By Curt Schleier


Trying to run a business while servicing the needs of three wives isn’t easy.  And having two angry sect leaders wanting to take over your company.  Well, even the best of men will need a night off.

I have to admit I was distracted watching the latest episode of BIG LOVE. This despite several exciting plot lines that moved ever closer to thrilling denouements; I, on the other hand, was busy doing the math.

It began when Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) called his three wives together and asked for one night off a week.  It seemed a reasonable request; after all, Bill is now in his mid-40s or so, an age when keeping one spouse, uh, let’s say content on a daily basis becomes more chore than passion.  Staying willing and fresh for three, well, that’s why I was doing the math.  Let’s see.  Sex every night for how many years?  Carry the two, multiply by three.

Frankly, my admiration for Bill and his stamina grew.  But then the problems started. Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), wife number one, objected.  She’d seen her nights with Bill reduced from seven a week to just two and a fraction as he added more wives, and she wasn’t going to take it anymore.  She organized her reluctant sisters, Nicki (Chloe Sevigny) and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) into a boycott.  The boycott was doomed from the beginning; Nicki was too insecure – she felt Bill’s decision to slow down was directed specifically at her – and Margene was too insatiable to let it work.

But I found the idea of three wives nagging at once amusing—and terrifying.  And what about the in-laws and other relatives? Meanwhile, there was a lot going on.  Bill’s father, Frank (Bruce Dern) found out that Bill is financing his proposed purchase of Weber Gaming using illicitly acquired funds.  So Frank, the dad from hell, tried to blackmail his son for a piece of the action.

Bill continues to act as an agent provocateur in the battle between two competing polygamist sects, one run by Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton) the other by the brothers Greenes.  Prodded by Bill violence flairs, leading to a totally unexpected act.  (I won’t be specific in order not to spoil the surprise.  But suffice it to say, it is usually the kind of cliffhanger that producers spring at the end of the season.

What is especially noteworthy is the quality of the acting and casting.  I’ve long felt that casting agents were the unsung heroes of show business.  Almost without exception, it’s as though each of these actors were born for the roles they play.  Stanton as the evil sect leader Grant shows a frightening level of menace with just a glance.  And Paxton wonderfully expressive face moves from frustration to anger to passion with the ease of that proverbial hot knife through butter.

So a quick shout out to Junie Lowry Johnson (CSA) and Libby Goldstein.  And by the way, CSA stands for Casting Society of America, not the Confederate States.