The Daily Beast: "Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens! Lost, NCIS, Big Love, Veep Writers on His Legacy"

Happy birthday, Mr. Dickens.

Over at The Daily Beast, we're celebrating Charles Dickens’s 200th birthday. You can read my latest feature, entitled "Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens! Lost, NCIS, Big Love, Veep Writers on His Legacy," in which I talk to TV auteurs including Lost's Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, The Thick of It and Veep creator Armando Iannucci, NCIS's Gary Glasberg, and others as they reflect on how Dickens’s work has influenced storytelling on television.

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens (1812–1870), but the popularity of the writer of such novels as Great Expectations, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, and David Copperfield—to name but a few of his immortal works—hasn’t diminished in the time since his death.

In the pantheon of great English-language novelists, Dickens reigns supreme for a number of reasons. He was a master storyteller who created unforgettable characters—a menagerie that included the grotesque, the disenfranchised, the saintly, and the avaricious robber barons of his day—who leapt off the page and continue to live on in the imaginations of those who read his words. And his whiplash-inducing plots, with their constant twists, fused populist entertainment and deft societal commentary.

Despite his fame and fortune, Dickens was a champion for social reform, turning his attention to education, the Victorian workhouse, social inequity, and financial speculation, and offering blistering commentary on the failures of legal and governmental institutions to protect those they were designed to defend, themes that continue to resonate sharply today. Looking for his take on Bernie Madoff? Read Little Dorrit. Feel that the educational system is collapsing? Take a look at Nicholas Nickleby. The war on crime? Oliver Twist. Serpentine legal battles? Bleak House.

Additionally, and unbeknownst to him, Dickens also paved the way for the serialized narrative that television viewers have come to enjoy. The majority of his novels were first serialized in monthly or weekly publications, written just a few weeks ahead of time and typically ending with a shocking revelation or cliffhanger that kept readers eagerly awaiting more. This structure is the one clearly embraced by the creators and writers of serialized dramas, parceling out plot and character development in an episodic fashion while having the ability to react to those engaging with the material.

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The Daily Beast: "Most Memorable TV Deaths of 2011"

Looking back, 2011 proved to be a particularly deadly one for television characters, whose bodies were stacking up even before the return of AMC’s The Walking Dead, which rather notoriously raises the body count each season.

From Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones to Downton Abbey and Boardwalk Empire, TV-show creators this year proved that they were only too willing to kill off beloved characters or shock their respective audiences with deaths involving characters long believed to be “safe,” whether those were little girls, Halloween trick-or-treaters, or heroes.

Safety, it seems, is an outmoded idea. Head over to The Daily Beast to read my and Maria Elena Fernandez's latest feature, "Most Memorable TV Deaths of 2011," in which we examine our choices for the most memorable TV demises this year, rounding up an unlucky 13 who left their fictional lives too soon. But beware: if you’re not up to date on the 12 shows discussed below, you’ll want to avoid reading any further, as there are SPOILERS.

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The Daily Beast: "Becoming Chloë Sevigny"

Oscar nominee Chloë Sevigny may be the former star of Big Love on TV – but online, she’s developed a viral following at the hand of her drag-queen impersonator, Drew Droege.

Over at The Daily Beast, Droege writes about his muse and inspiration, and how the two came face to face, in the hilarious first-person piece "Becoming Chloë Sevigny." (Complete with video from Droege's mordant and biting viral video series Chloe.)

Eternity: Thoughts on the Series Finale of HBO's Big Love

"I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it
God only knows what I'd be with you."

Saying goodbye is never easy, particularly when it's a series as deeply nuanced and as emotionally resonant as HBO's Big Love, a groundbreaking series that subtly shifted our perceptions of what the television family drama could accomplish.

Over five seasons, the audience witnessed the struggles of the Henrickson clan as they attempted to seek out their own destinies, both as a group and as individuals. This was a series that was centered around hearth and home, sex and salvation, faith and family. It was at times hugely operatic (Season Four, I'm looking at you), Shakespearean, or pared-down (the final season).

But what Big Love accomplished was to deliver a look into a family that was markedly different, perhaps, than our own, but which also had the same growing pains, the same fears, the same desires that each of us face within our own families, whether traditional or nontraditional. It charted the way that we each need to find our independence and also find strength in one another, the way in which we can lean on our loved ones and struggle to understand them. It was, at the end of the day, about love.

It's fitting then that the series finale of Big Love ("Where Men and Mountains Meet"), written by series creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer and directed by Dan Attias, should end the way that it does: with the three sister-wives (Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin) finally able to put aside their differences and come together. Over five seasons, we've seen these three squabble, argue, and manipulate one another, but when they're faced with a truly life-altering event in the final episode, these three find an unbreakable bond within themselves. There is, after all, a reason why these four have been sealed for eternity, but both they and the audience discover why they're sealed on earth as well.

I've been saying for quite some time now that the only way the series could organically end is if Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) became the one true prophet, something that Olsen and Scheffer pull off magnificently here. There was a reason why Bill had a testimony to run for office and, despite the legal and political obstacles in his path, he ends up on the floor of the Utah state senate to not only rescind municipality to Juniper Creek following the arrest of Alby (Matt Ross), but also to openly discuss the legality of plural marriage.

Bill has struggled for so long to find a way to bring the Principle out of the darkness and back into the light. With his courageous stand and his refusal to bow down to his enemies, he creates a dialogue about their beliefs and their lifestyle. And in the process, he does become a lightning rod for polygamy, a symbol of openness and freedom that resonates deeply with his fellow believers. So much so that they show up at his storefront church in the hundreds just for the opportunity to listen to his sermon, to touch his sleeve as he walks by, to issue their thanks.

In those moments, Bill Henrickson becomes the prophet he was always meant to be.

We've long known that the rightful prophet of Juniper Creek was Orville Henrickson and that the Grants usurped the religious leadership of both the compound and its adherents. When Orville and Roman went for that car ride decades earlier, the outcome polluted the Principle because it thwarted its natural destiny, corrupting the grace of their belief system for two generations.

Bill Henrickson--businessman, father, priest, casino owner, politican--has worn many hats in his day, but the look of transcendence is clear when he steps onto that dais and sees the crowd before him. It's not an act of pride, but of selflessness as he begins his sermon. I will say that his speech gave me shivers, showing us not only his oratory skills but also his ability to reach into the hearts and souls of these believers. Even though he has lost Home Plus, he is spiritually wealthy.

(It's why I also think that you didn't need to actually see the testimony he receives--in which Emma Smith gives him the nod and her blessings--because we could already see this in his eyes. It was clear that he was having a moment of divine grace without seeing just what he saw; while it paid off the dream sequence he had a few episodes back--the one that conflated Emma Smith with his mother Lois--it was an unnecessarily heavy-handed and concrete bit of parlor magic here. We experienced the mystery and beauty of the moment without seeing Emma Smith in the flesh, as it were.)

And Bill is able to win over reluctant Barb as well, who casts off her husband's church for her own, a baptism into this reform LDS church while the rest of her family listens to Bill preach. Stepping into the pool, alone, Barb realizes that she can't do this on her own, that she needs to follow the path set before her family, even if it means renouncing her claim on the priesthood. When she steps inside the church, her presence there is the first blessing she gives Bill.

That church, as we discover finally here, was build by Bill for Barb after her ex-communication from the Mormon Church. That she would turn her back on it, that she would trade it for another, is an affront to Bill, even more than the way she trades in her old car for a new one. The car was bought by Bill for his wife nine years earlier, before she got sick; it was the car that Sarah and Ben learned to drive on and she traded it away for something new and flashy without a second thought. So too does Bill see Barb's decision to renounce his church as an indictment of the past they've shared. If this was her church, built for her, how can she so cavalierly head off into another direction?

And it is Barb's church, both past and future. Built for her, it serves two purposes: a home in the wilderness, somewhere where she can feel comfortable and be surrounded by her eternal family; and, finally, the church where she can achieve her true testimony as priesthood holder. It's this final element that we're left with at the very end of the series following the shocking death of Bill.

The Henricksons have never wanted for enemies. Whether it be the Grants, the Walkers, the Greens, the district attorney's office, the state senate, the LDS church, law enforcement. They've lived in fear of exposure and then exposed themselves to the world. They've struggle together and apart. But they've always maintained a friendship with Carl and Pam Martin (Carlos Jacott and Audrey Wasilewski) across the street. Carl and Pam have been mainstays of Big Love since the first season, their lives intrinsically linked to the Henricksons.

But we never had any idea just how interwoven their fates would become. Throughout the season, the writers have planted hints about Carl's mental deterioration, as he lost his job, sparred with Pam about money, warred with Bill and Margene about Goji Blast, and crashed two cars, seemingly in failed suicide attempts. But here he snaps completely when he sees that Bill has had his front lawn re-sodded, a promise to Carl that he made in the season opener ("Winter").

Sometimes the smallest things have the biggest impact. All for the want of a nail, and all that. Here, a promise kept is what dooms Bill, as Carl sees the re-sodding not as a neighborly gesture but as a condemnation of his self-worth. It symbolizes everything that Bill has and which Carl doesn't (he is unaware, after all, that the family has lost Home Plus): not one but three wives, financial success, many children. The gunfire in the street is a misguided battle between have and have-not.

It's fitting, of course, given the Easter day of Bill's death, that Carl fires upon him three times. (Three being of particular significance to Christ.) But as Bill bleeds out into the pavement outside his three homes, surrounded by his three wives, his thoughts aren't fearful ones. Looking upwards, he sees not the outer darkness that has plagued him for so long but the blue embrace of eternity, of the celestial kingdom where he will be reunited with his wives forever. But as his wives cry and tell him to hold on, Bill does something selfless and beautiful: he asks Barb for a blessing.

The moment is a profound one and the realization of Barb's own destiny. In doing so, he connects her to the priesthood, fulfilling her the testimony and connecting her to Heavenly Father. Her words don't matter here, as Bill drifts in and out of consciousness. What does matter is the fact that he asks her for that blessing and, in doing so, gives her the church he had built for her. Bill's prophethood lasts for barely more than a blink of an eye but it has resounding consequences. The final shot of the three wives surrounding Bill as he dies made me sob aloud, as the camera pans up over the houses and into the blue beyond.

But as I mentioned earlier, Bill's death also connects the wives in ways we haven't seen before. I thought the joyride scene between the three--in Barb's new car--encapsulated their differences. The split-second of joy they have together (even Nicki smiles, albeit briefly) connects them in sisterhood before the moment is lost, amid realizations of the tribulations of ahead of them: Bill's possible prison sentence and what his loss from their household really means for them. They can keep driving but eventually the truth will catch up to them.

Eleven months after the shooting, we see three sister-wives who are truly united by the bonds of marriage, even without their husband to guide them. While Nicki--the legal wife--wears black in a show of mourning, Barb has ascended to the head of their church as priest, and Margene--her hair shorn as she looks far more mature thatn we last saw her--prepares to leave for another mission. Their final embrace, the three-who-are-one coming together before physically separating, is a emotional display of trinity and unity, with the shade of Bill sitting apart at the table. It's a beautiful moment to end the series, a poignant and heartfelt moment that pays homage to the journey that each of them has been on, a testament to the eternity they will spend together.

I'm extremely happy that the writers brought Sarah (Amanda Seyfried) and Steve (Aaron Paul) back for this final coda here, bringing Teenie (unseen, applying mascara in the bathroom -- "that girl doesn't know if she's coming or going") and their new baby along for the christening at the church. Naming him Bill after her father, Sarah's return here brings her journey full-circle as well. She finally does return to the fold after Barb takes over the church, embracing it as her own because she is not only finally proud of her mother's accomplishment but also because Barb's ascension injects a necessary femininity to the priesthood. Sarah has always condemned the patriarchal nature of their religion and seen first-hand the numerous sacrifices her mother has made in order to hold onto Bill. Here, she sees Barb in a different light and she can finally accept her family and her family's religion in a way she never had in the series.

It's also telling that the baby is named Bill. While the Henricksons believe that our time on earth is fleeting, we do live on through out loved ones and through our offspring. There's the sense that everything will be all right for this family and that death isn't an ending but a beginning of a new chapter for all of them.

Easter, of course, is about resurrection and Bill--along with his parents Lois (Grace Zabriskie) and Frank (Bruce Dern)--all die on Easter***. But one could also argue that they're reborn that day, that they head out to eternity together, that their passing is just the shedding of skin. While Bill dies in an act of horror on his own street, Lois and Frank fulfill their suicide pact as Lois' mind slips away from her. In bed together, they share stories of happy times long ago as they shuffle off their mortal coil. They finally get their happy endings, as everyone does in the end, united as they contemplate an eternity together.

(***In the version of the finale that I saw, there were noticeably TWO syringes on the bedside table, indicating that Frank and Lois had both taken insulin. However, in the on-air broadcast, there was just ONE syringe, an edit confirmed by Olsen and Scheffer over here. So it does appear as though Frank upholds Peaches' request to die, but doesn't follow her into the afterlife just yet.)

The same is true at the Henrickson houses at the end of the coda: we see Ben (Douglas Smith) and Heather (Tina Majorino) reunited; we see Sarah and Steve with baby Bill; and we see the three sister-wives facing the future together. As we pan over the three homes with their shared backyard and the neighborhood, the familiar strains of the original theme song ("God Only Knows") sees us off, a fitting homage to the series and to the spirit of love and cohesion that these three have finally forged together.

Despite Bill's death, it does seem at least as though each of the characters achieved a happy ending, or at least managed to grab onto something they've yearnd for throughout the series' run: Barb received the priesthood; Nicki got control of the family's household and status as legal wife; Ben and Heather found each other once more; Sarah was able to return home and look her mother in the eyes; Frank and Lois were able to turn back the clock, even if only for a few minutes; and Margene was able to grab ahold of the freedom she wanted, while still having a home to come home to. We leave the series as we began in: inside this family's noisy, chaotic, loving households, a collection of individuals each with their own struggles who nonetheless prove that the whole is stronger than the sum of its parts.

It is, in many ways, the perfect way to close out this series, on a positive and uplifting note amid loss and death. Life goes on for Barb, Margene, and Nicki and it goes on for us as well. But we should take strength from the fact that these three women haven't broken under the strain but have been tempered and strengthened by the loss of their husband.

