamy situation came into being. Barb got sick with cancer, Bill turned to faith, his faith told him to go crazy and fuck two different women and have kids with them. There you go. That's not all though. When Barb got sick, Bill became even more indebted to Roman. It also doesn't help that Nicki is going buck wild on credit cards that apparently Roman co-signed for. This guy wants what's his. Suze Orman tells Nicki to tell Bill, this scene is hilarious, but she's not going to do that. The show also does a good job with Roman in establishing why even though he's right about the money, he's a piece of trash with countless wives and children and all that shit. This is the most layered episode so far though. Even the kids have major parts to play here. Barb is a substitute teacher and is starting to lay her kids off on the other two wives, who aren't equipped at all to handle it. What is Bill's part in all this? Well he doesn't do shit, you can see that just by watching four episodes. His kids have like less than 1/3 of a father.
I also need to point out that so far anyway, I'm not sure whether this situation is right or not, if it should be illegal or not. See the problem is that one of Roman's wives is a child. It takes the situation from a gray area where I feel people should be able to do what they want, to...not a gray area.
AFFAIR
Our title is in reference to Bill and Barb deciding to screw the schedule and just do whatever they want whenever they want to. This leads to Nicki thinking they're having an affair, and at the end of the episode there's a confrontation between Nicki and one of her brothers. The brother is ashamed that Bill found contract language to get around their audit. I gotta be honest, I don't know this fucking guy's name. IMDB tells me his name is Alby. Alright then. Anyway, after this confrontation, and after Nicki realizes that Bill isn't having an affair, she decides to steal the spotlight back by saying she wants to have another child with Bill. This scene was also well done in that her motives were quite transparent and everyone else just has to deal with them. It is also alleged that Nicki was made to marry Bill because her dad wanted to be rid of her. Meanwhile Bill and his friend Don decide to call the polygamy czar on Roman, which I can see backfiring on multiple levels. One of Bill's employees also knows that Don is a polygamist. SHE SAW THEM AT APPLEBEES. IT'S WRONG she says. SHE HAS THEIR EYE ON THEM.
Unlike a lot of other shows where I have to jog my memory by looking at a review page, I don't have to do that here. So on some level the show hooked me quickly.
Around here is where the show starts becoming more and more geared around season long plotlines. The one introduced here is whether or not they'll be caught being polygamists by their neighbors. Now I also see the need for the compound. It's a place of retreat should they be caught, where they can act the way they want to outside of their homes, but now they can't. They've also installed a security system which could be a source of future problems because nobody knows how to use it. Anyway, now this dude Roman wants to audit Bill's business and he apparently has the right to do so because of how much he put into it to start it. He also is a fucking prick. Barb is also tasked with preventing the neighbors from learning anything, but her job is made so much harder by Nicki. Nicki is the drama wife of these three and wants to give her son Wayne a birthday party, which entails about 30 fundamentalists (including Roman) coming over to their house. Bill Paxton's acting in response to this reminded me a lot of Trespass, which is a very funny movie everyone needs to watch. He, that movie, and Twister are also large reasons why I decided to watch this show.
ECLIPSE
Even though Margene has a car now, the writers of this show had to come up with something to make her seem helpless, and this time they did a very good job of showing how she will have a hard time fitting in. We also learn a lot here and in the following episode how this whole polygamy situation came into being. Barb got sick with cancer, Bill turned to faith, his faith told him to go crazy and fuck two different women and have kids with them. There you go. That's not all though. When Barb got sick, Bill became even more indebted to Roman. It also doesn't help that Nicki is going buck wild on credit cards that apparently Roman co-signed for. This guy wants what's his. Suze Orman tells Nicki to tell Bill, this scene is hilarious, but she's not going to do that. The show also does a good job with Roman in establishing why even though he's right about the money, he's a piece of trash with countless wives and children and all that shit. This is the most layered episode so far though. Even the kids have major parts to play here. Barb is a substitute teacher and is starting to lay her kids off on the other two wives, who aren't equipped at all to handle it. What is Bill's part in all this? Well he doesn't do shit, you can see that just by watching four episodes. His kids have like less than 1/3 of a father.
I also need to point out that so far anyway, I'm not sure whether this situation is right or not, if it should be illegal or not. See the problem is that one of Roman's wives is a child. It takes the situation from a gray area where I feel people should be able to do what they want, to...not a gray area.
AFFAIR
Our title is in reference to Bill and Barb deciding to screw the schedule and just do whatever they want whenever they want to. This leads to Nicki thinking they're having an affair, and at the end of the episode there's a confrontation between Nicki and one of her brothers. The brother is ashamed that Bill found contract language to get around their audit. I gotta be honest, I don't know this fucking guy's name. IMDB tells me his name is Alby. Alright then. Anyway, after this confrontation, and after Nicki realizes that Bill isn't having an affair, she decides to steal the spotlight back by saying she wants to have another child with Bill. This scene was also well done in that her motives were quite transparent and everyone else just has to deal with them. It is also alleged that Nicki was made to marry Bill because her dad wanted to be rid of her. Meanwhile Bill and his friend Don decide to call the polygamy czar on Roman, which I can see backfiring on multiple levels. One of Bill's employees also knows that Don is a polygamist. SHE SAW THEM AT APPLEBEES. IT'S WRONG she says. SHE HAS THEIR EYE ON THEM.
Unlike a lot of other shows where I have to jog my memory by looking at a review page, I don't have to do that here. So on some level the show hooked me quickly.
ROBERTA'S FUNERAL
This is an episode I enjoyed a lot, in large part because so much of the focus is based around Nicki being a troublemaker. I already said I liked that, I think. The biggest thing here is that Nicki is taking birth control while claiming that she wants Bill to give her a baby. That is so far beyond what's acceptable, to the extent that even though a lot of things in the show are bad, this seems worse. Of course as the viewer we know that she's doing this because she craves attention. Meanwhile, Frank's first wife Roberta dies and we're introduced to his harem of fundamentalist Mormon wives. I should point out that Bill and his wives aren't members of any church after having moved off the compound, which becomes a bigger deal in the following episode. Anyway, Lois wants to become Frank's first wife, which entails legal recognition and all sorts of other things. While at the funeral, Bill gets into it with Roman, it does not end well, and he tries to blackmail Roman. Not good. The scene where Nicki gets busted at the hardware store is really funny too. The key component with this show for me is that it makes me laugh even when it feels like I'm not supposed to.
EVICTION
We have a LOT of good stuff here, I don't know exactly where to start. I guess we'll start with the ad campaign. Bill thinks they need to run this campaign even though he's entangled with Roman, who has a very bad reputation and is an open polygamist. I should have compared him to Warren Jeffs because that's how he is. In any case the ad person wants to run an ad with lots of Utah subliminal messaging. Like people wearing the magic underwear under their clothes, Jesus picture in the background, all that kind of stuff. They want to make Home Plus the hardware store for people in Utah. Roman is also going to start fucking with Bill and does so by evicting his whole family from their houses on the compound. Sarah brings her friend back to the house to meet everyone, Bill can't get a boner anymore, and Nicki has to fight off some missionaries. It's all happening here. In more major news, Margene decides to go to an LDS church with their neighbor, and Barb finds out about Nicki's credit card debt. All of this is pretty bad!
They've built up a lot of stuff that needs to be revisited and I hope it's as funny as it's building up to be.
This is an episode I enjoyed a lot, in large part because so much of the focus is based around Nicki being a troublemaker. I already said I liked that, I think. The biggest thing here is that Nicki is taking birth control while claiming that she wants Bill to give her a baby. That is so far beyond what's acceptable, to the extent that even though a lot of things in the show are bad, this seems worse. Of course as the viewer we know that she's doing this because she craves attention. Meanwhile, Frank's first wife Roberta dies and we're introduced to his harem of fundamentalist Mormon wives. I should point out that Bill and his wives aren't members of any church after having moved off the compound, which becomes a bigger deal in the following episode. Anyway, Lois wants to become Frank's first wife, which entails legal recognition and all sorts of other things. While at the funeral, Bill gets into it with Roman, it does not end well, and he tries to blackmail Roman. Not good. The scene where Nicki gets busted at the hardware store is really funny too. The key component with this show for me is that it makes me laugh even when it feels like I'm not supposed to.
EVICTION
We have a LOT of good stuff here, I don't know exactly where to start. I guess we'll start with the ad campaign. Bill thinks they need to run this campaign even though he's entangled with Roman, who has a very bad reputation and is an open polygamist. I should have compared him to Warren Jeffs because that's how he is. In any case the ad person wants to run an ad with lots of Utah subliminal messaging. Like people wearing the magic underwear under their clothes, Jesus picture in the background, all that kind of stuff. They want to make Home Plus the hardware store for people in Utah. Roman is also going to start fucking with Bill and does so by evicting his whole family from their houses on the compound. Sarah brings her friend back to the house to meet everyone, Bill can't get a boner anymore, and Nicki has to fight off some missionaries. It's all happening here. In more major news, Margene decides to go to an LDS church with their neighbor, and Barb finds out about Nicki's credit card debt. All of this is pretty bad!
They've built up a lot of stuff that needs to be revisited and I hope it's as funny as it's building up to be.
EASTER
This is a completely revolting episode. Frank's family has moved in with Bill's because they have nowhere else to go. All of them are vile creatures. Frank's wives disgust me to my core. They're just awful people, they snivel, they want people to do shit for them, and they're just disgusting. That's the point too! Frank pisses in the sink all the time, to really cap things off here. The major thing is that they don't get along with any of Bill's family, except for Bill. This makes for a funny episode, disgusting as it was. But that's not all. Bill and Roman start suing each other. Roman stands up Bill because Frank told him that his son will cave for a far worse deal, cementing Frank's betrayal and explaining why Bill and his father do not get along. This can't have been the only time. This leads to a scene where Bill breaks into Roman's house, encountering all of Roman's wives. They attack him. Eventually Bill gets into Roman's room and shuts the door, then he threatens Roman again and steals Roman's guitar, threatening to break it. This is actually Brigham Young's guitar so you can see why these people have reverence for it. Also here we have Nicki asking Barb if the affair thing with Bill is over. But, it seems that doesn't matter very much right now. It's all about Bill vs. Roman.
This is a completely revolting episode. Frank's family has moved in with Bill's because they have nowhere else to go. All of them are vile creatures. Frank's wives disgust me to my core. They're just awful people, they snivel, they want people to do shit for them, and they're just disgusting. That's the point too! Frank pisses in the sink all the time, to really cap things off here. The major thing is that they don't get along with any of Bill's family, except for Bill. This makes for a funny episode, disgusting as it was. But that's not all. Bill and Roman start suing each other. Roman stands up Bill because Frank told him that his son will cave for a far worse deal, cementing Frank's betrayal and explaining why Bill and his father do not get along. This can't have been the only time. This leads to a scene where Bill breaks into Roman's house, encountering all of Roman's wives. They attack him. Eventually Bill gets into Roman's room and shuts the door, then he threatens Roman again and steals Roman's guitar, threatening to break it. This is actually Brigham Young's guitar so you can see why these people have reverence for it. Also here we have Nicki asking Barb if the affair thing with Bill is over. But, it seems that doesn't matter very much right now. It's all about Bill vs. Roman.
A BARBECUE FOR BETTY
I really liked this episode even though there's demonstrably less action here than in the prior one. Roman and Bill supposedly settle their problems to kick this one off. If you think they really settled them, lol. Nicki decides to drop the bomb on Bill after they have sex. This is something it would seem could end very badly. It nearly did! It seems very much like Bill is going to throw her out of the family. In the end, it turns out she was massively overexaggerating how upset she was. She wasn't in a homeless shelter, she got a hotel room. Meanwhile this episode also deals with how polygamist families vote on whether or not to add a particular wife into the family. In this case, Bill's friend Don has a potential wife rejected. He takes some of the blame, but his family is really fucking weird too, I don't understand a lot of this shit and their attachments to each other. Or for that matter how people like this can survive. It turns out that Nicki voted against adding Margene and this deeply affects her. We will see how much in the next episode. Her rejection of this loser guy was highly amusing too.
THE BAPTISM
Lots of close calls here on the polygamy thing. So many that it seems like someone important is bound to find out very soon. Frankly, Bill has done so many things that it's a wonder Roman hasn't exposed him yet. But they may have a past the viewer is not entirely aware of. At least that's how things seem here. Bill wants to blackmail Roman or potentially even take his role in the community, so he goes to an older guy's house and proposes to bribe him. Well, after rejecting at first, this guy accepts and says that his grandfather was a better prophet. Meanwhile Bill's oldest son Ben is a two pump chump and feels really bad about it later. We learn here that Nicki really has been labeled a polygamist by the local LDS, and the neighbor sees her and Margene arguing in the garage. Not good! Nicki is apparently on the neighborhood watch list. I guess Barb has a sister she's been meeting with as well, her sister is very much against polygamy and all that, I bet we'll see her again. The things she said bothered Barb enough that in the event of tragedy now she would rather have her kids live with Nicki and Margene than ever live with her sister. This all brings the family stronger together than ever. Margene gets baptized, one of the kids gets baptized, and Margene ends her friendship with Pam (this will not go well). I find this show very funny because it's all so weird but your mileage may vary.
I really liked this episode even though there's demonstrably less action here than in the prior one. Roman and Bill supposedly settle their problems to kick this one off. If you think they really settled them, lol. Nicki decides to drop the bomb on Bill after they have sex. This is something it would seem could end very badly. It nearly did! It seems very much like Bill is going to throw her out of the family. In the end, it turns out she was massively overexaggerating how upset she was. She wasn't in a homeless shelter, she got a hotel room. Meanwhile this episode also deals with how polygamist families vote on whether or not to add a particular wife into the family. In this case, Bill's friend Don has a potential wife rejected. He takes some of the blame, but his family is really fucking weird too, I don't understand a lot of this shit and their attachments to each other. Or for that matter how people like this can survive. It turns out that Nicki voted against adding Margene and this deeply affects her. We will see how much in the next episode. Her rejection of this loser guy was highly amusing too.
THE BAPTISM
Lots of close calls here on the polygamy thing. So many that it seems like someone important is bound to find out very soon. Frankly, Bill has done so many things that it's a wonder Roman hasn't exposed him yet. But they may have a past the viewer is not entirely aware of. At least that's how things seem here. Bill wants to blackmail Roman or potentially even take his role in the community, so he goes to an older guy's house and proposes to bribe him. Well, after rejecting at first, this guy accepts and says that his grandfather was a better prophet. Meanwhile Bill's oldest son Ben is a two pump chump and feels really bad about it later. We learn here that Nicki really has been labeled a polygamist by the local LDS, and the neighbor sees her and Margene arguing in the garage. Not good! Nicki is apparently on the neighborhood watch list. I guess Barb has a sister she's been meeting with as well, her sister is very much against polygamy and all that, I bet we'll see her again. The things she said bothered Barb enough that in the event of tragedy now she would rather have her kids live with Nicki and Margene than ever live with her sister. This all brings the family stronger together than ever. Margene gets baptized, one of the kids gets baptized, and Margene ends her friendship with Pam (this will not go well). I find this show very funny because it's all so weird but your mileage may vary.
WHERE THERE'S A WILL
This isn't Big Love's best episode, that's for sure. The episode focuses on where the children will go if Bill dies and one of the wives dies. This is obviously a jumbled mess with everyone wanting different things. Initially Nicki said she wanted her kids on the compound. You do learn more about the wives personalities here though. Bill wants to join some business leaders group, but he realizes that he can't. The reasons why are obvious. Namely the guy he's trying to befriend hates Bill's real lifestyle and with good reason. Bill does have some success in getting himself on the UEB council, but he intends to use his brother in that role instead of himself. It also turns out Margene is pregnant. I did also bury the lede when talking about a previous episode. Roman used his connections to get the land Bill wanted to buy exempted from such transactions. This set Bill all the way the fuck off.
THE CEREMONY
It is so funny that Bill thought he could continue to poke Roman over and over again and expect Roman wouldn't expose him. This is so good. Bill has pissed all over Roman so much that it could only go this way. Of course there's a confluence of events in this episode that leads to this. Bill and his brother crash the UEB meeting. Wanda poisons Alby while Alby is looking for Bill and Joey. Alby is near death lmao. It also turns out that Wanda poisoned Frank too! This episode is full of payoffs. The biggest one, obviously, is that Bill and Barb get exposed. It could have been worse though. They had such hubris they were going to bring the other wives to this Mother of the Year ceremony. The fuck are they thinking? You're doing something illegal and you wanna go shove it into people's faces? The arrogance of all of this is absolutely astounding. Of course, Roman called the people running the competition and told them. Bill thought his little blackmail file on Roman was going to stop Roman. See, what Roman can do to Bill in the grand scheme of things is far worse. Nicki told Barb this is what would happen, so how could they not see it? The last ten minutes of this episode was so good though. These people claim to be pious and all that shit, well look how many lies they tried and failed to maintain. Barb also didn't have a good answer when questioned about being a polygamist. She buckled. Classic shit here. I also buried the lede a little again here. The Utah governor's wife is the one who was told. We'll see what happens from there.
This isn't Big Love's best episode, that's for sure. The episode focuses on where the children will go if Bill dies and one of the wives dies. This is obviously a jumbled mess with everyone wanting different things. Initially Nicki said she wanted her kids on the compound. You do learn more about the wives personalities here though. Bill wants to join some business leaders group, but he realizes that he can't. The reasons why are obvious. Namely the guy he's trying to befriend hates Bill's real lifestyle and with good reason. Bill does have some success in getting himself on the UEB council, but he intends to use his brother in that role instead of himself. It also turns out Margene is pregnant. I did also bury the lede when talking about a previous episode. Roman used his connections to get the land Bill wanted to buy exempted from such transactions. This set Bill all the way the fuck off.
THE CEREMONY
It is so funny that Bill thought he could continue to poke Roman over and over again and expect Roman wouldn't expose him. This is so good. Bill has pissed all over Roman so much that it could only go this way. Of course there's a confluence of events in this episode that leads to this. Bill and his brother crash the UEB meeting. Wanda poisons Alby while Alby is looking for Bill and Joey. Alby is near death lmao. It also turns out that Wanda poisoned Frank too! This episode is full of payoffs. The biggest one, obviously, is that Bill and Barb get exposed. It could have been worse though. They had such hubris they were going to bring the other wives to this Mother of the Year ceremony. The fuck are they thinking? You're doing something illegal and you wanna go shove it into people's faces? The arrogance of all of this is absolutely astounding. Of course, Roman called the people running the competition and told them. Bill thought his little blackmail file on Roman was going to stop Roman. See, what Roman can do to Bill in the grand scheme of things is far worse. Nicki told Barb this is what would happen, so how could they not see it? The last ten minutes of this episode was so good though. These people claim to be pious and all that shit, well look how many lies they tried and failed to maintain. Barb also didn't have a good answer when questioned about being a polygamist. She buckled. Classic shit here. I also buried the lede a little again here. The Utah governor's wife is the one who was told. We'll see what happens from there.
