Big Love, "End of Days": We stand alone together

A quick review of last night's "Big Love" season finale coming up just as soon as I try on the dress you picked out for yourself...

"You sad, stupid man." -Marilyn Densham

There are several moments in "End of Days" where Bill is confronted with the hypocrisy, selfishness and destructiveness of his actions, first by Don, then by Marilyn, then by Barb. Considering what a monster the character has become, these should be satisfying moments of reckoning. But they're not, because Bill Henrickson is so lacking in any kind of self-awareness, so consumed with a belief system that, as Marilyn notes, is really "just another excuse for f--king around," that he's incapable of feeling shame or remorse. It doesn't matter if the wake-up call is coming from a hated enemy like Marilyn, or the best friend Bill betrayed, or his #1 wife - Bill had a testimony, and he's going to follow that no matter who gets hurt in the process, end scene.

And while I've been known to obsess on TV shows with reprehensible main characters who are incapable of learning or changing (Tony Soprano, to name one), those shows came with charismatic actors in those roles, and/or such assured storytelling around the anti-hero that I accepted the lack of growth as the price of admission. But as played by Bill Paxton, Bill is an incredibly bland and opaque main character. And as we've discussed in many previous weeks, the show's storytelling this year has become such a ridiculous mess - trying to stuff what felt like three seasons worth of plot and character arcs into a 9-episode bag - that I'm finding it hard to care about any of it.

The acting by many of the female castmembers (here the wives plus Melora Walters as Wanda and Mary Kay Place as Adaleen) is still great, even if the characters' journeys only sometimes make sense (Nicki's arc, in particular, was all over the map this year). That, plus my vague curiosity at seeing how much ruin descends on the family now that Bill has stupidly come out of the closet, may keep me watching through gritted teeth next season. But this year was a pretty spectacular creative failure, and I hope the creative team is more capable of learning from its mistakes than Bill is.

What did everybody else think?

Big Love, "Next Ticket Out": If you can dodge an accusation of adultery, you can dodge a tetherball

Well, nothing on tonight's penultimate episode of "Big Love" season four was as gonzo or ridiculous as last week's Mexican adventure, but there's still too much going on and I have yet to see anything to convince me that Bill's political campaign isn't the most credibility-damaging storyline on a previously-good drama since the Dillon Panthers' backup tight end went on a 12-state killing spree.

On the plus side? Tetherball fights always remind me of good times at summer camp.

What did everybody else think?

Big Love, "Blood Atonement": One-armed bandits

We're in the home stretch for this season of "Big Love," and things continue to feel much too busy to me. You may feel otherwise, and since the point of these posts at this point is to let you discuss the show, have at it.

Big Love, "Sins of the Father" & "Under One Roof": Busy busy busy

The Super Bowl and then the busy week of programming that followed it kept me from watching last week's "Big Love" until this weekend, when I watched it as a screener double feature with tonight's episode. Gotta say that the show at the moment is feeling way, way too busy for me, with Bill's idiotic political campaign on top of the casino problems, whatever JJ's up to, Alby, and tonight's return of several old characters.

But since these posts are mainly an excuse for you folks to discuss your thoughts on each episode, I'll let you have at it in the comments.

Big Love, "The Mighty and the Strong": The candidate

A few quick thoughts on tonight's "Big Love" coming up just as soon as I stay at a Holiday Inn Express...

There are shows with insufferable main characters where the creative teams clearly don't recognize how insufferable those characters have become. (See, for example, Jack in "Lost" seasons 2 and 3.) The "Big Love" writers, fortunately, don't have any myopia when it comes to Bill, made abundantly clear by an episode like "The Mighty and the Strong," in which Bill bullies and/or manipulates everyone around him to get what he wants (in this case, his idiotic, obviously doomed plan to run for office so he can come out of the polygamist closet) while his friends and family struggle to keep up with his megalomania. Bill chose politics over trying to succeed Roman as the next prophet of Juniper Creek, but in a moment like the show's closing scene - where he agrees that Ben is wise to leave home for a while, in the same way the old men of the Creek always chased away the young boys when they threatened their access to the young women - is there really any difference? Hell, he even sends Nicki undercover to get dirt on his opponent, just like Roman did last season.