They're still a family as we soar over those now-familiar houses almost a year after Bill's death. And that the Beach Boys' song--and its message--is clear: "God only knows what I'd be without you."

What did you think of the series finale of Big Love? Did it fulfill your expectations of how this series would end? And were you as emotional as I was at the final fate of Bill and the wives? Head to the comments section to share as we mourn the passing of this remarkable series.

The Daily Beast: "Big Love Series Finale: Its 12 Most Memorable Moments" (UPDATED)

HBO's landmark drama series Big Love ended its run tonight with a fantastic series finale.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Big Love Series Finale: Its 12 Most Memorable Moments," in which I select the twelve best moments from Big Love's entire run, including tonight's series finale, and allow you to relive these searing moments, thanks to our wonderful video team.

Did your favorite moment make the list? Head to the comments section to discuss.

The Daily Beast: "Big Love Series Finale: Its Ten Most Memorable Moments"

HBO's landmark drama series Big Love wraps up its run tonight with a fantastic series finale.

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Big Love Series Finale: Its Ten Most Memorable Moments," in which I select the ten best moments from Big Love's run ahead of tonight's series finale and allow you to relive these searing moments, thanks to our wonderful video team.

Be sure to check back after the episode when I unveil my two additional moments from the series finale, which is gripping and emotional, to say the least, as well as my thoughts about the show's end.

Did your favorite moment make the list? How do you think tonight's series finale will wrap up the last five years of storylines? Head to the comments section to discuss.

The Nature of Sacrifice: Shots Ring Out on Big Love

"The age of false prophets is over."

As we near the end of Big Love's run next week, the notion of sacrifice hovers over the action, with each of the characters being forced to come to terms with their own personal divinity as they weigh the outcome of their actions. For every mother who strives to give their child a better life at the expense of their own happiness, there's another who puts their own insecurities and shame onto their offspring. It seems as though we truly can't even outrun out pasts, much less escape them. There's always a way that the past--whether it be a crazed gunman out for bloody vengeance, a corrugated iron washtub, or our formative experiences in childhood--manages to catch up with us.

On this week's tension-laden episode of Big Love ("Exorcism"), written by Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa and directed by Adam Davidson, the past didn't so much as sidle up to the Henricksons as it did throw a bucket of acid in their faces, forcing them to contend with the mistakes they've made, the things that have divided them, and the strength it takes to hold together in times of crisis.

Things have never looked quite so dire for the Henrickson clan. With a possible indictment coming down on Bill, along with what could end up being a twenty-year jail sentence, the Henricksons are in lockdown after Nicki's kidnapping at the hands of her deranged brother, who is gunning for them. Every relationship within the series is pushed to its breaking point here: the central marriage between Bill and his three wives seems to be hanging on by a thread, Nicki and Cara-Lynn are locked in the sort of war that only mothers and daughters best understand, and Ben and Heather, poised on the cusp of happiness, have their future threatened by the manipulations of Rhonda Volmer.

Just how can they hold together under such pressure? And just how will creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer manage to wrap up five years' worth of storylines next week?

I'm still of the mindset that there's only one way for this story to end, and that's with the restoration of balance at Juniper Creek. The prophethood was stolen by Roman Grant from the Henricksons decades earlier and we've seen throughout the series' run how both his and Alby's abuses have led to the twisting of the Principle and the ignorance and fear that have gripped the compound and the followers of the faith. There's a literal bulldozing of the past here as Bill holds a press conference and oversees the demolition of the UEB building, tearing down the building that represented Roman's reign and the physical fences and obstacles he erected around the compound, separating Juniper Creek from the outside world.

But it's the nostalgic scene enacted at the once-glorious "big house" by Lois Henrickson that brings the point home: this was the house that Lois grew up in as a girl, one that was taken from the Henricksons, just as the Grants took their legacy as prophets. It's only fitting then that Bill should be the one to restore the balance disrupted by that fateful drive between Roman and Bill's grandfather, by becoming the true prophet of their faith, a reformer and idealist who wants to bring the Principle into the 21st century rather than keep it in the darkness.

(Interestingly, I can't help but wonder whether Bill's beliefs will finally dovetail with Barb's newfound belief that women should hold the priesthood. While Barb has found a new church that allows women to serve as priests--though it denigrates plural marriage--it could be possible that the new Eden that Bill creates at Juniper Creek might be one that finally allows for equality between the sexes. Hmmm...)

However, Bill's own ideals are in jeopardy by the decisions he's made and by those statutory rape charges hanging over his head. Will he choose to sacrifice his own happiness, his time with his wives and children, in order to see man's justice served? Bill was quick to point out that he would never have entered into a relationship with Margene had he known her true age, and to separate himself and his motivations from the actions perpetrated by Cara-Lynn's teacher Greg, whom Bill views as a "predator."

For her part, Cara-Lynn would seek to find some equality between the two instances, despite the fact that Greg was fully aware of Cara-Lynn's age. What's truly depressing here is that Cara-Lynn can't see the difference nor appreciate the opportunities she's been given in life, opportunities that her mother loves to tell her were shut off to her as a teenager. Nicki's been living vicariously through Cara-Lynn for some time now, savoring the experiences of freedom and possibility that Cara-Lynn has available to her. But Nicki also seems to want to instill the same sense of shame and humiliation that she had drummed into her, something that no one else--not Roman or Alby or JJ or anyone--managed to do to Cara-Lynn.

However, the vicious conversation between the two in Cara-Lynn's bedroom doesn't need to necessarily be read as an indictment of Cara-Lynn, but rather as a soliloquy that Nicki is engaged in. The words she speaks might seem to be directed at Cara-Lynn, but they're also internalized, the words she can't dare admit to herself, the fears and insecurities she's carried with her for her whole life: fears that she's unloved, unworthy. That she's a liar and a manipulator, that she's an evil creature that no one could possibly love.

Are these two the same? In some respects, they are; they're trapped in an eternal loop of action, their individual behaviors overlapping with one another, their fates sealed unless one of them can break the cycle. Nicki tries to have Cara-Lynn sent away to be reprogrammed and broken down because she can't get through to her, but she fails to see that this is how her own parents dealt with her, that she's perpetuating the cycle of abuse rather than freeing her daughter from it. That for all of her vicarious experiences, Cara-Lynn would throw her mother's love back in her face rather than renounce her lover. In looking to free Cara-Lynn from the compound, Nicki set up yet another set of prison walls for Cara-Lynn to scale...

And Nicki's breakdown after the truth about Cara-Lynn comes out would seem to support this line of thinking, her words revealing that she has failed her daughter in so many ways and, perhaps, failed to stop her from becoming just like her. But, in an act of forgiveness and acceptance, Bill tells Nicki that her entire family loves her and that their love is itself a part of Heavenly Father's love, connecting their relationships to something divine and eternal.

All three wives, meanwhile, must contend with the very real possibility that they'll be separated from Bill, if he's sentenced to twenty years in prison and that, as the legal wife, only Nicki will be allowed to have conjugal visitation rights. (In an act of denial, Margene says they should all leave on a mission together to Africa, someplace that the law can't get them but they can all be together.) But it's not just their sexual needs that the wives are concerned about, Barb in particular: it's the emotional and spiritual needs that will go wanting as well. But what is an earthly prison sentence when it comes the eternity that they will all share together, a celestial kingdom that awaits on the other side of the veil? Those other things, they're necessary sacrifices that they'll have to make. And one would imagine the Henricksons would be used to sacrifices now.

(Hell, Cara-Lynn offers a physical one, setting her math textbooks on fire in the backyard, a pyre of rage and resentment, of crushed dreams and injured feelings. And even Alby this week speaks of sacrifice, saying "No one has sacrificed more than me. I've struggled to stay true.")

Ben, meanwhile, struggled to find a way to tell Heather about his infidelity with Rhonda Volmer after Rhonda threatened to tell Heather herself unless Ben married (!!!) her and looked after her. While Ben admitted that he did have feelings for Rhonda and doesn't want her to dance in "those places," he also feels that he's meant to be with Heather. Rhonda, however, doesn't make things any easier, telling Heather what passed between her and Ben and rubbing her nose in the fact that Ben will now forever compare sex with her to sex with Heather. When Ben says that he can have both of them, Heather throws a milkshake at him and runs off. Could it be that Ben might forsake the Principle in order to be with Heather? Or is he showing his true colors here? Is it not possible for him to be in a monogamous relationship?

In this week's episode, Bill faces down Alby not once, but twice. And, if I'm being honest, I thought that each time someone close to Bill would end up getting killed as a result. When Bill and Barb walk in on Alby and Adaleen at the Juniper Creek Dairy, I was fairly convinced that Barb wouldn't be walking away, especially after Adaleen pulled that gun on her. (Though, despite the fact that Alby charged his mother with the killing of Bill Henrickson, I don't know that Adaleen would willfully kill Bill or Barb, though I could see her trying to protect her son.) Despite the conversation earlier in which Bill said he didn't trust Barb anymore, he doubles back to his wife when he hears screams from inside the store, letting Alby escape in order to safeguard Barb. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

But it's the showdown in the halls of the State Capitol building that had me truly on edge. After the "empty" elevator and Salty's expression, I had a feeling that someone was not going to be walking away from this, particularly as Margene had only minutes earlier excused herself to go to the bathroom. With Margene on her own, an armed Alby stalking the halls, and his irrational quest of "holy" vengeance on the table, it would naturally come down to gunfire in the heart of state politics. But as Bill goes after Margene, it's actually Margene who saves Bill, distracting Alby enough that he misses the shot at Bill and allowing Bill to shoot him in the arm.

It might be over for now, but it's not over for a longshot. And it was interesting to me to see how each of the family members dealt with seeing Bill standing over Alby with a gun pointed at him. While the wives may have escaped with their lives intact, it's Nicki who wants Bill to pull the trigger, verbally willing him to do so under her breath, to enact revenge, to payback Alby for the injuries he's dealt this family. So the question that lingers over that ending is whether Bill enacts his own justice or hands over Alby to man's justice, to the same legal system that's coming after him. The sacrifice of vengeance is a sacrifice nonetheless, but it also makes me wonder if Bill sees that he too should place himself in the hands of the legal machine, to hope that his faith will preserve him and save him and that his own innocence will prevail. We'll have to wait until next week to see...

What did you think of this week's episode? Were you as convinced as I was that one of the wives would not be walking away? And just how will Olsen and Scheffer end the series next week? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Next week on the series finale of Big Love ("When Men and Mountains Meet"), Bill charts out contingency plans for the family, while orchestrating a last-minute preemptive referendum on the senate floor; Barb goes forward with her plan to join a reform-minded church; Margene contemplates taking a hiatus to serve as a volunteer abroad; Nicki despairs being left alone as her family splinters; Cara Lynn considers a return to her roots; Ben enlists Rhonda to help him win over Heather; Don shares some bad news with Bill about Home Plus; as Easter arrives, the Henricksons receive heartening support from their polygamist constituents, briefly lifting the dark cloud thatʼs been hovering over the family since Billʼs election; an unexpected vision leads Bill to a final confrontation with his most deeply-held beliefs.

The Fugitives: Into the Darkness on Big Love

"Hold tight."

While the walls have been closing in on the Henricksons for some time now (really, almost since the start of the series), the stakes have never been higher for the polygamist family, beset from all sides. It's impossible not to feel that the endgame is finally here as the countdown to the series finale begins. (Are there really just two episodes left?)

On this week's episode of Big Love ("The Noose Tightens"), written by Seth Greenland and directed by David Knoller, the noose certainly did tighten around the family's collective neck, as law enforcement officials closed in on Bill and Barb, Margene took a stand against just about everyone, and Nicki came face to face with the madness that has overtaken her brother Alby.

In a series that's been overflowing with twists and turns, this week's installment might rank up there with some of the craziest, most jaw-dropping episodes to date, a rollercoaster ride of betrayal, deceit, murder, and soul-searching. Will there be a family when all is said and done? Or are we seeing the dissolution of the Henrickson family before our eyes?

I don't think that the series will end with Bill in jail for his crimes, namely the charges that the Utah prosecutors are holding over Bill: statutory rape, aiding in the delinquency of a minor, etc. While, yes, ignorance of a crime isn't an excuse for perpetrating said crimes, Bill didn't knowingly cross any legal or moral boundaries in bringing Margene into their marriage, as he was unaware of her true age at the time that their affair began. So too is Barb innocent of the charges being levied against her: she didn't act as a procurer, either in this situation or with Ana.

Yet, one can't escape the fact that all of them are fugitives in a way, and the episode--which uses footage from the original The Fugitive series (it's on television in Lois' nursing home bedroom)--posits that each of the characters are running from something: whether that be the truth of their situations, themselves, or the darkness within. Despite the fate awaiting them, old grudges rear their ugly heads here (enough with the finances, Nicki!) and uncomfortable truths (the re-sealing) come tumbling out. Bill and the sister-wives might claim that they are a united front, but they seem to be anything but that, lapsing into the sort of accusations and suspicions that their numerous enemies would hope they would.

So just how will the Henricksons wriggle out of this legal quandary? Likely, by turning state's evidence against Albert Grant and Juniper Creek, throwing themselves on the sword in an effort to protect their family and the Principle from Albert's heretical ways. I've long predicted that the series would end with the rightful balance restored at Juniper Creek, with the Henrickson family restored to their position of power as they reclaim the prophethood stolen from them by the Grants.

But Alby isn't going down without a fight, as we saw only too clearly here. He's willing to kidnap Nicki and contemplate murdering his "apostate" sister and dumping her body in an unmarked grave, which means he's not above slaughtering anyone who gets in his way. (Look how easily and callously he kills Verlan in cold blood, shooting him right in front of Nicki.) Albert believes that they can't escape who they are and what they are in the soil and blood of Juniper Creek, those prim prairie clothes and their unerring belief in both the Principle and their position of righteousness in the eyes of Heavenly Father.

