| Pergament: 'Big Love' steps up its game HBO's polygamy drama better than ever; NBC’s 'Chuck' returns as a lover and a fighter | |
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By Alan Pergament On the Tube The Buffalo News - Buffalo, NY | |
It will be unconventional "Big Love" versus dangerous Spy Love on "Chuck," as two heavily promoted series make their long-awaited season premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday. ______________________________________ BIG LOVE Three and a half stars (Out of four) 9 p. m. Sunday, HBO ______________________________________ Entering its fourth season, HBO’s Emmy nominated "Big Love" has found a new, intriguing way to deal with the polygamist Henrickson family. Starting with Sunday’s opener, the season’s first two episodes are heavy on plot developments as Salt Lake City businessman Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) opens the Mormon-friendly casino that he planned last season with Native American partners. Bill also is considering putting his hat in the political ring at the same time the FBI is sniffing around his business and private life and the State of Utah is holding hearings on the trust of the compound, Juniper Creek. Naturally, the FBI issues concern Tommy Flute (Adam Beach), the son of Bill’s business partner. "We thought you were the sunny face of polygamy," Tommy tells Bill. Bill also has multiple family crises to sort out with his three wives, nine children and extended family. In the first two episodes, there are a marriage and a funeral to deal with. Things clearly aren’t about to slow down for Bill after last year’s death of Roman Grant, the prophet of the compound that Bill left years ago. Those who feared that Grant’s death—and the loss of brilliant character actor Harry Dean Stanton, who played the villainous prophet—would cause this series to suffer needn’t worry. With an excellent ensemble cast that includes Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin as Bill’s very different three wives, the early episodes of "Big Love" are loaded with drama, politics, suspense, dark humor, religious music and one cold-hearted beauty of a surprise twist. Surprisingly for HBO, there isn’t a whole lot of sex going on, especially for a show titled "Big Love." But if you take away the fact that the Henricksons are polygamists, "Big Love" really has a rather conventional message of the importance of a family to pull together and to stand up against what the members believe is government interference. "We’re not going to be divided," Bill tells his wives. "We’re all on the same team." The big decisions usually fall to Bill, who has several tough, business, marital, family and political calls to make under the pressure of protecting his family’s lifestyle. With its Emmy nomination last year, "Big Love" and its writers have their own set of pressures. So far, so good. The first two episodes are insanely entertaining. | |
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BuffaloNews.com Originally published January 07, 2010 | |
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