I didn’t see a thread on this yet, and I only watched it tonight (there was something else on TV last night I was paying attention to - thank goodness for DVRs!).
Personally I’m just wondering if they could’ve stuffed anything else into the episode?
Oh, yeah, and Bill’s crazy.
That episode was pretty crammed full, innit?
From the exmormon perspective, I got nuthin’. Except I heart Lois.
I’ll watch it again, but really. No commentary. If anyone has any questions…?
This series is losing me. Triplehorn has decided that staring with her mouth open whenever anything but normal conversation takes place equates to good acting. The plotline is too confused and contradictory now. The whole “This is our big chance. . .oh, durn, our big chance is ruined. . .oh, wait, no it’s not!” meme is getting very old. What was an interesting take on the Mormon life has become a lame soap opera.
I’m confused on the whole Bill/Ben thing. Last week Ben said maybe he should leave for a while and Bill said that would be a good idea. So did Bill then send him away to some place in Idaho (?) or did he just stay a couple nights at Sarah’s place? If all he did was spend a weekend with Sarah, I don’t see why he is making such a big deal out of it. If he actually sent him away out of state, then I’d agree with the other characters that Bill doesn’t realize what he did was wrong.
And who was the girl Ben was talking to that he said looked good? She looked like one of the compound girls but she said she went to school? (There are just too many confusing intersecting relationships on this show. It’s starting to become frustrating trying to remember who is married to who/is a daughter/sister/cousin of whom, etc etc.)
Worst episode of any season. I’m just not willing to suspend belief to the point where Bill can have his 2 other wives at the convention and no one knows. His rival can dig up stuff from when Bill was 16, but doesn’t know what dozens of people know about him-- he’s a polygamist!!
I’m losing interest fast. Too bad, because I really used to like this show.
That was confusing, Eyebrows, because we weren’t given any indication that Bill made any suggestions about where Ben should/would go. It seems like it was Ben’s choice to go to Idaho (I think he was helping someone move), but he purposely didn’t call home when he got back because Bill had made it clear that Ben isn’t really welcome there anymore. I think Bill didn’t realize how he came off when he said, “I think that’s a good idea.” This episode seemed to be all about demonstrating to Bill what a dick move that was.
The girl Ben was talking to is Nikki’s daughter from her first marriage with JJ. She was introduced right at the end of the last season. Now that Nikki has found her (she was taken off to Kansas with JJ), she is trying to involve herself in her daughter’s life again.
Oh! Wow I don’t know how that slipped my mind, especially since Nikki just took her to Washington DC last week. I think what confused me was I thought Ben said something about knowing her from school. Thanks!
CaraLynn also toned down the hair and clothing this week so she looked a bit different. I had a hard time placing her at first because of that.
It’s a big deal that Nikki is letting CaraLyn go to school since, presumably, she wouldn’t be doing that if she lived wth JJ. Makes sense that they would be in the same school. Of course, IRL, they are probably both in their 20s…
I’m getting tired of all the “this has to be fixed/addressed/taken care of NOW!” stuff that goes on. Watching an episode makes me feel on-edge all the time.
Margene needs to be apologized to NOW. Bill needs to fix things with his son NOW. Marilyn needs Bill to…do something for her?..NOW. Teeny needs to know what kind of pudding to use NOW.
To me the show is spiraling in to a big mess of “everything gets messed up because of mis-communication and things not happening in the proper order.” It’s almost as if you can see disappointments and plot changes coming a mile away because inevitably someone is going to get a little pouty and blow up an entire plot point.
Whee.
I think Bill knew exactly how he came across when he said that, and this episode was about him facing the consequences of that action. He might now be trying to convince others, and even himself, that he didn’t really mean to kick Ben out, but he pretty clearly did.
Joey is right – “You’re on the wrong path, brother.” I’m interested to see whether this soap opera winds up being the story of Bill’s redemption, or of the inevitability of him becoming something he has long claimed to oppose.
Yeah, that drove me nuts this episode. When Teeny was doing the pudding thing I thought, does she honestly not know enough not to bother her father when he’s on the telephone? And everything needed to get addressed during Bill’s big moment? It couldn’t wait an hour or two?
This episode was horrible. In fact, last week I was pretty much “Bill was an ass” but this week, every person so went out of their way to overreact in the most ridiculous way imaginable that I almost (big ALMOST) felt sorry for Bill.
What he really needed to face, whether he meant to throw Ben out or not, was that Ben felt thrown out. I agree, Lois had the best reaction, both when talking to Ben (her doubt of Bill’s intention to do so makes me think that Bill really didn’t mean it the way it came out) and at the casino.
