HBO's original series about a sprawling polygamous Mormon clan living under the radar in the suburbs of Salt Lake City remains one of cable's most interesting shows, even as it slips into more contrived soap opera complications than usual during this 2010 fourth season. Bill Paxton's patriarch businessman Bill Henrickson is busy with an Indian casino partnership and running for public office, while keeping his unconventional personal life hidden and juggling the intricacies of having three dedicated yet increasingly independent wives—Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloe Sevigny), and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin)—in adjoining houses. And the situation becomes even crazier when his eldest son, Ben (Douglas Smith)—“banished” by Bill for falling in love with Margene—gets caught up in a parrot-smuggling operation with his always-scheming grandparents (Bruce Dern and Grace Zabriskie), and Bill must turn action hero in order to rescue the lot of them from a crime family compound. Meanwhile, Sissy Spacek guest stars as a Jack Abramoff–type lobbyist who leverages her way into representing the gambling operation. Plot potholes aside, Big Love still offers a skewed yet impassioned perspective on family values—even at its most melodramatic, this tribe remains unequivocally devoted to and protective of everyone under its roof(s). Compiling all nine episodes, DVD extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
Big Love: The Complete Fourth Season
HBO, 3 discs, 516 min., TV-MA, DVD: $59.99 Volume 26, Issue 2
Big Love: The Complete Fourth Season
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