What was interesting about this episode was in seeing how, despite Bill's increasingly selfish, destructive behavior, the people around him have often turned out to be good. Ben is stand-up from beginning to end in this one (aside from his Benjamin Braddock moment in the family swimming pool), Sarah takes care of the baby (and we see that her marriage to Scott is everything that Barb once thought her marriage to Bill was), and even poor Don is such a good friend to Bill that he lets himself take the public fall, putting his freedom and his family at risk to enable Bill's run for office.

Even Alby has become, if not sympathetic - you can't use that adjective to describe someone who sells his mother into slavery with his sister's hated ex-husband - then recognizably human. Alby still has too much of Roman in him, but his father's death is letting him question things about himself and his upbringing (at the same time Nicki's doing it, interestingly enough).

Still not interested in JJ, or the usual antics with Bill's mom and dad, or the casino, but at the moment the good stuff's outweighing the bad - even if a lot of the good involves depicting how bad Bill has become.

What did everybody else think?

Big Love, "Strange Bedfellows": Mr. Henrickson goes to Washington

Tonight's "Big Love" offered up a whole lot of Bill Henrickson at his most smug, stubborn and irritating, and the return of Teeny in the body of a different actress, but it also had some great interaction between Nicki and Cara Lynn (who is absolutely her mother's daughter), a great turn by Sissy Spacek as an influential Washington type, and some very interesting developments on the Margene front.

What did everybody think of it?

Big Love, "The Greater Good": Will I still love you tomorrow?

Again, I'm not going to have a lot to say about "Big Love" each week, but I thought "The Greater Good" was a really strong showcase for Chloe Sevigny, as she played Nicki's epiphanies about her marriage, her upbringing and her entire outlook on life. At the start of the series, Nicki annoyed me so much (as she was supposed to) that I kept hoping they might find a way to write her out of the show. Now I can't imagine the show without her as one of the most important figures.

What did everybody else think?

Big Love, "Free at Last": Know when to walk away, know when to run

I reviewed the start of "Big Love" season 4 in a column last week. Because I'm occupied right now at press tour, and because I've been pretty clear and consistent about the parts of the show I like (the wives and kids) and the parts I don't care for (Juniper Creek, Bill's businesses), my approach to blogging the show this season is going to be to put up a post like this after I've seen an episode and invite you to comment. If an episode down the road strikes me as particularly great or bothersome, maybe I'll write more, but for now this is your show.

What did you think of the premiere?

'Big Love' season 4 review - andreikirilenkotattoo on TV

Over at NJ.com is my review of "Big Love" at the start of season 4, which begins Sunday. Unfortunately, the re-examination of the series' priorities I was hoping for after last year's "Come, Ye Saints" didn't happen, and all the elements I find distracting (Juniper Creek, Bill's businesses, etc.) are still very, very present.

I think I'm going to take a similar approach to blogging this season of the show that I did for much of the most recent season of "Dexter": Assuming I've watched an episode, I'll put up a post for discussion purposes, but I'm not going to write much unless I have much to say (as happened last year with "Come, Ye Saints"). At this point, it's pretty clear to me that the show is what it is, and not what I want it to be, and there's no point beating that dead horse each week, even as I enjoy certain aspects of it.

Big Love, "Sacrament": New religion

Quick spoilers for the "Big Love" season three finale coming up just as soon as I take my kid to work...

Todd VanDerWerff, in his weekly reviews of the show at The House Next Door, has been talking all season about the possibility that Bill would one day evolve into Roman. That subtext becomes overt as Bill takes Roman's advice about seizing power from God, here by deciding to form his own church. I know Bill's intentions are better than Roman's, and he'll likely never mass the number of followers -- or the body count -- of his father-in-law, but it was still troubling to see him leading the family in the sacrament to launch his church.

And speaking of Roman, while I really hope he's dead for real this time, this show has faked me out one time too many on killing off various Juniper Creek characters (Roman, Alby, Bill's dad) without ever going through with it. Now, Joey seemed to be a lot more thorough than the Greens were when they shot Roman, but still. After the wonderful compound-free detour that was "Come, Ye Saints," the show went very, very heavy on Juniper Creek drama for the rest of the season, and I'm so, so tired of it all. Outside of wanting a bit more backstory on Selma Green (like why Hollis allows her to dress as a man), I'd be happy to never see any of those characters again, and to just deal with the problems Bill and his wives face from the modern world.

