# Big Love 2/8 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247 "2010-02-09T05:47:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/21 "2010-02-10T00:01:39Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Her nose is just unbelievable. JFC, that’s one of the worst, most distracting nose jobs I’ve ever seen. I was trying to be polite, but you’re right. It’s very distracting. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/22 "2010-02-10T00:01:57Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > 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] Ah my mistake. I thought she told him she \*was \*pregnant. And I am finding it very hard to believe that the other guy running against Bill managed to find all about his being arrested as a teen (are those records not sealed?) and yet doesn’t cotton to Bill being a polygamist! Wasn’t Bard excommunicated from her church because she said she was a polygamist, or was that only threatened but never happened? And the whole thing with her at the Mother of the Year ceremony? Come on! ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/23 "2010-02-10T00:28:36Z")
Yeah,it’s unbelievable. Even if there were not so many outside people that knew, you’d think that just the fact that Bill was a lost boy would cause them to ask him specifically his thoughts on polygamy. The neighbors have to know and wouldn’t a reason for excommunication be public knowledge in the mainstream LDS community? Don’s ex-wifes who seem to be hostile to Don know it, wouldn’t they happily spill the beans? The governor’s staff knows it- I believe they were involved in the Mother of the Year disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/24 "2010-02-10T02:19:35Z")
I too can’t stand the new Teenie. It’s like they’re trying to make her look and sound and act like the old one so we don’t there was a Darrin switch. It’d be easier if they weren’t trying so hard. She was a minor character in a character-riddled show. I just don’t like that Bill and Barb can be so forgiving of all of Nikki’s stunts (or at least eventually), but one slip-up by Margene, who genuinely feels bad and won’t be doing it again, and she’s a pariah. And they’re a “family” and don’t keep secrets, but no one bothered to fill Nikki in? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/25 "2010-02-10T06:59:13Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > …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… What the hell does Marilyn actually want? 😕 From what I’ve been able to understand she’s a high powered Washington lobbyist who specializes in representing [del]Indian[/del] Native American tribes and she flew out to Utah so to convince Bill/Weber Gaming/the Blackfoot tribe to hire her? :dubious: Is that right? What’s the “pound of flesh” she want’s from Bill? Was she on Bill’s side or not (before he called her a lying thief behind her back)? > [@LVBoPeep](#): > > …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. She’s horrible. Rhonda may have been unsympathetic, but at least her character was interesting. Teeny needs to get sent do some LDS boarding school for sexually perverse girls. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/26 "2010-02-10T07:26:22Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > What the hell does Marilyn actually want? 😕 From what I’ve been able to understand she’s a high powered Washington lobbyist who specializes in representing [del]Indian[/del] Native American tribes and she flew out to Utah so to convince Bill/Weber Gaming/the Blackfoot tribe to hire her? :dubious: Is that right? What’s the “pound of flesh” she want’s from Bill? Was she on Bill’s side or not (before he called her a lying thief behind her back)? THANK YOU! I’m so confused, too! ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/27 "2010-02-10T07:46:12Z")
I think it was pretty cool to see Bill’s past as a young street hoodlum dredged up. His mugshot poster made him look like a badass! I can totally see him smashing car windows with a tire iron and brawling in the back alleys. The question is, was he some kind of gay hustler? When he said he “did things for cash that you wouldn’t believe” or something like that, is that to mean he did truckstop gloryhole blowjobs and random encounters in the park? I mean, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. But it’s too bad they left out his brief stint as a volunteer with the Rhodesian Grey’s Scouts in the Bush War of 1979. ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/28 "2010-02-10T15:36:26Z")
And another thing, who is watching all the young kids? They used to make a point of “Margene, I need you to come home to watch Wayne and the other one,” but this season they’re all about throwing all three wives into the same room all the time. Is a babysitter something Bill really wants to invite into his shared-backyard homes while he’s trying to be the Superstealth Polygamist? I was laughing out loud at the repeated “Bill, deal with this NOW” right in the middle of a political convention (and I don’t think the scenes were supposed to be funny). Not one of them could bite their tongue for a few hours and then explode, rather than arguing in front of hundreds of would-be supporters? I think the writers should follow a general rule: If Nikki comes across far and away as the sane one, you should probably write a chill pill in for Barb and Margene. We don’t need to OD on crazy manic wives. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/29 "2010-02-10T16:48:11Z")
Well, in all fairness, would _you_ bite your tongue for hours when you just found out your husband had kicked your only son out of the house because the young chippie he was fucking had kissed the kid and let you go for days in ignorance of that fact? I think most mothers would have that sort of pure Mama Bear rage too strong to be put off. I mean, what’s more important to most people, their kids or some campaign they don’t want to be involved in anyway? Margene was way out of line, though. She was deliberately antagonizing Barb and Nikki about the whole sex thing and thus has NO right to bitch about them not wanting to be buddy-buddy with her. And do they normally have vendors at political conventions? I didn’t see any others, so she had to know she’d stick out like a sore thumb and would attract comment and questions about what in the hell she was doing there. She was, as my husband put it, just being a pain in the ass for the sake of being a pain in the ass. Which is also not really out of character for her. She’s had smaller “I won’t be ignored, Dan” moments before when she felt like she wasn’t getting enough attention and inclusion. ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/30 "2010-02-10T17:23:58Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Well, in all fairness, would _you_ bite your tongue for hours when you just found out your husband had kicked your only son out of the house because the young chippie he was fucking had kissed the kid and let you go for days in ignorance of that fact? Well, no, but then again I’m not a Mormon wife, taught and socialized to believe that when the Man speaks, you shut up and you do what he says. Which maybe was the point of this episode? When you have a system (FLDS certainly, and LDS to perhaps a lesser extent) where the Man is the sole and ultimate decision-maker… well, he has to make ALL the decisions, up to and including (apparently) what type of pudding should be used. Double-edged sword, I guess – you get your way (generally) but it’s all on you. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/31 "2010-02-11T17:54:58Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > 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. Ben also ignored repeated calls from Bill, meaning it seems like an awfully big overreaction on Ben’s part. I agree with the comment upthread that’s it’s annoying how Nikki and Margene’s kids keep getting conveniently forgotten. One of the main points of the show was showing how the family juggled all the kids. Now not only were all three wives at the convention, but so were the two permanent babysitters Ben and Sarah. WTF? I don’t think it’s fair to characterize Margene’s actions as “just a kiss.” She admitted to Bill that she started falling for Ben, which is a whole lot worse. Notice how Barb lost her shit when Margene’s behavior went from “just a kiss” to “she meant it.” And I loved that scene, btw. “I said I meant it?” hehheh. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/32 "2010-02-11T18:15:39Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > …I agree with the comment upthread that’s it’s annoying how Nikki and Margene’s kids keep getting conveniently forgotten. One of the main points of the show was showing how the family juggled all the kids. Now not only were all three wives at the convention, but so were the two permanent babysitters Ben and Sarah. WTF?.. Was CaraLynn at the convention? Maybe she’s watching the kids. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/33 "2010-02-11T18:57:50Z")
I’m still enjoying this show more than most of you seem to be, but I decided a while ago that I just need to ignore the “how on earth has their polygamy not become public yet?” issue, just as I ignore the “why is there still a documentary crew filming them, and for what?” issue when watching **The Office** or the “when does Jack eat/pee” issue during **24** , etc. You can kind of see the tough spot the writers are in… having dramatic moments when the family seems to be flirting with exposure (like at the governor’s award thing) is good drama, but if the family IS exposed then there’s no going back… so they keep writing individual dramatic scenes and not really worrying about how unrealistic their cumulative impact would be. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/34 "2010-02-12T15:20:27Z")
I wasn’t impressed with this one. The big problem is that I just don’t believe that speech would have won the convention for Bill. He said some good things, but he was essentially calling the voters on their hypocrisy, and usually that does not win you votes. And yes, it’s still amazing the polygamy is a secret. How long ago was it that Barb was up for Utah Mother of the Year and was disqualified? Three years? So some fairly well-connected people know about it, nevermind friends, neighbors, coworkers, and billboard readers. I couldn’t help noticing that Bill couldn’t bring himself to explain to anyone why he kicked Ben out of the house. It’s arguably a valid reason (certainly he thinks it is) but he couldn’t acknowledge a threat to his masculinity. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/35 "2010-02-12T15:28:04Z")
How happy was Nikki that someone else is in the doghouse besides her for a change? The show is getting a little bit…I don’t know what to call it. Chock full o’ dark humor and everything super frenzied and all kinds of misunderstandings. Like when “Daphne” shows up driving the car and Margene has been picked up by the politician–Paley?, and so on. I could have done without that to be honest. I thought the most interesting stuff involved Lois’s reaction to Bill/Ben, as well as Joey’s. Bill’s family is pretty interesting–I’d actually like to see a bit more of it. It felt more authentic than a lot of this wild/wacky stuff. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/36 "2010-02-12T15:36:28Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I thought the most interesting stuff involved Lois’s reaction to Bill/Ben, as well as Joey’s. Bill’s family is pretty interesting–I’d actually like to see a bit more of it. It felt more authentic than a lot of this wild/wacky stuff. This- I watch the program because I enjoy the compound aspect of it. Otherwise, it’s just another soap opera. I keep hoping some crisis will cause Bill to have to move his family to the compound (I think leaving Barb in SLC would be an excellent move as well). ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/37 "2010-02-15T04:36:27Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I couldn’t help noticing that Bill couldn’t bring himself to explain to anyone why he kicked Ben out of the house. It’s arguably a valid reason (certainly he thinks it is) but he couldn’t acknowledge a threat to his masculinity. That’s a great point; I didn’t even notice. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I thought the most interesting stuff involved Lois’s reaction to Bill/Ben, as well as Joey’s. Bill’s family is pretty interesting–I’d actually like to see a bit more of it. It felt more authentic than a lot of this wild/wacky stuff. Agreed completely. And by compound stuff I (and I imagine you) don’t mean the dopey cartoonish stuff like the bird business or when Lois and Frank were literally trying to kill each other. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247/38 "2010-02-15T14:21:13Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > The show is getting a little bit…I don’t know what to call it. Chock full o’ dark humor and everything super frenzied and all kinds of misunderstandings. Like when “Daphne” shows up driving the car and Margene has been picked up by the politician–Paley?, and so on. I could have done without that to be honest. Slapstick? That episode was starting to view like an old ep of Laverne & Shirley. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-2-8/528247.md?page=1)