From HBO:

How can you not like a show which ends with a man with a large erection saying "I think Mom is poisioning Dad." as the screen Fades to Disclaimer.

Nicki is unlikeable but if you had Roman as your father, you'd be unlikeable, too.

Really good acting from all involved. It's not Six Feet Under but what is? I'll tune in next week.

Eta: Are we sure this is the network that gave us Deadwood and The Sopranos? I was actually taken aback when Marjean swore.

Amanda Seyfried is back on my TV and all is right with the world.

What I really liked about this episode - the shocking difference between the off-kilter yet still mundane Henrickson lifestyle in the Salt Lake suburbs and the dusty, desperate lives of the people in the compound. And also the fact that Niki seems to prefer that existence better than the one she has. But then, she was raised in it, of course.

I especially liked the small touch of her buttoning up her blouse all the way to the top as they got closer.

And Tina Majorino as Molly Mormon!

I think I really liked it.

Yawn.

That was boring. I lost interest about halfway through. Maybe I need to see it again. Or maybe the next episode will be better. But I'm underwhelmed.

Anyone else?

Tina Majorino? I've never wanted to sleep with a Mormon more.

My great-great grandfather was polygamist, so I have a personal stake in this show. Plus the fact that it is awesome. Good pilot.

Meh. I didn't hate it.

I'm surprised that Bill seems to think his mother is poisoning his dad.
There's Roman who:
a)obviously has no love for his family
b)is disapproving of Bill
c)is handing Bill's dad jars of mystery 'stout' directly in front of him and telling him to drink up, and

d)is creepy as hell.

Nicki seems pretty twisted. I wasn't overly impressed but I could watch Ginnifer Goodwin and Tina Majorino in pretty much anything.

And he came to that conclusion while contemplating his pointless Viagra boner!

I liked it. It was a little dull but, I think it will get better.

It didn't seem like much happened-but I was surprised when it ended, so I must have been getting into it I guess. I'll watch next week.

The compound scenes were the strongest, especially the ones with Daveigh Chase-that girl does creepy better than anyone. I thought the scenes with the supporting people-Chase, Stanton, Zabriskie, Seyfried, Majorino-were stronger than the ones with Bill and the wives-domestic bickering, like I've never seen that before.

I think the best part about the show was the disclamer. No falling asleep, but I wasn't as terribly interested as I though I was going to be, based on the previews I had seen.

Roman is creepy as hell - I can't shake the disturbed feeling I have about him being married to 14 or so old Rhonda. But I found it interesting that Roman has an interest in Bill's stores - those legal problems are going to come back and bite Bill in the ass, methinks.

I liked it as well I think i need to see more, before i decide if this is must see tv, but yeah.

Just wanted to threw my 2 cents in for the show. I was curious, but now I am more than that. Such a different show, it was refreshing. Good acting, camera work, music selection, and give the family dynamics, there are several plot lines that will keep me watching.

And above all, even though it is such a random scenario being presented on TV, i found it all to be totally believable and was able to relate to most of the characters within the first hour. On some shows, it takes me years, if ever, to care what happens to the players. Well done writers, a tough subject to sell. I just hope viewers can get over the "I would never have 3 wives "thing and actually pay attention long enough to hear the stories be told.

It was also refreshing to see kids on television that did not annoy the fuck out of me. After years of Meadow and AJ, i was beginning to lose hope.

I was a bit underwhelmed as well, but it's HBO, so I will definitely give it a few more episodes.

some observations:
-I have an irrational level of hatred for Chloe Sevigny and I am not crazy about her character either.
-Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Ginnifer Goodwin were all interesting to watch.
-That little child-bride Rhonda creeped me out bigtime.
-I was pleasantly surprised to see Mary Kay Place. Her character made me think "Ooh, look at my pretty pretty statues. Life in a cult isn't so bad. Pretty, pretty statues."
-The Spontaneous Sex Competition in the previews looks interesting. The psychological dynamic between the wives is what is most interesting to me.

We'll see.

I liked it surprisingly....but I'm confused. Do people (like neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc.) know that they are polygamists? Since it is illegal, how do they get away with it? If folks aren't supposed to know, then how do they explain their living arrangements? Especially the children....well, that's my dad and she's my mother, and she's my father's other wife and she's my father's other wife, too and those are my half siblings?

So I have just seen more of Bill Paxton in the first 12 minutes of this show than I have in the previous 12 years I've been aware of his existence. I sense a drinking game in the making ...

no.wrong.awful.stupid.

