tobydale It may be an indicator of my and my wives "Age & Stage" - but we have become hooked on Big Love! In the UK we managed to catch Season 1 some years ago - may have been on E4 or some channel like that. We found it intriguing, odd, quirky, believable, fun. Most things from HBO are worth the watch and this delivered as a soap with an edge. But then it got discountinued. Boo Hoo.Years passed and then we got Sky and were delighted to see it on Sky Atlantic. Joy! So we have now re-watched Season 1, added Season 2 and are now half way through Season 3.The backdrop is a fictional fundamentalist Mormom sub-sect in Utah. In the centre is the interplay between Bill and his 3 wives who have a fully functioning polygamus family complete with children. The wives are distinctive and edgy, each very different one form the other. In Season 1 we see the chemistry of this set up. All the way through into Season 3 we see extensive development of this family and it's good stuff. Even has spicy bedroom scenes! Surrounding this central text is a dangerous power struggle within the sect which develops into a main "soap" theme.All of the characters are damaged to a lesser or greater extent by their contact with the sect and in some cases with each other. The subject of polygamus marriage, forced marriage, under-age relations and the ramifications are never far away. Some characters are manipulative or can dip into manipulation as it suits them or their agendas, making trust difficult, even within the family unit. Others are downright twisted malevolent and dangerous. Because we get a feel for the characters, we sense not only the threats - but how they might react even though the situations are fairly well outside what would be considered to be "our normal frames of reference". Bill - the husband appears as the most normal of the lot of them, but even he has huge baggage. He is a very good TV creation for so many reasons.Without trying to say too much more (impossible for a multi-seasoned soap in any event), and without trying to be too patronising - Big Love is probably for the viewer who is over 30, 40 even, who is in or has been in a long term relationship, possibly with children. There are strong insights into why people stay together, why people fight, about power influence and control - sexual and otherwise. Religion, surprisingly, is not a strong feature.I commend Big Love - but it may not be for everyone; it's complex, deals with characters in situations that are on the verge of unbelievable. But it IS believable. The script writers and researchers have done clever work with this. It's worth following just to see how the subject is handled.Well done HBO - we're hooked!

Tom_Brady12 Just finished watching the series for a second time, and felt one aspect was a bit overlooked. The acting was great, the soundtrack was amazing (except for the M. Night Shyamalan music in season 3) and the viewer was generally interested in what bthe characters were up to. Then it hit me: EVERY single character believes that 150 years ago a man dug up golden artifacts in New York at the behest of an angel. Furthermore, this angel believes that only the white race is deemed salvageable, the indigenous Native Americans were the Jews who sold Jesus out, and thusly were turned red as punishment. Children are angels that are waiting to be born, and dads are the living gods for everyone else. This "religion" was formed in recent memory, and has gone through such changes in that time that it would be no longer recognizable to the original CREATORS of this farce. How could people submit their whole lives ( as Mormonism requires constant supervision of your life)to something that was altered through bureaucracy and outside pressures. These people have altered a religion to fit their current lives needs and appearance! After thinking of all of this, it is hard to sympathize with the characters. At least those on Juniper Creek practiced the religion as it was originally created, instead of the mangled and unrecognizable one that exists today.

hypenosis A few years back, when I saw that HBO was releasing a show about a polygamist family in Utah, I naturally bocked and thought to myself what a dumb idea.. Bill Paxton also isn't the one to sell you on watching anything with his face on the cover.. (sorry Bill, I just remember you from Weird Science) Well I was completely wrong about the entire show.. After a friend mentioned to me that the show was entertaining, I picked up the first season on DVD and immediately fell in love with it..I grew up in Sandy, Utah (non LDS) so while i'm not very interested in the demographics, quirks of the show (and yes people.. this show is not a documentary, so of course it does not represent Sandy UT correctly or the LDS church and even polygamy) but the personalities, plots and sub-plots are very unique and entertaining to say the least..I enjoyed season one the most and my favorite episode was when they baptised Margene in the swimming pool.. Just all the emotions and the entire family trying to keep it together and the struggle of every family member trying to keep every other member in check.I also really like all the character's and Nicky, Barb and Roman are my faves. I think who ever cast these 3 deserves an Emmy.Big Love is really a TV show about the human condition of sin versus love.. We get to see a polygamy family up-close try to live by the principal (what the real book of Mormon teaches) yet also try to make it in this big bad evil world of money, sex, power, greed, jealousy and lust.Big Love = Big Time Entertainment

shellykpavon I've seen all episodes, awesome show, i always love HBO shows. Great Plots, lovable characters and loads of scandal. It seems to get better with episodes. I thought i wouldn't like it cause of the negative spin on polygamy in real life. But they make Big Love easy to love. The acting is fantastic i love Chloe her acting is on point for the character she is a commanding presence in the show, and Margene is so bubbly and light hearted brings a innocence to adult life....Bill Paxton really delivers, he makes a great family man with the edgy twist. And last but not least the first wife Barb is a great actress, and i love her role she really suits the first wife position. All of them together including children make the series a hit. With now being in the third season i could definitely see this series lasting for years to come. If anyone i looking for that hooked on that series this is definitely it.