SEASON 2
DAMAGE CONTROL
This episode, of course, is centered around finding the person who outed Barb. They do not do that, because they can't. Roman sure isn't going to tell them. It is made extremely clear that the Attorney General, that anyone, will not do a damn thing to Bill as long as he stops asking. He shouldn't even be asking because much like Tony Soprano would do, he believes his lie so much that nobody is allowed to get in his way and tell the truth. All of this is very well done. Bill's lying and sociopathic behavior also extends to his relationship with Barb, who no longer wants to be part of any of this. Well, it's not like she has any choice now. She says she shouldn't have let Bill cajole her into a life of plural marriage, and obviously that's true. It's too late now. Eventually she comes to that realization. She could leave her kids, she could leave Bill, but that's not gonna happen. They have to go to a dinner in order to convince their neighbors they aren't polygamist, to deduce that it was them who told on them, and obviously they didn't. Also here we have Roman making clear to Joey that he better play ball at these meetings and not tell Bill shit. But what about gimped up Alby? What about Nicki being sent a gun for protection? What about Wendy thinking she's being followed and crashing her car?
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
Bill's billboard has been defaced. It is very funny. It turns out that others do not even remotely approve of this billboard or the expansion of his business because they're worried this will lead to all of them getting caught being polygamists. They're too exposed now, that's for sure. Ben brings his girlfriend around and breaks down the whole deal. These people really think they're doing God's work by having tons of kids by different women. Did I say again that the defacement was funny? Anyway, once again Bill keeps barking up trees and making it too obvious that he's so offended because the defacement is true. They think Wendy did it, but she did not. The obvious pick here is Roman because he doesn't give a fuck anymore. Bill just can't see that though. Over on the compound, Wanda and Joey have taken a torpedo to their relationship and this is all not ending well. They wanted the state police involved because they thought it would help them, but Alby got the state police involved and it is not helping them at all. Joey eventually admits to poisoning Alby even though he didn't do it. Nicki also says a lot of shit here that makes clear where the story is going. She and Barb aren't of the same religious thought at all. Barb doesn't believe in this shit but she did it because she loves Bill. Nicki says love isn't what keeps a marriage going and that only their religion will do it. Well there you go. I think will be one of the biggest themes of the episodes to come, but I could be wrong
DAMAGE CONTROL
This episode, of course, is centered around finding the person who outed Barb. They do not do that, because they can't. Roman sure isn't going to tell them. It is made extremely clear that the Attorney General, that anyone, will not do a damn thing to Bill as long as he stops asking. He shouldn't even be asking because much like Tony Soprano would do, he believes his lie so much that nobody is allowed to get in his way and tell the truth. All of this is very well done. Bill's lying and sociopathic behavior also extends to his relationship with Barb, who no longer wants to be part of any of this. Well, it's not like she has any choice now. She says she shouldn't have let Bill cajole her into a life of plural marriage, and obviously that's true. It's too late now. Eventually she comes to that realization. She could leave her kids, she could leave Bill, but that's not gonna happen. They have to go to a dinner in order to convince their neighbors they aren't polygamist, to deduce that it was them who told on them, and obviously they didn't. Also here we have Roman making clear to Joey that he better play ball at these meetings and not tell Bill shit. But what about gimped up Alby? What about Nicki being sent a gun for protection? What about Wendy thinking she's being followed and crashing her car?
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
Bill's billboard has been defaced. It is very funny. It turns out that others do not even remotely approve of this billboard or the expansion of his business because they're worried this will lead to all of them getting caught being polygamists. They're too exposed now, that's for sure. Ben brings his girlfriend around and breaks down the whole deal. These people really think they're doing God's work by having tons of kids by different women. Did I say again that the defacement was funny? Anyway, once again Bill keeps barking up trees and making it too obvious that he's so offended because the defacement is true. They think Wendy did it, but she did not. The obvious pick here is Roman because he doesn't give a fuck anymore. Bill just can't see that though. Over on the compound, Wanda and Joey have taken a torpedo to their relationship and this is all not ending well. They wanted the state police involved because they thought it would help them, but Alby got the state police involved and it is not helping them at all. Joey eventually admits to poisoning Alby even though he didn't do it. Nicki also says a lot of shit here that makes clear where the story is going. She and Barb aren't of the same religious thought at all. Barb doesn't believe in this shit but she did it because she loves Bill. Nicki says love isn't what keeps a marriage going and that only their religion will do it. Well there you go. I think will be one of the biggest themes of the episodes to come, but I could be wrong
REUNION
The scenario here is fantastic. Bill and Nicki are going to the compound for a reunion. Bill is not that welcome, but of course Nicki is, and over the course of this episode we see what life is like on a compound like this one. It isn't ideal, that's for sure. Roman is also holding some votes during this reunion. One of them is about buying gambling machines. Their logic is incredible. WE ARE TAKING MONEY FROM THE SINNERS TO USE FOR OUR NOBLE PURPOSES. At the same time, Rhonda doesn't want to marry Roman after all, and eventually she leaves the compound at the end of the episode, but we aren't there yet. Alby is told to drop the investigation into what happened and he will not. Instead he sends the state police to the compound for a raid. He told them that there's a conspiracy going on at the compound. I laughed. He also tells Nicki that Roman is the one who exposed them, which isn't something Nicki tells Bill. She just says they need to leave and why, so they do. Back at the homestead, Margene's friendship with Ben is starting to bother Barb, and he makes an accusation that goes way too far. Nothing too shocking about this. I find the drama here to be mostly hilarious.
ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Roman is so mad about Rhonda leaving, so mad about the raid, that he feels like he's right to just blame Bill for all of it and proceed accordingly. Nicki wants to send Rhonda back to the compound, Barb and Margene want her in a shelter or at their houses, but in the end Rhonda does wind up at a shelter. This isn't a good situation though. Roman sends his keystone cops over to Bill's house and they search the place, but they don't find anyone. While this drama with Rhonda is going on, Bill is freaking out about the taped conversation he had with Joey and is sure that he's going to get in real criminal trouble. He would if the tape was ever produced, which it is not. Roman's wife Adaleen has decided to destroy it. She didn't like Rhonda much anyway to begin with, but I don't really understand her motivations. Is it to not hurt her daughter? I dunno. Adaleen straight up disowned Nicki in the prior scene where everything comes to a head at the shelter. Things came to a head at the shelter in the first place because Bill threatened Roman on this subject while Nicki hates Rhonda so much she wants her back at the compound. It's all going off here. It does also come out that Roman is the one who exposed Bill, so we'll see where all this is going. Rhonda ran away from the shelter though.
The scenario here is fantastic. Bill and Nicki are going to the compound for a reunion. Bill is not that welcome, but of course Nicki is, and over the course of this episode we see what life is like on a compound like this one. It isn't ideal, that's for sure. Roman is also holding some votes during this reunion. One of them is about buying gambling machines. Their logic is incredible. WE ARE TAKING MONEY FROM THE SINNERS TO USE FOR OUR NOBLE PURPOSES. At the same time, Rhonda doesn't want to marry Roman after all, and eventually she leaves the compound at the end of the episode, but we aren't there yet. Alby is told to drop the investigation into what happened and he will not. Instead he sends the state police to the compound for a raid. He told them that there's a conspiracy going on at the compound. I laughed. He also tells Nicki that Roman is the one who exposed them, which isn't something Nicki tells Bill. She just says they need to leave and why, so they do. Back at the homestead, Margene's friendship with Ben is starting to bother Barb, and he makes an accusation that goes way too far. Nothing too shocking about this. I find the drama here to be mostly hilarious.
ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Roman is so mad about Rhonda leaving, so mad about the raid, that he feels like he's right to just blame Bill for all of it and proceed accordingly. Nicki wants to send Rhonda back to the compound, Barb and Margene want her in a shelter or at their houses, but in the end Rhonda does wind up at a shelter. This isn't a good situation though. Roman sends his keystone cops over to Bill's house and they search the place, but they don't find anyone. While this drama with Rhonda is going on, Bill is freaking out about the taped conversation he had with Joey and is sure that he's going to get in real criminal trouble. He would if the tape was ever produced, which it is not. Roman's wife Adaleen has decided to destroy it. She didn't like Rhonda much anyway to begin with, but I don't really understand her motivations. Is it to not hurt her daughter? I dunno. Adaleen straight up disowned Nicki in the prior scene where everything comes to a head at the shelter. Things came to a head at the shelter in the first place because Bill threatened Roman on this subject while Nicki hates Rhonda so much she wants her back at the compound. It's all going off here. It does also come out that Roman is the one who exposed Bill, so we'll see where all this is going. Rhonda ran away from the shelter though.
VISION THING
This episode is a good example of what I meant earlier about the immorality of polygamy. So these dudes get other wives by cheating on their existing wives. Bill meets this lady called Ana and starts a courtship with her without telling anyone. So much for their morality. It's all really pathetic and it's presented as being pathetic because that's what it is. Meanwhile Sarah is trying to get with Aaron Paul, who plays a creepy ex-Mormon guy ten years older than her. It seems that all of this charm is working on them both though. In this episode we also have Nicki's son Wayne being part of a Catholic school. I did not know that, but this is more interesting insight into her character. You can also see that she's interested in Catholicism to the point it would be plausible for her to convert, but she also hates it too much to admit that. She tries to take Wayne out of school, but he runs away. We also learn here that Bill chose this school because he could present himself as Wayne's father there. This whole house of cards certainly has to come crashing down. It also turns out that Wanda wants Joey to take another wife. Will he? I dunno. Margene confronts Ana at the end and starts befriending her. Weird episode here.
