Big Love: The Complete Collection

Quick take: If you own the other four seasons on DVD, just buy the fifth independently.

Long take: For five glorious (and sometimes frustrating) seasons, HBO's "Big Love" took polygamy family drama to new heights. While not always perfect, this show boasted some of the strongest and most underrated performances that you're likely to encounter and challenged the conventions of familial obligations and acceptance. As a long time fan, I recognize that the show could be uneven. I'm not one of those people who think that as long as you like or watch a show, it automatically ranks as five stars. Different seasons can vary in quality, and while "Big Love" had its share of growing pains--it never lacked heart or conviction. Playing with diverse elements including family drama, comedy, suspense, politics, religion, and everything in between--the show became benchmark must-see television as a savvy and sophisticated adult soap opera.

I'm not going to dissect the plot of "Big Love" over five years from 2006 through 2011. At its core, however, it is the tale of Bill Henrickson and his three wives Barb, Nicki, and Margene dealing with the trials and tribulations inherent in living a polygamist lifestyle in contemporary America. Played by Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin respectively--this primary quartet is reason enough to accord the show the highest rating possible. The fact that none of these stars was EVER nominated for an Emmy Award is perhaps the biggest mystery in "Big Love" history. Tripplehorn in early seasons, Sevigny in middle seasons, and Paxton in later seasons all easily deserved nominations. Heck, while I'm no great fan of Sevigny, her Nicki is an unforgettable character creation and was two years running my favorite performance on TV (she won a 2010 Golden Globe). Also inexplicably excluded from Emmy competition was the great Harry Dean Stanton as one of the best villains in modern television. The only Emmy acting nominations the show received were in the Guest category where Bruce Dern (as Bill's ne'r-do-well father), Mary Kay Place (as Nicki's manipulative mother), Sissy Spacek (as an unscrupulous political lobbyist), and Ellen Burstyn (as Barb's disapproving mother) got nods through the years. Also invaluable to the show was Grace Zabriskie as Bill's mom. I could go on all day about the extended cast, but there's not enough time for everyone.

If I were to break down the seasons to my personal perspective, they would look something like this:

Season One (12 episodes): 4 Stars. A provocative beginning that was finding its footing. Had yet to capitalize on the family dynamic that would prove so irresistible in following seasons.

Season Two (12 episodes) and Season Three (10 episodes): 5 Stars. Returning, in my opinion, as the year's most improved drama for its second season--these two years were a fine balance of storylines and big ideas. The central relationships are solidified in perfect harmony and the performances are among the best on television.

Season Four (9 episodes): 3 Stars. A cluttered and overstuffed year in which far too much was going on. I call it everything-but-the-kitchen-sink plotting. Some realistic, some outrageous--it is easily the series weakest year, but it is still eminently watchable.

Season Five (10 episodes): 4 1/2 stars. A fitting and powerful end that brings the clan together in defiance. Eliminating many of the extraneous plot threads of the previous season, this brought the focus back to family. A solid and memorable ending to a landmark series.

The Complete Series DVD is bringing all the previous years together into one set, of course. All of the original extras included on individual seasons will be provided with NO additional supplements. Season Five (which is being released separately on the same day) will have a Special Feature called "Inside The Episode" which will have insight from the show's creators about each episode in this season. If you already own the other four seasons of "Big Love," there is no particular reason to invest in the set--just buy the last year. If, however, you are a newbie to the show--it receives my wholehearted recommendation. Bye, Bye Henricksons--you will be missed! KGHarris, 9/11.

This review is for the Complete Series; this box set includes all five seasons of the show.

Each season has between four and six discs (20 DVDs in total), and the discs are stored inside five standard clear DVD-sized cases (one per season). The five cases are stored inside a very thick and sturdy box. Also included is a slipcover that wraps around the outer box.

Overall, this set is very high-quality box set that fans of the show will love. However, in terms of actual DVD content, there is nothing exclusive to the complete series set. So if you already own each season separately then there really is no reason to upgrade (unless you really like the outer box).

Not a great show and not horrible, Big Love suffers from what I think of as the EVERYTHING AND THE KITCHEN SINK handicap...meaning that each season contains at least ten major problems, any one of which could have been focused on, providing enough drama and trouble for the duration of at least one season and several character arcs, etc. As though it is not enough to zero in on a man living as a polygamist, the writers throw in all kinds of side plots involving insane parents, shootings, intense cults, sexual maturity problems with teen sons and daughters, hiding homosexuality when one is a Mormon, and so and so on and so on. Because there is too much to watch, no subject ends up getting the keen attention it deserves, resulting in huge story holes and the too frequent appearance and disappearance of characters and adventures.

On a positive note, the acting is quite good...especially from Chloe Sevigny and Matt Ross,who turn in consistently outstanding performances. There are also some one-liners in the series that are worth copying and saving to one's music files, they are THAT funny. Still, I can't quite recommend the series unless you're so intrigued by Mormonism that you're willing to overlook what amounts to shaky-at-its-best writing and conceptualization.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 8 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars