BIG LOVE fans--what did you think of this week's episode? SPOILER ALERT

[yurbud]

Anna married and divorced the Hendricks within one episode, and it occurred to me she might have gone along with the marriage to have an opportunity to blackmail the family (that could just be my stereotype of Eastern European immigrants but the greasy ''ex''-boyfriend was a big tip off).

I hate any of the business with the compound because they seem so retarded that they are no match for Bill--but a couple of teens from the city, that's something else.

I also like the subplot with Sarah being pregnant and not wanting her child raised in polygamy.

I wonder if Chakotay is going to put the moves on Margie, or if Nicki is going to cheat on Bill with the lawyer guy.

Any reactions to the show so far this season or predictions?

[Drunken Irishman]

1. I think that SoCal looks nothing like Salt Lake and it bugs me.

Their freeways aren't similar to ours. Their mountains aren't, either.

[yurbud]

3. they had that one shot of the kids driving over the salt lake or something like it.

[yurbud]

4. reminds me of my one complaint about NORTHERN EXPOSURE:

The show was supposed to be set in Alaska but was actually filmed in a small town in Washington an hour or so north of the Oregon border.

Having grown up in Oregon and worked in Alaska, it seemed about as realistic as pretending LA was New York City.

[MrSlayer]

2. I liked it. I've been watching from the start.

The Anna thing was never going to work, you could see that. Margie is too needy and Nikki is too jealous and self centered. I think it would be fun if Nikki cheats with the lawyer and then he finds out who she really is and how she sabotaged him. I don't see Margie cheating though. Lois might be my favorite character on the show. The whole feud with Frank is great. Even if you don't like the Compound stuff you have to find yourself rooting for her.

I like the Compound politics, the strangeness of the lifestyle makes it interesting. Hell, the strangeness of the entire setup makes it interesting. All of the HBO shows I love (Deadwood, Oz, Rome, Carnivale, Sopranos) find ways to move you one way and the other, rather than just or.

Roman is back on the loose, Bill had his Casino loan denied and has turmoil at home. Along with Sarah's pregnancy, the weird Nicaragua thing and the wild card Rhonda unaccounted for we should have a very entertaining rest of the season.

Great show.

[yurbud]

6. Frankie is the entre that makes the compound tragic instead of a pathetic freak show

For Bill or even the adults who live on the compound, when they have problems with Roman or Alby, you just think, ''Get out of there, you fucking idiot!''

But for a kid who has only known that life, only vaguely suspects something's wrong with it, and doesn't know how the rest of the world operates, the compound is a more formidable challenge. The house full of banished and runaway kids was a great addition too.

I also like that Ben thought he could reason with his crazy cracker grandfather.

[DeepBlueC]

8. I think the Nikki subplot will unfold exactly as you wish

...although if we both foresee it maybe that means they will pitch a curve. I was thinking "no no" when Sarah went along to the compound, fearing that she might get snatched while she was there with the collusion of the Stepford wife that went with them. When they faced off at the end it was clear to me that I followed the misdirection just as intended and got had when the helping hand was extended instead. They writers do have a knack for taking unexpected turns. There is a lot going on on that show with the minor characters and the series could go on for years calling those secondary characters up into the main plot line. I hope it does.

[yurbud]

9. Here's the twist I'd like to see with Nikki:

she sleeps with the guy, and during the pillow talk after, he says, ''So how many kids do you want to have?''

Because the guy in all probability is a Mormon too, so even if he isn't a polygamist, he wants a big family.

[DeepBlueC]

11. would she have any problem lying to him?

she's been lying to him from the start. I think it's more likely that he won't be a Mormon, which means he will be okay with premarital sex but then he will start talking about marriage, wanting to introduce her to his family etc., all sorts of things that she will have to duck and which will confuse him. And of course eventually someone in this second life recognizes her by her own name...zoom in to lawyer's face ...cut to him peeling rubber as he drives away...maybe out of the parking lot of Bill's store!

[yurbud]

16. she wouldn't have any trouble lying, but she'd feel like she hadn't ''escaped''

I like your end to the storyline though.

[LynneSin]

5. It is a serious crime that Bruce Dern has not be nominated for an Emmy

he just owns that show everytime they have them on it. He's such a mean old coot you can't help but cheer on Grace Zabriskie's Lois when she butts head with him. Those two have the best WORST chemisty of any couple out there.

BTW, I love how they show such hypocrisy with Heather Tuttle. At one point last night she was screaming about how a gory movie should be banned and then she turns around and bad-mouthes the people on the compound as being robots. And I really think they're going to out her as a lesbian - you can tell she has a raging crush on Sarah.

[DeepBlueC]

12. Bruce and Grace are the creepiest people on television

Both freaking scary. It's just delicious!

[WolverineDG]

14. Ya think?

;)

dg

[Raffi Ella]

7. I *love* that show!

I didn't like Anna at first, didn't think she'd fit in with polygamists at all. But then when I saw her with Barb I liked her.

But then she kinda was playing both sides with what she said to Nicki about Barb when they were bowling...I didn't get what she was trying to accomplish with that...maybe she IS a bad guy - that boyfriend was kinda creepy. That'd be interesting, she's easily unlikeable, to me anyway.