DATING GAME
Of course this episode is mostly about Bill trying to figure out how to bring Ana into his family. The short answer is that he can't. She isn't even Mormon and isn't religious at all. The show runners have done a fantastic job of displaying how immoral this supposed morality is. Bill doesn't even tell his wives, he just gets right to it. It's shameful. Don told him what they're supposed to do but he doesn't listen, so yeah. This isn't a funny episode so much as it's disgusting. Everyone's behavior towards Rhonda is also bizarre. Nicki is a fucking creep and Barb isn't all that much better. I love how you see here what kinds of people these cats really are. We also have a very unexpected development. Bill wasn't competing with Roman over these gaming machines. Instead it's some other cult run by a guy named Hollis. Maybe he's a polygamist and maybe he's not. He wants these machines though and he wants Bill out of the way. Instead, Bill makes the conscious decision to throw Roman under this bus and tell Hollis that he was buying them for the UEB. Welp.
This episode is a good example of what I meant earlier about the immorality of polygamy. So these dudes get other wives by cheating on their existing wives. Bill meets this lady called Ana and starts a courtship with her without telling anyone. So much for their morality. It's all really pathetic and it's presented as being pathetic because that's what it is. Meanwhile Sarah is trying to get with Aaron Paul, who plays a creepy ex-Mormon guy ten years older than her. It seems that all of this charm is working on them both though. In this episode we also have Nicki's son Wayne being part of a Catholic school. I did not know that, but this is more interesting insight into her character. You can also see that she's interested in Catholicism to the point it would be plausible for her to convert, but she also hates it too much to admit that. She tries to take Wayne out of school, but he runs away. We also learn here that Bill chose this school because he could present himself as Wayne's father there. This whole house of cards certainly has to come crashing down. It also turns out that Wanda wants Joey to take another wife. Will he? I dunno. Margene confronts Ana at the end and starts befriending her. Weird episode here.
DATING GAME
Of course this episode is mostly about Bill trying to figure out how to bring Ana into his family. The short answer is that he can't. She isn't even Mormon and isn't religious at all. The show runners have done a fantastic job of displaying how immoral this supposed morality is. Bill doesn't even tell his wives, he just gets right to it. It's shameful. Don told him what they're supposed to do but he doesn't listen, so yeah. This isn't a funny episode so much as it's disgusting. Everyone's behavior towards Rhonda is also bizarre. Nicki is a fucking creep and Barb isn't all that much better. I love how you see here what kinds of people these cats really are. We also have a very unexpected development. Bill wasn't competing with Roman over these gaming machines. Instead it's some other cult run by a guy named Hollis. Maybe he's a polygamist and maybe he's not. He wants these machines though and he wants Bill out of the way. Instead, Bill makes the conscious decision to throw Roman under this bus and tell Hollis that he was buying them for the UEB. Welp.
GOOD GUYS AND BAD GUYS
This episode cracked me up a couple times. Bonnie Bedelia shows up here playing Margene's mother. She wants to stay for a few days. This doesn't go very well but we'll come back to that. This is a more multi-faceted episode. Frank returns from Mexico and he's on the rampage. These three episodes show how evil this guy actually is, and Bruce Dern is fantastic in this role. He knows that Lois has money now and says that he's entitled to it. Bill is also trying to maintain his lies to keep Hollis Greene from killing him. We'll see how that goes. Back at the homestead, Margene's mother finds out about the polygamy and really doesn't like it. She does like Nicki though and justifies it under the realm of "BUT SHE WAS BORN INTO IT SHE DOESN'T KNOW BETTER." Throughout the episode we see news stories about the FBI searching for a polygamist. This makes every polygamist in this show besides Bill nervous for very obvious reasons. Barb also went to the compound to bring Wanda back, and found out how bad Frank really is. Ending this episode Margene's mother gets kicked out, and there's a UEB meeting where everyone watches a video seeing how deranged Hollis Greene really is. I left a lot of things out but this was a fun hour.
KINGDOM COME
Bill makes some big mistakes here. He skipped out on Nicki during her night, then says that he needs to have one night a week off from his duties to his wives. This obviously does not go over well, especially not with Barb. After all, Barb once had every day with Bill and doesn't want that reduced even further. This leads to Barb wanting Nicki and Margene to join her in going on strike, but the two of them don't comply. Nicki is a true believer in polygamy and doesn't care, while Margene is happy to get whatever she can. She even makes the mistake of bringing up a fourth wife and Barb loses her shit. This season seems to be leading to Barb leaving, but we'll see if that's true. Eventually she makes a compromise and tells Bill that he can have two nights a month off, but that he must be more of a father to his kids. The reason? Ben is busted. Not only is he busted but he tries to get Brynn to marry him. This only ceases when Barb goes behind everyone's back to explain what this polygamy shit is really like, so Brynn leaves Ben and I don't think we'll be seeing her again. After this happens, Bill gives a speech to Ben behind everyone's back where he talks about the gaming company he's trying to buy, why he's buying it, etc.
Also in this episode we have Bill's relationship with the Greenes blow up spectacularly, leading to an ATF raid when they threaten him. Bill also learns that the money Eddie loaned him was stolen, but he lies and says he doesn't believe it. But that's not all. I love the scene when Frank finds Lois' money. I loved seeing Roman get shot by the Greenes and I was hoping that he died. But it seems not.
CIRCLE THE WAGONS
Alright, so we start the episode with national news reports about Roman getting shot. This is very funny to me. Keith Olbermann goes ham here. Nicki is worried sick about her father but when she goes to the compound later in the episode, her mom rejects her very hard and makes clear she isn't very welcome. But before that, Bill decides to tell his wives about the gaming deal. He tells Nicki first, then Margene, then Barb. Barb doesn't like it at all, which is why I said I feel like Barb's storyline is leading towards her leaving. Bill also tells Barb that these machines are more like video games. Some of them, it turns out, are quite vulgar! While this is going on, Bill tries to hijack the UEB and fails. Alby takes Roman's spot on the board behind some bullshit testimony, but this too leads to a scene where Nicki goes into Roman's office and steals all his money. And now she's probably going to become a gambling addict. All this being said, Barb is extremely angry about the gambling machines, she's outvoted, and once again feels like she doesn't matter. She and Bill want such different things for their family that this can't work, and obviously she doesn't believe in the Principle (as nobody should). Ben also does a lot of alarming shit here as relates to Margene, acting like Margene is his wife. Pretty gross you ask me, even by the standards of this show.
This episode cracked me up a couple times. Bonnie Bedelia shows up here playing Margene's mother. She wants to stay for a few days. This doesn't go very well but we'll come back to that. This is a more multi-faceted episode. Frank returns from Mexico and he's on the rampage. These three episodes show how evil this guy actually is, and Bruce Dern is fantastic in this role. He knows that Lois has money now and says that he's entitled to it. Bill is also trying to maintain his lies to keep Hollis Greene from killing him. We'll see how that goes. Back at the homestead, Margene's mother finds out about the polygamy and really doesn't like it. She does like Nicki though and justifies it under the realm of "BUT SHE WAS BORN INTO IT SHE DOESN'T KNOW BETTER." Throughout the episode we see news stories about the FBI searching for a polygamist. This makes every polygamist in this show besides Bill nervous for very obvious reasons. Barb also went to the compound to bring Wanda back, and found out how bad Frank really is. Ending this episode Margene's mother gets kicked out, and there's a UEB meeting where everyone watches a video seeing how deranged Hollis Greene really is. I left a lot of things out but this was a fun hour.
KINGDOM COME
Bill makes some big mistakes here. He skipped out on Nicki during her night, then says that he needs to have one night a week off from his duties to his wives. This obviously does not go over well, especially not with Barb. After all, Barb once had every day with Bill and doesn't want that reduced even further. This leads to Barb wanting Nicki and Margene to join her in going on strike, but the two of them don't comply. Nicki is a true believer in polygamy and doesn't care, while Margene is happy to get whatever she can. She even makes the mistake of bringing up a fourth wife and Barb loses her shit. This season seems to be leading to Barb leaving, but we'll see if that's true. Eventually she makes a compromise and tells Bill that he can have two nights a month off, but that he must be more of a father to his kids. The reason? Ben is busted. Not only is he busted but he tries to get Brynn to marry him. This only ceases when Barb goes behind everyone's back to explain what this polygamy shit is really like, so Brynn leaves Ben and I don't think we'll be seeing her again. After this happens, Bill gives a speech to Ben behind everyone's back where he talks about the gaming company he's trying to buy, why he's buying it, etc.
Also in this episode we have Bill's relationship with the Greenes blow up spectacularly, leading to an ATF raid when they threaten him. Bill also learns that the money Eddie loaned him was stolen, but he lies and says he doesn't believe it. But that's not all. I love the scene when Frank finds Lois' money. I loved seeing Roman get shot by the Greenes and I was hoping that he died. But it seems not.
