“I think I’m damaged.”
- Nicolette “Nicki” Grant
As always, we hope you were able to tune in last Sunday to the season’s sixth episode of Big Love, the critically acclaimed HBO polygamist drama series starring Chloë Sevigny in her Golden Globe-winning role of Nicolette “Nicki” Grant opposite Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin. Here’s our recap of last Sunday’s episode, 4.06 “Under One Roof” (under the cut), please mouseover to read:
At a dinner with Bill’s political advisers, Bill and Barb unexpectedly run into Ana, Bill’s 48-hour fourth wife, waitering at the restaurant, and are shocked to discover she is pregnant with Bill’s child. Barb then breaks the news to the other wives, each of whom react differently; while Margene is chiefly speechless Nicki suspects a scam, but Barb is determined to include Ana’s upcoming child in their lives. Ana, however, soon makes it clear to the wives she wants only one mother for the child, not four. Meanwhile, Barb continues to ignore Margie because of the incident with Ben, the latter who’s now hanging out with Bill’s parents and Jodean Marquart in Mexico.
Following the dinner, Bill confronts Juniper Creek funds trustee Dale about his connections to Alby, with whom Dale is having a secret affair. Dale continues to struggle with his homosexuality, and tries to seek support and counseling from his church, which however is unsympathetic to his calls for help. When Bill, in search for Ben, later tries to find him at his mother’s, he is surprised at her empty house by Alby’s first wife, Laura Grant, who tells him Dale is in fact gay. How Laura knows this she does not tell, but Bill quickly puts two and two together, and calls Dale out on Laura’s claim. Dale breaks down and confesses his affair.
Tommy and the tribe are not excited about Bill’s plans to out his polygamy, and then announce their plans to officially meet with lobbyist Marilyn Densham, despite Bill’s opposition. Marilyn then surprises Barb and Sarah at the casino, and Barb becomes increasingly irritated with Bill making acquisitions and decisions without her consultation. Barb and Marilyn bond, however, if more than anything thanks to Marilyn’s cleverly veiled duplicitousness. Back home, Margie expresses her doubts to Bill about him exposing the Henricksons’ polygamy, but Bill suspects Margie’s true motives lie elsewhere than in the best interest of the family. He later tells Nicki to try and convince Margie otherwise in the matter.
Meanwhile, Nicki is getting increasingly agitated by her mother’s looming sealing to her ex-husband, JJ. At another convening of the wives, she explodes at Margie for her having had a chance at life before marriage. Via Bill, Nicki finds out the truth about Alby and Dale and eventually gives him her support “no matter what”, and in return Alby reveals to her where JJ and Nicki’s mother Adaleen are to be sealed. A furious Nicki then shows up at the ceremony dressed most inappropriately for the occasion, but is shocked to find out that close by her underage daughter Cara Lynn is also about to be sealed, to a man several times her age. Rushing from door to door, Nicki is eventually able to find Cara Lynn, and, beside herself with anger and devastation, vows she will kill both JJ and Cara Lynn’s “fiancé” if either of them try to come near her daughter again. She then exits with her frightened daughter in tow.
Marilyn continues her aggressive pursuit of employement as the casino rep, but Bill is still neither impressed nor convinced of her being anything other than a shark after the casino money. He then clashes with Barb on the issue, the latter whom has sided with Marilyn after having taken a liking to her. But is Bill the only one seeing Marilyn for who she really is? Back in Mexico, Lois and Frank are making plans for Ben to stay with them for a longer period of time, but unexpectedly run into the dangerous Greenes, from whom they’ve been poaching birds for their own bird business across the border. The consequences of this remain to be seen.
When Bill tells Barb he has come to an agreement about child support with Ana, one that doesn’t include the wives in any way, Barb decides to seek her out, at which Ana tells her the child was conceived outside her marriage to Bill, and therefore has nothing to do with Barb. Outraged by the sum of Bill’s various actions, Barb signs Marilyn on the casino team without his consent or approval, and later confronts Bill about having had extramarital sex with Ana. Bill admits that he made a mistake with Ana, but Barb is unconvinced, revealing he also had extramarital sex with Margie back in the day, and she questions Bill’s true motives for everything he has done so far in the name of “the greater good.” Bill then takes all his three wives to his planned new campaign headquarters to prove that he has just done that.
Elsewhere, things take a dramatic turn when a jealous Laura pays Dale’s wife an unexpected visit. The episode ends with a devastated and profoundly heartbroken Alby crying hopelessly on the floor of his and Dale’s hideaway apartment, only moments after having found Dale’s lifeless body hanging from the noose he’d made for himself.
This was yet another great episode from the Big Love team. Last Sunday’s episode featured again some incredible, touching performances, most notably from Matt “Alby” Ross and Benjamin “Dale” Koldyke, while Chloë Sevigny as Nicki surprised us with a truly unforgettable and hilarious appearance at JJ and Adaleen’s sealing. Priceless!
Media-wise, we’ve updated the gallery with 496 HD screen captures + one promotional still of Chloë in last Sunday’s episode. We’re again a little behind in episodic video clips, but we’ll try and get those for you soon. Enjoy, and stay tuned for some Season 2 DVD stuff coming this weekend!
New Photo Albums:
• Television Work > ‘Big Love’ Episode 4.06 Promotional Stills
• Television Work > ‘Big Love’ Episode 4.06 Screen Captures