Alby has been backed into a corner now and he's likely more dangerous than he's ever been as a result. That Bill has dug up old business with Madison and the payoff engineered by Roman and Adaleen to cover up Alby's homosexual appetites is only the first strike. There's the matter of Madison, of poor Dale, of the attack on Don, Nicki's kidnapping... The list goes on and on. No wonder he flees the scene and leaves Nicki shaking in her purple dress. He's become mentally unhinged, a shepherd who has lost all control of his sheep, and I'm terrified to see just what atrocities he's capable of in his vengeful quest to punish those who would strip him of his authority.

The Henricksons, after all, are fighting battles on numerous fronts: against the LDS Church, against Alby (who wants to buy out Don's shares of Home Plus), against the Senate, against Michael Sainte and Goji Blast, and against themselves. Put under so much pressure, something has to break and what concerns me is that I'm not sure all three sister-wives will make it to the very end of the road. The re-sealing that went on without Barb was a brutal wake-up call, a realization that perhaps these four might not spend eternity together, that just as on Earth, their celestial souls are being pulled apart.

Just as I was happy to see last week that Margene was the one who noticed the inappropriate nature of the relationship between fifteen-year-old Cara-Lynn and Greg Ivey, so too was I pleased to see her doggedly pursue her suspicions here, relentlessly chasing Cara-Lynn until she caught her and Greg together at his apartment. Given her own history with Bill and the charges that they all face, Margene is the one person best-equipped to see Cara-Lynn's position... and she quickly urges her to stop the relationship once and for all.

But Cara-Lynn isn't giving up on Greg. She doesn't see what he's done wrong, as he claimed to have saved himself and that their first time together was his first time too. She's fallen for her teacher and he's taken advantage of his student, even if he claims to love her. Which is part of the danger really: Cara-Lynn is so desperate to be loved for herself (Nicki claims to love her daughter but her idea of love is saving her from the life she led) that she's willingly to make this leap with someone twice her age, to fall into the traps of polygamy that Nicki desperately tried to avoid for her. She's avoided one marriage for another, becoming yet another child bride in a long line of them.

Cara-Lynn demands that Nicki give her consent to marry Greg when she turns sixteen, a fact that sends Nicki right over to Greg's house where she brings down her words and her fists upon Cara-Lynn's teacher. But while Nicki fights Greg, it's also herself that she's battling: the past she escaped, the future she envisioned for her daughter, the situation that she unwittingly engineered. History is repeating itself all over again, a kaleidoscope of possibilities collapsing inwards upon itself.

While Cara-Lynn never asked for Bill to adopt her, the damage that her presence has caused is incalculable, a fact that Ben raises when he screams at her for doing something so "effed up." While the adoption was a good thing, in terms of bringing Cara-Lynn into their family, it's had a ripple effect on the marriage, as Bill divorced Barb and legally married Nicki in order to push the adoption through. How many sacrifices have they made for this girl? Which begs the question: Just where was Cara-Lynn attempting to sneak off to with her bag? To Greg's? Was she looking to flee the Henricksons' homes and move in with her lover? Has her judgment become so clouded by love and lust that she can't see how wrong this situation is?

I'm glad that Ben went to Nicki, not to come clean about what had happened with Cara-Lynn, but to tell her to get Cara-Lynn psychiatric help. Without spelling out the true cause, he urged Nicki to get Cara-Lynn some professional counseling, which she refused to even consider. But rather than drop it, Ben called her blind and undeserving, a real emotional sucker punch that needed to be made.

Earlier this season, Cara-Lynn told Gary that if you act polite and smile, you can get away with just about anything. That ploy has worked for Cara-Lynn for fifteen years and it's worked wonders with the Henricksons as she pulled the wool over their eyes countless times. But Cara-Lynn shows her mother her true colors as Nicki threatens to call the police and report Greg, calling Nicki's bluff. It's the moment the scales fall from Nicki's eyes and she sees Cara-Lynn clearly for the first time. "Who are you?" she says. "Maybe you're just a bad seed after all."

Poor Heather, meanwhile, attempts to come clean to Barb about her part in the unfolding legal drama around them, telling an incredulous Barb that she confessed things in confidence to her bishop, who in turn called the stake president, who called her parents, who called the police. The noose tightening around their necks is due to the innocence and naivete or poor Heather, who believed that certain confidences would be maintained, that she was doing the right thing sharing her concerns and her worries. But the road to hell, as we know, is paved with good intentions and the church used this woman's confession as the smoking gun to nab Bill.

His offer to resign from the state senate comes too late, as even Barn realizes when Bill makes it. Everything the family has fought for and sacrificed for would go up in smoke, but it would also possibly keep the wolves from the door. However, the time for such public maneuvers is long past. The church is determined to tar and feather Bill and to remove any authority or standing he might have. They're not going to be content with anything less than his head, readying a 25-year potential prison sentence against him.

I loved the juxtaposition of Michael telling Margene that her family was a cult, and her family telling her that Sainte's Goji empire was itself a cult. Trapped in the middle, Margene sadly realizes that she wants to be a part of the world that Michael showed her, a world of faith a bridge-building, but as she tears down the Goji World poster in her house, she resigns from that company to be with her family, Bill's words ("We're not a cult. We're a family.") echoing in her head.

Poor Verlan thought he could double-cross Alby to get money for Rhonda and his baby, and warn Nicki of the plot to kill Bill to boot, but Alby has other plans. The final scenes in which Alby and Verlan take Nicki to the pit (and Verlan's horrified realization that it's Nicki they're going to kill) were taut and brimming with extreme tension. I loved Nicki's story about swimming with Alby as children and how he rescued her, saving her life. He does save her again here, shooting Verlan twice, but the message is clear: the same blood runs through their veins and neither can escape Juniper Creek or their pasts. Alby will, despite this moment between them, still be coming for Bill...

And, as Bill tells Barb and Margene about the district attorney, Nicki walks into the dining room of Barb's house, dirty, disheveled, and dressed in clothes that brand her as one of Juniper Creek's indentured women. It's a horrific entrance, a startling vision, and an implicit threat. Alby has struck at Bill through his wives. The endgame, it seems, is at hand. And so too, quite possibly, Judgment Day for all of them.

Next week on the penultimate episode of Big Love ("Exorcism"), with Alby on the run and posing an imminent threat, the Henrickson family finds itself in lockdown mode; Nicki decides to break Cara Lynnʼs “dependencies” by enrolling her in boarding school; Barb spars with Bill about her new churchʼs stance on polygamy, and her commitment to the family; Lois begs Frank to rescue her from confinement; Margene vows to repay Pam for her Goji investment; Ben and Bill debate what to do about Rhonda.

Uninvited Guests: Til Death Do Us Part on Big Love

"We're on separate paths." - Adaleen

While the Henricksons have overcome many huge obstacles over the last five seasons, it seems as though the thing that's tearing them apart might be themselves. Through thick and thin, through betrayal and compromise, Bill and his wives have always seen past the here and now to the eternal, to the celestial kingdom where their family would spend forever walking hand in hand.

But that eternal happiness is now being called into question, as is their felicity among the quotidian existence of life on earth. This week's episode of Big Love ("Til Death Do Us Part"), written by Aaron Allen and directed by David Petrarca, found the Henricksons besieged on all sides: from Albert Grant's vengeful vendetta against Bill, to the LDS Church, and among themselves, as the paper wedding of Bill and Nicki fast approached.

We've been told that their marriage is a legal formality, a means to an end as it would allow the two to legally adopt Cara-Lynn and keep her safe. But it's also thrown the order of their family structure into chaos, it seems. Bill and Barb are now divorced and that opens up a host of questions both celestial and mundane. With law enforcement gathered at the door, the dissolution of Barb and Bill's marriage creates a situation that could spell their doom. It's one that they didn't see coming, even as the audience was waiting for the other shoe to drop as family and friends gathered together to witness the union between Bill and Nicki.

I will say that Nicki is so infrequently outwardly giving that when she does have moments of true generosity and appreciation for her sister-wives, it's entirely genuine, such as it was here. The moment that passed between Nicki and Barb, as she thanked Barb for everything, was a true heartfelt moment in every sense of the words. There was no deception here, no manipulation, no underhandedness. It was a blushing bride on her wedding day, and it was impossible not to feel that Nicki was--perhaps truly for the first time in her life--blissfully happy. She got her storybook wedding, her white dress, and her day in the spotlight. She became, in that instant, the one and only Mrs. Henrickson.

As for Barb, she wanted to be a part of the ceremony in any way that she could. While I worried, early on, that this would be a platform for her bid for the priesthood, Barb put aside any doctrine on Nicki's wedding day in order to serve as a true conduit between Nicki and Bill, to literally marry them to together but also figuratively, to put the hands of her husband and sister-wife together, to join them in an unbreakable bond, linking all three in the act of marriage.

Which is why what came later was such a colossal betrayal. Refusing to acquiesce to the others' request for a resealing, Barb was stunned to discover Bill, Nicki, and Margene being resealed without her. Even if it doesn't change her beliefs--that all four of them are sealed for all eternity--it was enough to rock her foundations to the core. The three of them have pledged themselves to one another... while Barb stands, alone, in the hallway. Does she have a place in this family? In their celestial home? Is she witnessing, in those moments, the end of her marriage altogether, both on paper and in her heart of hearts? Does she still believe her words at the wedding, that her family is "ordained of God?

Barb, of course, is no longer legally married to Bill. While she might retain his last name and control of the family finances, Barb has lost certain legal entitlements. Perhaps most notably the right not to be forced to testify against her husband. Now that she's a free agent in the eyes of the law, she could be forced to speak in court against Bill, currently under investigation for statutory rape.

In the state of Utah--and correct me if I'm wrong here--there is currently no statute of limitations on crimes of this nature, which means that Bill can still be tried for this act even though years have passed since Margene was a minor. But the damage is done: even if Bill was unaware that Margene was 16 when he bedded and later married her, ignorance of the crime does not excuse its execution. Margene may have deceived Bill and the others, but the onus doesn't lie on her as she was under the age of consent and therefore not responsible for her complicity in the affair.

Margene knows she did something wrong, even if it's taken her years to "remember" and admit this to the family. Unfortunately, she did so while Heather was around. It's a weighty knowledge that Heather can't easily shrug off and she ends up confessing her troubles to her bishop... who promptly sees this opportunity for what it is: the plunging of the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of Bill Henrickson. While Heather may have done some maturing of late, she's still woefully naive, and she believes that the privileged information that she shared with the bishop would remain in confidence. But this is a game of politics and of church that the players are engaged in, and the Mormon Church just had a smoking gun fall into their laps.

Meanwhile, while the feds investigate Bill's crime, Margene realizes that her experiences are unfolding once more within the Henrickson clan. While she finds Cara-Lynn's romance with Gary adorable and sweet, she soon realizes what is actually going on right under their noses: under-age Cara-Lynn is involved in a sexual affair with Greg Ivey. While everyone--most notably Nicki, who believes Greg has a crush on her--is oblivious to this fact, it's telling that it's Margene who picks up on the subtle cues, the familiarity between Cara-Lynn and Greg as she stands on her toes and whispers in his ear. She sees the signs because she experienced them. What she sees in that stolen moment is herself and Bill brought to life.

It's interesting to me that a show that focuses on beliefs and values would have so many characters undone by their libidos, as is so often the case with fallen religious leaders in real life. Bill's affair with Margene, Cara-Lynn's with Greg, Ben's one-night stand with Rhonda, and Alby's homosexual proclivities (a shepherd who lay with another shepherd, in Bill's words), these all represent faith-based characters being led astray, their souls falling into perdition, thanks to their hearts. But life is full of repeating patterns: snowflakes, butterfly wings, mothers and daughters. If we don't face up to the past, we're doomed to repeat it... or our children are. A trip to the theatre isn't just about poor people singing about freedom, but an opportunity to engage in an inappropriate relationship. (Greg's mother even seems, for a split second, to have twigged to what's really going on here.)

(And, yes, so too has Lois' mind has been lost, thanks to her husband's numerous improprieties. Her rage at what's befallen her is unleashed upon Barb several times in this episode, Lois' fury embedded in the vicious comment she hurls at her son's first wife: "I'm glad my son divorced you." While she may not mean it, it's a comment that hits home for Barb in that moment.)

Other thoughts:

• Alby seems hell-bent on "purifying" the compound through any means necessary, abolishing all technology at Juniper Creek after the kids allegedly discovered "sexting," though he's free to pay Verlan to strip for him. (I'm convinced that Verlan was a hustler before meeting up with Rhonda; he's far too easily paid for his services here.)
• Rhonda claims she lives with Crystal and her friend Jeff, but Ben sees no signs of anyone living there. Is Rhonda just squatting in an empty house? And how long before ticking timebomb Rhonda tells Heather what she and Ben got up to while they were on a break?
• I'm glad that neighbors Carl and Pam have remained in the series throughout its run. Here, we see these two engaged in a fight about finances in front of Margene's Goji Blast group that's both timely and depressing.
• Michael Sainte clearly has Margene wrapped around his little finger. It's refreshing to see Sainte be revealed as being a fraud and a crook while preaching prosperity through charity.
• I'm hoping that Greg and Cara-Lynn's relationship comes to light and that it's Margene who puts a stop to it.
Lois and the chicken bones? Heartbreaking.

Finally, I felt as though Adaleen's words about being on a separate path hover uneasily over the episode; they're spoken to Nicki about why she won't attend the wedding (though she does come to her senses in time), but they apply here to the entire cast of characters. While it seemed for so long that nothing could break up this family, everyone seems to be walking on very separate paths these days.

Which is scary, as the thing that the Henrickson clan needs now more than ever is unity, something that's rather scarce these days. Just as Bill and Nicki come together in matrimony, we're seeing evidence of fractures everywhere else. And, what worries me, is that the ice is cracking right under their feet and the Henricksons don't even see it.

Next week on Big Love ("The Noose Tightens"), Bill looks to Albyʼs past in an effort to thwart his ambitions, leading Alby to concoct yet another diabolical scheme to bring down the Henricksons; Barb finds herself targeted as her husbandʼs accomplice as the investigation continues; Nickiʼs “rescue” of a skittish compound wife complicates life at home, and lands her in hot water at Juniper Creek; Margene finds herself at the crossroads in her business with Goji Blast; Don suffers emotional aftershocks that could have a lasting impact on Home Plus; Cara Lynnʼs secret leaks out; Heather apologizes for spilling the beans about Margene.

