Review: Big Love “A Seat at the Table”

Review: Big Love “A Seat at the Table”

Last week on Big Love, we saw the beginning of the end. The family is fractured, Bill’s credibility and respect is at an all-time low, and Alby is back and sure to make some waves. What will the latest episode bring us? Read on to find out!

At the end of “Winter” we saw that some families did show up to the Henrickson’s open house event, even though some of the women in attendance were out without their husbands’ knowledge. It seemed as if all hope was not lost for Bill and his family yet. “A Seat at the Table” showed us that more problems are headed their way.

Bill is still trying to do big things in the Senate, but he needs to leave well enough alone. His meddling and trying to create pacts with people on the hill are only making things worse. It becomes painful at times, watching him try to coax people so that he can get his way. He even uses Barb’s connection to an old friend so that they can have her over for dinner, all so he can discuss a new bill he wants to propose. I’m not sure if Bill is oblivious to how annoyingly persistent he is, or if he simply doesn’t care because he’s that big of an ass, but it really makes his character unlikeable.

His “safety net” meeting with leaders of various polygamous sects ends in a complete mess thanks to Alby inciting one of the leaders, and having that set off Nicki like a pitbull without a leash. The spectacle results in people not taking the meeting seriously, the leaders getting angry at Bill, and Senators concocting a bill that will put the squeeze on polygamists.

Barb, still on her kick to try new things, continues to booze it up and, in addition to her dance classes, signs up for this group called Sunstone. Here we really see that Barb is desperate to find a place where she belongs, desperate to have a sense of community, and she even goes so far as to reach out to her mother. Her reasoning behind that is because Sunstone is holding a symposium, and Barb will be a member of the panel to discuss what it’s like to be excommunicated. Knowing that her mother was a rebel in her youth, helping to empower her fellow women in the Mormon faith, Barb asks if she will sit beside her on the panel and speak. At first it seems as if the request is a great way for her and her mother to reconnect, but it ends in disaster as her mother publicly slanders her and leaves in a huff.

Margene, who is still trying to adjust to everything, is spiraling out of control. Bill, despite his “holier than thou” take on keeping his family together, changes his mind about having Ana around and ends up giving her two plane tickets and some money so that she will leave town. This, obviously, doesn’t sit well with Margene and adds to her sorrow. It did seem funny though how, last season, Bill was fighting tooth and nail to keep Ana in the picture, even going so far as to have Margene marry Gorin so that he wouldn’t be deported. Yet, here he is, sending Ana away, just so that news doesn’t get out that he had a fourth wife for awhile and got her pregnant out of wedlock.

On top of it all, we see a moment where Margene has this manic, semi-coked up episode where we see her getting overly excited about a Jewel song, and then dancing about to The Human League. While it was awesome seeing her have fun and acting like a young adult, it was concerning because the energy came from this health drink she’s thinking about selling. Clearly it has some ingredients that aren’t good to have on a regular basis, so I wonder how long it will take until we see Margene crumble from that.

While there was a lot of progression, in terms of story and character growth (or lack thereof), there wasn’t enough in the episode, for me at least, to really feel satisfied. Hopefully next week gives us something more substantial.

Big Love airs every Sunday night at 9 PM on HBO.

Lost Password

Sign Up