As previously mentioned, ONLY bright spot was my beloved Tina Majorino. Girl crush since Andre and When Man Loves a Woman and Corinna Corinna. Love that girl.

I am not sure if they covered it tonight, but from what i read, it is all a secret. The Houses are all separate but have a connecting back yard. But with that many kids, and the way kids can talk, i am assured that the cat will be let out of the bag here sooner than later. I think the young girl in the diner whose dad is a trooper for the state will come into play later on in the season.

I think there is a whole thread dealing with this, but...

-We are supposed to believe that the people around them don't know and they are keeping it a secret. Which is why Goodwin's character couldn't call a babysitter-it would blow their cover. And why Seyfried's character got nervous when Majorino's character said her dad was a state trooper. But in real life, I am sure rumors would get around. The backyards are connected so the neighbors can't see.

There was a preview where Majorino stumbles in on all the wives and Seyfried begs her not to tell anyone

-Bill is only legally married to the first wife.

-They probably explain the living arrangements by suggesting that Sevigny and Goodwin are just single moms.

I thought this was an intriguing start -- I wanted to see more of this world, and learn more about how and why these people live.

I liked that they let a bunch of stuff unfold without hitting the viewer over the head with it -- like the stuff at the compound, and the dynamic between the family that Bill left behind and the new family he's created.

I also thought that it was interesting that to someone like me -- who was raised Catholic -- the "regular" world of the "regular" Mormons (represented by Tina Majorino's character) was almost as odd and unusual as the Hendrickson's polygamous world.

I also liked a lot of the characters -- and the actors. It's fun to see so many HITG's in one place -- Ginnifer Goodwin and Tina Marjorino and Amanda Seyfried in the younger generation; Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Harry Dean Stanton, -- really just about every actor in the older generation.

I have to agree with whomever said that it was a nice detail that Nikki buttoned up her blouse on the way back to the compound, and that the child bride was creepy as hell.

I thought there was definitely enough to make me tune back in next week.

Once we got see the compound and saw Roman, I could understand where her sense of entitlement comes from, but one thing I just can't understand. If Bill was (and is, I'm assuming) so desperate to be free of Roman and the compound, why would he marry Nicki? Why tie himself down to the element he finds so distasteful and controlling? I just didn't get that part of the show, but I'll keep watching.

Did anybody else find it hilarious that the restaurant where Tina Majorino works is called "Deb's?" Anyone? Napolean Dynomite? Ha ha, so ironic? Okay, then.

I enjoyed it, though I am curious about the motivations of Bill, Barb, Nicki and Margene. Why did Bill and Barb decide to expand the family if they are obviously so disgusted by what goes on in the compound? Did Bill need money to start his first store and did Roman offer a deal? As in, "Here's your seed money, but you have to marry my daughter"?

The creepiest scene was with Rhonda when she was talking to Barb and then was speaking in hushed tones to the guy at the table. "I'm not going to get cancer" said in such judgemental tones, as if God had blighted Barb for some failing of faith.

And yeah, my money is on Roman poisoning dear old grand-dad. I mean, jugs of homemade herbal remedy? My ass.

The show has some flaws, but the family dynamic is what's holding my attention right now. I know some people in a polygamist marriage (they're not Mormon) and the way the family stands together is fascinating. And my former father-in-law was a bigamist until his original wife cottoned on and divorced him (and he was also not a Mormon). I also kind of liked the fact that the show was so "G-Rated" in terms of language. It makes the concept of polygamy more powerful when everything else is so saccharine and Disney-fied.

I've been reading here and polling my friends, and I find it funny that people are creeped out by Harry Dean Stanton's character being married to a fourteen-year old, but not by Bill Paxton's character being married to three women.

I'm torn. I mean, I was interested enough to watch the whole hour, but I almost wish they were playing it more like a series about actual Mormons, with the funny underwear and beliefs about going to live on other planets with the rest of your family after you die, the secret marriage ceremonies with the hanging sheets, etc. etc. Instead, it seems like it's playing out like some middle-aged white guy's fantasy about what polygamy should actually be like. I mean, in reality it's just not like that, and it's a fairly abusive practice to the women involved.

