The end of Big Love
- Thread starter Joe Washington
- Start date
Just as well. The show ran off the rails last season and, beyond that, I think the conceit of the program has largely run its course. It was a great show in the day but at this point I think trying to come up with a dignified wrap up is best.
doubleohfive
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I'm not bothered by it. Five years is a good run for a cable show these days.
I appreciate writers who are able to plan out and execute a successful ending to a show to not leave viewers hanging.
"When we created BIG LOVE in 2002, we had a strong conception of the journey the Henrickson family would make over the course of the series, of the story we had to tell," said Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer. "While we were in the writers' room this year shaping our fifth season, we discovered that we were approaching the culmination of that story."
Where the stopping of production is directly tied to the completion of a story? That's nearly unheard of in network television. Bean counters, ratings and advertisers seem to make it impossible and destroy the artistic expression of the production team.
If only other great shows had the foresight to do this, my DVD collection would be substantially larger (with the exception of Deadwood, which I feel ended well enough). I can't imagine investing in, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, for example.
Big Love was outstanding last year. There wasnt' a plot thread I found uninteresting, every scene had a purpose, the characters painfully well written.... it was terrific storytelling.
There's something wonderful about a good show ending at exactly the right time, not too early (Enterprise) and not too late (Heroes).
"When we created BIG LOVE in 2002, we had a strong conception of the journey the Henrickson family would make over the course of the series, of the story we had to tell," said Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer. "While we were in the writers' room this year shaping our fifth season, we discovered that we were approaching the culmination of that story."
Where the stopping of production is directly tied to the completion of a story? That's nearly unheard of in network television. Bean counters, ratings and advertisers seem to make it impossible and destroy the artistic expression of the production team.
If only other great shows had the foresight to do this, my DVD collection would be substantially larger (with the exception of Deadwood, which I feel ended well enough). I can't imagine investing in, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, for example.
Big Love was outstanding last year. There wasnt' a plot thread I found uninteresting, every scene had a purpose, the characters painfully well written.... it was terrific storytelling.
There's something wonderful about a good show ending at exactly the right time, not too early (Enterprise) and not too late (Heroes).
I'm always fascinated by how this board with all it's myriad members with such a range of opinions on tv shows of every kind... we can never get a proper discussion going on about Big Love.
So... do Sci Fi fans dislike BL? What's the deal here?
On another note... I'm surprised to read that here (and other sites) the general feeling was that season 4 was a dip in quality for the show. I myself found it had reached a new high.
So... do Sci Fi fans dislike BL? What's the deal here?
On another note... I'm surprised to read that here (and other sites) the general feeling was that season 4 was a dip in quality for the show. I myself found it had reached a new high.
Some of your thoughts would be great, Joe. This isn't digg; posting articles, links etc. is fine, but please try to add some content of your own for others to work with.
Well, I think next season may hold some interest to me with it being the final season. Maybe they can tone down the melodrama a bit and focus on the more positive aspects of the show like the love of a family.
I am wondering if they are going to have Ben and Margene hook up because that's been building up since the first season and I think Season 4 hasn't quite resolved it.
I'm glad Season 5 is the last season because I was afraid the show would become a complete and utter shell of itself as it is renewed for season after season after season like Entourage.
I'm sorry I didn't post thoughts of my own before. I was more interested in other people's thoughts about this such as the Big Love lovers, the Big Love haters, and the people in-between.
I am wondering if they are going to have Ben and Margene hook up because that's been building up since the first season and I think Season 4 hasn't quite resolved it.
I'm glad Season 5 is the last season because I was afraid the show would become a complete and utter shell of itself as it is renewed for season after season after season like Entourage.
I'm sorry I didn't post thoughts of my own before. I was more interested in other people's thoughts about this such as the Big Love lovers, the Big Love haters, and the people in-between.
I love the show and I will be sad to see it go.
Not neccessarily. According to this, Utah authorities generally only prosecute bigamy cases where "it suspects crimes such as child abuse, domestic violence and fraud."
If you'll recall, that's how they went after Roman: not for the multiple wives, but the allegations that at least one of them was underage.
But, yeah, I could see the ending of the show being something along the lines of a cliffhanger where Bill, et al, are discovered and challenge the law but we're left to wonder if the challenge was successful or not. The final scene I envision would be the four of them standing together, Bill just off the phone with his attorney and saying "I just spoke to [lawyer]. The Supreme Court agreed to hear our appeal and stay prosecution. We'll get through this because-no matter what anyone says-we're a familiy." Cue music and fade to black.
