By Curt Schleier

I thought I had it tough being Jewish. 
   
But apparently, guilt, fatty foods and Jewish mothers are nothing compared to the burdens of Mormonism — or at least that branch of Mormonism portrayed on HBO’s engrossing and enjoyable series, BIG LOVE.
   
In its second season, the show has established itself as the legitimate successor to THE SOPRANOS in the minds of everyone but HBO executives.  They, inexplicably, placed their bets on JOHN FROM CINCINNATI. They lose.
   
Truth is, BIG LOVE is really very Mob-like. In Utah, the role of Tony Soprano is played by Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton, in a role of a lifetime). On the surface, he’s a moral, upstanding citizen. But, he’s also a polygamist not above expanding his family’s fortune by using stolen funds to bid for a gambling enterprise. He’s also expert at manipulating the two Mob families — excuse me, I meant religious leaders — battling for control of their segment of the Church Empire. Both Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton) and the Greene brothers willingly use coercion and violence to get their ways, and pitting one against the other is a dangerous game Bill plays with false assurance.
   
One of the things I’ve always liked about BIG LOVE is that the producers treat viewers as though they had a modicum of intelligence.  There are several plots going on at once, and the producers figure you’re smart enough to follow them.
   
In addition to the tense and potentially violent machinations between Roman and the Greenes, Bill has to deal with his dysfunctional bully father, greedy mom and idiot uncle mucking up his efforts to gain control of Weber Gaming. Wife number one, Barb, goes to the aid of a friend and spends an uncomfortable night at the Juniper Creek compound.
   
And on the subject of dysfunctional family, Margene’s (Ginnifer Goodwin) mother, Ginger (Bonnie Bedelia), pays an unexpected visit.  Her comic turn as the mom from Hell — she even makes a drunken pass at Bill — is at once comical and sad. Margene’s reaction — a mixture of anger and sad resignation — comes through clearly.
   
In fact, BIG LOVE’s actors may have the most expressive faces on television.  You can tell Paxton’s mood simply by looking at his eyes as he moves from anger to frustration to hunger.
   
This is all building up to something. An explosion can’t be far off. The only question is who’ll be hurt.