Salt Lake Tribune
Weekly Ad Specials
TV: Big Love starts new season
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

At Bill Henrickson's house, you can feel a lot of love in the room. A lot of love. That's because tucked away in a suburb of Sandy is Bill's three-house tract where the small-business owner lives with his three wives. It's the central family unit behind HBO's polygamist drama, "Big Love," which begins a second season of marital strife - but with three times the group hugs - tonight at 10 p.m. Back are the domestic hassles and secret scandals of Utah's most popular polygamist family, which likely will cause more strife for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Beehive State's tourism bureau. To keep it all straight, here's how Bill's family tree would look and the spider web of relationships that populate it.

Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton)The patriarch and owner of a chain of Utah home-improvement stores. Juggling domestic squabbles among the sister wives is his second job. His third job is keeping his illegal life secret and fending off his father-in-law Roman Grant, the prophet of the fundamentalist Mormon church, from muscling in on the business.

Barbara Henrickson (Jeanne Tripplehorn)Barbara, the First Wife, is facing the family's biggest crisis: At the end of last season, she was "outed" as a polygamist's wife while receiving a Mother of the Year award at the governor's mansion. In the new season, she deals with the aftermath.

Nicollete Grant (Chloe Sevigny)The Second Wife and the most destructive of the family. She lies about the finances and is always maneuvering to be First Wife. To make it worse for Bill, the head prophet of the fundamentalist church, Roman, is her father.

Margene Heffman (Ginnifer Goodwin)The Third Wife and youngest of the sister wives, Margene tends to act more like a clueless teenager. She's beginning to feel trapped and overwhelmed.

Sarah Henrickson (Amanda Seyfried)The Henricksons' teenage daughter is finding it difficult to live in a polygamist family and is separating more and more from its religious bonds.

Ben Henrickson (Douglas Smith)The family's oldest son has things to worry about other than the fact he has three mothers. He's learning about sexual urges and trying to curb them. Good luck.

Frank Harlow (Bruce Dern)Bill's father is a paranoid member of the polygamist compound. Quirky and gruff, Frank is afraid of his estranged wife Lois, who he suspected was trying to kill him in season one.

Lois Henrickson (Grace Zabriskie)Bill's mother is a stubborn and combative member of the compound who's also at odds with the prophet.

Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton)Prophet of the Juniper Creek compound, a rural Utah polygamist town. Conniving and yet quietly controlling, Grant is trying to profit from Bill's home-improvement business and acts more like a Mafia Godfather than a religious leader.

Article Tools

Photos
 
Affiliates and Partners