Officially the Best Show on TV . . .

It's Big Love. If you haven't seen it yet, please, tune in to HBO next Sunday at 8 and watch it. It's currently in its third season (only three episodes left!) and literally keeps you riveted for the whole hour. And yes, it is actually a full hour because HBO doesn't have commercial breaks. Love that.

Anyway, Big Love is about the Henrickson family in Sandy, Utah. If you are my friend on Facebook, yes, that is where I got the last name from. Bill Henrickson is a polygamist, married to three women. Barb was the first, but after she became ill and was no longer able to have children, they took on Nikki. Nikki is the daughter of Roman Grant, the prophet of the nearby Juniper Creek compound and all around Henrickson family antagonist, and she took care of Barb while she was sick. Bill was born on the compound, but was run off by Roman when he was fourteen. A few years after marrying Nikki, the family decided to marry Margene, the eighteen year old babysitter. Now, a few years later, they are living in the suburbs, in three seperate houses with connecting backyards.

The polt is insane. There are so many twists and turns and the characters are so complexly connected. And things are always getting darker and darker. This seaon has been, by far, the most shocking, and the tag line is "Everyone has something to hide." Very fitting, as everyone in the show is hiding something from everyone else, and the whole season has been about these secrets slowly coming out. For example, Bill's oldest daughter (Sarah, who is about to go graduate high school) hid her pregnancy from the family until she miscarried two episodes ago. This episode was also when the family found out Nikki had been on birth control for four years and Bill is on Viagra.

As far as last night's episode goes, well, I was blown away. The episode before had been just about the family, with them going on a trip out to New York to retrace the steps of Joseph Smith. So last night, they were thrown right back into everything, including the power struggle on Juniper Creek between Alby (Roman's son) and Roman, who was recently found not guilty of an array of charges. Nikki went back to work at the DA office, where she was placed during her father's trial to get information on the prosecutions case. But Nikki has been flirting with her boss, who thinks her name is Margene (Nikki didn't want them to know she was Roman Grant's daughter.) And last night she actually went on a date with him! AND KISSED HIM! Yeah! What the fuck, Nikki?!

And the saddest thing of all . . . oh my god. So sad, I nearly cried. Okay, lemme set this one up for ya: Bill has a younger brother named Joey. Joey had been a football star, but after becoming an alcoholic, he returned to Juniper Creek and married Wanda. And Wanda is nuts. Like, bonafide fucking crazy. So, Kathy came to live with them to help take care of Joey Jr, their son. Kathy was the only witness Roman wasn't able to bribe or scare into not testifying during his trial, and now that he's out of jail, he's pretty much gunning for her. Joey and Kathy decided to get married, making her his second wife. (Still with me?) But when Kathy went to go look for flowers on a nearby hill, she went missing. Well, turns out the Greens (another major group of fundamental polygamists) have taken her hostage and are going to make her marry Hollass. Who shows up to seal them? Fucking Roman Grant. Kathy gets away, and jumps into a truck that was idling outside of the barn they were going to marry them in, but her braid gets stuck in the door when she slams it. Roman comes right up on her in his jeep, and rams her until she runs off the road and into a tree. Well, with the braid stuck in the door and no seat belt, I'm sure you can guess what happens. And Joey, Bill, and the rest of the gang, who are waiting back at Joey's house for the wedding have no idea what has happened.

I'm all worked up just thinking about it . . . I can't wait for next week.