CIRCLE THE WAGONS
Alright, so we start the episode with national news reports about Roman getting shot. This is very funny to me. Keith Olbermann goes ham here. Nicki is worried sick about her father but when she goes to the compound later in the episode, her mom rejects her very hard and makes clear she isn't very welcome. But before that, Bill decides to tell his wives about the gaming deal. He tells Nicki first, then Margene, then Barb. Barb doesn't like it at all, which is why I said I feel like Barb's storyline is leading towards her leaving. Bill also tells Barb that these machines are more like video games. Some of them, it turns out, are quite vulgar! While this is going on, Bill tries to hijack the UEB and fails. Alby takes Roman's spot on the board behind some bullshit testimony, but this too leads to a scene where Nicki goes into Roman's office and steals all his money. And now she's probably going to become a gambling addict. All this being said, Barb is extremely angry about the gambling machines, she's outvoted, and once again feels like she doesn't matter. She and Bill want such different things for their family that this can't work, and obviously she doesn't believe in the Principle (as nobody should). Ben also does a lot of alarming shit here as relates to Margene, acting like Margene is his wife. Pretty gross you ask me, even by the standards of this show.
I leave for DC in a few days and there's a lot of planning going into that, so for now these are on hiatus even though I'll be watching them.
SEASON 4
FREE AT LAST
This was a good place to go back to these. In case anyone doesn't know anything about the show, Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) gets smothered to death at the end of the third season. Problem is his body is still kicking around. Alby wants to use said body to take Bill down, because he's worried that Bill is going to find out he's gay. But there's also too much going on here. Bill started a church for himself and Don's family. not for anyone else. They hold service at their own building. The casino is opening and Barb has too much work to do. Margene is still selling shit on a QVC-alike. Nicki and Bill's relationship is not all that good. The Lois and Frank stuff is still goofy too. At this point, the show is what it is. Of course, as before, Nicki's scenes are also pretty funny and this is an incredible acting performance.
FREE AT LAST
This was a good place to go back to these. In case anyone doesn't know anything about the show, Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) gets smothered to death at the end of the third season. Problem is his body is still kicking around. Alby wants to use said body to take Bill down, because he's worried that Bill is going to find out he's gay. But there's also too much going on here. Bill started a church for himself and Don's family. not for anyone else. They hold service at their own building. The casino is opening and Barb has too much work to do. Margene is still selling shit on a QVC-alike. Nicki and Bill's relationship is not all that good. The Lois and Frank stuff is still goofy too. At this point, the show is what it is. Of course, as before, Nicki's scenes are also pretty funny and this is an incredible acting performance.
THE GREATER GOOD
The short version is that Bill decides to run for Utah State Senate because the other guy in his district wants to come after the compound, which directly leads to them coming after him for polygamy. Sarah and Scott also get married here, so it's all kicking off. Bill still is the cause of most of his problems because he can't handle being unable to run people over. Joey and Nicki on the other hand want him to be the next Prophet. Lol could you imagine. This loser JJ is also going to be a problem, given that Nicki kidnapped her daughter back from him...I do not see this going well at all. It seems they come to an understanding, but that's not gonna last.
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
One thing I need to point out about this show is that the creators have a bad habit of trying to run with too many storylines. Sometimes they're good and sometimes they aren't. This time one of them is really bad. The writers need to do something with Sarah, so they have her befriend a native who Sarah and Barb ran over while leaving the casino. It seems that Sarah will take care of the girl's baby. I don't like where this storyline was going and where it wound up. Anyway, this is largely an episode that takes place in Washington DC. Bill wants to run and needs some endorsements, he brings Nicki and Cara Lynn along with him to present as his family. It doesn't go that well. JJ gets really mad because Cara Lynn lied and said she told him she was going to DC when she didn't tell him after all. That also does not go well. But on the subject of things that don't go well, the stuff with Margene and Ben takes the cake. She kisses him. It seems like in Mormon culture this would lead to one or both of them getting kicked out of the house.
THE MIGHTY AND STRONG
This was a very eventful episode. It seems like Bill and Don have had a dissolving of their relationship. I don't know how or why Don would do this for Bill and it seems like bad writing. But, it is discovered that Home Plus has people on the payroll who shouldn't be there (the wives). Don admits to being a polygamist in order to protect Bill. For me that's a bridge too far to believe. Bill also makes Margene tell the truth on television about Ben not being her husband. She doesn't like this, and she doesn't like when Ben lies on her behalf. The truth must come out, and it does, and Ben is made to leave the house. Big yikes. Meanwhile JJ decides to take Adaleen as one of his wives, which makes Nicki quite upset. Alby is also continuing his liaison with this trustee guy...isn't it obvious this guy will destroy the UEB and Alby will kill him? Anyway, this season is setting too many things up without paying any of them off yet. The scene with Bill announcing his campaign was pretty amusing though. Talk about a hypocrite.
The short version is that Bill decides to run for Utah State Senate because the other guy in his district wants to come after the compound, which directly leads to them coming after him for polygamy. Sarah and Scott also get married here, so it's all kicking off. Bill still is the cause of most of his problems because he can't handle being unable to run people over. Joey and Nicki on the other hand want him to be the next Prophet. Lol could you imagine. This loser JJ is also going to be a problem, given that Nicki kidnapped her daughter back from him...I do not see this going well at all. It seems they come to an understanding, but that's not gonna last.
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
One thing I need to point out about this show is that the creators have a bad habit of trying to run with too many storylines. Sometimes they're good and sometimes they aren't. This time one of them is really bad. The writers need to do something with Sarah, so they have her befriend a native who Sarah and Barb ran over while leaving the casino. It seems that Sarah will take care of the girl's baby. I don't like where this storyline was going and where it wound up. Anyway, this is largely an episode that takes place in Washington DC. Bill wants to run and needs some endorsements, he brings Nicki and Cara Lynn along with him to present as his family. It doesn't go that well. JJ gets really mad because Cara Lynn lied and said she told him she was going to DC when she didn't tell him after all. That also does not go well. But on the subject of things that don't go well, the stuff with Margene and Ben takes the cake. She kisses him. It seems like in Mormon culture this would lead to one or both of them getting kicked out of the house.
THE MIGHTY AND STRONG
This was a very eventful episode. It seems like Bill and Don have had a dissolving of their relationship. I don't know how or why Don would do this for Bill and it seems like bad writing. But, it is discovered that Home Plus has people on the payroll who shouldn't be there (the wives). Don admits to being a polygamist in order to protect Bill. For me that's a bridge too far to believe. Bill also makes Margene tell the truth on television about Ben not being her husband. She doesn't like this, and she doesn't like when Ben lies on her behalf. The truth must come out, and it does, and Ben is made to leave the house. Big yikes. Meanwhile JJ decides to take Adaleen as one of his wives, which makes Nicki quite upset. Alby is also continuing his liaison with this trustee guy...isn't it obvious this guy will destroy the UEB and Alby will kill him? Anyway, this season is setting too many things up without paying any of them off yet. The scene with Bill announcing his campaign was pretty amusing though. Talk about a hypocrite.
SINS OF THE FATHER
You had to know this incident with Margene and Ben was gonna lead to major problems. Ben got kicked out the way Bill got kicked out. Obviously nobody is accepting of this in any way at all, and when they find out all the details they lose their shit. Barb is so angry at Margene though. This seems like the kind of anger that may never subside. There was also a news story about a kid who got kicked off Juniper Creek and turned out to murder someone. Bill's opponent knows that and intends to make some foul connections. You know all of these people are Republicans, so all this makes more sense. Everyone winds up at the casino later on, and by everyone that includes Marilyn (Sissy Spacek), Lois, Frank, Joey, everyone else. I dig this. Of course bad shit happens. Marilyn wants to lobby on behalf of the casino, everyone at the casino is getting tired of Bill starting new projects and moving on from them too quickly. At the end, it is revealed to Barb and Bill that Lois has taken Ben on a vacation, and Barb responds very badly to this. Bill won the nomination for State Senate though.
UNDER ONE ROOF
The title is in reference to Bill wanting everyone to live in one house, but we learn about that later in the episode. The problem is that Barb and Margene may not want to be part of this anymore. At least we're building up to that, it seems. One day, Barb and Bill see Ana. Ana is pregnant. Later in the episode, it is revealed Ana was impregnated by Bill prior to her sham marriage to Bill. Ana doesn't really want anything to do with the Henrickson's anymore, but she does want their money. She needs it. Some other very big events in this episode include Cara Lynn nearly being sealed to some random old man. Nicki finds out about this and goes absolutely batshit in order to prevent it. The scenes are great. On the other hand Adaleen does get sealed to JJ and this is very gross. Wanda's family is really gross too. Barb is absolutely done with Bill after finding out the truth about Ana, and again, I should reiterate I think this will have lasting consequences. Margene also wants to be an independent woman and shit and that is not gonna happen. Ana wants literally nothing to do with any of the wives because she hates them. It also gets outed that Alby and Dale are in a gay relationship, and Dale hangs himself after Bill confronts him. Bill was surprisingly not being judgmental, but Alby's wife told Dale's family anyway. Not good!
You had to know this incident with Margene and Ben was gonna lead to major problems. Ben got kicked out the way Bill got kicked out. Obviously nobody is accepting of this in any way at all, and when they find out all the details they lose their shit. Barb is so angry at Margene though. This seems like the kind of anger that may never subside. There was also a news story about a kid who got kicked off Juniper Creek and turned out to murder someone. Bill's opponent knows that and intends to make some foul connections. You know all of these people are Republicans, so all this makes more sense. Everyone winds up at the casino later on, and by everyone that includes Marilyn (Sissy Spacek), Lois, Frank, Joey, everyone else. I dig this. Of course bad shit happens. Marilyn wants to lobby on behalf of the casino, everyone at the casino is getting tired of Bill starting new projects and moving on from them too quickly. At the end, it is revealed to Barb and Bill that Lois has taken Ben on a vacation, and Barb responds very badly to this. Bill won the nomination for State Senate though.
