Big Love "Exorcism" Review

So, it's clear how the show is going to end now, right? Not exactly. A few items were cleaned up in this second to last episode but there are still heavy shoes yet to fall. The family is hanging together by tattered threads. The law is protecting them while waiting to knock on the door to take Bill away. And even with dementia Lois isn't as nutty as Crazy Rhonda.

I had to go and check the retrospective special they ran earlier in the night to make sure I didn't miss part of tonight's episode. It felt like we were joining a regularly scheduled program already in progress by the way things started. Then again, I thought the entire episode jumped around and lacked any flow.

I'm starting to think they've decided to make Bill as despicable as possible so that when he goes off to prison, we don't feel as bad for him. Now, I don't think that's really what is going to happen but it was a thought I had tonight. I do however think he and Nicki should ride off into the sunset together and change their last names to the Despicables. What she did to Cara Lynn tonight, both trying to send her off to boarding school and the things she told her in her bedroom was beyond awful. I wasn't much of a Nicki fan to begin with but after today I wish Cara Lynn had thrown her into the fire. Nicki has been on a similar arc as Bill. With each episode the writers find a way to make you dislike them more. She's always been selfish and insecure but now that she's legally married to Bill she insufferably self important as well. Her calling Bill to tell on Barb for going to a new church was not only an awful technical transition but an unforgivable betrayal of trust between the sister wives.

There is nothing I want more from the finale than to see Barb get out of this oppressive environment she's found herself in. She was dead on with her criticism of Bill's uncompromising stance. His lack of willingness to see any one's point of view aside from his own has put their lives, their business and his marriage Barb in danger. His passive aggressive attack on Barb's loyalty and character at Juniper Creek should have been the final straw. I want Barb to find her calling and if Bill isn't willing to accept her then maybe he needs to take a look at his own issues. Maybe I'm alone here but I find Bill to be a very hypocritical man. He puts himself and his agenda above all else. I've never felt like he was following a pat God set before him but rather using God's Will as a tool to create his own path.

The end of the Alby saga was a disappointment. They could have had much greater drama and tension in those final scenes if they hadn't tried to cram so much into the episode. You knew Bill wasn't going to kill Alby and you never feared that Margene had been hit. It was just a very anticlimactic ending to a great rivalry.

There's not much to say about Margene this week. She cried a lot and actually seemed to digress as a character. Her giving up her Goji business seemed a bit abrupt and Pam's declaration that she and Carl were separated was odd. If there was anything to take from Margene tonight it would be the writers setting up the possibility of her leaving on a mission.

I see Ben is walking directly in his fathers footsteps by compounding stupid decisions with more stupid decisions. OK you slept with Crazy Rhonda. If you weren't dumber than a bag of bricks you would have kept Heather away from the house until Rhonda was gone. Then when she does find out about you two, your first instinct is to go to the "I can have you both" card? Wow, I take back all the things I said about you last week. Just stick to playing your corny songs on the piano with your little brothers. That's probably as complicated a task as you can handle.

So where are we going? I'm not sure. With Alby out of the picture, my excitement for the finale has been tempered. Obviously, Bill is going to be arrested at some point. He's going to have a big grand standing moment in the senate and ultimately it will all come crumbling down. I still think he ends up back on the compound with Nicki. Barb will seek out her calling as a priest holder and Margene will experience the world on a mission. That's my prediction and I'm sticking to it. Partially because that's what I want to happen and partially because I just don't see another logical ending. I'm probably completely wrong. It'll probably end with Cara Lynn killing Margene. Bill and Barb remarrying and Nicki becoming a liberal rights lesbian. Who knows.

Random Notes:

• I found it extremely difficult to believe Barb would be with Nicki and Margene delivering food to Bill at the State House.
• I'm guessing Amanda Seyfried returns next week as Bill faces trial.
• I guess statutory rape is the in crime this year. Big Love and Californication both with their protagonists on trial for this crime.
• As much as I dislike Bill, I'm going to miss this show next year.