The Stone Bench: The Special Relationship on Big Love

It's fitting in a way that the resolution to Barb and Bill's current problems--or, at least specifically, the question of Cara Lynn's protection--should occur at the spot where their relationship truly began: at the stone bench where Bill proposed to Barb all of those years ago.

On this week's episode of Big Love ("The Special Relationship"), written by Patricia Breen and directed by David Petrarca, we witnessed what might just be the end of Bill and Barb's marriage, or at least the legal, paper version of it. While Bill reassures Barb that they would still be sealed for eternity, the sting of his suggestion is evident: in order to safeguard Cara Lynn's future, Bill would have to marry Nicki. Which means legally divorcing Barb.

Let's be honest: Bill has always had a special relationship with his first wife and rightly so. Of all of his wives, Barb was the one with whom he has spent not only the most time, but also spent as man and (single) wife. They were a couple for nearly twenty years before the consideration of plural marriage was put on the table. When Barbara joined Bill in marriage, there wasn't any talk of polygamy or of sister-wives. She believed she was joining him solely and completely.

While Nicki would often refer to Barb as "Boss Lady" (remember those days?) with a more than a hint of malice, there was truth to her words. Barb was the first wife and first wives do have a bigger piece of their husbands' hearts. So the fact that both Bill and Barb are considering divorce, even in secular terms, speaks of how strained their relationship was become of late and perhaps how much Barb is chafing against the constraints of the lifestyle they lead.

I've been thinking a lot about causality as it relates to Big Love recently. The family's current situation, their decision to enter into plural marriage, and the fact that Bill has three wives all stems from the fact that Barb contracted cancer in the first place. In looking at where the Henricksons have gone, it's hard not to look back at that singular moment as the turning point for their lives. Without the cancer, Nicki Grant wouldn't have been in their home and without the Faustian bargain Bill struck for Nicki nursing Barb back to health, the Principle may not have entered their lives.

Every moment of our lives is dictated in some way by the infinite number of steps that led us there, from a youthful proposal to the sickbed, from the consideration of divorce to the adoption of a child. We're the totality of our experiences, the sum of every decision, every moment lived, every coincidence, every fateful step. Barb and Bill are reminded that the Principle allowed them to welcome a number of righteous warriors for Heavenly Father into their family, but also perhaps that everything that has happened to them can be traced back to the inherent unfairness of life.

The same holds true with the Principle being lived in the wilderness rather than in plain view. The progress that Bill Henrickson has made is juxtaposed with the abuses of polygamy and the unwillingness of the LDS church to be associated with an element of religion that they turned their backs on long ago. When Roman Grant grabbed the prophethood of Juniper Creek, wresting it from the hands of its rightful holders (the Henricksons), he set in motion a chain of events that brings us to the present day, a time where Bill is under siege from every direction--fellow polygamist sects, the state senate, the LDS church, his employees, etc.--even as he attempts to reform the system.

But missions of reformation are never easy, particularly when religion (and religious intolerance) enter the equation. Questions about the sanctity of marriage, while not outwardly mentioned on the show, hover over the debate about the legitimacy of marital plurality. The parallels to such measures as California's Proposition 8 and the ongoing debate about gay marriage can't be overlooked here. Just as the polygamist lifestyle is being attacked via discussions of re-criminalization and "witch hunts," the writers are deftly using this as an opportunity to look at other aspects of society's unease with redefining marriage.

But putting aside and social messages embedded within the series, this week's episode sought to depict just how far everyone is willing to go in pursuit of their personal causes, whether that be the continued existence of their family (Verlan), acts of vengeance (Alby), or the morality of protecting those who are being abused (Bill). But political gain often comes with a personal cost, as Bill will likely learn.

Albert Grant has made it his mission to tear down everything that Bill has built, targeting not only his Safety Net initiative (which he blames for allowing Lura to escape) but employing Verlan to murder Don Embry. In one of the episode's most shocking sequences, Verlan attempts to bludgeon (and then drown) Don in his tent on an ice lake while Don's sons (including Gary) are standing at their car. Verlan's eerie silence, the dead-set look in his eyes, speak volumes about the lengths he's willing to go in pursuit of the money that Alby dangles in front of him, money that he needs in order to pay off some long-standing Las Vegas gambling debts. (And then there's the matter of that manslaughter charge.)

Verlan's desperation plays right into Alby's plans for revenge. I also can't help but notice the scene where they first meet where Verlan seems to be offering himself up to Alby sexually. To his chagrin, he learns later that, even after "completing" his assignment, Albert doesn't let him leave, instead calling him an "Alby-ite" and ordering a room set up for him. (Uh-oh.) Whether Verlan was doing it for Rhonda (who tells him to take whatever Albert offers him), his child, or his debts, he proved that he was willing to do whatever was necessary.

Fortunately, Verlan's attack isn't successful and Gary is able to save his father's life and get him to the hospital in time. Bill's words are a cold comfort to Don ("Heavenly Father isn't done with you yet!"), though they do demonstrate the divine responsibility Bill places on the events in their lives. If each of them has a purpose, that purpose reaches its climax when their deity decides it's time. Call it fate, call it Heavenly Father, call it Life, but Bill believes that something is guiding them, that his actions and decisions are the result of testimony.

But so too does Barb. She believes with her heart that she is following her essential truth in pursuit of the priesthood. Her quest for religious and divine equality are at loggerheads with the patriarchal nature of their religious tenets, with the order prescribed by Joseph Smith. Bill isn't willing to relinquish the priesthood, nor is he willing to give Barb the blessing that would be required for her to ascend to such a step.

Which brings us to the here and now: to another conversation on that stone bench at the university. The years have changed Bill and Barb and altered their family. Coming full circle to where their marriage began, Barb agrees to a divorce, but I don't think that Cara Lynn's future is all that's on Barb's mind when she relents and agrees to dissolve their union. Throughout the series, Barb has struggled with life amid plural marriage, even leaving for a time back in Season Two. While I still believe that the family will end the series intact at the very conclusion, I can't help but wonder whether this new test will free Barb up to reconsider the choices she's made in life and the events that lead her there. We'll see just what she decides...

Some other thoughts:
* Interesting that Greg Ivey is saving himself for marriage... and that Cara Lynn would inappropriately show up at his house (the location of which was discovered by Google Maps, naturally) and be invited in. While Greg seems to be fighting against temptation, Cara Lynn seems determined to push the boundaries of their relationship. Her line of questioning towards Greg and her slight standoffishness towards Gary this week seem to point towards an interest in her teacher. Given her history, I'm concerned about just where this interest is leading, amid a season that's full of child brides and underage sex.
* Loved Rhonda's bizarro announcement at dinner (which ended with "Thank you.") and the clue she inadvertently dropped about Verlan coming into $50,000. I'm hoping Bill picks up on his when considering just who would have attacked Don as it certainly wasn't a vagrant living in the woods.
* I couldn't believe that Frank drove off without saying anything to Lois. I'm hoping he does learn--from Lois--that his actions lead to her dementia and that he is responsible for what's befallen her. These two have been at war for so long that Frank needs to finally stop being so craven and evil and offer some conciliation towards his wife. Lois' hunger strike, her disinterest in being at the Henricksons' houses, and her insistence that she go home are all breaking my heart. To see this formerly indestructible woman lose all semblance of control is gut-wrenching.
* I wonder what Alby will to do Verlan when he realizes that his contract killer failed to actually, you know, kill Don.
* Margene's "Achilles heel" is bound to come out sooner rather than later. Her pervasive interviews with local press (she's the "sunny face" of polygamy) and her scene with Michael Sainte. She's suddenly on a lot of people's radars, not least of which Sainte's. He's not happy about the sales that Margene is making with people on the compound... and given his prominence in the LDS community, I think that his storyline is just beginning...
* Loved Senator Barn throwing the football to Bill as being symbolic of his support... and that he does (for now, anyway) hold true is efforts to push through the Safety Net legislation. But something tells me that Barn has a few tricks left up his sleeve.

All in all, "The Special Relationship" moved the plot along briskly as things are set up for the series' endgame, while also making homage to the emotional core of Big Love: the rivalries between sister-wives, between questions of sanctity and sacrilege, between family matters and social ones, and between personal desire and the greater good.

Next week on Big Love ("D.I.V.O.R.C.E."), Barb capitulates on Billʼs marital plans, but not on her hopes to attain the priesthood and enlists ex-Mormon feminist Renee Clayton (guest star Judith Ivey), much to her mother Nancyʼs chagrin; Bill faces new impeachment pressure in the senate, and scrambles for new clients in the wake of LDS boycotts of his stores; Nicki chafes at the status quo; Margene eyes a sponsor for her pro-polygamy childrenʼs rally; Cara Lynn puts in extra hours with her tutor, Greg; Alby vows to combat Safety Net with a purification program of his own; Bud Mayberry warns Bill of an imminent threat; Frank and Lois strike a deal; Heather makes a decision that deflates a vulnerable Ben.

Age of Consent: Patriarchy and Polygamy on Big Love

"It's all been such a waste." - Lois

Throughout its run, Big Love has sought to shine a light on the abuses of the polygamist lifestyle and belief system that the Henricksons adhere to, offering a spectrum of fundamentalism through which to see the center at its core. For all of the abuses at Juniper Creek, the old ways embraced by Roman Grant and his false prophet son Albert, they seem infinitely more sane than, say, the Greenes or Bud Mayberry.

This prism has been useful in the past because it clearly establishes that the Henricksons don't walk the fine line that many other believers of the Principle do. In their vision of this religion, there is the semblance of free will: there are no forcible sealings, no teenage brides, no breaking of laws or inverting the beauty of the divine Principle.

But that's not quite the case as we learned last week. Bill Henrickson, as we know, did take an underage bride in Margene, attempting to rationalize and sanctify that most stereotypical of male middle-aged faults: he slept with the babysitter. Bill invited a 16-year-old Margene into their family, sleeping with her before their marriage and to this day denying that he had any knowledge of her youth, something that even steadfast supporter Don can't quite wrap his head around.

This week's superlative episode of Big Love ("The Oath"), written by Melanie Marnich and directed by Omar Madha, investigates not only the fallout from Margene's confession and its affect on Bill and the sister-wives, but also offers a moving portrait of the stifled role of women in the polygamist system, and just how parallel stories can repeat themselves right under our noses.

It's been intimated throughout the series' run that Margene is more like a Henrickson daughter than one of the mothers. Her attraction to Ben (which makes all the more sense now, given the closeness of their ages), her immature behavior, her naivete and open-eyed spirit all make sense when you realize that she was a girl of 16 when she married Bill and not an adult. This fact is even more disturbing when Margene attempts to justify her behavior and her outward lie towards Bill and the others, saying that she would have done anything to be adopted, to have gotten out of her life with Ginger in that trailer park.

But that's just it, Margie darling, you weren't adopted. You got married.

It's the use of that word, "adopted," that cuts like a knife. In giving herself to Bill, Margene walked away with a family, ingratiating herself with Barb, who was herself chafing against the demands of plural marriage and with her relationship to second wife Nicki. If Barb suspected Margene's age (I don't really think she did, to be honest), she couched it in terms of personal desire: she needed someone to side with, someone to make her happy, and someone to share the burden with, to turn her marriage from a tug-of-war into a more level playing field. But their trinity of sister-wives is not holy, as Bill defied some of the fundamental legal beliefs that he's trying to uphold with his Safety Net program.

Interestingly, the writers have chosen just this moment, following the revelations of both Margene's age and Nicki's own troubled history with underage marriage (seen last season), to bring back the series' first child bride, Rhonda Volmer.

Rhonda, of course, was betrothed to "Old Roman," but her alleged innocence was a mask for some truly horrific behavior. Cast out of Juniper Creek, she claims to have been destroyed by Roman, reduced to living on the streets and "dancing at special parties" (cough), before ending up with Verlan (Friday Night Lights's Kevin Rankin) and settling down. She's turned her back on the Principle and is now a mother... but that doesn't mean that she doesn't have a con or two up her sleeves. (More on that in a bit.)

Rhonda's experience is not unlike Bill's: driven out of his home, forced to fend for himself, turning to a life of prostitution just to survive. But Bill's story is the rarity; far too often we're seeing how women pay the price of polygamy, how their freedoms and (in some cases) civil or human rights are violated in the name of Heavenly Father.

Rhonda had no choice in the matter of being promised to Roman, just as Nicki had no say over being forcibly sealed to JJ. We see first-hand just how this lifestyle has affected Rhonda and Nicki, Barb and Lois, Adaleen and countless others. But does that make Bill just as complicit in upholding the status quo as JJ and Roman? He did suspect that Margene wasn't as old as she claimed to be? Was he blinded by lust and passion that he had to have her, as Don maintains? How is that any different than Roman and Rhonda, really? Could that be why he can't quite make eye contact with his youngest wife?

Lust, it seems, corrupts everyone. The truth behind Lois' dementia attests to this more than anything. While several causes are discussed in last week's episode, the truth is far more damning than a B12 deficiency. The indestructible Lois--who was denied her birthright by Roman Grant, abused by her husband, and forced to let her daughter be sealed and then watch her kill herself--is undone by Frank's libido, her dementia the result of a venereal disease that Frank infected her with it. The price of polygamy, it seems, it the loss of Lois' mind, of countless women's freedom and dignity.

And then there's Cara Lynn, the literal consequence of the patriarchal rule of the polygamist sect, the offspring of Nicki and her much older husband JJ, a girl with everything going for her who nonetheless serves to remind her mother how much of a cautionary tale her own life became. Just what interest does the much older Greg Ivey have in Cara Lynn? Is it just a teacher-student relationship? Or are we seeing the first sparks of attraction between the two?

While Greg offers Cara Lynn an outlet for her sorrow, giving her his phone number in case she needs to talk and telling her about the death of his brother when he was a teenager, there's something more at play here, something untoward that manifests itself when Cara Lynn spies him with his parents at the mall. Greg's shiftiness here, the fact that he's been talking her up to his parents, seem to point towards something shadowy and uncouth, a parallel experience that connects him in those seconds to Bill Henrickson, Roman Grant, and even Frank Harlow. Towards, perhaps, a lust towards innocence and virginity of girlhood.