UNDER ONE ROOF
The title is in reference to Bill wanting everyone to live in one house, but we learn about that later in the episode. The problem is that Barb and Margene may not want to be part of this anymore. At least we're building up to that, it seems. One day, Barb and Bill see Ana. Ana is pregnant. Later in the episode, it is revealed Ana was impregnated by Bill prior to her sham marriage to Bill. Ana doesn't really want anything to do with the Henrickson's anymore, but she does want their money. She needs it. Some other very big events in this episode include Cara Lynn nearly being sealed to some random old man. Nicki finds out about this and goes absolutely batshit in order to prevent it. The scenes are great. On the other hand Adaleen does get sealed to JJ and this is very gross. Wanda's family is really gross too. Barb is absolutely done with Bill after finding out the truth about Ana, and again, I should reiterate I think this will have lasting consequences. Margene also wants to be an independent woman and shit and that is not gonna happen. Ana wants literally nothing to do with any of the wives because she hates them. It also gets outed that Alby and Dale are in a gay relationship, and Dale hangs himself after Bill confronts him. Bill was surprisingly not being judgmental, but Alby's wife told Dale's family anyway. Not good!
BLOOD ATONEMENT
Finally the Hollis Green situation comes to a head and ends in gruesome fashion. But of course it had to be Joey and Lois going full out insane again. Hollis puts everyone he captured on trial, kills one of them, and throws the rest in an ostrich pen. Later on, Lois saves everyone by chopping his arm off with a machete. Before that, Bill learns that Joey killed Roman, which may not go so well for anyone once people find out about it. Maybe they won't care. Meanwhile back in Utah, Nicki finds out that she's infertile and her mother claims that she's pregnant. Dude, this is not gonna be good. Her mom is way too old for that shit. Margene also decides that to prevent Ana and Goran from getting deported, she's going to marry Goran on paper. This makes the other wives very angry. but Barb has too much shit to deal with in general. She learns that Marilyn was lobbying both in favor of and against the casino. So in other words Marilyn is a normal Republican. I like these episodes but they've thrown way too many balls in the air this time.
NEXT TICKET OUT
It seems like we're on the road to these marriages being dissolved. There's also too much going on here, so I don't know where to start. Nicki has decided that she doesn't want to wear that polygamy gear anymore. I was wondering if that would ever happen. In an even bigger shock she says she actually loves Bill and isn't doing this just for their religion anymore. Did not expect that. Bill also confronts Marilyn which leads to Marilyn attempting to destroy him for the duration of this and the following episode. Meanwhile Barb goes on a full blown anti prescription drugs rant that Bill thinks will hurt him. He wants Barb to apologize but she will not. His anger only truly subsides when Sarah shows up to a televised interview prior to her permanent departure to Portland. It's obvious why the character would be written out and obvious why someone would want to leave Utah in any case. Bill still wants to out himself as a polygamist and thinks his State Senate seat will give him the cover to do so. Marilyn has almost figured out the truth, but not quite, and she's running out of time. Nicki also found out about Joey, but Joey hasn't come back from Mexico yet.
END OF DAYS
We have two big storylines here. One revolves around JJ, Adaleen, and Nicki. Nicki wants to get pregnant as we know, Adaleen claims to be pregnant, and the writers of this show came up with some wack ass bullshit. JJ is one of those dudes who believes in keeping his bloodline pure, so he forcibly impregnates women in his family with inbred fertilized eggs. He did it with Adaleen and wanted to do it with Nicki. Instead Adaleen busts some people over the head and lights the building on fire with JJ in it. Now we know that dude's gone. Meanwhile Alby has a meltdown and is going to leave Juniper Creek. The other big storyline here relates to Bill and the election, which he wins. But in order to do so, he lies to other people constantly and bullies them around. All of this culminates in Marilyn learning of Bill's polygamy, confronting him, and giving him a speech that's nothing but facts. This is a fantastic scene. Bill is still in disbelief of what she's saying, but because Marilyn knows, now he has no choice but to come forward on his terms. He and his three wives walk on stage, everyone is absolutely dumbfounded. A lot of people leave. Margene and Barb are definitely not happy to be up there. The next season is the last one, so I assume we're going to get heavy movement on some of these remaining storylines. The obvious one is that Barb and Margene might not be there so much longer.
Finally the Hollis Green situation comes to a head and ends in gruesome fashion. But of course it had to be Joey and Lois going full out insane again. Hollis puts everyone he captured on trial, kills one of them, and throws the rest in an ostrich pen. Later on, Lois saves everyone by chopping his arm off with a machete. Before that, Bill learns that Joey killed Roman, which may not go so well for anyone once people find out about it. Maybe they won't care. Meanwhile back in Utah, Nicki finds out that she's infertile and her mother claims that she's pregnant. Dude, this is not gonna be good. Her mom is way too old for that shit. Margene also decides that to prevent Ana and Goran from getting deported, she's going to marry Goran on paper. This makes the other wives very angry. but Barb has too much shit to deal with in general. She learns that Marilyn was lobbying both in favor of and against the casino. So in other words Marilyn is a normal Republican. I like these episodes but they've thrown way too many balls in the air this time.
NEXT TICKET OUT
It seems like we're on the road to these marriages being dissolved. There's also too much going on here, so I don't know where to start. Nicki has decided that she doesn't want to wear that polygamy gear anymore. I was wondering if that would ever happen. In an even bigger shock she says she actually loves Bill and isn't doing this just for their religion anymore. Did not expect that. Bill also confronts Marilyn which leads to Marilyn attempting to destroy him for the duration of this and the following episode. Meanwhile Barb goes on a full blown anti prescription drugs rant that Bill thinks will hurt him. He wants Barb to apologize but she will not. His anger only truly subsides when Sarah shows up to a televised interview prior to her permanent departure to Portland. It's obvious why the character would be written out and obvious why someone would want to leave Utah in any case. Bill still wants to out himself as a polygamist and thinks his State Senate seat will give him the cover to do so. Marilyn has almost figured out the truth, but not quite, and she's running out of time. Nicki also found out about Joey, but Joey hasn't come back from Mexico yet.
END OF DAYS
We have two big storylines here. One revolves around JJ, Adaleen, and Nicki. Nicki wants to get pregnant as we know, Adaleen claims to be pregnant, and the writers of this show came up with some wack ass bullshit. JJ is one of those dudes who believes in keeping his bloodline pure, so he forcibly impregnates women in his family with inbred fertilized eggs. He did it with Adaleen and wanted to do it with Nicki. Instead Adaleen busts some people over the head and lights the building on fire with JJ in it. Now we know that dude's gone. Meanwhile Alby has a meltdown and is going to leave Juniper Creek. The other big storyline here relates to Bill and the election, which he wins. But in order to do so, he lies to other people constantly and bullies them around. All of this culminates in Marilyn learning of Bill's polygamy, confronting him, and giving him a speech that's nothing but facts. This is a fantastic scene. Bill is still in disbelief of what she's saying, but because Marilyn knows, now he has no choice but to come forward on his terms. He and his three wives walk on stage, everyone is absolutely dumbfounded. A lot of people leave. Margene and Barb are definitely not happy to be up there. The next season is the last one, so I assume we're going to get heavy movement on some of these remaining storylines. The obvious one is that Barb and Margene might not be there so much longer.
WINTER
More than any other, these two episodes strongly reflected the negative turn this show has taken. The Henricksons ran to hide after their announcement, but they had to come back and face the music. The music was not good. Their neighbors are mad that the media ruined their lawn. The other politicians don't want anything to do with Bill even though he hasn't been sworn in yet. Margene has been fired from her job, Barb is more of an outcast and she's also started drinking, but Nicki is still Nicki because everyone assumed the worst of her anyway. The polygamy outfits are gone though. This is clearly falling apart. The kids are also getting bullied, even when it turns out one of the bullies is part of a polygamist home himself. The Henricksons then decide to all go to a school board meeting, where Nicki is exposed for bullying the bully. The casino has also been taken away. Goran is then forced to divorce Margene, and he will be deported. Lol to all of this. This season opener was like misery porn. I have some bigger opinions on this but I'm going to save them until the show is over.
A SEAT AT THE TABLE
This episode continues the breakdowns we saw in the prior hour. Ana and Goran leave, Barb is starting to go more and more her own way, and Bill is trying to start a social program for polygamist compounds to make sure they get education and other basic human needs. The last thing doesn't go well at all after Alby and Nicki get in a screaming match with each other. Great job. Barb going her own way entails her getting in full blown public arguments with her mother, starting dance class, etc. Bill's supposed allies are also considering legislation that would directly target him by making polygamy into a felony. Like I said, this is turning into misery porn. One thing I almost didn't mention was Nicki telling Barb that Sarah defiled her body. That seems like some shit that people could never get over someone else saying. These episodes are still alright but I don't like the turn this show has taken, as I'll explain later.
More than any other, these two episodes strongly reflected the negative turn this show has taken. The Henricksons ran to hide after their announcement, but they had to come back and face the music. The music was not good. Their neighbors are mad that the media ruined their lawn. The other politicians don't want anything to do with Bill even though he hasn't been sworn in yet. Margene has been fired from her job, Barb is more of an outcast and she's also started drinking, but Nicki is still Nicki because everyone assumed the worst of her anyway. The polygamy outfits are gone though. This is clearly falling apart. The kids are also getting bullied, even when it turns out one of the bullies is part of a polygamist home himself. The Henricksons then decide to all go to a school board meeting, where Nicki is exposed for bullying the bully. The casino has also been taken away. Goran is then forced to divorce Margene, and he will be deported. Lol to all of this. This season opener was like misery porn. I have some bigger opinions on this but I'm going to save them until the show is over.
