Bill — excuse me, State Senator Bill Henrickson — took the oath of office, fleeing his hospital bed after having been run down by one of his SUV-driving wives, knowing that he was in violation of the state laws he’d just sworn to uphold because those laws ban polygamy.
It’s clear that based on Bill’s medicine-induced dreams where he was communing with a famous Utah polygamist who kindly encouraged him, that he’s moving beyond the down-to-earth business of family and Home Plus and now sees himself as operating on an elevated, historic plane, standing up against religious persecution. In Bill’s mind, he’s a civic leader who’s destined for the history books, miles and miles away from the Bill Henrickson we met in the first season who was busying himself with the mundane, day-to-day activities of family life.
And as Bill pulls further away from the family and fathering — with the exception of dealing with the fall-out from the news that Margene was only 16 when they got married — the wives are trying to not only deal with the family, which is spiraling out of control (Cara Lynn is in mourning, Lois has dementia, Alby declared war on the Henricksons), but to deal with their own complex feelings about being exposed to and ostracized by the hostile world as polygamists.
It’s been interesting to watch Nicki become revolutionized and vociferously anti-compound, as she had been their greatest excuse-maker, the who once urged Bill to relocate the family to Juniper Creek so he could take over for his dead father. Now Nicki’s going around publicly denouncing the compound’s treatment of women after she’d been forced into an underage marriage by her father, and the only way to get free from it was to give up custody of her daughter Cara Lynn. Nicki’s emotional injuries upon finding herself in the Joy Book, coupled with her worries about her daughter possibly suffering a similar fate, are still a long way away from being healed.
All that backstory explains Nicki’s fierce response to Margene’s revelation about being 16 when she married Bill. At 16, Nicki wanted to go to school, wanted to do things; she did not want to be married and start having babies. But that was exactly the kind of thing for which Margene longed, a family, kids. “Your abuse is not my abuse,” Margene told Nicki.
While Nicki’s serious about preaching the anti-compound word — even chastising her mother for intimidating Juniper Creek women who attempt to seek out state help — Barb’s feminist awakening continues. As she saw herself ignored by Bill’s Senate aide who won’t bother to look her in the eyes, as she watches her mother-in-law suffer from dementia caused by untreated herpes Lois’ abusive husband gave her, as she realizes that Margene married Bill at 16 and the world treats Barb as some kind of freak, she’s speaking more aggressively about the value and rights of women, particularly in her own religion. Her brief discussion with the governor’s wife about an Interfaith Council and a church that would respect and elevate women is another step in Barb’s journey of becoming the Betty Friedan for Mormon women.
One moment which made me cringe during this Big Love episode — aside from Don Embry finally getting angry with Bill (which he needs to do more often) for getting involved with Margene, blaming Bill’s lust for potentially destroying everything he’s trying to do to make polygamy mainstream — was the return of Rhonda. Nothing good ever comes from her reappearance.
Clacked by Meredith O'Brien 
on Feb 07, 2011 @ 14:50 EST5EDT
Is it me or was there an undertone of death this entire episode? From the “dream” sequence to the end scene where Bill appears paranoid for his safety in the dark hallway. It all seemed like foreshadowing to me…