One of my favorite moments from “Free at Last,” the opener for Season 4 of HBO’s Big Love is when Nikki and Bill are driving all the way from the casino to the compound and Nikki offers to make Bill some fry sauce. I literally laughed out loud. Fry sauce, for those of you who didn’t grow up in Utah or go to school there, is a combination of mayonnaise and ketchup. I don’t know what Nikki thought she was going to mix it in, but the always terrific Chloe Svegny struggles with the little packet and then bursts into tears. It’s a very real moment, particularly showing that sometimes the big things don’t make us cry when we really need to, but something small can open the floodgates.There were several more moments like this: Adele freaking out and pleading with Nikki that she wants to make her a BLT, and she wildly dances toward Nikki and says, “Bacon!” There has been so much in the interwebs this past year about different kinds of bacon salts and bacon chocolates you can buy, that the emphasis on bacon seemed appropriate to our culture: Surely, she will stay for bacon. And of course, the bacon is in the freezer, where another surprise awaits her….
Another moment was when Laura, Alby’s sneaky first wife, goes to the safe and breaks out a can of Coors beer to celebrate Roman’s demise. She holds it toward Alby and giggles, “Shall we?” The polygamist’s champagne. Did you notice Anne Dudek’s baby bump this episode too?
And Bill starts out speaking to the casino employees with the fabulous statement, “I have never before been filled with such pride… and humility.” Please don’t tell me that I have to explain why that is funny.
I have been wondering how they were going to handle Barb’s ex-communication from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They tackle it right away by showing the family at their new church service, with Bill’s partner and his family (or what is left of it). Afterwards, Barb finds out from Sarah that Sarah is considering The Church of Christ with her fiancee, and Barb gamely says, “I hear they’re very progressive.” The writing on this show is superb.
It’s really Margene (with her own self-interests) who helps Barb move past her religious crisis, by engaging Barb in the opening of the family’s casino. Mostly, Margene wants to have more time to pursue her own career peddling jewelry on a home-shopping-type network. She completely projects her own career interests onto Barb (offering a pointed non-argument when Barb suggests that their Native American partners do not like her), but I think it’s good for Barb. She has to find her own way, she has to find an identity outside of the church that has defined so much of her life (even when she was not active in it).
So far, I don’t find the introduction of Nikki’s daughter to be very compelling. We get just a glimmer that Cara may be a lot like her conniving mother, during her assurance to her father that she doesn’t really like living with the Henricksons. However, didn’t we just get rid of Rhonda? Do we really always have to have a teenage pain-in-the-ass around?
Side note: It’s hilarious that Ben is now in a Christian band that saves the day covering Kenny Rogers at the casino opening with “The Gambler.” However, I cannot think of a scenario in which a) the LDS church would hire a band for an event, when they can recruit talent from their members or b) the LDS church would hire a band of NON-Mormons. Believe me, there are enough Amy Grant wannabes that they simply wouldn’t have to. But it’s not a big deal– just more of a footnote on how exclusive the LDS church really is.
Finally, I think Bill should have put on Roman’s hat at the end and said, “You bet your bippy!” But maybe that would be a little bit over the top to have Bill already filling Roman’s… hat.
Clacked by Jen Creer
on Jan 11, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