I'm also not sure how I feel about Barb inviting Nicki back into the marriage. Yes, she felt bad for Nicki after learning about her daughter, but even that original sin shouldn't absolve Nicki of all the terrible things she's done since joining Barb and Bill's family. I think Chloe Sevigny does a wonderful job of playing Nicki as more than just a caricatured witch, but from Barb's point of view, I don't know that I'd ever allow her back, let alone be the one to bring her back.

What did everybody else think -- about the finale, and about the season as a whole?

Big Love, "Come, Ye Saints": I will turn these cars right around!

Haven't posted on "Big Love" in a while, but last night's episode (which I didn't get to until tonight) was so good -- and so delivered one of the things I've been hoping for from this show -- that I'll offer up some spoiler-y thoughts just as soon as I change out of this bathing suit...

I had largely given up on writing about "Big Love" because there were only so many ways for me to say "I love the Henricksons and wish I'd never see the Juniper Creek gang again." And then they went and gave us this lovely episode that featured Juniper Creek only in passing (with Nikki calling Wanda for advice on her flirty boss) and simply focused on the sprawling Henrickson clan and its many iterations. God, I hope the showrunners were paying attention to how strong this hour was -- and why it was -- and that maybe they'll ease back on the compound for a while down the road.

In addition to the lack of Roman, Lois and company, what made "Come, Ye Saints" work was that it was a classic family road trip story -- but a "Big Love" family road trip story. Everyone gets on everyone else's nerves, but because there are so many grown-ups and so many kids -- and because most of the adults (and some of the kids) are keeping secrets from each other -- the conflicts are blown up and never-ending. The wives finally find out about Bill's Viagra habit. Ben wrestles with having a hot sister-mom who's much closer to his own age than to his father's. Nikki cops to taking birth control. Sarah tries to keep her pregnancy a secret. And Bill's usual mask of self-denial briefly takes on some cracks, as the strains of the trip help him almost -- almost! -- see what a burden this lifestyle is on all his wives and children.

And yet there's that beautiful, sad moment at the end -- so well-played not only by Amanda Seyfried and Jeanne Tripplehorn, from whom I've come to expect excellence, but from the more uneven and opaque Bill Paxton -- when the family finds out about Sarah's pregnancy and the miscarriage, and suddenly the huge family becomes not a burden but a blessing. Four parents and seven siblings means a lot of shoulders to cry on, after all.

There are episodes of "Big Love" that I largely suffer through to get to the good stuff. This one (not just the family scenes, but moments like Charles Robinson's cameo as the angry preacher) was all good stuff, from start to finish.

What did everybody else think?

If you want to talk 'Big Love'...

... you can either discuss last night's episode here, or you can go read Todd VanDerWerff's breakdown over at The House Next Door. After going back and forth on it, I've decided that I have nothing to offer on the show other than my standard Women=Awesome/Bill+Juniper Creek=Lame formula, and that's not enough to sustain weekly reviews. So have at it on your own time.

Big Love: season three premiere open thread

Fire away with any thoughts you have on the return of "Big Love."

andreikirilenkotattoo on TV: 'Flight of the Conchords' & 'Big Love' reviews

In today's column, I talk about how season two of "Flight of the Conchords" is still very strong on the comedy front but a bit lacking in the songs, and how going into season three, I really wish "Big Love" would just focus on Bill's wives and spend a lot less time on Juniper Creek and Bill himself.

I'll stop the world and melt with you

Time for a round-up of thematically-unrelated weekend programming. Spoilers for, in order, "Doctor Who," "Kill Point," "Entourage" and "Big Love" coming up just as soon as I play a few rounds of pub trivia...

I realize that the current incarnation of "Doctor Who" has certain episodes it has to do each year: a trip to pre-20th century England, a trip to New Earth, the Daleks show up, etc. I just hadn't realized that "trapped on a spacecraft orbiting a dangerous spatial anomaly while members of the crew become possessed killing machines" was one of them. If "42" wasn't a direct remake of last season's two-parter with the Ood and the Satan pit, it was a little too close for comfort. ("New Earth" and "Gridlock," to pick another pair of same-locale episodes, felt very different.) There were some nice moments here and there -- the Doctor's silent "I will save you!" screams as Martha's pod jettisoned, the Doctor's fear of being possessed (and him trying to explain regeneration to Martha), and Martha finally saving the day and being rewarded with a TARDIS key -- but I like my time and space travel with a touch more variation. (Also, as others have pointed out, watching this one with commercial interruptions wasn't much fun; even though I could fastforward with the DVR, it really interrupted the flow.)


