Five seasons of polygamy-filled fun have come and gone -- the first three seasons were great, the fourth season was stretched incredibly thin, and season five barely recovered, but I was pleased with how the final episode ended.
Through the first three seasons Bill was a fairly likable family-man, not without his many faults, supporting three wives and building a small business. By season five, the show’s patriarch had mutated into a hypocritical politician, more concerned with propagating his beliefs than the welfare of his family. In short, as a character Bill had become truly insufferable. But the show wasn’t ever really about Bill, in the way it was about the three wives: Barb, Nikki and Margene.
The three women evolved, despite Bill’s efforts to hold them back from their true potential. In Barb’s case, he asked her to compromise by allowing other women into the marriage, and she learned to live with and love her sister wives, sometimes using them to her advantage against Bill. Barb endured excommunication from the Mormon Church because of her marriage to Bill, but found herself spiritually by becoming a female priestholder. For Nikki, Bill expected her to reject everything she had ever known as a young woman from a fundamentalist compound. Eventually, she would become a shepherd for women looking to leave the compound, and realize her role as the head wife. Margene was forbidden from exploring successful job opportunities because it interfered with Bill’s plans, instead she found her true calling after reading the book of Mormon and choosing to do mission trips in developing countries. None of women were able to move forward until they were freed from Bill. Oh yea I forgot to mention, Bill dies in the final moments of the series.
While watching the show, I often wondered what actor Bill Paxton though about the direction his character took. It seems that Paxton must have taken a liking to him, because it took him a couple of weeks to accept the idea that Bill would die of gunshot wounds in the final episode. It wasn’t until those final moments, when Bill asks Barb for a blessing of comfort (something only priestholders can give), did I truly see the humility of his character.
I thought the ending of “Big Love” was very strong, very definitive for the show’s fans.