But you've gotta love a show with a cast like that! Bruce Dern! Grace Zabriskie! Paxton! Tina Majorino! Amanda Seyfried! (VM reunion! Woo hoo! Lily and Mac!) Harry Dean Stanton! Chloe Sevigny! I guess I'm sort of annoyed that HBO made a show about polygamy so entertaining, when I find it a deplorable practice IRL.

I assumed Bill married Nicki to get access to Roman's money. It seemed like he thought he was done with Roman-the whole "15% of the first store only" deal. And if Barb had a hysterectomy and couldnt have kids, which is probably important to Bill, then he thought they needed to take another wife so he could have more. I don't get exactly why he married Margene, actually. It seemed like he actually loved Barb, while I couldn't tell with the other wives.

And I still don't understand completely Nicki's sense of entitlement-it's not like she's Roman's only child-she's not that special.

And why would Roman be poisoning Bruce Dern's character in the first place?



What's funny about that? She's fourteen. At least the three women were of age to know what they were getting into and agree to it.

I think it may have had something to do with Roman putting up the funds for Bill's hardware store. We know it has something to do with Barb's hysterectomy. This doesn't explain Marjean, of course. Presumably as the season unfolds we will learn all.

I think the matter of choice will play an important role in the series. They touched upon it lightly tonight. I am curious to see how the marriages came about, and have faith that they will show us . Doesn't mean it wil be all pretty and happy, but i think there will be believable explanations behind the origins.

But as far as the little kid. Well, there is not much choice about that. That is just plain fucked up.

This show is interesting to me because there are so many gray areas when it comes to morals and what is right and wrong. Totally different from the cookie cutter black and white menu we usually are offered.

Come on, a local home improvement has no chance of being successful against all the chains around.

Home Depot is in Utah, isn't it?

And no day laborers in front of home improvement stores in Utah?

Jury's out at my house. Definite flaws, but they seemed like flaws that go along with a pilot when you're trying to introduce 15 characters, set up future conflicts, etc. I'll keep watching so long as, in the future, they: (1) give a LOT of backstory to explain why the hell all of this happened and (2) take a page from the Sopranos and deal with only a few subplots per episode instead of squeezing everything in on top of itself.

Word about the amazing cast. I LOVE Mary Kay Place. Hope we see a lot more of her (ideally doing something a little more complex than Escaping Reality Through Figurine Collection).

HBO or no HBO, I could have done without the giant erection. Especially since I was watching with my parents. Yeesh!

Oh, come on, that was hilarious!

I'll concur with most other posters: Flawed, but I'll wait and see. I'll give it at least three more episodes before passing final judgment.

Nicki and Margene seemed like the type of Mormons who would practice polygamy, but I couldn't understand why Barb let her husband get remarried- twice!

Especially with the whole part about her getting angry at him for telling her to put her check in the family account, because she didn't like getting orders.

But maybe they'll tell more about her past in futures episodes...

I laughed out loud at that -- I reeally hope it was a shout-out to Carmela Soprano's Lladros. After all, Mary Kay is sort of another type of mob-boss wife!

Got about 20 minutes in and had to ditch. I've never considered myself a prude but I was sorta surprised at the amount of sex right away. Sort of jarring to me since I wasn't really expecting it. Hence I didn't see the giant erection at the end. Thank God!



Yeah, too much is missing for this to really be about Mormon polygamy, it's like it's a what Hollywood thinks both Mormons and polygamy are, very sanitized, as if the Bradys or the Cleavers were polygamists.

The women characters were unsympathetic and all I felt was bad for everyone, particularly the kids constantly getting short changed on any real attention from their father.

I'm disappointed, I was expecting HBO to do a bit better job with the material over all. Not sure if I'll tune in again or catch the rest of the episode at a later date.

I too was left wondering--in a good way, I'm willing to wait for HBO to unfold it slowly--why Barb decided to live this way. I got why Nicki found the situation attractive, as she'd been raised that way, and something about Margene at the dinner table made me really believe that she yearned to be included in a big family. I really bought that Margene would want to be there--but then again I'd believe anything from Ginnifer Goodwin. Paxton and Tripplehorn really sold me as a married couple, so I too want to hear about how they took that jump from one wife to two.

I wonder if Mary Kay Place is not the head/first wife, or if Roman's wives got along really well when Nicki was a kid; I would think that after you'd seen the power that the first wife wields, a woman (i.e. Nicki) would want to be a first wife to someone. Though from what we've seen of her personality, she definitely isn't take-charge about things.