The penultimate "Kill Point" had some problems, notably the cheesey, '80s TV show production quality-level gun battle in the tunnel, where of course the only people who were going to get shot and killed were the two redshirts from the platoon. Can't do with bumping off a significant character before the end game, can we? Also, the razor product placement was one of the clumsier bits of its kind I've seen in a while. (Maybe I just noticed it more because Spike sent out samples of its razors with the original DVD screener; become a TV critic, boys and girls, and you too can live this glamorous lifestyle!) I'll reserve judgment beyond that until we see how the two-hour finale plays out. When you have a show that's almost all plot, the payoff's going to matter a lot more than on, say, "Big Love." All I know is that Omar the Sniper better get involved at some point, because while I won't complain about Michael K. Williams getting a paycheck, I'm going to feel awfully teased by his presence if he's just window-dressing.


After a few weeks of even lamer-than-usual celebrity fantasy camp hijinks, "Entourage" gets back to the business of show, with Ari being directly involved in Vince's career in the first time since forever, E's second client distracting him from his first, Walsh causing headaches for everyone, etc. On paper, that sounds much better, but the execution was as lacking as it's been on everything of late. The plot with E and Anna Farris' boyfriend could have been a great opportunity to show why Eric's useful as a manager beyond being BFFs with Vince, but he was beyond clumsy in solving that problem. Why not show him figuring out how to successfully push the boyfriend's buttons to get him to lay off Anna? Oh, that's right: because the plot isn't really about E the manager at all, but setting up some kind of lame romantic tension between him and Anna by getting the boyfriend out of the picture as quickly and rudely as possible. And for the 7,000th time, Walsh is a complete lunatic and yet everything works out fine for Vince and company. I know it's just masochism to expect anything else from the show by now -- wish-fulfillment is what they do, and the only thing they're interested in doing -- but I'm barely even amused by Ari's plate-spinning anymore because I know nothing's going to get broken.

Speaking of plates being spun, there's quite a lot of china in jeopardy as "Big Love" zooms towards next week's season finale. As I've said before, I find Alby and the rest of the Juniper Creek crew too cartoonish and two-dimensional to make interesting villains, and as with my hopes that Vince and E might lose on occasion are pointless, so too is my hope that this show might ever leave those characters far behind. (I see that Alby's keeping Roman alive, albeit sedated, for reasons unknown. Does he fear eternal punishment should he murder his daddy?) It is what the show is, unfortunately for me.

But stories like last night's wedding scandal are, too, and they're the reason I stick around. (That and my wife's fierce devotion to the show.) It was an outstanding bit of casting (both for acting chops and genetic resemblance) to bring in Ellen Burstyn as Barb's disapproving mom, and I liked watching her presence at the wedding bring up all kinds of wounds from every branch of the family: Margene resents being viewed as a baby-maker by Barb, Nicki resents Barb's constant angling to get out of the principle, Sarah bluntly tells Bill that she will never pay attention to anything he has to say on the subject of relationships, Barb's family judges her left and right, no one seems able to penetrate Ben's two-for-the-price-of-one adolescent horniness. A lot of outstanding performances all around, but particularly by Jeanne Tripplehorn and Amanda Seyfried.

What did everybody else think?

The root of all evil

Quick round-up time, with spoilers for, in order, "My Boys," "Big Love" and "The Kill Point" -- plus a venue for people to talk about the "Weeds" and "Californication" premieres if they want -- coming up just as soon as I go help my roommate with a problem...

After last week's debacle (which inspired a long morning-after rant from one of my female sportswriter friends), "My Boys" was back in good form this week with stories of a rich man (Bobby) and a poor woman (Stephanie). A bunch of funny moments, some from characters you expect to be funny (Andy's "When did you become Burt Reynolds?" or Mike and Kenny tag-teaming the marble urinal), some from characters you don't (PJ and Stephanie speed-reading the parking signs). And was I the only one who took Bobby's look at Kenny at the end as confirmation that the Chelsea Clinton story was real?

