Like the polygamist Bill Henrickson and his Utah family, it takes three - not just one - to make things work. And this is one series where all three pistons are firing.
As the second season begins tonight at 10 p.m. (it moved from its Sunday night slot to make way for a new HBO drama, "John from Cincinnati"), the domestic strife inside their family's Sandy home continues in high gear and with high anxiety.
At the end of last season, Bill's First Wife, Barbara (Jeanne Tripplehorn), was "outed" at the governor's mansion during a ceremony honoring her as "Utah Mother of the Year" (based on a true story, by the way).
Now the family - who has kept its polygamous roots secret - not only struggles to stay in hiding, but is trying to learn who ratted them out.
Meanwhile, Bill (Bill Paxton) is still at war with Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton), the prophet of the polygamous compound, over control of Bill's home-improvement stores. Bill also got his troubled brother Joey to serve on the compound's voting board to put a wrench in the works.
As the season wears on (critics were given five of the new season's episodes), the family will face a multitude of new problems ranging from dealing with a runaway to Bill meeting a new, possible fourth wife.
Like the first season, the new year introduces the story lines with heart, sincerity and the right dose of humor (in one episode, Bill's Second Wife, Nicollette (Chlo' Sevigny), has a hilarious conversation with her husband about why she thinks marriage cannot exist on love alone).
More importantly, what stays true in "Big Love" are its key relationships - between Bill and his three wives and especially between the three wives, played by Tripplehorn, Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin. Their chemistry and the way they always lean on one another is what makes us believe in their most unusual matrimonial bond.
Unfortunately, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those who want to protect the state's image will continue to decry the series as a mockery of Utah, complaining that it makes us look like nothing but a dusty rural campground for braided women in floral dresses.
But they're missing the point. "Big Love" wants to prove that even in the most crowded, undisciplined, ill-advised and just plain illegal unions, love can flourish.
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* VINCE HORIUCHI'S column appears Mondays and Fridays. He can be reached at vince@sltrib.com or 801-257-8607. For more television insights, visit Horiuchi's blog, "The Village Vidiot," at blogs.sltrib.com/tv/ and catch his PopCast podcast every Tuesday at sltrib.com/entertainment. Send comments about this column to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
