HBO apologizes for, defends controversial 'Big Love' episode

HBO apologized in advance for Sunday’s controversial "Big Love" episode, which has received fire from the Mormon church for featuring a sacred endowment ceremony. “It was not our intention to do anything disrespectful to the church but to whose who may be offended, we offer our sincere apology,” the HBO statement read. The very private rite occurs in an episode titled “Outer Darkness,” in which Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) is threatened with losing membership within the church.

“Big Love” creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer said in a statement that they consulted an adviser “familiar with temple practices and rituals” and “took great pains to depict the ceremony with the dignity and reverence it is due. This approach is entirely evident in the scene portrayed in this episode and certainly reflected in Jeanne Tripplehorn’s beautiful and moving performance as she faces losing the Church she loved so much.”

I’ve yet to see the episode, but check back Monday morning for a full recap.

-- Allyssa Lee

Photo of, clockwise from top left, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Bill Paxton, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin: Lacey Terrell / HBO

'Big Love': The inconvenient truth

Nicki, Nicki, Nicki. Ooh, girl, you’ve done some bad things before, but now you are in trouble.

There was no way you were going to be able to keep up your duplicitous charade of passing as another woman while dating the boss who was trying to prosecute your father without your husband and sister-wives knowing for very long, and it was only a matter of time before this house of shambly cards you’ve stacked up all came tumbling down.

Not to say that you didn’t have it coming, but then why’d you have to burn all your bridges and leave yourself hanging like that? This isn’t like credit card debt or bingo addiction. The whole family is now in danger of being exposed. In the words of a somber Margie, “This could be bad.”

Granted, other members of the family cannot claim innocence in all this. Barb refused to budge with sister Cindy on the Woodruff document, which then spurred Cindy to tattle to the bishop that Barb was living in “plural marriage.”

And then there's Bill. As husband and wife he and Nicki are at a standstill, as both are too headstrong and would rather dabble in the business of furthering their own agendas than submit to one another. But they could be great partners in the manipulation game. You’d think he’d be able to understand her divided loyalties the most, especially when he can act so righteously on one hand while paying seedy ruffians to do illegal acts for him with the other. It was shocking to see shady Bill behind the University of Utah lab break-in. And the camera was so sly to reveal it: When it panned up from the suit leg I thought maybe Alby or Hollis Green was hiding in the cover of night, but no, it was Bill.

The fact that he was willing to break the law to get his way dragged him down to the basest of levels (no better than Alby or Hollis, and at least on par with Nicki). Again, it feels as if he’s getting too big for his britches by demanding Ted not only call off the Utes’ suspension of the casino license, but also force the LDS to acknowledge the Woodruff document publicly. Not to mention that his sense of righteousness led him to leak key information to the D.A. -- that he’s married to Nicki -- in order to get the D.A. to press charges against Roman for Kathy's death. Luckily, the D.A. had his head on straight for this, claiming he would be perceived as a crazy zealot if he pursued this litigation.

Though Ray Henry had been acting like a crazy zealot toward Nicki with the persistent phone calls and gorgeous bouquet of flowers. I can see how the D.A.’s affection could cause him to gloss over the ginormous red flags her hot and cold behavior signaled. And, of course, Nicki did her part to spur this on, randomly showing up at his work and proffering kisses. But, of course, a relationship built on lies could never succeed, and that breathless swirl of drama that erupted when the D.A. showed up at Margie’s door, discovered Nicki’s true identity and met up with Barb and Bill was dizzyingly fraught and witnessed the start of the sad, steady leak of Nicki’s life as she knew it going down the drain.

'Big Love': Signed, sealed, deliverance

It was just too good to be true, wasn’t it? With the halo of sun radiating over the wedding site and Kathy (Mireille Enos) a vision in white, gushing on and on about how joyful she was now that she would be sealed to Joey and Wanda for all of eternity, and Wanda graciously relinquishing her position as first wife, it was almost certain that Kathy’s time on this earth would be cut short. (That, and the reports that there are going to be two deaths on the show before the season’s end.)