It's an eye-opening possibility. While other series have dealt with inappropriate relationships between teachers and students (it's become, in recent years, something of a go-to trope), there are implications here that are greater than just Greg and Cara Lynn, but towards a system that operates in a vicious cycle, that rewards male lust and the masculine gaze, and which enslaves its women in a pattern where they serve to fulfill that desire on a regular basis, becoming wives, brood mares, nurses, child brides. It's a system that's predicated on the superiority of its men, its priesthood-holders, and the subjugation of the female.

Barb seems to have realized this of late, seems to have divined that she has her own relationship with Heavenly Father, and that her fate and that of her sister-wives (all of them, that is) is tied up in the patriarchal structure that their religion demands. What Barb is suggesting, and which she hints at towards the First Lady, is that she wants reform in her own way, wants to tear down the religious gender politics of polygamy and forge a new path. It could almost to heresy, to suggesting that women can hold the priesthood and guide their families to eternity with as much right as their men.

Barb's newfound convictions arrive at the same time as Margene's spiritual awakening, as she makes connections between Goji Blast sales and the Book of Mormon, being being good and doing good. Her passion, blossoming in her conversation with Pam (who I'm glad has stuck around for as long as she has), becomes the jumping off point for a spirituality in Margene that we haven't seen before, even as she rails against Nicki for drawing parallels between their experiences. "Your abuse is not my abuse," she screams. She doesn't see herself as victimized, but Nicki maintains that a 16-year-old is not able to make those decisions for herself.

Their argument underscores the changes that Barb wants to make in their religion, seeing herself as a reformer as much as Bill does in his own way. But those changes need to start at home, and Barb hasn't even raised the issue with Bill directly, something that Cindy reminds of her in no uncertain terms. But regardless of what happens with Barb and her quest for a female priesthood, we're meant to see that the seeds of change are a good thing and that the abuses of the past can be undone, the circle broken, the pattern ended. It doesn't have to be, as Lois sadly cries, "a waste" at the end.

Bill's dream sequence, after getting run over ("bumped") by Margene in the Senate parking lot, sheds some light on his state of mind now that the truth about Margene has come to light. Lois' home becomes a hotel, which in turn becomes a banquet room where he meets Emma Smith, one of the wives of prophet Joseph Smith, who tells him that the history books were written by liars and that Smith had no underage brides. The fact remains however that death doesn't erase our wrongdoings, just the evidence of it. Whether or not Bill chooses to believe in Smith's transgressions don't undo his own, just as his wrongdoings won't evaporate after he's gone. The cycle continues anew.

Interestingly, Bill creates a composite from Emma Smith and Lois Henrickson, one giving way to the other as the dream continues, the mother of their religion becoming in turn his own mother, each trapped in the web of male domination, one generation after the next. Tragic.

Some other thoughts:

* I was glad to see Rhonda apologize to Heather for "outing" her feelings for Sarah way back when. I still maintain that Heather had feelings for Sarah but that she's either buried them or let go of them altogether. The series has been quite adept at late at tying up these loose ends or paying homage to the small moments from earlier seasons, and this was no exception. Does Rhonda really see the error of her ways or is she looking to push a wedge between Heather and Ben now that she's returned? I'm not entirely sure, but the scene of Heather and Ben kissing passionately should be viewed that whatever thoughts Heather once had towards her best friend are no longer applicable.
* Cara Lynn doesn't exactly jump up and down with excitement when Nicki tells her that Bill wants to legally adopt her. After all, she's just found out that her father is dead and Nicki's already trying to further erase the truth about her previous existence, transforming her into a Henrickson. Despite Bill's desire to make it official, I don't see this process going smoothly.
* Rhonda claims that Cara Lynn's cousin Verlan is the father of her baby, but should we take this at face value? I don't think so. Will be interested to see whether or not the parentage becomes an issue anytime soon. Additionally, as soon as Verlan showed up, I knew that they were after something. Verlan appears to be broke (he gladly accepts the few dollars Cara Lynn offers him) and then he and Rhonda attempt to shake down Alby for $50,000. Curious to see just where this is going.
* Loved the scene where Bill and Barn compared guns. Just perfect.

Lastly, I'm glad that Bill was able to be sworn into the Senate and that, despite his promise to do so, Barn didn't impeach Bill the moment he was sworn in. While that reckoning may still happen, there's a moment of (tempered) triumph as several applaud Bill's swearing into the Utah Senate, after his defiant speech about how their shared religion places those tenets before any legal imperatives. "Persecuting me violates your own scripture," he says. "It makes you all hypocrites and traitors to our history."

Bill may have achieved his goal, brought legitimacy to his polygamist lifestyle by giving them a seat at the table, but he's also painted a bull's eye on himself in the process. After the applause and the cheers of his family, Bill walks the deserted hallways of the Senate by himself. But it's not a moment of triumph, but of paranoia here as he hears someone moving about nearby. Leaving the elevator, he's faced with two paths: one in the light, and the other shrouded in shadows. That Bill chooses the darkened hallway says quite a lot about the choices he's made and perhaps the realization that not all of his actions can be brought into the light.

Next week on Big Love ("The Special Relationship"), Bill makes a deal in the Senate, but finds new obstacles to his livelihood being raised by LDS officials; fed up with interning, Barb considers a dramatic life change that could have far-ranging consequences for the family; a legal obstacle hinders Bill and Nickiʼs efforts to adopt Cara Lynn; Margene preaches the Goji gospel; Rhonda encourages Verlan to do Albyʼs bidding; Lois longs for her old life with Frank; Don takes another hit for Bill.

Indestructible: Truth and Consequences on Big Love

"We're not holy. We're all unholy." - Barb

As dire as things have been for the Henricksons in the past, things looked especially bleak at Christmas, even as Bill noted that they had made it through the darkest day of the year and into the light. But that's the problem with the sunlight sometimes: in the harsh light of day, you can't avoid the seeing the truth right in front of you. Things are not what they seem: plum pudding contains no plums, after all.

On this week's gut-wrenching episode of Big Love ("Certain Poor Shepherds"), written by Jami OʼBrien and directed by David Petrarca, the family has to contend that their own inner secrets may be the thing that destroys them in the end. Even as they make their way onto the ice--to the ironic strains of ABBA's "Knowing Me, Knowing You"--in a show of unity, Bill and his wives are anything but a singular unit, each concealing something in turn, a hurtful truth that puts further strain on this already aching clan.

But as the snow comes down and the Henricksons gather outside in their Living Nativity, putting on a show for the entire neighborhood to see, one can't shake the feeling that each of them has been playing a role for some time now. The darkest days, it seems, are still yet to come.

Before we get into anything, I want to discuss the truth about Margene's admission this week. I had a brief inkling of the truth of her situation last week when she spoke about being a few credits shy of her high school diploma; for some reason that fact stick with me and made me wonder if she wasn't younger than we thought she was.

The truth is that Margene is younger than we thought. She and Ben were even closer in age than we believed over the first few seasons (making their mutual attraction all the more understandable, perhaps), as both she and Ginger lied to Bill when they met. While the family believed that babysitter Margene was 18 years old when she and Bill wed, the truth is far different: Margene was only 16 years old, below the age of consent. Which makes her pre-marital relations with Bill unlawful and morally reprehensible.

It's no surprise that the family reacts the way that they do. They had the wool pulled over their eyes by Margene and welcomed her into their family without knowing what they were doing, believing that she was an adult with the ability to make her own decisions, rather than a minor that they were bringing into their polygamist lifestyle.

For Bill, with all of his talk of cleaning up the compounds and purifying the faith, it's a slap across the face. He's railed against the abuses of Juniper Creek his entire adult life, against forcible marriages, underage sealing, against everything that Roman Grant and his ilk have perpetrated over the years, twisting their religious beliefs and corrupting them altogether.

What happened with Margene goes against everything he has been fighting for, and striving to build with Safety Net. Her lie makes him complicit in the web of abuse, even though he had no knowledge of his actions. Their marriage to Margene began with the basest of lies. From her point of view, it doesn't change anything: what difference could two years shaved off her drivers license really matter? But the truth is that there are forcing looking to take down Bill, looking to round up the polygamists and recriminalize their lifestyle. Two years can make a huge difference at the end of the day, if people were to learn of the truth.

And that's what Margene doesn't quite see. It's not a matter of hiding her drivers license when Bill asks for it or hedging about her true age. It's a shocking betrayal that cuts to the heart of their marriage and puts their very future in jeopardy.

And clearly, as we see at the shelter, it's affecting how Bill sees his youngest wife, as he suddenly treats her at a distance, keeping her at arm's length until he can determine just how to react. How does one recover from his? Does it fundamentally change the way he sees Margene? How any of them do?

While Bill might not know what to do with Margene, Barb runs away from the situation, fleeing the shelter to return to the darkness of the empty houses, seeking solace in the plum pudding and the bottle. This season has seen Barb tempted to experience new things, to taste from the forbidden fruit, but here she has given herself over to excess. As she lurches about the kitchen drunkenly, there's a real sense of sadness and loss over her life, as she finds herself unable to process this latest betrayal.

Her naked drunkenness, her shame, and her anger all coalesce in that scene in the kitchen, as the family enters to find her eating plum pudding out of a can by herself. I don't for a second believe that Barb is an alcoholic, but her behavior is troubling here; she's thrown off one of their strongest beliefs (abstaining from alcohol) because her voice isn't heard in their marriage or in their religion. Still reeling from the horror in Nicki's voice when she attempted to give a blessing to Margene last week, Barb lives in hope that Bill will see her point of view and allow her to bless the congregation. (No way; instead, he asks Ben to do so.)

She is seeing her good works go up in flames. The time and energy she put into the casino have been completely eradicated; her beloved ice cream bar replaced by some slutty dancers grinding away to "Santa Baby." Her marriage has been based on lies. Her quest for religious equality stamped out by traditionalist Bill. The promise of eternity has been damaged by their sin in inviting Margene into their marital bed.

Barb's drunkenness is more than an escape; it's an attempt to stop feeling, to numb the pain and the frustration and the compromise and the lies. Standing in the snow after, her loneliness and isolation is palpable, even as her sister-wives and Bil gather around her. But it's her words that cut like a knife: "We're not holy," she says, sadly but resolutely. "We're all unholy."

Interestingly, that viewpoint is echoed by Alby, for all of his talk of purifying the compound. But Alby's thoughts on purity are very different than anyone else's: he takes it upon himself to poison all of the dogs on the compound, turning on Lura and threatening to have her children reassigned. He kicks Adaleen out of the big house after learning that she still has that "monstrosity" inside of her.

Even more intriguingly, both women flee Juniper Creek and end up at the Henricksons, looking for refuge. In the last three episodes, we've been seeing a nexus of power and influence building up around Bill within the polygamist community. His church is now filled with new faces, his homes bursting with cast-out polygamists (Adaleen, Lura, Lois).

As I said a few weeks back in my advance review of the fifth season, I believe that the endgame is upon us and that Bill will eventually receive his true destiny and will become the true prophet of Juniper Creek, ushering in a new age for polygamy, one that's markedly different from the amoral corruption of the Grants' rule.

There's a moment at the shelter where Lura finds herself trapped between Bill and Alby, between her new life as an outcast and her old life as the prophet's wife. But the scales have fallen from her eyes; she now sees her husband for the monster that he is. She chooses to stay rather than to return and there's hope in the scene where she blinks her eyes after removing her false eyelashes; it's as though she's seeing for the first time in a very long time.

It also connects to the faux plum pudding and the other false faces encountered in this episode, to the lies told to Cara Lynn about JJ by Nicki and Margene and the way that Bill doesn't want to see the truth about his mother. It's not until Bill sees the results, does the truth about Lois hit home, but he can't deny just how widespread her mental state is when Lois takes the kids in search of Santa and has a complete breakdown at the drive-through. It's a gutting reversal for this fierce woman, so canny, so conniving and brilliant, who is undone by her own mind. (Kudos to Grace Zabriskie for pulling off this tough transformation with honesty and grace.)

Nothing is as it seems until we're presented with proof. Just as Bill sees evidence of Lois' dementia (even in the face of her "indestructible" nature), Cara Lynn needs hard proof of her father's death before she can let go. Convincing Gary to drive her to the compound, she stands in the burnt wreckage of JJ's clinic, the realization hitting home that her father is dead even as Adaleen attempts to continue to lie to her.

But Adaleen does finally come clean to Cara Lynn, just as she finally does to herself, realizing that she doesn't want to carry this child to term. She destroys all of her hormones, sweeping the empty bottles into the trash, but interestingly, she chooses to return to Albert, to her grieving son, to promise her eternal support and steadfast love. It's a shocking about-face for Adaleen, but she's always been a survivor at heart.

Elsewhere, Bill nearly crosses a line with his condemnation of Alby in front of his young children, even though he's telling the truth. But these children, already reeling from their mother's flight from Juniper Creek, don't need to see the harshness of their father's true nature. Not yet, anyway. Just as Cara Lynn contends that she always saw her father as a "good man" ("He taught me how to ride a bicycle," she says sadly), so too likely do Alby's children not see him for what he truly is. But it's a testament, perhaps, to Lura's strength that she doesn't go back to Albert and to the compound, even with the threats he throws at her.

Last, I just want to say how happy I am that Tina Majorino's Heather Tuttle is back in the mix this season; I've missed Heather and I'm glad that the writers sought to bring her back for this final season. Her perspective and outlook are needed here, even as she and Ben seem to be heading for romantic territory. I loved Ben's shock upon seeing her, and how much Heather had changed since they last met.

Seeing, it seems, is believing.

Next week on Big Love ("The Oath"), with his swearing-in ceremony only days away, Bill searches for ways to overcome the anti-polygamist sentiment swelling among state officials; Barbʼs strategic attendance at a First Ladiesʼ fashion show triggers
lingering resentment between Nicki and Margene – and between Barb and Nicki; Rhonda and exiled polygamist Verlan try to shake down Alby; Margene and Pam find their niche with Goji Blast and Michael Sainte; Nicki pushes for Cara Lynnʼs adoption; Lois learns the source of her ailment; Ben rewards Heather for her sensitivity.

The Dance: The Pursuit of Happiness on Big Love

"I'm trying to win a place at the table." - Bill

Many mourned the loss of the original opening credits of Big Love. Set to The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows," it offered a look at the celestial family created by the Henricksons, a glimpse into the eternity offered to their family. But of late, the new credits, which hauntingly depict the various members of the Henrickson family in a state of freefall, seem all the more appropriate, as the clan continues to come apart at the seams. And as each of them searches for their own definition of "home."

This week's evocative and powerful episode of Big Love ("A Seat at the Table"), written by Julia Cho and directed by Adam Davidson, found each of the wives grappling with their own inner compass in the wake of their public outing. Revealed to be "lying polygamists," each of the three wives attempts to find a new path for themselves. For Margene, it's the effort to prevent any further change after the decks have been swept clear; for Barb, it's to question the foundations of her faith and her life; for Nicki, it is a fixation on her teenage daughter, Cara Lynn, an attempt to prevent the sins of her past infecting her daughter's future.

But surrounding this week's installment was also a thematic exploration of the role of motherhood and wives in the polygamist family arrangement. Throughout the episode, we see how each of the mothers--from our three main sister-wives to Adaleen, Nancy, and Lois--deal with their subservience to their husbands. Despite the fact that each of these women are strong and independent, each follows their respective husband's lead, believing his instructions to be the path of guidance they must follow.

But Barb has begun to question this tenet of their faith, questioning the foundations of their underlying belief system, to wonder whether women don't also have the right to hold the priesthood, to offer their own blessings, to set their own path in life.

What follows is a remarkable exploration of faith, family, and spiritual fidelity, something that Big Love has excelled at since the very beginning of this series. As we move deeper into the final season, it's only natural that these questions should loom even larger in the characters' minds and, one hopes, that they spark similar questions in the viewers. What is satisfaction? What price does happiness have? Or sacrifice? Who should decide the paths we take in life? And who ultimately is responsible for the choices we make? Should we all try to live in the light?

I offered a spoiler-light review of the first three episodes of Season Five of Big Love over at The Daily Beast, but now that this week's episode has aired, we can begin to discuss the specifics. (And, no worries about spoilers here: while I've seen the first three episodes, the discussion below is strictly based on the second episode only.)

The abuses of the compounds' doctrines often fall hardest upon the women of polygamy. In looking to reform the compounds, to bring their religion into the light, Bill looks to drag it out of the darkness of abuse. By opening it up to scrutiny, he believes that he can earn the followers of the Principle a seat at the table, and can offer them the same protections and privileges of any American citizen.

Safety, justice, education: these are things that many of us take for granted in the 21st century ivory tower of the States, but these are things denied to many of the compounds' followers. Nicki should know: she claims that there is no high school education at Juniper Creek, and no education of any kind for girls. Even as she strives to give Cara Lynn the best possible education, the best possible start at life's possibilities, she stands up to Alby at Bill's Safety Net meeting, and to the patriarchy at large.

Nicki's claims, that women are treated as chattel and forced to breed until "their uteruses fall out," greatly anger many at the meeting (especially Robert Patrick's Bud Mayberry), but her accusations, louder and angrier than her sister-wife's, are part of an echo of Barb's own line of questioning. Where are the equal rights for the polygamist wives? Why did Nancy fight so hard for the ERA back in the day? Why are these women being systematically abused and denied equal opportunities?

Barb doesn't believe that she is doing anything wrong in questioning her faith. In fact, she believes that the scripture points towards her new-found understanding: that women can hold the priesthood, they can lead their families, they can--as she attempts to do to Margene--make blessings. But her views are radical and go against the status quo. They're perhaps more dangerous than Bill realizes, even as he looks to straighten up the compounds and reform them altogether.

But each of the wives is struggling in their own way. As Barb opens herself up to new experiences, to wine and dance classes and Sunstone, she's looking for something to hold onto, something to live for amid wide-sweeping change in her life. She's looking to experience things outside her worldview, to challenge herself and her faith. Bill believes her to be careening, but Nicki believes that Barb has set in motion a deliberate plan.

In offering Margene a blessing, Barb nearly breaks a holy sacrament. But it's clear that Margene is aching for something as much as Barb, and Barb attempts to help the both of them, to connect them to Heavenly Father and to something larger, and more powerful, than themselves. If Nicki hadn't have intervened, I believe that Barb would have gone through with the anointment. But while Nicki sees her actions as blasphemous (something that Nancy echoes later), Barb clearly is looking to create equality in her religion, to offer feminine empowerment to the connection to their deity.

Barb has always chafed against the constraints of her plural marriage throughout the series' run, testing the boundaries of her marital contract and at times fleeing the confines of their shared homes. It's only natural that she would begin to question the fundamentals, to open her eyes to another way of living, one that's not based in abstaining from experiences but embracing it.

Margene, on the other hand, is certainly careening. Her mother is dead, her business gone, Ana and Goran are being sent packing. She feels as though she too has lost her way in life. Returning to the trailer park where she lived with Ginger, Margene finds the grounds deserted, the only reminder that people had once lived there the disused power outlets amid the swirling dust. She's clinging to her lost past, to the music she enjoyed as a child, holding onto Anna with such fierceness that she inadvertently knocks the pregnant woman to the ground in her frustration with Bill.

Goji Blast might offer her a home-business, but it's not a long-term solution for the problems facing Margene. She doesn't want to expand their family, she doesn't want to carry a fourth child. She's a high school dropout who has woken up to wonder just what happened to her life. And while she loves her family, she can't help but cry to Cara Lynn, to offer herself up as a cautionary tale, to shock the teenager into following her own dreams.

Margene did get out of that trailer park, but her life didn't turn out the way she imagined. But that's, at its heart, the nature of life in general. Fortunately, the final scene points towards some possibility of happiness, as Margene finally does smile, seeing Bill bathe little Nell, a moment of domesticity amid the sadness.

And then there's Nicki, so clearly projecting (as Margene tells her) her own experiences onto Cara Lynn, reeling from the realization that Cara Lynn and Gary Embry are heading towards a romantic relationship. (That kiss on the stage after Mathletes was a dead giveaway.) Forcibly sealed to a much older spouse, Nicki doesn't see what happened as "rape," but she clearly doesn't want her daughter to be trapped in the way that she was. Nicki rails against everyone around the girl: Barb for giving her a copy of "Our Bodies, Ourselves," Margene for terrorizing her with tales of her unhappiness, her math teacher Mr. Ivey (Christian Campbell) when he won't offer Cara Lynn individualized tutoring sessions.

Nicki's behavior towards Barb, however, are beyond the pale. Criticizing her first for her gift of "Jane Eyre" to Cara Lynn, she lashes out at Barb at Home Plus upon learning that the second book was also her gift. She uses the opportunity to remind Barb of her failures: of Teenie's dirty magazine habit and of Sarah's pregnancy. Her words are cruel and caustic, verbal blows upon Barb's character, brutal reminders of how her daughter "defiled her body." It's shocking and awful.

Nicki attempts to reconcile with Barb at the end of the episode, arriving at Barb's dance class in an effort to make amends in a beautiful and subtle scene. But it's Barb who realizes just how closed off Nicki's world has been, how her experiences on the compound have shaped her. A simple question about what they do in the class reveals that Nicolette Grant has never once danced in her life. And the grace that Barb shows her sister-wife, taking her by the hand and leading her around the dance floor, points towards perhaps some future solidarity between the two. Or, at the very least, some understanding of the different paths they've taken.

If only that were true of everyone in this episode. Nicki's sheltered existence, her deprivation from the quotidian joys of life, aren't just her own. Her outrage at the Safety Net meeting is greeted with shouts of acknowledgment by some of the women in attendance. And her own mother is herself trapped in a web of male domination, first by her marriage to Roman Grant and now by the outcome from her marriage to the treacherous JJ. She carries a demon-spawn in her stomach but cannot bring herself to be free of it.

Lois claims to be tormented by Frank, as Bill sees first-hand the conditions she's living under at Juniper Creek, a tree crashed through her broken window, her kitchen ruined by a fire, efforts by Frank to drive her crazy, to reveal where she has hidden her money. Her appearance at the Henrickson homes is a surprise to Barb, as Lois staggers in, "Have I got news for you," spilling from her lips.

The Major, at dinner, compares Nicki to Victoria Gotti, "the mobster's daughter," telling her that Gotti at least admitted that her father was a murderer. But for all of the Major's harsh talk, it's her daughter Midge who presents the clearest threat to the family, as she looks to introduce a bill that would redefine polygamy as an impeachable offense and re-criminalize it as a second degree felony.

It could be the start of a witch hunt, an effort to put polygamists behind bars, to push them further into the darkness. Or, if Bill is able to bring together the divergent polygamist community, to provoke them into unity, into solidarity, and to bring their beliefs finally into the light of day, something that Albert Grant is firmly against. ("The Principle can't survive in the glaring light," he says. "It needs protection.")

But there's a clear difference between protection and living in the shadows. Nicki says that she believes that children need to be protected from the world, but perhaps there's something to be said for not closing yourself off from the world, from putting yourself out there for the world to see. Bill opened his house up to his constituents last week, but it's going to take more than that to achieve acceptance. He'll have to open up his lifestyle and his religion to the world, to say that there is no shame in his homes, no fundamental difference between the love that he shares and those of any other family.

Just as a dance begins with two people stepping together, so too does social change. In an era of Prop 8 and hate crimes, of terrorism and war, the message that the show embraces is one of love and acceptance. And I think that's a lesson, I believe, that we can all take to heart.

Next week on Big Love ("Certain Poor Shepherds"), the Henricksons try to put on a unified face during Christmas, but are tested amidst numbing revelations from Barb, Marge and Adaleen; Lura takes drastic measures in response to Albyʼs zealous efforts to “purify” the compound; Lois drifts towards the deep end; Bill tries to soften up a
senator; Ben bonds with Heather; and Cara Lynn looks for answers about her father.

Winter: Out of the Wilderness on the Season Premiere of Big Love

"I don't even know what the road in front of us is going to look like." - Bill

In terms of the narrative of Big Love, which entered its last season with this week's evocative episode ("Winter"), written by Mark V. Olsen & Will Scheffer and directed by David Petrarca, roughly a week has gone by since the Henricksons publicly outed themselves as polygamists, joining together on stage in a symbolic gesture of unity. Finding them as the fifth season begins, the family has fled Sandy for the isolation of the desert, embarking on a camping trip together both as an act of escape and also one of healing.

But the old slights still sting. The Henrickson family is in recovery mode, the wreckage from their act of courage still smoldering around them. Their trip to the wilderness is a reactive move, a reversal from their bravery in the face of those flashing cameras. The fallout has been severe as we see from this week's installment: Margene loses her job and her severance package; Wayne is mercilessly bullied at school; Barb is tempted to begin drinking; and Bill faces opponents both on the hill and in his stores.

By announcing the true nature of their relationship, Bill and the wives have dragged themselves into the light, yes, but it's a harsh and unyielding spotlight. No surprise that they've packed up the kids and headed into the great open expanse of the desert, the figurative "north to Alaska" of the song that bookends the installment.

I offered a spoiler-light review of the first three episodes of Season Five of Big Love over at The Daily Beast, but now that the season premiere has aired, we can begin to discuss the specifics. (And, no worries about spoilers here: while I've seen the first three episodes, the discussion below is strictly based on the season opener only.)

Creators Olsen and Scheffer had a lot to deal with coming off of the fourth season of Big Love, which was, in their own words, much more "operatic" than previous years. Storylines involving Indian tribal casinos, eugenics schemes, and corrupt Washington lobbyists took a lot of the focus off of the internal struggles of the family; while they were still there, they took a back seat to some of the more overt or histrionic elements.

But here, we're immediately seeing a returned focus to the Henrickson clan, to their familial struggles and to the internal battles that wage within each of them. The narrative, which still splits its time between the Henricksons and the Juniper Creek compound, already seems to indicate a narrowing of the gap between those two spheres, setting up a parallel storyline involving the notion of purity, of reform, of change. Both the Henricksons and Alby retreat to the desert to regain their inner compass, each reeling in their own way from the actions of the fourth season: from deceit, death, and betrayals.

When the family does return to Sandy, it's with a significant amount of unease, despite the cockeyed optimism Bill seems to be embracing. They return to the safety of their home, but there's something off-kilter about their new existence, the looks of suspicion or outright hatred that are offered up by those they encounter. Wayne is bullied and harassed, hate words scrawled across his face and body. Margene is patronized by her former champion, who disguises her contempt by couching it among moral contract clauses. Bill is openly insulted by his employees.

Barb. The once-and-future Boss Lady is tempted to step outside of her narrow experience, to open herself up to new opportunities, to say yes rather than no, to question rather than to blindly accept. Barb's trip to the State Liquor Store is her own journey to the wilderness, her decision to open that bottle of red wine an invalidation of the belief system to which she once adhered.

I don't believe for a second that Barb is making her "mother's coq au vin," nor that her Mormon mother would allow any alcohol in her home; it's a convenient lie to tell Nicki, though not one that Nicki believes for a second. It is clear, however, that Barb is grappling with some life-altering circumstances and with a clear isolation in her marriage from her partners. She's sacrificed, she's compromised, she's tried to hold it together, but she's coming apart at the seams, really.

When she takes that slug of wine, alone in the living room, she's not only breaking a commandment of her religion, but also of her own moral compass. She's exploring herself even as she self-medicates. The look of shame and warmth that pass over Jeanne Tripplehorn's face is--excuse the pun--intoxicating; it's a portrait of a woman pushed beyond her breaking point, of a mother unsure of where she is leading her family, of a wife who sees that her husband might not know best.

Bill. He can't quite bring himself to admit this to his wives. After a series of disastrous encounters--Wayne's abuse at the hands of the scouts, the awful school board meeting, his about-face at the state assembly--Bill is also close to breaking, though he won't admit this to any of his wives. It takes Don, finally standing up to his business partner, finally confronting him about his lack of respect, to allow Bill to unburden himself. But it's interesting that it's Don who is Bill's confessor.

