‘Big Love’: More Apostasy, Less Serenity and Joy

Once again, Bill’s in hot water, Margene’s been caught in a lie, and Big Love is spinning its favorite narrative trick: the huge gathering gone horribly, horribly awry — this time in formalwear. It’s Barb’s mom’s wedding, and poor old Jeanne Tripplehorn is there in a hopeless quest to make nice with her LDS clan and steer Ben away from his attraction to polygamy (as embodied by the eerily inbred Compound Twins). Bill, Margene, and Niki show up, and we’re off to the races — complete with hilarious random dialogue like Bill’s getting called out by some tween prig. (Tween: “Can you say your apostasy has brought you serenity and joy?� Bill: “Oh, shut up!�)

Meanwhile, Sarah’s college boyfriend wants an open relationship and the jealousy is killing her; Bill keeps trying to distinguish his Godly Weasel Credo from that of your average emo rodent, until Sarah flatly tells him he has “no credibility.� Because he has no credibility. And speaking of infestations, for our finale, Alby (we’re assuming) provides the ol’ rattlesnake in the connubial bed trick! Delicious: It’s a metaphor wrapped in a Godfather reference wrapped in a duvet.

Finally, the best random avoided murder: Wanda’s impulsive near-switch from powdered sugar to Comet Cleanser. —Emily Nussbaum