| Family Ties: 'Big Love' Season Three DVD | |
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DVD Reviews Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi Express Night Out - The Washington Post Company | |
IF THE DVD SET for the third season of HBO's "Big Love" could come with a copy of Jon Krakauer's 2003 book "Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith," that would be great. Krakauer's non-fiction work, which focuses on the murder of a woman and her child by two members of a fundamentalist Mormon group and the complicated, often-tense relationship between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and polygamous splinter sects, should practically serve as compulsory reading material for the show about Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton), the patriarch of a three-wife family who is struggling to make his lifestyle choices work in a modern, business-driven world. The show's third season, out now on DVD, closely examines the fracturing power dynamic between Bill's three wives, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloe Sevigny) and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin), as well as Bill's political moves to ensure success both with his hardware company, Henrickson's Home Plus, and gambling company, Weber Gaming — Krakauer's detailed insights about what makes fundamentalist Mormons tick would be much appreciated. But if you can't bear to read hundreds of pages about the Mormons' beginnings and how polygamy entered their religious equation, don't fret: The third season of "Big Love" should keep you mighty busy, as it's certainly the show's most dramatic yet. The first season effectively thrust viewers into the tangled world of plural wives and righteous principle, and the second season included numerous power moves by Bill and his adversaries, such as Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton) — father of Nicki, prophet of the polygamist group United Effort Brotherhood and leader of the Juniper Creek Compound where she used to live — and Alby Grant (Matt Ross), Roman's backstabbing, power-hungry and secretly homosexual son. But it's the third that takes things up a notch. In fact, nearly every character experiences some kind of emotional upheaval, and there's enough suspense to go around. For example, there's a brief fourth wife in the form of waitress Ana (Branka Katic), who divorces the family as rapidly as she decides to marry them; more examples of Alby's heartlessness (and his possible comeuppance); the formerly committed and pious Nicki turning her back on some aspects of her faith; Barb getting excommunicated from the mainstream Mormon church because of her refusal to give up polygamy; and Bill declaring the creation of a new church with him as the leader. To say it gets real would most definitely be an understatement. But most of what makes "Big Love" so great is its ability to balance numerous storylines and subplots without making things too complicated for viewers. While the third season only has 10 episodes, the show effectively juggles a number of heavy topics that trickle down to affect a variety of different characters. For example, Roman's trial for his polygamous behavior moves his wife Adaleen (Mary Kay Place) to force Nicki to start working at the prosecution's office building as a temp in order to pick up information on their case. But while working there, Nicki (who is employed under Margene's name) not only develops feelings for the district attorney prosecuting her father but also learns that Roman essentially auctioned her off to the highest-bidding interested husband when she was a teenager, a revelation that causes her to both joke with brother Alby about killing him and simultaneously question her until-then-devout faith. And unsurprisingly, the season's best episode comes in the form of its finale, which takes a "No Country for Old Men" approach by killing off a major character and screwing up another's well-thought-out plans (tough luck, Llewelyn). Everything that happens, from exile to excommunication, ensures that the show's fourth season — which premieres Jan. 10 — will certainly be a vast departure from any plot development "Big Love" viewers have experienced so far. Unfortunately, though, the set's extra features are pretty lacking: Included are a "Their Stories So Far" collection that introduces each character using a first-person narration that gives a glimpse of their personalities and a few "Three After Midnight" vignettes that served as promos for the season before it began. Though the "Their Stories So Far" clips are pretty accurate — and amusing, especially when it comes to Nicki's utter contempt of her suburban neighborhood ("Meddling neighbors peering out from their pathetic little houses so they can justify their less-than-righteous lives," she bitches) — they're somewhat useless for people who have already been following the show, and "Three After Midnight" promos can also be seen on HBO's Web site — for free. Nevertheless, if you're a devoted enough fan of "Big Love," the third season is certainly the show's juiciest so far. But even still, you should probably pick up a copy of "Under the Banner of Heaven" just in case — and try not to be too pleased with yourself when you realize that Roman Grant seems remarkably similar to real-life Mormon leader Rulon Jeffs, though. Yup, that was just a spoiler. | |
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ExpressNightOut.com Originally published January 5, 2010 | |
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