How funny was it to see Sevigny, of all people, trying to look even more modest? And so great to see Amanda Seyfried! Loved Marjorino too, but I'm still getting my fix of her over on VMars.

ITA with this. I'm intrigued enough to watch more, if only because I want to know the motivations behind these characters.

I loathe Nicky - what kind of parent are you that your son feels it's ok to pee on the kitchen floor? He seemed old enough to know better.
That scene with Marjean taking care of the 4 youngest kids made me want to cry.

What a long reach Ms Sevigney had for this role. This whole show was kind of gross to me.
Considering there are real people out there in this situation, its very ....mean almost. I remember the Dateline special on Poligamy, the women were almost always underaged, married to thier uncles, etc. How unsettling that HBO would try and make it into something people would watch, and for whatever reason, feel for. There is no good to come out of that kind of marriage.
IMHO
Its a slight against the poor women who are trapped in the poly community in real life. I live in Nevada and have heard hundreds of stories of women wanting out of this life. Men as well, as the founders of whatever it is they follow...the elders dont like competition.
Bad form HBO, very bad.

Two questions that just occurred to me:
1) Didn't Seyfried's character (I forget the daughter's name, Sarah?) say something to her father about how he had "cheated" that morning? Was that because he came out of Margene's front door? Is he supposed to only go in and out of Barb's house, so as not to arouse suspician?

2) A more general question: The logistics seem crazy. If Wives #2 and #3 are legally single, how does one fill out a tax return? Aren't you screwed if you get audited? They have no income, yet they live in big houses with several kids, and this family doesn't seem like they'd go for welfare. I wonder if HBO will address this situation--how in the world Bill's able to handle three mortgages.

That's why you couldn't be a polygamist in Manhattan. No one would give a rip that you thought of three women as your wives, but can you imagine having three rent payments every month??

Well, yes, but the show went out of its way to show that all 3 of Bill's wives were there by choice, and were not child brides. It also showed the main characters were not happy with the 14-year-old married to the old man. We'll see where the series is going with this.

Also, I don't think this is any worse than HBO making a show that makes gangsters sympathetic. The fact that some people in real life are in unfortunate situations should not, in and of itself, make the topic off-limits for fiction.

It's a little too...quirky to be that impacting IMO. It has promise though. Does anybody else see this as a long-form version of those Enzyte commercials and that "Bob" guy and because of his erection he gets "a lot of well-earned respect from the neighbors"? Because I do. Bill Paxton even looks kind of like that guy.

Over all I thought Yadda Yadda character establishment. I will give it another episode to get going.

Really? I disagree.
What I saw of polygamy was being henpecked and under constant stress, so much so that you can't get it up? Not my Middle aged white guy fantasy. The other is living like the Amish while one guy (the Prophet) gets super rich, with 60 and 14 year old wives. Still not a fantasy of mine.
The Dad and 3 moms and their relationships seemed badly drawn and just bad. Now maybe the lesser characters can carry the show but the "Marriage" relationships leave me "Meh."

I liked it, which is surprising since I can't stand Bill Paxton or Chloe Sevigny. I didn't like it as much as other HBO premieres which immediately sucked me in (Rome), but I think like Deadwood, it'll start off a little slow and then get better later on. I'll stick with it for at least a few more episodes. Mary Kay Place and Tina Majorino were pleasant surprises...along with the chick from Mean Girls who plays one of the daughters. And although Roman was creepy as hell, HDS is a great actor.


ITA.

The HBO bio for her character says she is 4th out of his 14 (!) wives.

No fucking kidding. I was eating when the show first started, and Bill Paxton's flopping, hairy man bits made me spit out my scallops. I started my own drinking game right then and there. A sip of wine every time the image popped back in my head during the show. Almost passed out before the end.

I do. Young. Hot. Also, hot.

I said this in the Old Thread, and I'm convinced even more having seen the show--it's nice that HBO makes a show about polygamy that doesn't have "THIS IS BAD THIS IS BAD THIS IS BAD" flashing in big neon letters. I've read the Krakauer book too, and a lot of--most?--polygamists are crazy-ass David Koresh types with 14-year-old brides, but it would be awfully simplistic to say that ALL of them are. And it wouldn't be good drama, either. A TV show with the Koresh family being crazy all day would not be a good show. We might not understand it, and a lot of us might not like it, but there are people who choose this lifestyle of their own free will. They do exist.

Loved the shot in the early going of Bill in the bathroom, with the mirror that made three reflections.

