He became a member after he was thrown off of the compound. In season one we saw him watching a video of himself giving a speech about how the Church saved him. Also Bill & Barb were mainstream Mormons before she got cancer and Nikki entered their marriage. They were sealed in the temple (a place non-Mormons can’t even set foot in).
Does Utah recognize palimony? I know it originated in California, but that doesn’t mean every state adopted it. Even if it does since polygamy illegal in Utah wouldn’t any contract between Bill & Nikki be void on public policy grounds? What about those trusts Bill set of for his “wives” and children? I want to know what’s up with stuff like the titles and mortgages on Nikki and Margene’s houses. Does Bill own them or do they?
Even if Nicki can’t get alimony or palimony, she sure could soak Bill for child support, just as Don’s wives are nailing him. Her kids are school aged, she could get a job and do just fine for herself. She doesn’t have to go back to the compound. She doesn’t realize it, but she could be free to live as normal a life as she wants. This is just another example of how few of her real options Nicki is aware of due to her cloistered upbringing.
Do you guys think that Bill and Nicki genuinely love each other and are or ever were in love?
I think that’s a really good question. In one episode, I remember Nicki seemed to say something like marrying for love was something kind of naive, or that she didn’t believe in…that is, for her it was more of a religious thing. Or more realistically something she was ordered to do. And she certainly didn’t seem to enjoy having sex with him, so…I don’t know. Then again, Nicki’s never really chosen those things for herself (other than hot DA guy). She was ordered to marry JJ and then Bill…so I can’t imagine sex being all that pleasurable. It’s just another way to submit.
I think they really do love each other, but aren’t necessarily in love. To be honest, I don’t know that Nikki would be able to let go of her fear enough to truly fall in love with someone. Kids learn what they live, and internalize ideas about family and relationships from what they grow up with. What Nikki grew up with is a huge mass of people who are constantly jockeying for position within the family, but are ultimately held together by their sense of duty and purpose. The idea of being held together by something as potentially flimsy as having good feelings toward one another, without that duty and purpose to reinforce those ties, or take their place during the inevitable rough patches…it’s got to scare the shit out of her. And she’s pretty well said as much to Barb in previous seasons, that she doesn’t know if a marriage based on love can go the distance.
That’s what I was thinking about, yeah. Love is something flimsy for her–duty and obedience…those are the concepts in which she really operates.