Big Love, Starter Pack

Big Love, the Starter Pack from HBO that aired in 2006, is a provocative, compelling drama that takes a deep dive into the lifestyle and practices of a fundamentalist Mormon family that is practicing polygamy. The show is set in the suburbs of Salt Lake City in Utah. It is a complex and fascinating exploration of an unconventional family structure that some viewers might find scandalous, while others may find it strikingly relatable.

At the heart of the series is Bill Henrickson, the patriarch of the family played by Bill Paxton, who runs a successful chain of home improvement stores. Bill juggles his roles as a father, a husband, and a businessman, but with a twist, he has three wives – Barb, the first and legal wife, Nicki, the second and the daughter of a controversial, powerful leader of a fundamentalist group, and Margene, the third and youngest. Each of these wives is played to perfection by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin respectively.

While this three-part marriage may not be your typical portrayal of a nuclear family, the show offers a glimpse of love, tension, and chaos, just like in any other family. Each wife lives in a separate house with their children, and Bill alternates nights between them. This creates a logistical and emotional obstacle course that they have to cleverly maneuver every day.

The show thrives on contrasts. These unusual home arrangements are interspersed with the challenges posed by the outside world. It also presents a stark contrast to the veneer of normalcy and an all-American lifestyle the family tries to maintain in public while dealing with their private complexities.

The brilliance of the Big Love Starter Pack lies in the way it both challenges and reinforces traditional family values. It offers viewers an entertaining yet deeply thought-provoking narrative around the conventional institution of marriage. Its backdrop of fundamentalist Mormonism provides an interesting and enriched cultural context against which the drama unfolds. While polygamy is the obvious prism through which events and conflicts are viewed, the series also makes room for themes such as faith, power dynamics, identity, gender relations, and societal norms.

The women in Bill’s life are strong characters in their own right. Each wife brings a distinct personality, perspectives, challenges, and emotional resonances to the family dynamics. These distinct layers of complexity make Big Love a mesmerizing watch, as each wife brings a new depth to the storyline and the continual exploration of themes such as jealousy, rivalry, and sisterhood within this multi-faceted marital setup.

The introduction of the prominent, corrupt leader of the compound from which the Henricksons are estranged continues to affect their lives, making the narrative even more gripping. The play between the ideal, peaceful facade versus the tumultuous, complex reality pervades Big Love, making it a real draw to those who appreciate multi-layered character development and plotlines.

Despite all its drama, Big Love is finely crafted with a balance of emotion and wit. A consistent strain of dry humor runs throughout the narrative, offering moments of comic relief. Above all, it's a character-driven drama, amounting to a serious examination of the human condition within unusual bounds.

The Big Love Starter Pack provides the viewer a perfect introduction to this unexplored territory of a television drama, challenging them to question their morals, societal norms, and perhaps their understanding of a family. It's a powerfully acted, expertly written series that draws the viewer into the intimate folds of a decidedly controversial, yet strangely universal theme—what it means to be part of a family, however unconventional it may be.