Big Love Tonight!

[ownedsubgal]

Sarah just really wants a normal family of her own, and who can blame her?

Barb always seemed like the smartest and least sheltered to me, and I guess the experience of the casino is just illustrating how her problem-solving skills are kind of limited to the world she and Bill have created.

you see Barb as the smartest? i would place Nikki in that role (although goodness knows she does some stupid things sometimes). i just hate Barb's milky white republican LDS mormon-ishness, it really grates at me.

Sarah i don't dig either, because she has zero respect for her family or their values. i can understand wanting to discover you and create your own path, but you can do that without typical teenage angry rebellion and disgust. i still remember that time she was dancing with her Dad and said, "do you really think i would listen to your advice about anything, ever?" or something to that effect. i wanted to slap the taste from her mouth! and it takes a LOT to get me to that point

 

[Etoile]

Hmmm...I think Nikki might be the smartest, but she is probably the most sheltered of the three, having grown up on the compound.

 

[intothewoods]

you see Barb as the smartest? i would place Nikki in that role (although goodness knows she does some stupid things sometimes). i just hate Barb's milky white republican LDS mormon-ishness, it really grates at me.

Sarah i don't dig either, because she has zero respect for her family or their values. i can understand wanting to discover you and create your own path, but you can do that without typical teenage angry rebellion and disgust. i still remember that time she was dancing with her Dad and said, "do you really think i would listen to your advice about anything, ever?" or something to that effect. i wanted to slap the taste from her mouth! and it takes a LOT to get me to that point

Hmmm...I think Nikki might be the smartest, but she is probably the most sheltered of the three, having grown up on the compound.

Last season I would have said Barb was the smartest, most definitely, or perhaps I should say the savviest. Nicki may be innately intelligent, but she was always behaving like a 5 year old, with her huge debt and inability to cut ties to her father and mother. This season she seems to have come into more of her own.

I didn't see the scene you're referring to with Sarah, but it doesn't surprise me a bit that she's acted out and continues to do so. She goes to school, work, etc., and must present a false picture of her family on a daily basis. Mainstream Mormons, as they have been presented on Big Love, do not approve of polygamists. Not to mention the fact that her family is breaking the law. Sarah's life has been characterized by secrecy and shame. That's just not a healthy way to grow up.

Beyond that, my impression from the first season was that Barb seemed to raise Sarah with the idea that she could do anything and be anything, and it seemed that Sarah looked at her mom and never understood why she would agree to polygamy. Barb has always had this driven and competitive personality that has never really meshed with polygamy. Unlike Nicky's mom, she's not content to be first wife. That doesn't satisfy her. She's always wanted an identity that is separate from Bill. I think Sarah represents that part of Barb.

 

[ownedsubgal]

I didn't see the scene you're referring to with Sarah, but it doesn't surprise me a bit that she's acted out and continues to do so. She goes to school, work, etc., and must present a false picture of her family on a daily basis. Mainstream Mormons, as they have been presented on Big Love, do not approve of polygamists. Not to mention the fact that her family is breaking the law. Sarah's life has been characterized by secrecy and shame. That's just not a healthy way to grow up.

what's a "healthy" way to grow up? colorlessly blending into your particular mainstream culture's norms and mores, without thought or question? no doubt, it is trying and difficult growing up (particularly through those teen years) within a lifestyle and value system that is well outside the socially acceptable norm, but i don't think it necessarily has to equate to a flocked up kid. i think Ben is a decent example of how a kid can be raised in that lifestyle and have to deal with those conflicts and still be just fine (sans that sicko crush on Margene, but i understand, gotta spice it up for ratings). i do agree with you however on the connection between Barb and Sarah.

itw i know your feelings on the kid/alternative lifestyle issue so with that in mind i can understand your sympathy for the Sarah character. however in this household we take a very different perspective...we don't feel there's anything shameful or unhealthy about a D/s lifestyle, and we live in an openly unequal power dynamic. we also have a child (weird calling him that since he's taller than me now, but still) living with us most of the time, who has been exposed to a M/s relationship for most of his lifetime. unlike tv characters, he hasn't been brainwashed by our lifestyle or defiantly rebelled. he's just grown up, aware that the way we live is different from most but understanding that nothing is wrong with that. he feels perfectly free to go his own way, and has done so by recently acquiring his very first "girlfriend." we are so proud.

so anywho, i suppose that is why i'm more attracted to the examples of how growing up/living in an alternative lifestyle can still lead to healthy and happy individuals.