I love that Margie bleached her hair. She looks so ridiculously sexy and no one really knows how to react to it . Bill was trying to hide his "Yeah Baby" reaction - oh god it was funny.

I think it'd be awesome if Nicki cheated with that guy. I think she's just beginning to see how fucked up her upbringing was. Maybe with this guy giving her attention she'll "come into her own".

[DeepBlueC]

10. even when Nikki tries to do the "right" thing

it is accomplished by deception and comes at the cost of some kind of betrayal. Poor thing. She is not likable and she is a selfish bitch but in her case a "self" was something she had to pretty much steal for herself. She wasn't raised to have one.

[Raffi Ella]

13. all true

but for the exact same reasons you stated above I have empathy for her. The other wives know life outside of polygamy, she does not. She never really had a choice. ANd even though she's a pretty tough girl and could have probably made it on her own outside the compound that's not how she came to live off the compound. But now...she's kinda waking up, UH OH! haha, what a story line.

[yurbud]

18. Chloe Sevigny should get an Emmy for that part. She does a lot of work with that rubbery face

[LynneSin]

19. She is so playing someone she isn't in real life

which is amazing as to how she pulls this off. This girl got a Best Supporting Actress nod for her part as Hillary Swank's unsuspecting girlfriend in "Boys Don't Cry". She's seem to build a career with Indie Flicks, playing women who have troubled pasts or 'loose' values. So playing Nikki both fits what Chloe plays best but also is a stretch too. I've never seen such a conflicted woman - she wants to live the principles but she's screaming for loves. She tries to live this wholesome lifestyle (remember when she was so upset with her sons attending Catholic School but Bill wanted it so they could attend Parents events without the parents suspecting that she was one of three wives) but yet she has a very addictive personality with the gambling, compulsive shopping and even last episode with her drinking (I don't think I've ever seen Nikki drink - I'm suprised she wasn't smoking too). Nikki is someone who is all over the place, probably the most complex of the three wives and I think a lessor actress wouldn't have built Nikki into who she is today.

[yurbud]

20. I used to be an evangelical Christian, and she reminds of some of those people

She wants to taste the wild life but keep a foot in the safety of church world.

[LynneSin]

21. The "SIN" is so engraved deeply into her brain

that it's difficult to think otherwise but she wants too.

[yurbud]

23. don't think of an elephant...especially a boozing, gambling, fornicating one

[Raffi Ella]

26. Yes!

I agree about the lesser actress part so much! and yeah, She's definitely complex. I think she's the one that keeps the family so believable. I mean Barb still isn't totally accepting of this life and Margie is just a lost little girl with no family of her own; Nikki's severity along with her faults make the show completely believable to me.

[Raffi Ella]

25. yeah, she really deserves one.

She's amazingly unattractive but she makes you forget that somehow.

The whole cast is brilliant in my opinion. I mean who would have thought a show about polygamy would interest anyone??

I started watching by chance, came across a marathon one Saturday last year and was hooked! The family dynamic is just crazy interesting! I find myself thinking "it might be fun to have sister wives". Ha, NOT, but it's fun watching them do it.

[yurbud]

28. she convinces you she's unattractive--did you see her in KIDS or BOYS DON'T CRY?

I've noticed with actors (like people in real life) that my perception of their attractiveness changes as I get to know them.

So Tyra Banks is down there in Bette Midler territory.

[yurbud]

17. maybe Anna will REPLACE Nikki

[Ava]

15. last night was my least favorite episode so far

i certainly didn't hate it though.. just not my favorite.

i'm loving this season so far!

[Lex]

22. What will Bill do when he finds out that Nikki helped sabotage the court case?

What's going to happen to Sarah's baby?

Seems like Margene has the biggest crush on Anna.

I love watching Jeanne Tripplehorn and Bill Paxton no matter what they are doing or saying.

The writers are excellent.

Tom Hanks is one of the Executive Producers.

Riveting show.

[yurbud]

24. I never thought much of Tripplehorn one way or the other before this show

but she's mesmerizing here.

[Chovexani]

27. Nikki's drunk dialing cracked me the hell up

As does Adaleen's continuing "tap tap tap" comments. Shit I love the whole Grant family and all of their antics. Anything on the compound really. I was sad for the lack of Lois this episode.

I think you're way off base about Ana, btw (not to mention that's a truly racist reading of her character, WTF?).

I think Ana was extremely open-minded and was attracted to the notion of a built-in family as much as she was to Bill. It could not have been easy for her being a somewhat worldly European immigrant in Utah of all places. Ana seemed really lonely and I think she really dug the sister-wives, especially Barb, and she was even starting to get along with Nikki. But she really, really did not understand what she was getting into. Not that there seemed to be much discussion before hand about anything. I knew it was over when she and Bill argued about money. Ana is far too independent to ever buy into that shit.

IMHO she would be much more happy in a truly polyamorous relationship, where everyone is an equal and making important decisions together, rather than the Church of Bill.

It's funny, the only man on this whole show living the Principle that I have any kind of sympathy for is Bill's brother. At least he seems to genuinely love both his wives (as batshit insane as Wanda is) and doesn't see them as chattel.