Margene- she’s using the Nikki tactic of saying “I’m sorry, let’s forget it”. Personally, if it’s just been a weekend, then she can’t expect to get instant forgiveness. Barb’s admittedly annoying reaction is still understandable- to have her son apparently thrown out over Bill’s younger, cuter wife would be very difficult to forgive either Margene or Bill for.
The political thing is not only ridiculous, but boring. Even Sissy Spacek can’t make it ring true and I’d MUCH rather have this season solely dwell on the wrestling of power over the UEB assets. Surely there would be enough drama between Bill & Alby, Adaleen & JJ and Nikki to carry the season.
And I didn’t think it was possible to dislike the new Teeny more than the old Teeny, but she is not at all cute, is obnoxious and either her lines are horribly written or she’s an awful kid actress.
I found the scene where she confronts Margene and refers to her “floozy” mother especially histrionic and out of character.
Is the acting in this show getting harder to swallow because the writing isn’t as good? Are the actors tired of the roles already? I honestly can’t tell, but the overall quality sure seems to have taken a dive from last season (which I thought was the most compelling of the first three). I’m becoming actively annoyed by many of the characters, rather than interested in their travails.
Yes!! I really liked the old Teeny (in what few scenes she had) because was so cute and had interesting things to say. I hate this new Teeny. She’s annoying to listen to.
Oh, and so Nikki is pregnant again? Yeah that’s just what that family needs, another baby. That will fix everything! :rolleyes:
Any was there supposed to be any significance to Paley helping Margene pick up her jewelry?
I think Barb is about to hit the wall, emotionally speaking. There’s only so much you can squash down before it comes bubbling back up to the surface, and I think that “histrionic and out of character” conversation with Margene was a big ol’ bubble that’s been brewing for a long time. When something you’ve been biting your tongue about for years finally comes bursting out, it does tend to come out in a spray of over-the-top vitriol and melodrama. And let’s be honest here–just because Barb is too buttoned-down and proper to actually say those things to/about Margie under normal circumstances, that doesn’t make it out of character for her think them. I mean, the woman would have to be a saint not to have those thoughts and feelings every now and again.
And this isn’t the first such outburst she’s had. Remember when she announced last season that she wanted to be involved in picking out the new wife? You know, when she said Nikki was forced on her on her deathbed and Margie had happened when the baby-sitter bit her in the ass? Like the floozy conversation, that one happened when she was under a lot of psychological and emotional strain. Basically, Barb does a pretty good job at sublimating her fears and frustrations and misgivings and jealousies about this whole polygamy thing most of the time, and handles the situation with all the dignity and grace she can muster up. But periodically, when she’s got a lot of other stresses and problems and something’s got to give, she pops out with something like this. As this campaign and the situation with Ben continues to put more stress on all of them, I think these incidents are going to become more common and she’s eventually going to tell Bill just exactly what she’s been thinking for the last 7 years.
As for Bill, I don’t feel the least bit bad for him and don’t think most of the reactions were all that over the top. If this were a normal family situation and an 18-yo son and his dad were fighting over normal teenage stuff and the kid had left under those sort of circumstances and this campaign were actually important to anyone but Bill, yes, demanding that Bill go fix his shit RIGHT NOW would be a total over-reaction. But this isn’t a normal family situation, they weren’t fighting about normal family things, and this campaign isn’t truly important to anybody but Bill. This is a former Lost Boy kicking his son out because the youngest wife kissed him, and the fact that Bill is apparently turning into Frank or Roman is an infinitely bigger deal to Barb and Nikki and Lois than this stupid Senate campaign that nobody thought was a good idea in the first place. Especially to Barb and Nikki–the whole foundation of their family is that they practice the Principle, but that they do NOT do things like the compound, and Bill pulling a bit of compound bullshit like making Ben a Lost Boy threatens that foundation.
And just for the record: Sissy Spacek just sucks in this role. She’s over-acting and unbelievable.
Nikki said she took a test and isn’t preganant, although it seems she and Bill are still trying. How was it she phrased it to Margie? “Aggressively persuing?” Something like that?
So quoting this part again because I agree 100%!
QUOTE=Eyebrows 0f Doom;12097685] Yeah that’s just what that family needs, another baby. That will fix everything! :rolleyes:
[/QUOTE]
Her nose is just unbelievable. JFC, that’s one of the worst, most distracting nose jobs I’ve ever seen.
Careful. You *really *don’t want to make her mad.