 

[intothewoods]

what's a "healthy" way to grow up? colorlessly blending into your particular mainstream culture's norms and mores, without thought or question? no doubt, it is trying and difficult growing up (particularly through those teen years) within a lifestyle and value system that is well outside the socially acceptable norm, but i don't think it necessarily has to equate to a flocked up kid. i think Ben is a decent example of how a kid can be raised in that lifestyle and have to deal with those conflicts and still be just fine (sans that sicko crush on Margene, but i understand, gotta spice it up for ratings). i do agree with you however on the connection between Barb and Sarah.

itw i know your feelings on the kid/alternative lifestyle issue so with that in mind i can understand your sympathy for the Sarah character. however in this household we take a very different perspective...we don't feel there's anything shameful or unhealthy about a D/s lifestyle, and we live in an openly unequal power dynamic. we also have a child (weird calling him that since he's taller than me now, but still) living with us most of the time, who has been exposed to a M/s relationship for most of his lifetime. unlike tv characters, he hasn't been brainwashed by our lifestyle or defiantly rebelled. he's just grown up, aware that the way we live is different from most but understanding that nothing is wrong with that. he feels perfectly free to go his own way, and has done so by recently acquiring his very first "girlfriend." we are so proud.

so anywho, i suppose that is why i'm more attracted to the examples of how growing up/living in an alternative lifestyle can still lead to healthy and happy individuals.

It's not the alternative lifestyle, but the secrecy and shame. Forcing your children to lie for you. Presumably your master's son doesn't have that burden. Of course, the parents on this show feel that it's worth it because it's God's will. The point isn't so much that the parents have made terrible choices, but that choices do have consequences. In some ways, their kids have a more difficult burden than the kids living on the compound. They are kind of leading double lives, and that takes a toll. Not to mention all of the chaos. If I lived with all of those people, I'd be ready to move out too by that age.

Also, teenage "rebellion" is a normal stage of development in that kids separate from their parents and begin to determine their own identity. I'm not so much sympathetic to Sarah's character as not at all surprised by her. There's been a lot of chaos in that home over the past couple of years.

I'm raising my child in a Jewish home, and have made various other non-mainstream parenting choices. Many people are outside the norm in some way. But he's not hiding who he his family is to his teachers or his friends. Quite the opposite.

The fact that a lifestyle is alternative isn't necessarily good or bad. I wouldn't raise my child in Mormon polygamy, just as there are plenty of people who wouldn't raise their kids Jewish or vegetarian or with politically liberal values. To each his own.

 

[ownedsubgal]

It's not the alternative lifestyle, but the secrecy and shame. Forcing your children to lie for you. Presumably your master's son doesn't have that burden. Of course, the parents on this show feel that it's worth it because it's God's will. The point isn't so much that the parents have made terrible choices, but that choices do have consequences. In some ways, their kids have a more difficult burden than the kids living on the compound. They are kind of leading double lives, and that takes a toll. Not to mention all of the chaos. If I lived with all of those people, I'd be ready to move out too by that age.

Also, teenage "rebellion" is a normal stage of development in that kids separate from their parents and begin to determine their own identity. I'm not so much sympathetic to Sarah's character as not at all surprised by her. There's been a lot of chaos in that home over the past couple of years.

I'm raising my child in a Jewish home, and have made various other non-mainstream parenting choices. Many people are outside the norm in some way. But he's not hiding who he his family is to his teachers or his friends. Quite the opposite.

The fact that a lifestyle is alternative isn't necessarily good or bad. I wouldn't raise my child in Mormon polygamy, just as there are plenty of people who wouldn't raise their kids Jewish or vegetarian or with politically liberal values. To each his own.

oh i get that it's not simply the "alternative" lifestyle, but the fact that it must be kept secret from most of the world that causes such conflict on the show. as i said, that's rough, no question. so in that sense i "get" the Sarah character too. she just plays too much into the mainstream stereotypes for my tastes, that's all. kinda like those early 90s movies where the sexually promiscuous female character would always die of AIDS or become a murder victim. i like that the Ben character isn't preaching that mainstream moralistic message.

as for the young man in this home, he doesn't have to lead a double life, but there are definitely things he has to hide from certain people in his life including his mother. he is aware that there are things that occur in this household that he cannot broadcast to the outside world. sometimes he has to lie. but he is also old enough to understand that this has nothing to do with any shame or guilt, just small minds and ignorant judicial systems.

 

[ownedsubgal]

btw, the Teeny character seriously needs to take a long walk off a short pier. what a waste of script.