Keeping with my pledge to check in with "Big Love" from time to time before the end of season two, I find myself having the usual reactions: the Henrickson marital dynamic is interesting (albeit played a little broadly here with Margene's weepy reaction to the "secretary" business), while I start to mentally check out whenever we spend time with all of the two-dimensional Juniper Creek characters like Alby, Rhonda or Bill's parents. (Joey and Wanda aren't my favorites, either, but at least the writers allow them -- and, I suppose, Nicki's mom -- shadings that the rest of the Juniper Creek people never get.) I understand that the contrast between the Henricksons' assimilated life and life back on the compound is an integral part of the show, but it feels like they play the same notes over and over. I'm not sad to see Roman go (if indeed he's going), but the petty Alby's not much of an improvement. More interaction between the wives (like Margene negotiating "control" of Weber Gaming with Barb) and less of Alby and Rhonda ruining other people's lives just because they can, please.

The first half of this week's "Kill Point" was overflowing with monologues that I'm sure seemed impressive on the page (Omar the sniper's thing about the unfired bullet, Mr. Sabian talking about his relationship with his son) but just seemed pretentious dropped into the middle of what's largely been an unapologetic B-movie thriller. Things perked up in the second half, thankfully, with the hostages nearly pulling off the coup; that was real edge-of-the-seat time (as the phone kept ringing, I was on the verge of shouting at the screen for the idiot bank manager to answer it and tell the cops to breach ASAP). We're in the home stretch now and it's going well.

Based on the comments yesterday, I'm expecting even more dissent on my dislike of "Californication." Feel free to discuss it and the "Weeds" premiere (and only the premiere, as I know the first four episodes leaked onto the 'Net) here.

Get (back) into the groove

So I returned to the office today to find two overflowing USPS bins full of mail waiting for me. Several hours of unpacking and viewing later (interrupted briefly so I could write up my interview with "Jekyll" writer Steven Moffat for tomorrow's paper), I... well, I still have a whole lot to catch up on, not to mention treats that I would love to watch (the complete "A Bit of Fry & Laurie" box set) if I ever had the time.

But I'll comment on a few shows I got a chance to look at that have already aired. Spoilers for, in order, "Big Love," "The Kill Point" and "The Bronx Is Burning" (plus a question about "Damages") coming right up...

I have a very ambivalent relationship with "Big Love." I admire it, at times even really enjoy it, but as I've mentioned in the past, I always feel held at a distance from it. (This led to much marital friction in the ramp-up to press tour, as my "Big Love"-loving wife complained that I never got into that show and yet was zipping through my screeners of "Tell Me You Love Me," which she hated.) I would be happy if I never had to see another Juniper Creek scene again, as I find all those characters far too broad and thin for a show with such high ambitions. And, frankly, Bill Henrickson himself gives me the creeps. I think that's supposed to be the point of the character, that Bill Paxton is giving an uncompromising performance, and that Bill has to be written this way to make the stories of the wives -- the heart of the show, and the reason I keep checking in despite my dislike of the rest of it -- work, but I wish that could be accomplished in smaller increments of screen time.

All that said, the latest episode was really quite something, absolutely living up to the "Kingdom Come" title. The Roman vs. Hollis action happened largely off-stage, and Roman even took a few bullets at the episode's end. (Though, of course, the direction made note of the fact that he was shot in three potentially non-fatal spots; much as I'm in a hurry to be rid of him, I suspect the writers will stick ol' Roman in a coma for a while and then bring him back in a big way in season three.) Bill grappled with the wives on the issues of free time, adding a fourth wife, and the impact that living the principle is having on their children. (Jeanne Tripplehorn in the scene where Barb hears her son's thoughts on polygamy? Amazing.) When the series moves away from the political gamesmanship and sticks to the nuts and bolts of trying to fit this lifestyle into a modern American life, it can be pretty great. Now that I'm home and at the same point in my viewing as the rest of the audience, I'm going to make an effort to blog at least a few more times before the season's over.

I'm not completely caught up on "The Kill Point" -- the Spike screener I had in my luggage only featured the pilot, so I'll have to track down episode two with the DVR -- but I really liked what I saw, and not just because there are so many "Wire" actors in the cast. (So far, I've got four: Michael Hyatt (Brianna Barksdale) as the SWAT commander, Michael K .Williams (Omar) as the sniper and J.D. Williams (Bodie) and Leo Fitzpatrick (Johnny) as two of the robbers.)

