|
his desire to go into the gambling business involves dealing with a shady Mormon family known as The Greenes, who have animosity with the UEB. Ultimately, Bill’s plan to have the two warring families fight one another backfires when Roman is shot, leaving the UEB and the Juniper Creek compound’s future uncertain.
The second season of Big Love mostly continues where much of the greatness of the previous one left off. The cast, particularly its four parental figures, continue to deliver great performances, while the writers continue to do an excellent job fleshing out the characters.
The creative team continues to do a great job portraying everything as is, without either condoning or damning it. This is particularly a great asset as the darker sides of both the polygamist Mormon sect, even in the family themselves, and the more modern sect of LDS, represented by Barb’s family, who become a bit more prominent later on in the scene, begin to reveal itself.
This is particularly chilling and revelatory as Bill pulls his son Ben (Douglas Smith) deeper into polygamy, after learning he’s now sexually active with his girlfriend. He appoints him as a priesthood holder and Ben soon immediately begins dating creepy twin girls from the compound and gradually becoming more embracing of his father’s polygamist ideals.
This, plus the Weber Gaming situation, really adds greater shades of gray to the generally well-meaning Henricksons themselves. This allows the show even more so to really delve into a continual mood where the mores of right and wrong are never entirely clear, regardless of good intent, which really adds to the already interesting story.
The DVD picture quality is in the 1:78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of the original high-definition TV broadcasts, with the sound quality in Dolby Digital Surround 5.1. The sole special features included are three highly interesting origin story vignettes that delve into a post-partum experience for Nicki after she gives birth to her first child, her meeting of babysitter-turned-third-wife Margene, and the wives’ demanding of Bill to move into three closely-together houses in the suburbs. The vignettes are only about five minutes each, but are interesting and are fascinating for fans who want to get more into the back story.
All in all, Big Love continues to deliver with its second season. It’s great performances from the equally great cast mixed with a story that only grows more exciting in its layered complexity makes it one of HBO’s best series to watch right now.
Movie Grade: B+
DVD Features Grade: B+
Overall Grade: B+
| 