That's putting it mildly, the show went to loony land last year and was borderline unwatchable, besides that the likable parts of almost all the characters was gone, when Nikki is who you are rooting for your show is in big trouble.
I hope it ends with Bill killed in a hysterical manner.
I kinda figured the next one would be the last after last season's finale. It's been a great run with superb storytelling and acting, and I can't imagine that trend continuing for another couple of seasons. It's best in my mind to end on a high note.
Hard to believe Harry Dean Stanton wasn't nominated for an award (according to IMDB) until he appeared on this show.
Hard to believe Harry Dean Stanton wasn't nominated for an award (according to IMDB) until he appeared on this show.
I disagree about Enterprise if I am to understand you correctly. I thought it was just getting good when it was cancelled- I would have preferred another season with Manny Coto running the show at the very least.
I also must disagree about Heroes as well- it had about one good season and the rest sort of just gradually went on a steep decline. I gave up on that show after the second season.
As for Big Love, I wasn't wholly impressed by last season but I did enjoy some aspects. They really made Bill unlikeable for what he did to Ben and Don. I understand a big part of the last season was to show Bill's lust or power and underneath all of that, his drive to be accepted not only for him but also for his family, but I'm not sure if the follow through will be able to remedy Bill's reputation and image in my mind. The next season certainly must deal with the consequences and ramifications of Bill's desire to "come out" per se, and I have a feeling things will only take a turn for the worst, but I guess that's part of the drama of it all.
Erm, JacksonArcher I think you may have misunderstood, I did say that in my opinion Enterprise ended too early and Heroes too late.
I would have loved an Ent season 5, and I wish I had given up after Heroes S2 like you did. That was two painful years of TV, the last half of Heroes. Yikes.
Re-watachability in a series is important to me. I don't think I could ever endure Heroes again minus season one... and the two-part Eclipse story was kind of interesting.
Enterprise is great the second, third time around.
Did you catch the finale?
I think the writers' plan is to have Bill burning all his bridges within his family/friends for the long shot of making his lifestyle legal in some way. But we'll see next year. They were very successful at making him unlikable; so I'm pumped to see how that works out.
Didn't anyone enjoy the crazy Lois/birds/Mexico storyline this year? I was roaring!
I would have loved an Ent season 5, and I wish I had given up after Heroes S2 like you did. That was two painful years of TV, the last half of Heroes. Yikes.
Re-watachability in a series is important to me. I don't think I could ever endure Heroes again minus season one... and the two-part Eclipse story was kind of interesting.
Enterprise is great the second, third time around.
Did you catch the finale?
I think the writers' plan is to have Bill burning all his bridges within his family/friends for the long shot of making his lifestyle legal in some way. But we'll see next year. They were very successful at making him unlikable; so I'm pumped to see how that works out.
Didn't anyone enjoy the crazy Lois/birds/Mexico storyline this year? I was roaring!
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Really, Bill is the villain of the show.
Putting aside the bigamy itself, he's committed multiple crimes to cover up his lifestyle, including blackmail and obstruction of justice. He's put his wives, primarily Barb, and kids through hell on countless occasions through his own actions and he's never been above selfishly using others, including family and friends, to advance his own interests (business and personal). And, much like Tony Soprano, he always has a justification for doing it in own mind.
Really, the great irony of the show Bill is just a more "sophisticated" acting and looking version of Roman. In fact, I could easily see the series ending with Bill as the new prophet, sitting up at the compound and not even realizing that he's become his greatest enemy.
Putting aside the bigamy itself, he's committed multiple crimes to cover up his lifestyle, including blackmail and obstruction of justice. He's put his wives, primarily Barb, and kids through hell on countless occasions through his own actions and he's never been above selfishly using others, including family and friends, to advance his own interests (business and personal). And, much like Tony Soprano, he always has a justification for doing it in own mind.
Really, the great irony of the show Bill is just a more "sophisticated" acting and looking version of Roman. In fact, I could easily see the series ending with Bill as the new prophet, sitting up at the compound and not even realizing that he's become his greatest enemy.
Big Love had only nine episodes and tried to cram a whole lot of plot into them. The third season was amazing and perhaps the writers were trying to top it. But Bill’s decision to run for political office seemed to come from nowhere and it seemed to have a snowball effect, with one thing after another twisting the plot to the point that it just snapped.