Bank hostage dramas are one of those genres (like underdog sports movies and "12 Angry Men" rip-offs) I'm a sucker for, so much so that I laughed when I realized the father and son in the bank are named Sabian. (Not sure if it's an intentional hat-tip, but Kevin Spacey's character in "The Negotiator" was named Chris Sabian -- a name repeated by every character in that movie so many times that I have to assume it was in Spacey's contract.) There are certain obligatory tropes to the genre, and the pilot handled a bunch of them nicely: the breach gone bad, the push-pull between negotiator and hostage taker and, especially, the "Dog Day Afternoon" moment where the hostage taker gets the crowd and/or media on his side. I could do without Donnie Wahlberg's grammar fetish (I was fine with it as a quirk until he made an underling waste valuable time confirming the apostrophe thing), but unless there was a massive nosedive in episode two (no spoilers, please, though comments on quality are fine), I think I'm in this thing through the end.

Finally, "The Bronx Is Burning" lapped me last night. I had seen the first three episodes before press tour, but while episode four was airing last night, I was in the actual Bronx watching every player but A-Rod hit a home run. Fortunately, the massive mail pile included episode four, so I watched it a few minutes ago. Same basic opinions -- the Son of Sam stuff feels totally extraneous, the mix of actors and archival footage is clumsy, and Turturro's really good -- with one caveat: while I was enjoying Platt's Steinbrenner in the first few episodes, he's starting to feel a little too cartoony, even for Boss '77. Also, I'd have to check my copy of the book (or my tattered copy of Steve Jacobsen's "The Best Team Money Can Buy"), but I don't recall Lou and Thurman's pep talk with Steinbrenner taking place on the night of the Blackout, or that Billy drunkenly interrupted it. (I could be wrong on the latter point, I admit.)

UPDATE: Whoops. Almost forgot that episode two of "Damages" (which I saw a few weeks ago) was on last night. Thoughts?

What did everybody else think?

Morning odds 'n sods

So, I'm assuming the 15 minutes of fame are over, though all the interest in the Chase interview might extend it for another few hours. To update from yesterday, I was mistaken when I said I was on "All Things Considered." It was "Morning Edition," and you can listen to the segment (about spoilers, taped last week) by clicking here. The "CBS Evening News" appearance turned out to be about 15 seconds (a commentary on the 15 minutes theory?) My return appearance to "Countdown," which went well, isn't up on YouTube as far as I know, but if anyone finds it, feel free to post the link.

In between all my famewhoring yesterday, I apparently wrote an entire column about the new season of "Rescue Me," but I really don't remember doing it, and don't think it's a particularly well-argued bit of criticism. Short version, to spare you from reading it: the comedy bits are still very funny (save the stuff with Tommy dealing with all his women), but the only dramatic bits that are working at the moment involve Jack McGee. We'll go into more detail tomorrow night.

Finally, "Big Love" came back last night, and though I promised to be more diligent in blogging on it this year than last, I just don't have the mental energy this morning (plus, as I said in my column last week, I still feel like the show is holding me at a remove, or maybe it's just that I dislike Bill Henrickson so much). Feel free to comment, and I'll chime in with my thoughts on your thoughts. Or if you want someone who actually put some thought into a review, check out Todd VanDerWerff's review over at The House Next Door.

Life after Tony

Today's (long) column previews "John From Cincinnati" and "Big Love," both of which I have mixed feelings about:

Can HBO replace Tony Soprano with a levitating surfer? How about a hardware salesman with three wives?

Sunday night shortly after 10 (depending on how much pre-"So pranos" padding we get at 9), the pay cable giant enters Year One A.A. (After Anthony) with the debut of "John from Cincinnati," a new surfing drama from "Deadwood" creator David Milch. The next night, "Big Love" begins its second season, as well as HBO's second attempt to colonize Monday primetime. ("Six Feet Under" tried briefly a few years ago and moved back to Sundays within weeks.) Each show is interesting in its own way, but both illustrate the challenge HBO is going to have filling Tony and Paulie's large white shoes.

"The Sopranos" was the perfect ratings storm for HBO: a blend of highbrow and lowbrow, of equal parts male and female appeal, a market researcher's fan tasy project. Come for the whacking and vulgar humor, stay for the relationships and dream analysis!

Neither "John from Cincinnati" nor "Big Love" can offer that. In better times for the channel, when "Sopranos" was younger and "Sex and the City" still existed, there wouldn't be pressure on it to be all things to all people. But come Sunday around 10, HBO's going to need a new flagship, and I don't see either of these dramas being it.

To read the full thing, click here.