I could barely stomach Bill’s speech about how he can marry whomever he wants and how the LDS members of congress wouldn’t want someone interfering with marriage, when it was supposedly LDS groups that helped fund the anti-gay marriage CA propositions. The hypocrisy, the bigotry, it just angered me. “Hey, let me have multiple wives, but still, fuck the gays.”
This episode was epic in many ways. It had many great musical transitions too.
The crescendoing little flurry of clarinets and bassons or some other kind of woodwind instrumtents in a minor key - the classic Big Love “some shit is going down” theme music - when the HERPES is revealed by Bill.
The sinister bowed note when we see Rhonda show up.
The scene with Bill and that other senator (the one with the turkey-neck) comparing carry pistols made me grin ear-to-ear.
Where in the fuck is JOEY?
I am glad to see Rhonda back in the game.
The other senator is played by Gregory Itzin. I didn’t recognize him right away, but he was bad-guy President Logan in 24.
He has plenty of reasons to be on the lam, but it’s getting a bit irritating that no one has seen fit to even mention what is going on with him.
I feel like Margene’s character is getting a little too unbelievable, with the ridiculously enthusiastic pyramid scheme (Goji Juice? Is that what it’s called?) And you’d really think that one of Bill’s wives would understand that you can’t just drive up to his work in the Capitol Building and hassle him about some sex-related issue when he’s in the middle of extreme tensions and stresses at his very new and intimidating job.
I always thought Margene was a fairly believable character in the past seasons. She’s extremely needy, reckless, impulsive, but also fairly easily kept in line by a more dominant person. She doesn’t seem to have much personal investment in the “Principle” or really in any kind of religion. She certainly didn’t come from the Mormon culture, mainstream or fundamentalist. It would be pretty easy to imagine Margene in a completely secular open relationship with some alpha male type guy (or a “I’ll sleep with whoever I want to but I expect you to be faithful to me” guy), or one of the many willing chickies in the harem of a strutting rock musician or small-time hustler. In other words, a believable representation of a pretty young woman desperate for validation.
But her character still had some gravitas in the past. Now she’s just sort of a parody of an overactive, hyperactive and excessively chipper “super-housewife”.
Does Utah even have any non-Mormon state legislators? Bill’s entire speech boiled down to “screw the constitution(s of the US & Utah), Mormonism (my version) is the one true faith, we’re all Mormons when you get down to it, and God’s law take’s precedence everything else”, followed by him swearing to God to uphold those same constitutions. It was both disgusting and terrifying. It’s not about freedom of religion to him, it’s about his own vision of a theocracy and he was way more blatent about it than fundie (of any strip) politicians are.
I really which they’d Bill being confronted with how he views same-sex marriage or polygamy outside the Principle (like with Muslims or polyandry), especially since he’s going to have very different responses in public vs. in private. And about Rhonda, she lived in the Henrickson household, was alone with Bill (away from the house if briefly), etc. I think Alby’s going to put her up to saying all those things she said about Roman about Bill. People will care and people will believe her.
[QUOTE=alphaboi867]
Bill’s entire speech boiled down to “screw the constitution(s of the US & Utah), Mormonism (my version) is the one true faith, we’re all Mormons when you get down to it, and God’s law take’s precedence everything else”, followed by him swearing to God to uphold those same constitutions. It was both disgusting and terrifying. It’s not about freedom of religion to him, it’s about his own vision of a theocracy and he was way more blatent about it than fundie (of any strip) politicians are.
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While I agree with being disgusted about it, it’s logically consistent in its own way. You can’t serve both God and the state when the two are in conflict and he’s saying he’s not particularly worried about the state, and that if that requires “lying for the Lord” to get elected then he’ll do it, but now his robe is off and his true colors revealed and if they lack the courage of their convictions then they’re not good Christians or Mormons. Good point really, though this is why sincerely religious people in power scare me a lot more than hypocrites.
As for Alby, I think he’s going to be shot while trying to add Zac Efron as his next wife. Bill will then become the first bachelor head of the compound, his wives all having divorced him save for Nicky who he has a restraining order against.
I don’t know if there is any one place we can check. Wikipedia says Utah is 60 percent Mormon, and this message board post says Salt Lake City is the most diverse part of the state - and the city has had a non-Mormon mayor “more often than not” over the last 20 years. The Henricksons live in Sandy, which is suburb of SLC. It doesn’t seem unthinkable. When Bill was running for the state senate I had trouble believing he had credible opposition from a Democrat, but there are some Democrats in Utah senate.
I have to say, when Alby was meeting with Rhonda and her scroungy-looking boyfriend, and said, “this is the most pathetic shakedown I have ever seen,” I definitely agreed with him on that. I was expecting Mr. Scroungy to bring the goods, threatening Alby, call him a cocksucker, whatever. Instead, he was cowed by Alby’s intimidating attitude, and ultimately backed off. He walked out of the room looking intimidated.
Alby is really quite intimidating.
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
I have to say, when Alby was meeting with Rhonda and her scroungy-looking boyfriend, and said, “this is the most pathetic shakedown I have ever seen,” I definitely agreed with him on that.
…
call him a cocksucker
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Al Swearengen v. Alby: now that would be a shakedown. He’d walk out of there with the deed to half of Juniper Creek.
I do miss Roman. Just for old time’s sake: the Grant Family Singers