Knowing that the wives are in earshot, he tells Don, "I've gone and torn my family apart, and I am truly sorry." He might be speaking to the long-suffering Don Embry, but his words are intended for his family, who gather behind him, shocked to hear him come clean, after espousing such virtuous aims for their life in the light. It's a moment of brutal honesty, as Bill rips down the armor around him, standing before his friend, making a confession that the patriarchal Bill can only formally make to another man. The truth is that his plan has been ripped to tatters; he has no idea what his next move is nor what the road ahead holds for his clan.

Which is a scary thought, considering what his wives have done in pursuit of the dream he wove for them. That dream, the "yellow house" they could share together, a life they could lead in the light, is completely shattered now. To live openly, to attempt to be together as one united front, is a constant struggle; survival is the operative mode rather than happiness.

Margene. Margene believes that she's lost everything. Her livelihood is gone, her contract null and void, Hearts on a Sleeve trashed beyond saving. Ana and Goran's continued existence in their lives threatened by a reversal of fortune. Margene reluctantly agrees to annul her marriage to Goran; Goran is forced to leave the country in 60 days, lest he be imprisoned. And Ana? Despite the fact that she's carrying Bill's son, she wants to be by Goran's side, even with Bill offering her a secretarial job.

Those cries in the night aren't just for being called a "lying jewelry hawker," but for the losses Margene has endured. Did she comprehend just what she was doing when she stepped onto that stage? Did she realize the grave consequences that would follow her decision? That the tabloids and the news coverage would only intensify? That by acknowledging the truth of her situation she was turning her back on the relative peace that had gotten her to that moment? That in one fell swoop, her life would be irrevocably transformed?

Nicki. Even second wife Nicki seems uncomfortable with the glare of the spotlight, especially after her attempt to enact vengeance upon Wayne's tormentor backfires so magnificently. (The "tomato head" kid runs smack into a metal pole, knocking out one of his teeth.) The twist in that plotline? The kids' family are polygamists as well, the secret that he was so scared of Nicki writing on "his bottom" the very same one that the Henricksons dragged right out into the light.

But Nicki also backtracks somewhat on a comment made last season, in which she said that she didn't want to share Bill with Margene and Barb anymore. Clarifying her remarks, Nicki says that she "wished" she didn't have to share them, but even that's at odds with their polygamist lifestyle. Her censuring of Barb as well invalidates the support her sister-wives have given her over the years, with Barb offering a litany of transgressions, from spying and infidelity to the bill control pill fiasco. (Such callbacks help to remind us that the world of the Henricksons is a living, breathing thing. These things are not simply swept under the rug, but their viral quality continues to infect the family years down the line.)

Among Nicki's choicest quotes this episode: "It's diluted" (in reference to whether she was using turpentine to scrub Wayne) and "She's an alcoholic!" (when confessing that Barb was caught drinking). Oh, Nicki, I've missed your acid tongue.

Adaleen and Alby. Adaleen is still pregnant, still carrying around the monstrosity that JJ implanted within her (the fertilized egg that is his and sister Wanda's incestous offspring). Poor Adaleen has been imprisoned in the root cellar, but she's dragged out by Lura, and told to "scat." She has nowhere to go, no protector, no home. She burned her husband and her sister-wife to a crisp; she is a true pariah, an untouchable. Her lack of purity endemic to Alby of what's wrong with Juniper Creek. (Cough, cough.)

As for her son, he emerges from the desert with a clear understanding of what he must do next, his certainty at odds with Bill's lack of direction. He claims to want to clean up the compounds, to purify everything as he has been purified but Alby's soul is black and infected. He corrupts everything he touches. His return to the big house is no happy homecoming, but the return of a sullen and mercurial prophet to the mix. Even his trusted companion Lura--the brilliant Anne Dudek--seems unnerved by his reappearance.

News that the millions of dollars in the UEB trust have reverted back to their control produce no discernible improvement to his mood. The sight of Bill's troubles, however, lead him to thirst for a righteous vengeance against the Henricksons once more. "He destroyed everything I ever loved," Alby tells Lura, as he breaks her heart in two. He wants payback for Dale's death but he refuses to acknowledge Lura's complicity in his former lover's demise. He's dead inside, it seems. And that, more than anything, makes him even more dangerously unpredictable.

But it's not all doom and gloom within "Winter." The emergence of those polygamists at the end of the episode--after the failure of Bill's open house--signify that there is still hope, that Bill and the wives' sacrifice hasn't been all for naught, that they represent a new face for polygamy, one that isn't lived in the darkness or in fear. As the family welcomes these few refugees in from the cold, Bill sees the first snowfall of the winter, a symbol that life goes on, the seasons change, the snow still falls.

The world hasn't completely spun off of its axis amid their public declaration and as those snowflakes fall once more to the ground, we see the spirit of hope lit once more within Bill Henrickson.

All in all, a fantastic episode that sets the stage for the final showdown to come and the endgame that Olsen and Scheffer have cooked up for the Henricksons. There's a sense of hope that emerges from those final moments, from the first snowfall, and from the sense that perhaps these sacrifices are indeed worth it, that the Henricksons' lives aren't just being lived for themselves but for others afraid to speak the truth of their love. And, quite possibly, with the closing of that door, Bill Henrickson has taken the first steps towards regaining the prophethood stolen from his family all of those years before. Sometimes all it takes is the sight of the first snow...

Next week on Big Love ("A Seat at the Table"), Billʼs attempt to stage a “safety net” meeting for polygamist leaders is hindered by Alby and Home Plus objectors; in an effort to find common ground with her mother, Barb asks Nancy to join her at a symposium focusing on mother-daughter Mormon challenges; Nicki learns the extent of Adaleenʼs isolation; Margene despairs over the quandary involving Ana and Goran; and Cara Lynn impresses her math teacher.

The Daily Beast: "Falling in Love with Big Love Again" (REVIEW)

Big Love returns on Sunday and I've already seen the first three episodes. (In fact, I've now seen them multiple times, including the season opener on the big screen last night at HBO's Big Love premiere.)

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "Falling in Love with Big Love Again," in which I examine why HBO's polygamist family drama Big Love is back in fine form for its fifth and final season.

In addition to taking a critical look at the start of the fifth season, I also make some predictions about where the season--and the series as a whole--is ending.

I'm curious to know: are you planning on watching Season Five of Big Love? What was your take on last season? And how do you think creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer are going to end the series? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Season Five of Big Love premieres on Sunday evening at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO.

Midseason TV Preview: 16 Shows to Watch This Winter

Winter is coming...

Well, not that winter, not just yet. While we continue the long slog until April when HBO launches its adaptation of Game of Thrones, there's quite a lot of new and returning television series to keep us entertained in the meantime.

Over at The Daily Beast, I offer "16 Shows to Watch This Winter," a round-up that includes such series as Episodes, Shameless, Big Love, Downton Abbey, Parks and Recreation, Portlandia, Off the Map, The Chicago Code, Lights Out, Archer, Justified, The Killing, Body of Proof, and others.

In other words: quite a fair bit coming up.

Which of these new and returning shows are you most excited about? Head to the comments section to discuss.

HBO Sets Date for Fifth and Final Season of Big Love, New Project in the Works for Olsen/Scheffer

It's official: it's the end of the road for the Henrickson clan.

HBO today announced that the fifth and final season of Big Love will kick off on January 16th. Yes, you read that correctly: the final season.

“It has been an honor and pleasure to work with series creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer on this unique and provocative series, and I’m happy that they will be able to bring the story to its close the way they always envisioned,” said HBO Programming president Michael Lombardo in a statement. “We look forward with great anticipation to collaborating with Mark and Will on their next venture.”

However, don't get angry at HBO. At least according to comments made by Olsen and Scheffer in the official press release, it seems as though the series is reaching a natural ending, as it were... and the duo aren't going anywhere. It appears that a new HBO project for the writing team will be announced shortly.

“When we created Big Love in 2002, we had a strong conception of the journey the Henrickson family would make over the course of the series, of the story we had to tell,” said Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer in a joint statement. “While we were in the writers’ room this year shaping our fifth season, we discovered that we were approaching the culmination of that story.

“Big Love has been our all-consuming labor of love for the past eight years. We are very grateful for HBO’s continuing support and for the collaborative effort of our partners at Playtone, our producers, our fine cast and our fellow craftsmen and crew for making this show the exceptional and joyful experience that it’s been," they continued. "This coming January, we look forward to presenting our audience with the most vibrant and satisfying final season of a television series that we can produce.”

Here's what executive producer Gary Goetzman had to say about the news:

“Big Love has been a truly rewarding experience in every way for Tom Hanks and me,” said Goetzman. “We’ve been so fortunate to have had such a tremendous cast over the five seasons, and we’ve never been less than amazed with their brilliance and willingness to take risks. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our partnership with Will and Mark and have always been blown away by their storytelling abilities. We believe this final season of BIG LOVE will be the best ever.”

As for that future project, here's what HBO had to say: "Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer have a continuing relationship with HBO, and their next project for the network will be announced when it is confirmed."

In other words: stay tuned.

Personally, I'm going to miss the Henricksons. Over the last four seasons, I've come to fall head over heels in love with this complex and emotionally resonant series. While Season Four may have been shaky at times, I still maintain that the third season of Big Love stacks up against the all-time greatest television seasons of all time.

And I have a feeling that Season Five will attempt to shift the tone of the series back in line with where it was in the third season. I have faith in Olsen and Scheffer to not only wrap up this series with grace and grit but also to reduce me to tears once more.

Are you sad about the news? Is it time for HBO to wrap up the saga of the polygamist family drama? Or is there still life left in this non-traditional family? Head to the comments to discuss.

Channel Surfing: Ron Moore Gets Wild, Criminal Minds Shakeup, Punk'd Returns with Justin Bieber, Big Love, Dirk Gently, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Hold on to your (ten-gallon) hats: Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Battlestar Galactica's Ronald D. Moore is said to be developing a remake of The Wild, Wild West, which ran for four seasons in the mid-1960s and starred Robert Conrad and Ross Martin. Project is still in the very early stages, which means not only is there no network attached but Moore has yet to take the project out to networks. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Chris Mundy has left CBS' midseason Criminal Minds spinoff, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and will be replaced by Ed Bernero, who will now oversee both the flagship and spinoff series as showrunner, though he'll lean a little more heavily on Simon Mirren and Erica Messer, who will gain some oversight on Criminal Minds. Mundy's departure from the series was said to be due to the studio deciding that "the spin-off needed more direction from Bernero, who helped turn Criminal Minds into a solid hit for CBS," according to Variety's Michael Schneider. (Variety)

Vulture's Josef Adalian is reporting that MTV is resurrected hidden camera prank show Punk'd, but is close to signing a deal to replace Ashton Kutcher with baby-faced pop idol Justin Bieber as the host. (Kutcher will remain the series' executive producer.) "If Kutcher's past history with Punk'd is any indication, Bieber will likely appear in a few early episodes as a participant in the pranks, then gradually revert to mostly introducing segments," writes Adalian. (Vulture)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Robert Patrick (Terminator) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on HBO's Big Love, which returns for its fifth season early next year. Patrick is set to play Bud Mayberry, described as "the leader of polygamist fringe group." The casting of Robert Patrick comes after producers have also secured the services of ex-24 co-star Gregory Itzin, who will play the Republican Leader of the Utah State Senate. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Stephen Mangan (Green Wing) has been cast as the title character in BBC Four's adaptation of Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency," where he will star opposite Darren Boyd, Helen Baxendale, and Howard Overman. Here's how Auntie is positioning the series: "Anti-hero Dirk Gently operates his eponymous detective agency based on the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Perpetually broke, hopelessly chaotic and utterly infuriating, most people suspect Dirk is nothing more than a cheap conman. And they might be right – but nevertheless his methods, though unusual, do often produce surprising results. When Dirk sets out to solve an apparently simple and harmless disappearance of a cat from an old lady's house, he unwittingly uncovers a double murder which, in turn, leads to a host of even more extraordinary events." Project is expected to air either at the end of the year or in early 2011. (BBC)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Drea de Matteo has been cast in a potentially recurring role on FOX's Running Wilde, where she will play Didi, the step-mother of Will Arnett's Steve Wilde. "Didi comes to the Wilde estate on behalf of Steve’s never-before-seen dad to rein in his monetary expenditures—on the same day Steve decides to fund Emmy’s (Keri Russell) nonprofit organization," writes Ausiello, who notes that de Matteo's episode is slated to air next month. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Was anyone still clamoring for a television version of Hitch? Well, you're getting one. FOX has given a script commitment plus penalty to an one-hour version of Will Smith's date doctor that will be written by Pete Chiarelli and executive producers Smith and James Lassiter. (Deadline)

Morgan Fairchild is set to make a return to NBC's Chuck, where she will reprise her role as Honey Woodcomb, the mother of Ryan McPartlin's Devon, as Ellie's pregnancy develops. "Mom does come back," McPartlin said on a press call. "It's funny, because Mom and Ellie have to learn how to deal with their new roles that each one is going to play as a mother and a grandmother. So that creates a bit of fun drama." Fairchild will make an appearance in the October 25th episode of Chuck, which also features Robert Englund and Linda Hamilton. (Zap2It)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Scott Cohen (Gilmore Girls) has been cast opposite Callie Thorne in USA's drama pilot Necessary Roughness, where he will play "a 'fixer' for a football franchise who works closely with Danielle" (Thorne). Elswhere, Sara Rue (Less Than Perfect) has joined the cast of CBS' Rules of Engagement as surrogate Brenda, while Joan Collins (yes, THAT Joan Collins) will appear in a November sweeps episode as the mother of David Spade's character. (Deadline)

Aquaman (Alan Ritchson) will make his return to the CW's Smallville later this season, and he's bringing a wife in the form of Mera, played by Elena Satine (Melrose Place), according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. The duo are set to turn up in the final season's ninth episode, which is directed by series lead Tom Welling. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

No Tough Trade for Epix, after all. The pay cabler has pulled the plug on its Nashville-set drama project, Tough Trade, the high-profile Lionsgate TV pilot that starred Sam Shepard, Trace Adkins, Cary Elwes, Lucas Black, and Joey Lauren Adams. "It was a combination of running out of time and dealing with distractions, and at some point we had to make a decision whether it works or it doesn't," said Epix CEO Mark Greenberg. "At the end of day, it just didn’t work." Project, from executive producers Jenji Kohan, Sean and Bryan Furst, and director Gavin Hood, may be retooled as a mini-series, while Epix maintains that it is not getting out of the original series game. (Deadline)

Krista Allen (What About Brian) is seto to guest star on an upcoming episode of the CW's Life Unexpected, where she will play "a sizzling-hot multimillionaire named—wait for it—Candy who is being courted by Emma as a client," according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, and who will fall for Baze. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

In other Life Unexpected news, Kris Polaha has taken to E! Online's Watch with Kristin to interview with the series' Austin Basis (Math). (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that HBO is developing a single-camera comedy pilot based on Clint McCown's novel "The Member-Guest," that will be written by Steve Pink and executive produced by Kevin Bacon, who could also star in the project. Project revolves around "a burned-out golf pro of a 9-hole course who just wants one more shot at the tour" but whose "comeback is constantly sidelined as he deals with the needs of the members of the Middle-American country club who are grappling with dashed dreams of their own." (Deadline)

ABC has given a script order (plus penalty) to Awkward Family Photos, a comedy from Moses Port and David Guarascio based on the website of the same name. Elsewhere, NBC ordered family comedy script Man of the House from writer Adam Sztykiel and FOX ordered a script for cop drama Chameleon from Tom Fontana. (Variety, Deadline)

Hmmm, is FOX playing favorites with its freshman comedies? FOX is airing two back-to-back episodes of comedy Raising Hope on October 26th, that will air immediately following Glee's massively hyped Rocky Horror Picture Show homage episode. (Futon Critic)

E! has ordered ten episodes of Kourtney and Kim Take New York, which is slated to launch in January on the cabler. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Kara DioGuardi Leaves Idol, Treadstone Heads to CBS, Ashmore Twins Land Fringe, Glee, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. With the holiday weekend having just wrapped, no one was breaking too much news. Which isn't to say that there are no key television-based headlines, because, well, there are. Let's get to it.

