# "Big Love" - 3/12/06 (Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141 "2006-03-13T04:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/21 "2006-03-13T19:02:46Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > I thought it was interesting that her cahracter was the only woman at the compound wearing pants. Yes, and she also worked outside the home, at the gas station. She is probably where Bill got his big, modern ideas, which resulted in him moving away from the compound. One thing I was wondering: Did Bill’s father have more than one wife? If that was made clear, I must have missed it. When looking at the show’s site, I noticed that Bill’s parents have different last names, and that he has his mother’s last name, not his father’s. With the second and third wives, it makes sense that they don’t have their husband’s last name, since they can’t be legally married. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/22 "2006-03-13T19:24:30Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > One thing I was wondering: Did Bill’s father have more than one wife? If that was made clear, I must have missed it. When looking at the show’s site, I noticed that Bill’s parents have different last names, and that he has his mother’s last name, not his father’s. With the second and third wives, it makes sense that they don’t have their husband’s last name, since they can’t be legally married. Yes, he did. Remember that part when he was told that ‘mother’ was keeping the other wives away, which was also a cause for concern. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/23 "2006-03-13T19:30:17Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > One thing I was wondering: Did Bill’s father have more than one wife? If that was made clear, I must have missed it. When looking at the show’s site, I noticed that Bill’s parents have different last names, and that he has his mother’s last name, not his father’s. With the second and third wives, it makes sense that they don’t have their husband’s last name, since they can’t be legally married. Yes, he did. Remember that part when he was told that ‘mother’ was keeping the other wives away, which was also a cause for concern. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/24 "2006-03-13T19:48:45Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > They are going to have to do a lot to make the middle wife Nicky at all toalerable. She’s terrible. Yeah, she is. I wanted to slap her every time she spoke. She seems to have a serious competition thing going with wife #1 that fuels her spending problem. The whole compound situation was really…squicky. How do you explain to a 14y.o. girl who thinks she’s queen because some nasty old perv married her that cancer is not God’s punishment for moving away from your family and having babies til your uterus falls out isn’t necessarily the plan? ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/25 "2006-03-13T20:40:00Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Yes, he did. Remember that part when he was told that ‘mother’ was keeping the other wives away, which was also a cause for concern. Actually, I don’t remember that for some reason. Though now that you’ve told me twice, I shall remember it for sure! 😉 Thanks for clearing it up for me. So I wonder if his mom is the first wife. I assume so if she was keeping the other wives away. I wonder how many of them are younger than Bill? I don’t think the Nicki character will turn out to be totally bad. She was nice to Marg at the end, anyway. I just think the girl has a lot of issues, and who can blame her? I get the feeling she goes to the extreme because that’s how to get attention. Competing with 30 other kids for your dad’s attention would certainly have that affect on you. She probably gets her sense of entitlement from being the prophet’s daughter, as well. It will be interesting to see how her character develops. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/26 "2006-03-13T20:46:10Z")
Aaaaahhhhh, that’s right. That little tidbit sort of slid right past without really registering. That would explain her expectation for defferential treatment. And also why the prophet thinks he has the right to 15% of all Bill’s stores, instead of just the first one. I was trying to reason out whether he’d loaned him the startup money or what. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/27 "2006-03-13T20:48:27Z")
Roman did tell him that he “staked” him. So that means Roman gave him the money to open the first store. Hence the 15% argument. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/28 "2006-03-13T20:48:48Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > … The eldest daughter was trying to get Bill’s attention the entire episode, so I wonder what she had to tell him. I noticed that too. I thought that it represented the underlying misogyny in the family relationship. Notice how the son’s accomplishments were acknowledged by the father, while the daughter couldn’t even get his attention. Overall, I love the show. The acting is so natural. They don’t go out of their way to magnify the differences between polygamy and monogamy. If anything, the show strives to show how this family is not all that different from what we consider “normal”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/29 "2006-03-14T00:11:19Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > .I did like the backstory of how they became Polygamists. I missed that. I just assumed Bill married these three women while they were all living at the compound where polygamy is normal. What other backstory was there? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/30 "2006-03-14T00:12:36Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > How do you explain to a 14y.o. girl who thinks she’s queen because some nasty old perv married her that cancer is not God’s punishment for moving away from your family and having babies til your uterus falls out isn’t necessarily the plan? Well, the first thing you have to do is get the Prophet’s permission. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/31 "2006-03-14T00:44:20Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I missed that. I just assumed Bill married these three women while they were all living at the compound where polygamy is normal. What other backstory was there? Bill and the first wife (sorry can’t remember her name) were married and had the kids. She developed ovarian cancer (I assume) and had to have a hysterectamy (sp?). It being part of God’s plan to have as many babies as you can, they decided the best way was for Bill to marry Nicky as well. It seemed that if the cancer hadn’t of robbed her from being able to have more babies , Bill might not have become a polygamist. (Scenes from later in the season show Bill talking to his son about how Polygamy isn’t for every man.) Margie (3rd wife) is not, as far as we know, from the compound. They mentioned that they got her from Colorado. Why the third wife remains to be seen. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/32 "2006-03-14T02:30:09Z")
Harry Dean Stanton, who will turn 80 this year, is a total badass, and if everything else about the show starts to suck he will be worth watching. (Is it me, or did this show cast every single one of those actors that you know you’ve seen in a dozen other movies, but you can’t really name one? “Hey, it’s that one guy” sort of actors? Stanton and Bill Paxton are the kings of that group, but Jeanne Tripplehorn and Chloe “fuck the umlaut” Sevigny are up there, too. I guess Miguel Ferrer and that one psychiatrist from _Law and Order_ were busy.) ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/33 "2006-03-14T03:13:37Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > Margie (3rd wife) is not, as far as we know, from the compound. They mentioned that they got her from Colorado. Why the third wife remains to be seen. Perhaps Nicky refused to have any kids anymore? While it may not be part of the religion (I assume you have to have as many kids as you can), being the Prophet’s daughter has some perks, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/34 "2006-03-14T03:20:44Z")
Yeah, I’ll bet the IMDB hits went way up today. Grace Zabriskie, Bruce Dern’s wife – she was Sarah Palmer on Twin Peaks. 123+ credits listed, beginning in 1978. That’s pretty steady work, isn’t it, for a character actor? Stanton will be 80? Dang. He hasn’t changed much in the 20 or 30 years since Paris, Texas and Repo Man. Those are the first roles I remember seeing him in. He looked exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/35 "2006-03-14T03:27:38Z")
Yeah, she’s good at playing the evil bitch. I literally wanted to shoot her in the face in _My Own Private Idaho_ ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/36 "2006-03-14T03:31:12Z")
> [@Push You Down](#): > > Bill and the first wife (sorry can’t remember her name) were married and had the kids. She developed ovarian cancer (I assume) and had to have a hysterectamy (sp?). It being part of God’s plan to have as many babies as you can, they decided the best way was for Bill to marry Nicky as well. It seemed that if the cancer hadn’t of robbed her from being able to have more babies , Bill might not have become a polygamist. (Scenes from later in the season show Bill talking to his son about how Polygamy isn’t for every man.) > Margie (3rd wife) is not, as far as we know, from the compound. They mentioned that they got her from Colorado. Why the third wife remains to be seen. My impression is that Bill had a falling out and left the Compound, then later met and married Barb, who was never involved in a polygynous culture. But she knew his background, and they had agreed to have lots of children, so when she lost her fertility, the issue came up. I’m certainly interested enough to keep watching. I liked the “water, water everywhere” theme with his impotence. And is it just me, or does the interaction between Bill and Barb seem like the “real” marriage, and his relationships with the other two more strained and distant? I think it would be funny if they had, say, Charles Dance and Ron Perlman as guest stars. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/37 "2006-03-14T03:33:08Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > …snip… > Stanton will be 80? Dang. He hasn’t changed much in the 20 or 30 years since Paris, Texas and Repo Man. Those are the first roles I remember seeing him in. He looked exactly the same. Wow, I can’t believe he is that old. I actually remember him from Kelly’s Heroes in a small role and Pretty in Pink along with his classic role in Repo Man. I think he was in Alien also. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/38 "2006-03-14T03:35:18Z")
> [@AerynSun](#): > > My impression is that Bill had a falling out and left the Compound, then later met and married Barb, who was never involved in a polygynous culture. But she knew his background, and they had agreed to have lots of children, so when she lost her fertility, the issue came up. I don’t think so; it seems that the Compound is a sore spot with Barb. I was getting a lot of history there from the way she and Bill were talking about it. She went on about how she hated it and why. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/39 "2006-03-14T03:38:37Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > Harry Dean Stanton, who will turn 80 this year, is a total badass, and if everything else about the show starts to suck he will be worth watching. But **is** he “the Prophet”? Or is that some other character who has not yet appeared on-camera? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141/40 "2006-03-14T03:52:01Z")
Yes, he’s “the Prophet”. And he was great in _Cool Hand Luke_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-love-3-12-06-spoilers/348141.md?page=3)