I liked it. Polygamy creeps me out as a rule, but I think they made a wise choice in concentrating on the just the family things, like the good (the family dinner), the annoying (the way Nicki seems to align herself with whichever wife she's alone with), and the potentially ugly (the money being tight). There was no attempt to explain the philosophy of polygamy to us, and I'm glad of that.

I like all the actors, and all of them were good (twas especially nice to see Camille Cherski, Lily Kane, and Mac!), especially Chloe Sevigny, whom I'm a big fan of; she plays beautifully a character who clearly thinks she's so much smarter and more together than anyone else, yet also genuinely loves Bill, and despite the grasping for material things, clearly knows she's missing something.

Was not at all hooked by this pilot, but I'll probably keep watching just because of Sopranos inertia, the kick-ass cast (I have an irrational love for Chloe Sevigny and an oh-so historically rational one for Harry Dean Stanton) and there is no way I'd bet against an HBO series right now unless I see clear and postive proof of mediocrity or outright suckitude.

I agree that Nicky was the least ingratiating of the three wives in this episode, but I'm intrigued by the setup of how she'll have to deal with the conflicting loyalties between her daddy and her other family--especially when it comes down to the money. I just hope the wives' characters won't turn out to be the three faces of Carmella.

And off course there's that great Veronica Mars sqee moment whan I saw Mac and Lily Kane together.

Polygamy as practiced by insane religious people is not the same as polygamy in general.

It was kinda interesting, kinda not. It's clearly not the great fantasy of a guy here; it looked like a great deal of work for very little pleasure. The interesting part was not the family and them being okay with it all for me; the interesting part was the compound and dealing with the religious overtones and third world compound life.

It's okay, but it's got to get a lot more quirky and perverted before I really care.

Intriguing this show is. I, like a lot of folks on this thread, am not real cool with the concept of a man having three wives, but the show was interesting.

I don't get the whole it was a slow first episode or anything like that. It is a pilot for goodness sakes. They are not going to give you the secrets of the hatch or let Meredith get the guy in one episode (sorry if my other fav shows clouded my arguement.) It was a good start, IMO.

Here's a man who is trying to have his cake and eat it too, in many ways. He is not your old-fashion polygamist, like where he came from. He is a new-aged one. He wants to live in this time period, but still hold on to what he is used to. That seems to be a problem, in many ways, with his wives and in the future we may see with his children.

Other observations: Rhonda, wow, that was weird. Good to see Amanda (Sarah) who I remember from All My Children; and Tina (who I loved in Corrina, Corrina.) Word to whoever say Bill and Barb look like a real couple, I felt that relationship and am interested why she would agree to another two marriages.

I watched the east coast showing but was too fazed by The Sopranos to give it a fair shake. After watching the west coast feed, I was drawn into Big Love. I'm sure the majority of us are in the same boat and have the same thousand and one questions. That's what HBO wants and we shall oblige. HBO has the knack for bringing taboos to the fore. And they've given us a stellar cast to begin with. No matter how strange some of us feel at first in this different environment, it won't be long before many are asking, "Does anyone know when we can expect season 2?"

I actually would agree for polygamous marriage. Women are much better to live with than men. We could divide responsibilities and help each other. And seeing husband too often is disadvantage, IMHO. I get annoyed and bored with men very quickly. Couple times a week would be enough. Then again, I'd rather not marry at all.
I always thought modern marriage in itself is ridiculous, and this form is no worse than others. I liked reading parkinson law for marriage, with explanation that previously you interacted with much more people at home daily. That this "two people in tiny apartment against each other" is in fact very recent form of living.
There is hilarious russian song about having three wives. It goes along the lines of "If I were a padishah, I'd have three wives, and would be surrounded by so much beauty, on other hand, I'd have thrice as many problems. It's not so bad to have three wives, on other hand, it's very very bad! Three wives, it's cool! But three mothers-in-law is not. If I were a padishah, I'd stay single!"

1. Agree with Fisher King - I might have liked it more had it not just followed that amazing Sopranos ep. I couldn't switch gears fast enough - I might have to watch this one on Monday night instead.

2. I think Bill Paxton looks amazing. He's 50 years old, but he still has the body of Chet.

3. Still, it felt a little too much to those in my house as if HBO was trying to do Desperate Housewives. Only to HBO it up, they made them all married to the same guy. Still, like many have already said, I'll give it a few more weeks and see what happens.