Good ep. Interesting conclusion to the Ana storyline-- Bill says no, Margene is heartbroken, as if it were her that were dating/breaking up with Ana. I like how Margene has embraced The Principle this way, and how she came to question Bill’s acquisition of her as a wife. I wasn’t convinced of his explanation (basically, now he loves her so much that, in retrospect, it MUST have been the Holy Spirit that made him marry her, not just lust…) She’s come a long way as a character this season and I’m enjoying it. Ginnifer Goodwin is doing a great job.
Rhonda, that scheming bitch… Nicki needs to stay away from her, because she knows exactly how much power she has and she will use it in the most self-serving way possible if someone screws with her. However, what did she think she would achieve with “I love you, Barb… Kiss off!”? Barb is now onto her, I would hope. I wonder if the Rhonda story arc is over now too. Heather and Sarah’s friendship seems to be.
OK, so the gambling thing: Bill thought he was scamming the company from Roman, but really Roman was scamming him by foisting it off on him through a 3rd party when he knew that scary guy (Green?) wanted it and would go after Bill. Do I have that right?
I watched, but I was doing a few things while watching…who exactly were those creepy people who also wanted the gambling thing?
Feel bad for both Heather and Sarah. Rhonda’s gotten even scarier. I was assuming that Heather would befriend Rhonda (considering how she was trying to get Sarah on board with helping Rhonda last season.
I kind of saw the Ana ending coming. I could never see her going for that lifestyle. Somehow, it made the whole polygamy thing creepier, seeing Bill dating. And then telling Margene how only he can have a say…yeah, that’s not selfish.
In the scenes from next week, they showed Frank! I’m happy–I missed Bruce Dern’s presence. His character is wonderfully creepy.
I got the sense that they were ousted members of the Juniper Creek church who had gone to Mexico when Roman took over. They said they would “vanquish those falsely annointed heads of the priesthood.” In their minds Roman Grant wrongfully usurped their power and must have taken their business holdings in the take-over, so they have the right to challenge his authority by demanding that he give them back the gambling company.
What was really creepy was how all Hollis’ henchmen were women dressed as men, or odd-looking and gender-bending in any case, as was he. Selma Green, the woman who picked up Bill, was wearing a men’s suit and I wouldn’t have known she was a woman except that Bill said her name.
The whole thing was odd. Aren’t Rhonda’s parents supposedly in Mexico? I wonder if they’ll come into the story. That’d be interesting.
Thanks for the info…I thought that the person in a suit looked surprisingly feminine. Glad to see I wasn’t totally off. They gave me the major shivers, those folks.
Was that woman who was talking to Rhonda in the episode where she runs away (the ep where they have to take the portrait) her mother? The one who was telling her that she better still be intact, and encouraging her to go sit next to Roman.
There seem to be a lot of the polygamists in Mexico. I think Lois said that Frank and the other wives went to Mexico, too.
Totally agree. I kept finding myself saying, “I can’t believe he’s dating when he has three wives and seven children at home! And one on the way!” It seemed very wrong to me that Bill was leading Ana on without telling her the truth about his situation. And then he criticized Margene for not following the protocol. Seemed like flat-out cheating to me.
Hi all,
Another good episode, although the freaky cult people made Roman Grant look reasonable. At first I thought it was Alby in that van (where is Alby anyways?).
The scene with Sarah and the Trooper was really well done- you could see her go from incredulous to horrified/terrified of the implications of what he said. Rhonda needs to die by the end of this season! PLEASE :mad:
Barb was much easier to take this episode, I liked how she stood up for her family and went from “savior Barb” to “kick ass Barb”. I got a chuckle out of Nikki’s comment that everything she says sounds like it comes out of a fortune cookie.
I am interested in seeing how Nikki will try (if she follows Bill’s advice) to be more of a friend to Margene. I think he is right that she wouldn’t be trying to find “inappropriate” friends all the time if her sister-wives could fill that void more.
I was sorry for Margene that she got her hopes up- I think she saw it as a way to bring her own friend into the family and finally have someone that doesn’t think she’s an idiot child.
I also got a chuckle out of Bill’s mens group discussing the implications of removing this wedding ring when he met Ana. Talk about an ideal religion for the philanderers of this world- its not cheating… its the Holy Spirit!! :dubious:
Great episode. A new group introduced that appears to be even worse than Juniper Creek! I noticed the shorter gender bender right away, but was the taller, dark-haired henchman a woman, too? Margene has pullled a complete 180 this season, which is very nice. How about the literature that the bishop handed to Ben-- was one pamphlet called “Satan’s Thrust”?
So many of the conversations on this show are surreal, like that between the men in Bill’s group, and every time Ben talks to anyone outside of his family. The actor that plays Don - you could tell he had a hard time memorizing that weird little speech he gave Bill about bringing Ana into the fold.
I know I keep saying it, but this time I mean it — GREATEST EPISODE EVER. I’m just going to go ahead and blurt everything out.
[Gushing Mode]
This is the best acting ensemble ever assembled. This is the best script writing in the history of television. This is the most interesting and meticulously developed storyline ever conceived.
[/Gushing Mode]
I am in awe of Margene’s portrait of love. It is exactly how I would paint it myself. Love makes people better than they were. It edifies. This is what I mean when I say God exists. I mean that Love exists this way.
And on the moral flipside, consider this scenario: Barb tells Bill about Rhonda; Bill flips out, and in a sudden flash of demonic inspiration (for which he will credit the Holy Spirit) engineers a deal with Hollis Greene to take Rhonda in exchange for the business. The sun comes out. Birds resume chirping.
Favorite part: when Margene brought the sister-wives to the restaurant and was all worried about Nikki sending back the tuna-salad. So funny and well done by every actress in the scene.
This show has gone from about a 40 to a 96 on the Trunk Scale with this second season. It’s been astounding.
I thought funniest line of the evening was “she’ll love Barb. She’ll grow to love Nikki.”
What did Nikki hope to accomplish when she confronted Rhonda (evil, evil, horrible little person)?
Are we sure about the gender bending? Selma could be a man; Mormons tend to have weird names (my apologies, Mormons).
The last 2 episodes have strongly implied that Margene has not bought in to the Principle at all, from a religious standpoint (last week she revealed herself as a former Catholic; this week, she teaches Ana how to “fake pray”.) She just loves her husband and sister-wives.
I am sure the name given was Selma Green, and the character was played by a woman actor (Sandy Martin, who also played Napolean Dynamite’s grandmother). IMDB backs this up. Upon further reflection, is Hollis Green the guy who was on the news for troubles with the law, who Roman was saying was a “pervert” that gives all FLDS folks a bad name in the press? Maybe the cross-dressing is part of this perversion? They certainly don’t dress like the Juniper Creek women.
I’m not necessarily even clear on what The Principle is-- is it that there must be polygamy in order to fulfill God’s wishes and go on to Heaven? I’m not sure Margene buys into all that stuff on a religio-spiritual level. She does seem genuinely OK with Bill’s polygamy and acquiring new wives. I think it’s as close as she’s going to come to understanding the whole thing.
ETA: What did you guys think of the strategic use of music on this ep? When Ana was jumping Bill, Avril Lavigne “I wanna be your girlfriend/ I think you need a new one,” and then 10cc “I’m not in love…” at the end of the show? Clever.