Though considering that Kathy’s been living la vida loca with Joey and Wanda for quite some time now, I was quite surprised to discover that Joey and Kathy hadn’t sealed the deal yet. Somehow, I thought living together outside the bonds of marriage would go against the Principle. But perhaps because Roman wasn’t around to do the sealing, they just never got around to it.

But more on Kathy later. This show, as discussed in this Sunday's feature, is mostly about the Henrickson quadrangle, and back at their household, there were still the matters of Sarah’s pregnancy and Nicki’s birth-control pills to deal with. Not that either of them wanted to talk about it. Which proceeded to drive first-wife Barb batty.

Poor Barb, whose beliefs about family and chastity have been completely betrayed, had been stonewalled at every turn. But like a trouper, she refused to take any of this pass without a fight. And yay to her (and a terrific Jeanne Tripplehorn) for taking it upon herself to remind Nicki and Sarah what being a family meant, and what it meant to be in this family. Throughout this series it’s become clear what a struggle this whole lifestyle has been for Barb, and my heart swelled to see her defend her choice and take this hard line of truth, no matter how unpopular it made her. She was able to have it out in the meeting she and Bill had with Ted, when it was discovered that the LDS was trying to purchase and conceal a document that offered proof that the church never intended to abandon polygamy at all. “Nothing about this life I’d been called to lead has been easy, Ted,” she raged. “And for all these years you and Cindy have damned me for my choice. And now you’re burying the truth? Damn you.” Go, Barb! Now that Cindy has discovered she has been misled by her lord and master, perhaps this will open the door to reconciliation between her and her sister.

Though it doesn’t look like Lois and Frank will have any sort of reconciliation anytime soon.

'Big Love' cast talks it up

Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin discuss the series' philosophy and the challenge of understanding their characters.

"Big Love" has been blazing through its third season. Will Scheffer, who created the show with Mark V. Olsen, his partner in work and husband in life, said, "Everything that we hinted at, that we were building to, we said: 'Let's just do it -- let's go as far as we can this year and burn through it.' "

The results: Love has ebbed a bit for now, and we have been left with big. The polygamous Henricksons -- Bill ( Bill Paxton), Barb ( Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloë Sevigny) and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) -- have fought over birth control, the fleeting affections of a fourth wife and, most of all, the continuous and escalating tension between their sparkling suburban lives and the filthy Mormon fundamentalist compound that haunts them.

In an e-mail, Olsen wrote: "It's important, clearly, that our characters aren't singularly snarky or sour all the time, and there's got to be an underlying love and devotion between them, but the fact that I may love you, or whomever, is just not particularly interesting unless it's blended with the fact that you really piss me off too -- it's that combustion, negotiating that mix of feelings that I think keeps an audience coming back for more."

-- By Kate Aurthur

Read the full story here.

(Photo courtesy Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

'Big Love': Road trip!

It’s a shame that tonight’s episode coincides with Hollywood’s biggest night, because while it may not boast a Brangelina or a musical number, “Come, Ye Saints” is packed with just as much, if not more, drama, laughs and heart as any of these honored films.

With Ana’s divorce still stinging and Roman's trial gone by the wayside, it was time for the Henricksons to step out of Salt Lake City and lick their wounds. Which meant just one thing: Road trip! And it was great to see the family focusing on themselves for a change, ’cause it allowed all the little things that had previously gone unnoticed to finally come to surface. Things like:

Bill’s performance-enhancing drug use. We haven’t seen much of the Viagra lately, and I assumed Bill had given the little blue pills a rest. But in the tight quarters of a road trip, things were bound to get mixed up, and secrets and enhancements were bound to be revealed. And of course, it caused three very different reactions in the wives. Margie came with understanding and hilarity (“Am I being a pill?”), Barb with disapproval (“I’m pretty sure you didn’t need it when it was just us,” she reminded. “Pre-tty sure.”), and Nicki believed (not incorrectly) that it was all about her.