 

[Etoile]

OMFG Yes. I hate Teenie SO. MUCH.

Tonight's episode had a whole lotta WTF going on.

I am really getting tired of Margene's whole "I want this to go awaaaaay" whining!

 

[ownedsubgal]

OMFG Yes. I hate Teenie SO. MUCH.

Tonight's episode had a whole lotta WTF going on.

I am really getting tired of Margene's whole "I want this to go awaaaaay" whining!

yeah she has gotten way too annoying. i keep waiting for her character to "grow up" but i guess it won't be this season. the sissy spacek character confuses me...what exactly does she want from Bill? why him?? did i miss something crucial?

and when the heck are they going to hurry up and kill off Bill's Dad? there's only so much drama i can take dangit.

i miss the juicy sex scenes, they haven't had a good one in a while...something really dirty, like Nikki bent over at the politician's office and Bill pounding her from behind holding her skirts up.

 

[Etoile]

The Sissy Spacek character confuses me too. In Washington, she was an aide to the senator Bill was trying to meet, and she tried to block him from seeing the guy, but he met him anyway (to her chagrin). Now all of a sudden she's an Indian Affairs lobbyist or something...?

 

[intothewoods]

The Sissy Spacek character confuses me too. In Washington, she was an aide to the senator Bill was trying to meet, and she tried to block him from seeing the guy, but he met him anyway (to her chagrin). Now all of a sudden she's an Indian Affairs lobbyist or something...?

Nah, she was always a lobbyist.

 

[Etoile]

Nah, she was always a lobbyist.

But what was her role in the senator's office or something?

 

[intothewoods]

oh i get that it's not simply the "alternative" lifestyle, but the fact that it must be kept secret from most of the world that causes such conflict on the show. as i said, that's rough, no question. so in that sense i "get" the Sarah character too. she just plays too much into the mainstream stereotypes for my tastes, that's all. kinda like those early 90s movies where the sexually promiscuous female character would always die of AIDS or become a murder victim. i like that the Ben character isn't preaching that mainstream moralistic message.

The drama in Sarah's story line has definitely been somewhat cliche. As for Ben, this is just the beginning of his rebellion.

I can't believe Bill is going through with this campaign. What a mess. Bill makes terrible decisions, and all the women are helpless and complicit at the same time.

 

[intothewoods]

But what was her role in the senator's office or something?

No, they just had a professional relationship. She organized a fundraiser for him.

 

[intothewoods]

I don't get why Sissy Spacek said the meeting was a setup, and then Bill looked confused. Did Tommy or what'shisname sell him out? Frankly I have no idea why they introduced the casino and all of those characters, and then the campaign on top of it. Too much going on!

 

[Etoile]

I don't get why Sissy Spacek said the meeting was a setup, and then Bill looked confused. Did Tommy or what'shisname sell him out? Frankly I have no idea why they introduced the casino and all of those characters, and then the campaign on top of it. Too much going on!

So glad that part confused someone besides me!

 

[WriterDom]

Ana resurfaces

 

[intothewoods]

Ugh. While I do want to see what happens in this little soap opera, I don't think this show is very good anymore. There's just too much crazy shit happening, and it doesn't really make sense with the characters or story line.

 

[Etoile]

OMFG. I finally caught this week's episode.

What the HELL.

Bonus points to me for recognizing Steve Bacic (ba-CHEEK) from the 4 seconds of screen time he got! I interpreted for him once, he's a funny guy.

But oh my GOD.

Is it safe to post spoilers yet?

 

[intothewoods]

Is it just me or is someone new directing? Some of the scenes have this weird handheld camera effect.

 

[Etoile]

I haven't noticed anything like that, but I don't know. I do thinjk Bill Paxton is doing a better job acting than usual.

Very astute of Nicki to pick up on Margie's marriage to Goran as an escape route for when Bill outs the family, though.

 

[Etoile]

Just watched the season finale On Demand.

HOLY CRAAAAAAAAP

C'mon people, let's bring this thread back to life!!

 

[intothewoods]

Just watched the season finale On Demand.

HOLY CRAAAAAAAAP

C'mon people, let's bring this thread back to life!!

Ok, I finally watched too. Ummm I'm still in shock LOL. I can't believe they did it, although that's where it was heading.

I mean, geesh, that episode was total destruction. I'm still digesting the whole thing, but I don't think I liked it overall.

 

[Etoile]

I knew they were gonna end up in red, white, and blue though. HA!

 

[intothewoods]

I knew they were gonna end up in red, white, and blue though. HA!

OMG I didn't even notice that!!!!