I’ve been avoiding the discussion threads because I don’t want to be spoilered. But the previews of this show look interesting and I’ve heard some good buzz about it. What do Dopers think so far? Is it worth getting into? Is it on a par with the Sopranos, Deadwood, or Six Feet Under?
I like it. It didn’t grab me immediately, and I don’t feel compelled to watch each episode more than once (like Deadwood), but it has an interesting story and the characters are developing nicely.
The polygamy angle isn’t played as tawdry or titillating or even very controversial. It’s more about managing a set of unique relationships.
I’ve only watched a couple episodes and I’m not sure what I think of it yet, but I will say that it doesn’t compare to Deadwood or Sopranos IMHO. It’s more similar to Six Feet Under (a show I never liked) in that there’s typically very little action and the plots revolve almost entirely around emotions and character conflicts. Don’t expect much gunplay or yelling in this show.
I have to say, it’s been pretty good so far. As an sort-of ex-Mormon, I’ve gotten a lot of e-mail from relatives and friends who want to send letters or petitions to HBO stating that it slanders Mormonism by associating it with polygamy, and so it should forced off the air (“It worked with The Book of Daniel!”). I find these messages highly irritating – it’s obvious that they haven’t even seen the show. Non-fundamentalist Mormons are portrayed as being extremely anti-polygamy in the show, for crying out loud, and they’re almost universally portrayed as good wholesome people. It just happens to portray Bill Paxton’s family as decent people as well. And it portrays the Juniper Creek group, who are basically the FLDS church in a thin disguise, as a scary cult run by a maniac – exactly the sort of thing the regular LDS church should want, especially now that the FLDS prophet has been put on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
Anyway, the show started out pretty slow, but now I’m really enjoying it, and I’m anxious to see what happens. Oh, and I have to say, Jeanne Tripplehorn is just as hot as I thought she would be. Mmmm, mmm.
I like it a lot. It’s got a great half-soap half-comedy feel to it, the characters are all wonderfuly depraved, and there are several intertwining stories that I’m already hooked on. It does take a few episodes to get off the ground though.
It actually reminds me a bit of Huff in terms of feel, which is on at the same time. (Hooray for On-Demand cable!)
I have really enjoyed it so far. To be honest, I’ve actually enjoyed it more than I’ve enjoyed the Sopranos this season, which is saying a lot. I took to Big Love right away, even though everyone else thought it started slow. It took me longer to warm to Deadwood. Apparently I’m just different!
I really like it. Lots of ore to mine.
It’s kept a bunch of storylines going that involve business, religion, family, sex, temptation. Lots of characters, and just a web of conflicts. And I do mean A WEB. Conflicts between Bill and wives. Wives and Wives. Wives and kids. BIll and the The Prophet. The Prophet and Bills’ Parents. Bill’s parents and Bill. The prophet and the wives. The Family and the Neighbors. The Family and the Church. The Prophet and the Government.
Pretty entertaining so far. I think it’s actually more “deadwood” than “six feet under” – a show I couldn’t stand that just sounded like a hour long therapy session week after week. More seems to happen in Big Love.