In addition to the lost Viagra, Bill was steadily stripped of his manhood in this hour. Refusing to acknowledge the Ana debacle, he focused his energies instead on running a tight ship, getting the brood out to Hill Cumorah, N.Y. — the place where Joseph Smith, on orders from the angel Moroni, found the gold plates that were translated into the Book of Mormon. There, they’d bury a time capsule that they had assembled, and the kids will be treated to some sort of fireworks extravaganza. So this pilgrimage, like this episode, was going back to the basics, to the beginning of their faith, back to the family. Only, Bill could not see the forest for the trees. The cold, sterile time capsule represented more of the family than the unhappy members milling around him. But he tried to stay strong, eyes on the prize, continuing to bulldoze his way to that hill and bury the time capsule, no matter the cost — literally leading his family into the wilderness, pageant and bad feelings be damned. And he suffered a lot of hard knocks because of it. Like when he was accosted by the Baptist minister (Mac from "Night Court"!). Or made fun of by his wives, for his clanging musical act suggestion (Cher? Really?). Or defaced by that deviant juice box. Or abandoned by his family at the rest stop, forcing him to suffer his own mini-pilgrimage, barefoot, to the hotel. Not that any of this was a bad thing.

Twice we saw him regard himself in the mirror (once when his precious blue pills went down the rabbit hole, the other when he was tending to that phallic time capsule), and staring back at him was one weary mug, and a life dangerously close to going down the drain. So it was only when the family, sick and tired of the car rides and the posturing, abandoned him in that wilderness for the lights and spectacle of the extravaganza, that Bill finally let his whole plan go, and admitted that he has felt lost. And for once, his words of prayer did not ring hollowly:

'Big Love': She loves us, she loves us not

So they finally went ahead and did it. After a particularly stimulating game of bowling, Ana took the leap and accepted Bill and everyone else’s proposal to marry them. And the resulting marriage happened so fast: No registry, no bridal shower, no save-the-dates. Guess when you’re the fourth wife, everyone’s already been there and done that, so you get nothing but a ring, an electric guitar solo, and a quickie poolside slap on the back, squeezed in between lunch and Sarah's shift at the fast-food joint, as a welcome into the family. And this whole situation ended up the equivalent of a fast-food meal: fun, quick and a momentary filler, never mind the queasy feeling that maybe you did something that you shouldn’t have afterward. And while the circumstances around this episode, appropriately titled "For Better or For Worse," were a bit rushed and contrived to be completely believed, it made for some hilariously rich domestic disturbances. For instance:

The other wives. Sure, Ana married Bill, but even more importantly, she married the rest of the sister wives as well. And this fun episode illustrated the delicate balance struck among Barb, Nicki and Margene and how the slightest disruption can result in domestic disaster. Like the sensitive subject of the wives’ seating arrangement. Or contributing to the community pot. Or that Barb’s the task master. Though you would think that strong, independent Ana, who knows how to handle herself in a pickle, should have already cottoned onto this. I mean, she already accused Barb of bulldozing her a couple of episodes back. You’d think she should have taken the time to see how the wives worked before making this all-important commitment. But this all seemed to be news to Ana. “It’s a little like being in the army, isn’t it?” she commented.

The same goes with the living arrangements. Again, you would think that this would be discussed beforehand, but when you decide to get married and then go through with it in about the same time as you can decide to get an oil change, guess you just have to deal with the fallout as it comes. Barb wanted Ana to live with her, and Margene, of course, was hoping Ana would bunk with her. And folks, this may just be another sad truth about the Principle: Despite having many wives and children and more bodies milling about than one can count, it appears that polygamy can be the loneliest number of all. With Margene, of course, we all knew that she was needy and just wanted someone — anyone, really — to hang out and have slumber parties with. But Barb had her own hopes for Ana, and their talk about travels and cruises revealed another side that had been deferred in favor of this bigger family dream: “I want Ana to be my friend, to be an adult,” she revealed. “Ana makes me feel normal. Like choosing this life — agreeing to it — wasn’t a mistake.”

