Bye, bye Love
Big Love came to a low-key conclusion this Sunday on HBO, and I just caught it OnDemand. (Previous mention on this blog of the show. Comments on other blogs linked below in this post.] As episodes go, it had plenty of major developments. As a season-ender, it definitely falls more on the pause-before-storm rather than dramatic-cliffhanger end of the continuum.
Nobody died. (Although....) The polygamy police didn't serve a warrant or cart away Bill, the patriarch, in handcuffs. There were plenty of tears, plenty of shocked silences.
As with a number of my other favorite dramas, some of the best moments of acting and direction came in slow, dialogue-free scenes, and here, not atypically, as montages, so various actors got to try the "not-talking" bit. Not engaging in dialogue, of course, doesn't mean there's no writing involved. A wordless scene can be saccharine and manipulative; it can be stunning, appalling; it can be heartfelt and even conflicted. Comparing the closing scenes with moments from the West Wing, with the Sopranos, with ER (back in the day), with Six Feet Under (all, I think, somewhat comparable shows, in terms of caliber of actors and direction and writing, as well as, occasionally, tone and impact), I liked, but didn't love, the finale.
What's been resolved? Well,... (spoilers follow):
I also expect my prediction in this Volokh Conspiracy thread to be born out.
Nobody died. (Although....) The polygamy police didn't serve a warrant or cart away Bill, the patriarch, in handcuffs. There were plenty of tears, plenty of shocked silences.
As with a number of my other favorite dramas, some of the best moments of acting and direction came in slow, dialogue-free scenes, and here, not atypically, as montages, so various actors got to try the "not-talking" bit. Not engaging in dialogue, of course, doesn't mean there's no writing involved. A wordless scene can be saccharine and manipulative; it can be stunning, appalling; it can be heartfelt and even conflicted. Comparing the closing scenes with moments from the West Wing, with the Sopranos, with ER (back in the day), with Six Feet Under (all, I think, somewhat comparable shows, in terms of caliber of actors and direction and writing, as well as, occasionally, tone and impact), I liked, but didn't love, the finale.
What's been resolved? Well,... (spoilers follow):
(show)
I also expect my prediction in this Volokh Conspiracy thread to be born out.
Posted by Eh Nonymous on
Tuesday June 6, 2006 at 8:09am
*Not all comments welcome. Flippant, facetious, fierce, or fatuous, fine. Fraudulent, felonious, fabricated, facially insufficient, and farkin' futile, fuggeddaboutit.