A SEAT AT THE TABLE
This episode continues the breakdowns we saw in the prior hour. Ana and Goran leave, Barb is starting to go more and more her own way, and Bill is trying to start a social program for polygamist compounds to make sure they get education and other basic human needs. The last thing doesn't go well at all after Alby and Nicki get in a screaming match with each other. Great job. Barb going her own way entails her getting in full blown public arguments with her mother, starting dance class, etc. Bill's supposed allies are also considering legislation that would directly target him by making polygamy into a felony. Like I said, this is turning into misery porn. One thing I almost didn't mention was Nicki telling Barb that Sarah defiled her body. That seems like some shit that people could never get over someone else saying. These episodes are still alright but I don't like the turn this show has taken, as I'll explain later.
I have four more episodes left, after which I'll sum up my thoughts. Nobody responded the entire time I was writing these though so I'm comfortable letting it go.
Spaceman Spiff
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I never watched Big Love.
Alright, so I finished the show last night. Few things I gotta say. One is that Chloe Sevigny completely stole this show and did such a good job that the scenes without her clearly suffered from not having her in them. I also liked the way this show started a lot more than how it ended. Big Love begins as a biting commentary about the patriarchy, religion, conservatism, polygamy, etc. All of it was grounded in reality. The last two seasons dropped that in favor of overwrought melodrama. The way the wives acted towards each other in the last two seasons is something none of them would actually put up with were this real. It's tough when a show goes that far off the rails. It was still interesting, but I much preferred the first three seasons. I also think the show portrayed Bill as a psycho even though they weren't trying to do that. Another very big deal is how Joey and Wanda just disappear after the Mexico adventure. Not only do they disappear but they're never mentioned again.
As for what I'm gonna watch next, I'm going to watch Friday Night Lights but I don't think I'll start it tonight or tomorrow night.
SEASON 1
Pilot
There are a lot more hidden layers here than I could possibly have expected. Also, yes, this is Friday Night Lights. I love the day by day format shown here but I feel like it can't possibly continue. This episode brought back a lot of good memories. Kyle Chandler is the perfect casting for a new head coach too. The overall story here is about the first game, can Coach Taylor (Chandler) win a game with such a highly ranked team and quarterback at his disposal. Well, during the game, said QB Jason Street (Scott Porter) makes a tackle and is seemingly paralyzed. The backup, QB Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) has to come in and they win. But that's not all there is to the show. The interactions between teammates, the problems that come with a high school football team, a lot of these are presented here as well. There's girls, seemingly a lot of them. One of them seems to be into many dudes, one into our paralyzed quarterback, and one off limits from dating anyone on the team. Sure. We'll see how that goes. I'll get more into names and actors later once these storylines marinate, but this was great.
Pilot
There are a lot more hidden layers here than I could possibly have expected. Also, yes, this is Friday Night Lights. I love the day by day format shown here but I feel like it can't possibly continue. This episode brought back a lot of good memories. Kyle Chandler is the perfect casting for a new head coach too. The overall story here is about the first game, can Coach Taylor (Chandler) win a game with such a highly ranked team and quarterback at his disposal. Well, during the game, said QB Jason Street (Scott Porter) makes a tackle and is seemingly paralyzed. The backup, QB Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) has to come in and they win. But that's not all there is to the show. The interactions between teammates, the problems that come with a high school football team, a lot of these are presented here as well. There's girls, seemingly a lot of them. One of them seems to be into many dudes, one into our paralyzed quarterback, and one off limits from dating anyone on the team. Sure. We'll see how that goes. I'll get more into names and actors later once these storylines marinate, but this was great.
EYES WIDE OPEN
This episode is fantastic. It doesn't reach the point where I knew I'd love this show, but we'll get to that. The team needs to figure out how to win their next game. Jason Street is paralyzed from the waist down and is not going to recover. The town is still intent on finding a way for this team to win because they've got nothing else in this town. We eventually get back to that, but for now, Saracen has to learn how to play QB. People in town have their own opinions, namely wanting RB Smash Williams (Gaius Charles) to run the ball more. Can he run when his fullback (Taylor Kitsch) is too drunk to block? The Applebees scene here is fantastic. We never had a head booster so I can't say what this guy Buddy's (Brad Leland) deal is like. But what an annoying prick. The episode ends with things that I found are very reflective of the high school experience. If you don't have a nice house, you really don't want your coach coming inside. When your coach takes you 1 on 1 for a conversation, it's awkward always.
WIND SPRINTS
This is the episode that made me love this show. I'm looking forward to watching more tonight. There is one scene here that's so realistic, that's so much like something our coach would have done if it rained in our area, that it made everything here feel hyper realistic. That's hard to do too. Before that, there's a game. Dillon loses the game with Saracen playing alright but not great. Enter Voodoo Tatum (Aldis Hodge). Voodoo is a QB from New Orleans, a Katrina refugee. Certain people in the Texas high school football scene have been trying to recruit him, offering money to his family, jobs, etc. Buddy is intent on winning this war and come the end of the episode he does. Voodoo is way more talented than Saracen but he also seems much more aloof. Saracen is a pretty aloof guy himself. Meanwhile Riggins is beating himself up because his friend is crippled. He sent his girlfriend away and she banged Smash. Street then sends his girlfriend Lyla (Minka Kelly) away and she kisses Riggins. It's all going off here.
The scene that hooked me on the show is the one where Coach Taylor makes everyone run in the rain. That's something our psycho coach would have done FOR SURE if it rained enough here. Our guy made us run so much I could run for miles. I remember we played one game in the rain on a water logged field that was a complete mud pen. I also remember that we wore white uniforms, and I remember our coach forcing us to get dirty. You were not allowed to stand on his sideline with a clean uniform. You were not allowed to be afraid to get dirty when you were running around on that field. A lot of people look upon these kinds of things and consider them abuse, I'm not in that crowd. When you look back on your memories, when it's all over, those hard learning experiences are the ones you look back on most fondly. I wouldn't trade them for anything. And if you've never played, you just can't understand.
This episode is fantastic. It doesn't reach the point where I knew I'd love this show, but we'll get to that. The team needs to figure out how to win their next game. Jason Street is paralyzed from the waist down and is not going to recover. The town is still intent on finding a way for this team to win because they've got nothing else in this town. We eventually get back to that, but for now, Saracen has to learn how to play QB. People in town have their own opinions, namely wanting RB Smash Williams (Gaius Charles) to run the ball more. Can he run when his fullback (Taylor Kitsch) is too drunk to block? The Applebees scene here is fantastic. We never had a head booster so I can't say what this guy Buddy's (Brad Leland) deal is like. But what an annoying prick. The episode ends with things that I found are very reflective of the high school experience. If you don't have a nice house, you really don't want your coach coming inside. When your coach takes you 1 on 1 for a conversation, it's awkward always.
WIND SPRINTS
This is the episode that made me love this show. I'm looking forward to watching more tonight. There is one scene here that's so realistic, that's so much like something our coach would have done if it rained in our area, that it made everything here feel hyper realistic. That's hard to do too. Before that, there's a game. Dillon loses the game with Saracen playing alright but not great. Enter Voodoo Tatum (Aldis Hodge). Voodoo is a QB from New Orleans, a Katrina refugee. Certain people in the Texas high school football scene have been trying to recruit him, offering money to his family, jobs, etc. Buddy is intent on winning this war and come the end of the episode he does. Voodoo is way more talented than Saracen but he also seems much more aloof. Saracen is a pretty aloof guy himself. Meanwhile Riggins is beating himself up because his friend is crippled. He sent his girlfriend away and she banged Smash. Street then sends his girlfriend Lyla (Minka Kelly) away and she kisses Riggins. It's all going off here.
The scene that hooked me on the show is the one where Coach Taylor makes everyone run in the rain. That's something our psycho coach would have done FOR SURE if it rained enough here. Our guy made us run so much I could run for miles. I remember we played one game in the rain on a water logged field that was a complete mud pen. I also remember that we wore white uniforms, and I remember our coach forcing us to get dirty. You were not allowed to stand on his sideline with a clean uniform. You were not allowed to be afraid to get dirty when you were running around on that field. A lot of people look upon these kinds of things and consider them abuse, I'm not in that crowd. When you look back on your memories, when it's all over, those hard learning experiences are the ones you look back on most fondly. I wouldn't trade them for anything. And if you've never played, you just can't understand.
WHO'S YOUR DADDY
Funny episode title. Anyway, there's a few big problems here. Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) has to host a party for the team and it all goes really badly, leading to tension between she and her husband. We'll see how long this lasts because all things considered their marriage seems very difficult. Especially now that she's a guidance counselor. It's also rivalry week. Rivalry week leads to kids from the rival school trashing stuff. It leads to Saracen getting beaten up, and it also leads to a Coach Taylor speech towards Saracen. In this speech, prior to getting beaten up, Saracen is distracted. So Coach Taylor basically tells him to go bang a girl. In this case he's interested in the coach's daughter, as we know. Lol. Meanwhile Coach doesn't know who to start at QB. He might never know. Plus, Lyla and Riggins are into some shit. Lol.