So how hilarious was Nicki’s reaction when Bill decided that Nicki should be the one to take Ana in, much to Barb’s and Margie’s chagrin? “Why am I being punished?” she shot back. Nicki, who then in a great show of hospitality, magnanimously put aside all of a nook and a top drawer that wouldn’t hold four napkins for Ana, because her spare bedroom had already been set up for her crafts. And who then really let it fly with a great retort: “No one mollycoddled me when I came into the family,” she defended. “I mean, who knew Ana was such a delicate blossom? I mean, she looks pretty sturdy to me.” Ha!

Naturally, Barb’s unforeseen enthusiasm for this new wife set Margene and Nicki off on a jealous tangent.

'Big Love': Your attention, please

With Roman’s trial underway, allegiances are tested, the stakes are higher than ever, and everyone’s scrambling for power. Or a little attention, at least. 

Like Rhonda. It’s been hard to sympathize with this deviant, self-serving girl thus far, but my heart went out to the 16-year-old in this episode. All she wanted was a dance just for her, but it’s become clear what a helpless pawn she’s been in this tug-of-war for power. (Also, how tall she’s become: Anyone else notice how she absolutely towered over wee Kathy when they were sequestered in that hotel? If the singing thing doesn’t work out, maybe a basketball team would be willing to take her in.) But Roman still held a soft spot for Rhonda, so it was up to Adaleen to get her out of his heart. And dispose Adaleen did, administering cold hard cash with cold hard words (“He doesn’t love you … no one really cares about you”) — a turn-down delivered about as crisply and cleanly as an ice-pick thrust.

To be fair, Bill messed with confused Rhonda’s head just as much. His flip-flopped request to have her testify against Roman was totally opportunistic and preyed on the impressionable girl’s need for approval. I’m not saying that Rhonda isn’t to be blamed for her wiliness, but hearing Bill come out and declare “I would like you more” if she took the witness stand was just about as creepy as when that truck-driving predator purred for her to scoot closer. (Stay safe, Rhonda!)

Once again, Bill steamrolled everyone with his own agenda (“Getting Roman convicted is our top priority”) — even telling the D.A. what to do — and his family was helpless to do anything but stand by his side or get out of the way. He bullied Joey to get Kathy to testify and tried to smooth-talk Alby into decrying his father in public. Alby seemed to buy the adulation, for the most part (Bill's right: “Alby craves attention and respect”), but Bill’s willingness to gush and fizz and fetch him a 7-Up and invite him over for dinner (poor Barb not only had to welcome the snake into her home, but heat up the summer gazpacho — the indignity!) succeeded only in casting an icky pall over himself. Bill himself also seemed just about to crawl out of his skin when Alby reached for his hand in a gesture of solidarity (or…affection?), so you know he can’t stand the creep. How he can shack up with these shady bedfellows and then sleep at night is beyond me.

Responsible Sarah is making sure her offspring has nothing to do with her family’s lifestyle. “I am not going to give up my baby to be brought up in polygamy!” she lashed out when Ben suggested she give her little bun to her parents (any other option besides adoption seemed out of the question). And for a second, Eric and Sandy seemed the ideal parents: normal, intelligent, reverent, but not overly fundamentalist. Also, there was just one man and one wife. But no one is perfect, of course:

'Big Love' renewed for a fourth season

It's a veritable "Love" fest, Henrickson fans: HBO has just announced that "Big Love" will be back for a fourth season. The critically acclaimed extended family drama, now in the midst of a terrific Season 3, will begin production on the fourth season later this year with a bow date sometime in 2010. Who's about ready to burst from all this lovin'? Do you think Ana will stick around long enough to see it?