It's official: Kara DioGuardi will not be returning to FOX's American Idol this season. The singer-songwriter joined the judges table two years ago and FOX has now confirmed the long-gestating rumors that DioGuardi would not be returning for another season of the musical competition series. "I felt like I won the lottery when I joined American Idol two years ago, but I feel like now is the best time to leave IDOL," said DioGuardi in an official statement. "I am very proud to have been associated with American Idol - it has truly been an amazing experience. I am grateful to FOX, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, as well as the cast, crew and contestants, for all they have given to me. I look forward to my next challenge, and want to thank everyone who has supported me. All the best to everyone on Season 10!" Idol creator and executive producer Simon Fuller had this to say about DioGuardi's departure: "Kara is one of the world's best songwriters. She has been passionate and committed to Idol over the last two seasons. I will miss having her on the show, but I look forward to working with her in music for many years to come." (via press release)

Variety's Michael Schneider is reporting that the new Idol panelists, including a replacement for DioGuardi could be announced next week, with Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler still expected to join the judging team for the next cycle of American Idol. (Variety)

Has CSI creator Anthony Zuiker found his next smash hit? Zuiker has landed a script order for Treadstone, a series take on the black ops division of the CIA from Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne novels, at CBS. Project, from CBS Television Studios and Dare to Pass, will be written by John Glenn (Eagle Eye), who will executive produce with Zuiker. (Deadline)

Shawn and Aaron Ashmore--the twin actors known for their roles in the X-Men film franchise, Smallville, and Veronica Mars--are set to appear in Season Three of FOX's Fringe this fall. The duo are set to guest star in an episode slated to air in November and have turned down other invitations to play opposite each other in the past. "It's usually because the stuff that comes along is kind of hokey," Shawn Ashmore told Chicago Now. "But I think the quality of Fringe is really high and the episode is done well and our characters are intelligent. We're going to have some fun." No word immediately on just who or what they'll be playing but it's safe to say that twins will play into the equation in some capacity. (via Digital Spy)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has an exclusive first look at John Stamos' Dr. Carl Howell on Season Two of FOX's Glee. "Just when Will thinks he'll win Emma because he can sing and dance, we find out Carl used to be in an '80s boy band," Stamos told Keck. "I discover Will's chewing his teeth, so the other day I had, like, four fingers in Matthew Morrison's mouth." And Carl will also play a key role in causing those Brittany Spears hallucinations this fall in the Spears tribute episode... and will appear in the Rocky Horror Picture Show-inspired Halloween episode as well. (TV Guide Magazine)

NBC is teaming up with DreamWorks Animated for half-hour holiday specials Scared Shrekless and Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special. The first will air on October 28th as a Halloween tie-in while Panda will air on November 24th. Both will be paired with repeats of last year's DreamWorks Animated specials based around Monsters Vs. Aliens and Madagascar. (Hollywood Reporter)

Bill Lawrence is keeping it in the family: Ken Jenkins (Scrubs) is set to guest star on ABC's Cougar Town, where he will play the father of Courteney Cox's Jules, according to Entertainment Weekly. No airdate has been set for Jenkins' appearance, though it's thought likely that he'll turn up this fall. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

The Office isn't going anywhere, executive producer Paul Lieberstein told E! Online's Megan Masters on Friday... and indicated that there could be an Office movie. [Editor: for the love of all things holy, no.] "There's been no talk at any point of The Office ending," Lieberstein told Masters. "Maybe when the series is done we'd do an Office movie. I'd be up for that... But they're all such big movie stars now, I don't know if we could afford them on set." Lieberstein also advised fans to stick with the series even after Steve Carell leaves at the end of this upcoming season. "This will definitely change the dynamic [of the show]," said Lieberstein. "And we can't just replace Steve because I think that would lead to failure. We have to do something different. This show is really about office life, which so many people live. And changing it up a little will be welcome to the fans. Steve feels he's played almost everything he can with Michael Scott. There isn't a lot of new territory for him to discover. And if he's feeling that, fans must be, at a certain level, feeling that too—it's an opportunity to reinvent The Office." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) has been cast in a recurring role on HBO's Big Love), where he will play the son of a fundamentalist polygamists. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Futon Critic is reporting that Syfy will air Felicia Day's telepic Red: Werewolf Hunter on Saturday, October 30th at 9 pm ET/PT. (Futon Critic)

Elsewhere at the cabler, Syfy is developing conspiracy-based reality series UFO: Unbelievably Freakin' Obvious that will feature Billy Ray Cyrus and his son Trace as they "travel cross-country and offer a skeptical solution to many of the theories," according to Variety's Stuart Levine. "The existence of paranormal phenomena is something I've always wanted to explore further," Cyrus told Variety. "Getting the opportunity to take this adventure with my son, who has always had a keen interest in this area, is a dream come true. I hope this series can shine a light on some of the activities we have questioned, and the mysteries that have long inspired us." (Variety)

MTV has given a put pilot order to an untitled scripted comedy from comedian Bo Burnham which will revolve around "a kid fresh out of high school who's pursing the new American dream of being a celebrity without having any talent," according to Burnham, who will write and executive produce the pilot, alongside Dan Lagana and Luke Liacos. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: DirecTV Saves FX's Damages, David Cross to Join Running Wilde, Gregory Itzin Finds Big Love for HBO, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Many had given up hope that FX's brilliant and labyrinthine legal drama Damages would survive another season, given the low ratings for the series' fantastically taut third season, which wrapped its run earlier this year. Not so: DirecTV has come to the aid of the Sony Picture Television- and FX Productions-produced series and has renewed the Glenn Close-led series for two seasons of ten episodes apiece. The only problem: it won't be airing on FX anymore as DirecTV has the exclusive rights to the series on The 101 Network. "We're excited to partner with Sony Pictures Television as we breathe new life into this outstanding drama," said Patty Ishimoto, general manager of The 101 Network and vice president of entertainment for DIRECTV, in a statement. "It's a win for our customers because only they will be able to see these new episodes and another great step forward for DIRECTV as we continue to build our growing portfolio of exclusive, award winning programming." Season Four will launch in 2011, with the fifth season on deck for 2012. Additionally, DirecTV has secured the rights to air the first three seasons. "FX was very proud to have developed one of the best scripted series on television, but, in order to have a future, the show needed DIRECTV and we are thrilled they stepped in," said John Landgraf, President & General Manager, FX Networks and FX Productions, in a press release. "Sony Pictures Television is a great production partner and we at FX Productions are excited for these next two seasons." (via press release)

Is FOX's upcoming comedy Running Wilde turning into a massive Arrested Development reunion? Former Arrested Development star David Cross has been cast as a series regular on Mitch Hurwitz's Wilde opposite Will Arnett. He's set to appear in seven of the initial thirteen episodes, where he will play Andy, a radical environmentalist. [Editor: As well as the boyfriend of Keri Russell's character.] The role was originally filled by Andrew Daly in the original pilot. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva has the full story behind Cross' casting on Running Wilde, where he was the original choice to play Andy. "But just as filming on the Lionsgate TV-produced pilot was underway in April, Cross got stuck in the UK when the country's airspace was closed as air travel in Northern Europe was severely disrupted by the eruption of Iceland's now-infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano," writes Andreeva. "With Cross certain to miss the shoot, actor Andrew Daly was approached to step in and do the role in the pilot. Daly had just wrapped another comedy pilot, NBC's The Paul Reiser Show, where he was a regular, so for him Running Wilde would've been in second position at best." Daly, meanwhile, maintains that he was brought in as an "understudy" for the role, knowing that "a) if the show got picked up, David would come back to play Andy and b) if The Paul Reiser Show got picked up, I'd have a full time TV job and wouldn't have been able to play Andy anyway even if the Fox executives were so thrilled with my performance in the pilot that they were desperate to have me at any cost! (might've daydreamed about that scenario once or twice)" (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that 24's Gregory Itzin has joined the cast of HBO's Big Love for its upcoming fifth season. Itzin will recur on the series, where he will play Senator Richard Dwyer, the Republican Majority Leader of the Utah State Senate. Yes, the same senate where Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) was elected at the end of last season. Production on Season Five of Big Love is slated to begin this week. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy is close to signing a massive four-year deal with 20th Century Fox Television that will keep him aboard Glee for the foreseeable feature as well as allow him to develop new projects for the studio. The price tag on the overall deal? It's said to be worth $24 million, though Murphy will also share profits from the music business generated from the FOX musical-comedy, including both sales and downloads, tours, and merchandising (and he'll be paid retroactively for the first season as well). (Deadline)

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Michael Ealy (FlashForward) has been cast in a multiple-episode story arc on Season Two of CBS' The Good Wife, where he will play Derrick Bond, the head of the D.C. law firm that is merging with Lockhart & Gardner next season. Ealy will appear in at least ten episodes of The Good Wife. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Clifton Collins (Star Trek) has been cast in NBC's upcoming drama series The Event, where he will play Thomas, described as "a key player in the show's secret conspiracy who will come into conflict with the president of the United States (played by Blair Underwood)." (Hollywood Reporter)

Warner Bros. Television has signed a one-year deal with writer/producers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (Happy Town, Life on Mars), under which they will develop new projects for the studio from both their own scripts as well as work with other writers. The duo is expected to collaborate with JJ Abrams' Bad Robot shingle, which is also based at WBTV. (Variety)

Aussie actors Justin Clare (Underbelly), Jaime Murray (Dexter), and Marisa Ramirez (General Hospital) have joined the cast of Starz's Spartacus prequel, entitled Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Clare will play Gannicus, the House of Batiatus' premiere gladiator before the arrival of Spartacus (Andy Whitfield). (via press release)

Rochelle Aytes (The Forgotten) has been cast in a recurring role on ABC's upcoming cop drama Detroit 1-8-7, reports Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. She'll play Alice Williams, described as "a smart, sexy, ambitious lawyer in the Wayne County prosecutor’s office." Series launches September 21st. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos talks to John Stamos about Glee, Entourage, the end of his extortion trial, and playing with the Beach Boys in concert. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Jon Kinnally and Tracy Poust (Will & Grace) have come on board NBC's midseason romantic anthology Love Bites as showrunners, under their two-year overall deal with Universal Media Studios. They will take over showrunning duties from creator Cindy Chupack, who has given up oversight on the series due to personal issues. "We worked with Jon and Tracy for many years on Will & Grace and feel they are perfect for this job on Love Bites," said Angela Bromstad, NBC's president of primetime entertainment. "Not only do they bring intelligence, passion and great experience, but they are one of the funniest writing duos working in television today. This is great news for an incredibly promising new show." (Hollywood Reporter)

Former Danity Kane singer Aubrey O'Day has landed her own series on Oxygen. The cabler has greenlighted The Aubrey O'Day Project, which "will chronicle her attempt to make a comeback in the music industry while working with a demanding team of industry professionals," according to The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd. No launch date has been announced, nor an episodic order. (Hollywood Reporter)

Cartoon Network has ordered ten new episodes of reality competition series Hole in the Wall, which previously aired on FOX during the 2008-09 season but the format--based on a Japanese game show--will be retooled for a younger audience. "In the new version, the half-hour game show will pit two teams of families against each other," writes Variety's Michael Schneider. "But the gist of the show is the same: Contestants, dressed in spandex, contort their bodies in order to clear a series of moving barriers with various cut-out shapes." (Variety)

Syfy is teaming up with videogame maker THQ for two-hour backdoor pilot Red Faction: Origins, which would air in March 2011. "The story of Red Faction: Origins follows rebel hero Alec Mason and the Mason family and is set during a period between the Red Faction Guerilla video game and Red Faction," writes Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "The screenplay for Red Faction: Origins screenplay was written by Andrew Kreisberg (Warehouse 13), based on a story developed by Paul DeMeo, THQ Director, fiction development." (Deadline)

Science Channel has renewed Through the Wormhole With Morgan Freeman for a ten-episode second season. (Variety)

ABC Studios has hired former 20th Century Fox Television executive Patrick Moran as the new head of drama, replacing Josh Barry, who will step down from his position after just a year. (Deadline)

Sarah Paulson, Karen Allen, and Emily Alyn Lind have been cast opposite John Corbett and Sam Elliott in Hallmark Hall of Fame telepic November Christmas, which will air Thanksgiving weekend on CBS. (Variety)

Stay tuned.