GIT'ER DONE
I can't wait to find out Street's reaction to Lyla and Riggins. If he ever does, when that happens, etc. There's still a lot going on here and Coach doesn't know who he wants to start. He doesn't like Tatum, he knows he can't start Saracen cause they won't win, he's in a bad spot. Eventually we get to the game, but first we have a storyline with Tyra being interested in this investment banker from California. They sleep together and stuff, but I'm unable to figure out where this is going. Has to be going somewhere, right? I still don't know after the following episode. Eventually, the game comes and Tatum gets kicked off the team at halftime for refusing to listen and creating turnovers. Saracen has to come in and they win the game when they get two points after pitching the ball to Riggins. BUT this episode ends with a little twist. What if Voodoo wasn't allowed to play the game at all?
EL ACCIDENTE
This was unexpected. A previous fringe character becomes central to the story in this episode, while another guy emerges and will seemingly become a bigger part of the story. While out one night, Voodoo calls Reyes (Walter Perez) a racial slur I would rather not repeat. Reyes decides to take it out on another student, and when he gets in trouble, he lies to Coach Taylor and everyone else about what this other student supposedly said. Saracen is left to struggle with whether or not he'll say anything, which he eventually does. But when he does, it's at the behest of Landry (Jesse Plemons), who for one episode at least presents at the show's moral compass. Landry and Tyra are two of the people here who seem to not be under the spell of small town pressurized high school football. They see football and this small town life for what it is. Importantly, you don't want to lose yourself all just for a fucking game. Our side story here is about Lyla, Street, and Riggins. They break Street out of the hospital for a day, but when everyone's back in their place, maybe Street sees something he doesn't like. WE'LL FIND OUT.
These episodes weren't quite as good, but for a network show, this show is amazing.
Funny episode title. Anyway, there's a few big problems here. Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) has to host a party for the team and it all goes really badly, leading to tension between she and her husband. We'll see how long this lasts because all things considered their marriage seems very difficult. Especially now that she's a guidance counselor. It's also rivalry week. Rivalry week leads to kids from the rival school trashing stuff. It leads to Saracen getting beaten up, and it also leads to a Coach Taylor speech towards Saracen. In this speech, prior to getting beaten up, Saracen is distracted. So Coach Taylor basically tells him to go bang a girl. In this case he's interested in the coach's daughter, as we know. Lol. Meanwhile Coach doesn't know who to start at QB. He might never know. Plus, Lyla and Riggins are into some shit. Lol.
GIT'ER DONE
I can't wait to find out Street's reaction to Lyla and Riggins. If he ever does, when that happens, etc. There's still a lot going on here and Coach doesn't know who he wants to start. He doesn't like Tatum, he knows he can't start Saracen cause they won't win, he's in a bad spot. Eventually we get to the game, but first we have a storyline with Tyra being interested in this investment banker from California. They sleep together and stuff, but I'm unable to figure out where this is going. Has to be going somewhere, right? I still don't know after the following episode. Eventually, the game comes and Tatum gets kicked off the team at halftime for refusing to listen and creating turnovers. Saracen has to come in and they win the game when they get two points after pitching the ball to Riggins. BUT this episode ends with a little twist. What if Voodoo wasn't allowed to play the game at all?
EL ACCIDENTE
This was unexpected. A previous fringe character becomes central to the story in this episode, while another guy emerges and will seemingly become a bigger part of the story. While out one night, Voodoo calls Reyes (Walter Perez) a racial slur I would rather not repeat. Reyes decides to take it out on another student, and when he gets in trouble, he lies to Coach Taylor and everyone else about what this other student supposedly said. Saracen is left to struggle with whether or not he'll say anything, which he eventually does. But when he does, it's at the behest of Landry (Jesse Plemons), who for one episode at least presents at the show's moral compass. Landry and Tyra are two of the people here who seem to not be under the spell of small town pressurized high school football. They see football and this small town life for what it is. Importantly, you don't want to lose yourself all just for a fucking game. Our side story here is about Lyla, Street, and Riggins. They break Street out of the hospital for a day, but when everyone's back in their place, maybe Street sees something he doesn't like. WE'LL FIND OUT.
These episodes weren't quite as good, but for a network show, this show is amazing.
HOMECOMING
This episode has a lot of stuff in it that I just did not see coming. Firstly it is weird how much Tyra and Billy hang out. It does show that Tyra is a smart thinker though as she exploits a need and makes a lot of money from it. Smash also has a horrendous homecoming game. Riggins saves it and the Panthers win, but Smash plays so poorly that when he asks a scout what he did wrong, the scout tells him he isn't big enough. Smash decides to buy steroids. This is a very dated plot but I'm okay with that, I think it's funny and it could lead to some really crucial moments for the show. It also seems that Street is beginning to wise up about what happened between Riggins and Lyla. We shall see. It's good seeing Smash and Coach Taylor have moments together though. I assume we'll get more moments with Coach Taylor and his players because Saracen asked Coach's daughter Julie out. Uh-oh. As it relates to steroids, I kept thinking about this extreme anti-steroids speech our coach gave us. Obviously he didn't want us to do steroids but this kept popping into my head while watching these two episodes. I can't stop thinking about it now.
CROSSING THE LINE
This can be called the episode where Smash starts shooting illegal drugs into his butt. This can also be called the episode where Lyla and Riggins get found out. This is great, all of this. Riggins has already gone back to Tyra but the damage is long done. Street punches him in the face, and maybe their friendship is over for good. Maybe Street will go back to Lyla even though the guy at the nursing hospital said that cripples like them shouldn't settle for crumbs. Coach and Tami have to manage this situation with Julie too, but that's not all they have to manage. Lyla goes and tells Tami all the stuff that happened with Riggins, and obviously I don't really know what to say about any of this. I need to see the reactions first. Besides all this serious stuff we get scenes with Smash and Saracen working the same job and trying to teach each other new things. In the end, Smash's church congregation raises the money to paid for steroids, unbeknownst to them. This is very funny. Friday Night Lights is a funny show.
This episode has a lot of stuff in it that I just did not see coming. Firstly it is weird how much Tyra and Billy hang out. It does show that Tyra is a smart thinker though as she exploits a need and makes a lot of money from it. Smash also has a horrendous homecoming game. Riggins saves it and the Panthers win, but Smash plays so poorly that when he asks a scout what he did wrong, the scout tells him he isn't big enough. Smash decides to buy steroids. This is a very dated plot but I'm okay with that, I think it's funny and it could lead to some really crucial moments for the show. It also seems that Street is beginning to wise up about what happened between Riggins and Lyla. We shall see. It's good seeing Smash and Coach Taylor have moments together though. I assume we'll get more moments with Coach Taylor and his players because Saracen asked Coach's daughter Julie out. Uh-oh. As it relates to steroids, I kept thinking about this extreme anti-steroids speech our coach gave us. Obviously he didn't want us to do steroids but this kept popping into my head while watching these two episodes. I can't stop thinking about it now.
CROSSING THE LINE
This can be called the episode where Smash starts shooting illegal drugs into his butt. This can also be called the episode where Lyla and Riggins get found out. This is great, all of this. Riggins has already gone back to Tyra but the damage is long done. Street punches him in the face, and maybe their friendship is over for good. Maybe Street will go back to Lyla even though the guy at the nursing hospital said that cripples like them shouldn't settle for crumbs. Coach and Tami have to manage this situation with Julie too, but that's not all they have to manage. Lyla goes and tells Tami all the stuff that happened with Riggins, and obviously I don't really know what to say about any of this. I need to see the reactions first. Besides all this serious stuff we get scenes with Smash and Saracen working the same job and trying to teach each other new things. In the end, Smash's church congregation raises the money to paid for steroids, unbeknownst to them. This is very funny. Friday Night Lights is a funny show.
FULL HEARTS
Coach has an assortment of problems as we know. His daughter wants to date Saracen. His running back is taking steroids unbeknownst to him. Lyla and Riggins have also been found out and this has ramifications on the team. Look what he did to their now crippled former quarterback. That's most of the content here. Smash also goes back to his old hometown for the upcoming game, which the Panthers win. So that's good, but the unrealism is adding up as they keep winning on the last play of the game. I thought there would be some good material here with Lyla and her dad, and maybe there will be, but not yet.
IT'S DIFFERENT FOR GIRLS
Coach is trying everything to keep Julie and Saracen apart. It is not working. There's also a cheerleading competition coming up and Lyla is getting a lot of grief from everyone at school. That's basically everything that goes on here, I think. If I overlooked something I'm sure I'll realize it later. This episode is a whole lot of Lyla at a time when the show hasn't done enough to make me interested in the character. She did something wrong, she's getting treated like shit, and while it isn't right I don't sympathize with the character.
Coach has an assortment of problems as we know. His daughter wants to date Saracen. His running back is taking steroids unbeknownst to him. Lyla and Riggins have also been found out and this has ramifications on the team. Look what he did to their now crippled former quarterback. That's most of the content here. Smash also goes back to his old hometown for the upcoming game, which the Panthers win. So that's good, but the unrealism is adding up as they keep winning on the last play of the game. I thought there would be some good material here with Lyla and her dad, and maybe there will be, but not yet.
IT'S DIFFERENT FOR GIRLS
Coach is trying everything to keep Julie and Saracen apart. It is not working. There's also a cheerleading competition coming up and Lyla is getting a lot of grief from everyone at school. That's basically everything that goes on here, I think. If I overlooked something I'm sure I'll realize it later. This episode is a whole lot of Lyla at a time when the show hasn't done enough to make me interested in the character. She did something wrong, she's getting treated like shit, and while it isn't right I don't sympathize with the character.