— Allyssa Lee

Photo credit: Lacey Terrell/HBO

'Big Love': Prom night

“I think we’re all finally entitled to a little normal.”

So Bill declared when Sarah announced, to the shock and pleasant awe of her parents, that she would attend her senior prom. Given her present condition, it's totally understandable that Sarah (played by Amanda Seyfried, at right with Douglas Smith) would want to trade her duplicitous life for a “last chance to, like, dress up and act like idiots and play make-believe.”

Of course, for this family, “a little normal” is anything but. Especially when your prom date is your Uncle Frankie, who may or may not have a crush on you, and who’s stealing kisses from your crazy-jealous almost-grandmother Rhonda on the side. Or when your grandmother Lois is trying to suffocate your grandfather Frank with an oven bag. But prom is prom, and an annual rite of high school passage. It hardly turns out the way one wants (as seen here, here, here, and here), but the evening is anything if not unforgettable. As was this especially rich episode.

The past refused to remain buried during this hour, and old grievances came to the surface. Barb’s catty sister Cindy has returned to Utah and has launched an anti-gaming initiative, a “spiteful” attack against the Henricksons’ gaming business and Barbie herself. And Ana’s old boy-toy Matt returned as a “well-built” reminder that the waitress is maybe not as committed as she would like to think she is. (Alas, it appears that Ana’s sticking around, though I don’t buy Barb’s newfound fondness for her for a second. Ana hung up on her, for blankety-blank’s sake!)

Even when the past is dead, it hasn’t completely gone away. Margie was adorably befuddled when her usually drunk mother dropped in for an unannounced visit. In a cardboard box. “Oh, let’s face it: She was a loser who got tanked and died in a laundry room,” Margie acknowledged. But this new house guest also brings in a tinge of unease that no amount of scrubbing or vacuuming can remove. And despite repeated attempts to fit her into her present life and home, her mom's remains were ultimately exiled into a closet, out of sight and out of mind. What is it that Margie can’t seem to deal with? The fact that her mother’s occupying the same space, or that she’s a reminder of where she came from? Note that it was not just Margene, but also Barb who made sure to emphasize that they feel closer to their sister wives than their own families. “My wives are truer sisters to me than [Cindy’s] ever been,” declared Barb. And “she just was never really there for me,” accounted Margie matter-of-factly. “You are, though, and I’m very grateful.... Let’s eat!”

With Nicki, however, the loyalties are a bit more complicated.

'Big Love': The call to duty

Obligations weighed heavily in this week's episode; the tug between who people are and who they’re “supposed” to be, and the fine line between serving others and serving yourself. And how sometimes, as Barb sagely relayed to Margene, “the choice is not ours” to make.

Margie learned that the hard way. Still plowing forward on her new power high, the shiny new wife largely ignored her duties as kid-watcher in favor of shilling 15 gaming machines to the sports bar next to the dry cleaner, and even went as far as tweaking Bill’s ear and asserting that she will not be the one to procure the next Henrickson baby. Of course, Margie also can’t help but to wear her emotions like a bright red dress (you know the one), and her increasingly shrill blather about discovering her true calling could do nothing but prime her for a big fall. And kudos to the creators for setting it all up so believably. But yikes, did she really come out and say all those very un-PC things to Jerry Flute? Cue Bill (and then myself) slack-jawed. Bill’s “lucky charm” just ran herself right out. Still, I was kinda hoping Bill would show a little faith and bring Margene along to help make reparations with Jerry, like she wanted. But of course he didn’t, and her subsequent dressing-down — in hushed tones and in the cold comfort of the bedroom, no less — stung as much as a slap on the face. Ginnifer Goodwin was great with Margie’s ramped-up braggadocio and deflated demotion in this ep. Never mind that there was some truth to what Margie said: The wind in her sails was lost, and she was firmly relegated to the supportive role of third wife and resident baby mama once more. Now where will she direct her endless energy?