BigLoveSeason4

If you found the fourth season of HBO's polygamist drama 'Big Love' a little heavy on the soapy side, you're not alone. The show's creators saw the same thing.

Even though the show's creators Will Scheffer and Mark V. Olsen credited themselves for creating a challenging season for the show's main character Bill Henrickson, they also see the need for some tweaking for their audience.

"We think the show has been the richer for having such a large ensemble," said Scheffer, "but we also feel we're at a breaking point. We've got to pare it down and refocus."

Do you agree with Scheffer's assumptions about the fourth season?

[via TV Tattle]

(S04E09) "I'm Bill Henrickson, and I believe in the principle of plural marriage. I am a polygamist." - from Bill's acceptance speech

With those very words, Bill released his family from four seasons of hiding and seclusion and finally brought his lifestyle and faith out in the open in a way very few fans could have seen coming. It was bound to go public somehow someway, but no one could have predicted it would have been on the steps of the state capitol as he accepts the keys to a state senate office.

So why did it feel so unfulfilling and empty?

(S04E08) "There is nothing about us that's the same and you know nothing about me." - Barb Henrickson

"Oh I know some...and I'm just getting started." - Marilyn Densham

The season is winding down and usually the plot endings that come to a predictable end do so just before the big shockers do. And that's what happened this week.

However, the surprise, one of many to come I'm sure, wasn't within the plot or the behavior of the characters or even the duality between good and evil of some of the supporting players in our little bigamy tragedy. It's the emotional reaction to the characters' connections and their endurance to endure that sneaks up on you and knocks your block off as you stand there all smug and self-aware that you were able to predict the ending. And it should. A show like this about much more than its plotlines and story shockers.

(S04E07) "My cope container is full. Do you hear me? It is ... FULL." - Barb to Margie and Nicolette after hearing ... well, everything

Believe me, honey, I know the feeling. My cope container is one of those extra large "Big Gulps" from 7-11 that can only be held in a car cup holder the exact circumference as an elephant's foot. And this week, even that wouldn't hold it.

It's natural for a show with 2,000 plus running plot lines to feel more overwhelming than an IRS audit, but it's starting to get a little less believable. That goes for both for the plots' plausibility and the surprise that none of the main characters has suffered the kind of complete nervous breakdown that can create the kind of police scanner activity that attracts the local "eyewitness" news crew.

(S04E06) "I think I can understand how difficult this must be, keeping a secret." - Bill on discovering that Dale has been having an affair with Alby
"You can't imagine." - Dale

Some of the season's most interesting plot lines came to a screeching halt this week and by screeching, I mean literally just that. The stench of burning rubber won't come out of my couch no matter how well it's been Scotchguarded.

Of course, just because some problems have come to an end doesn't represent their means to an end. They only serve to create new and bigger ones.

(S04E04) "You wanted to play nice dolly with the nancy boy, but he's collaborating with your enemy. What a fool you've been." - Roman's ghost to Alby on discovering that Dale is working with Bill

This week's episode was full of moments that made my spine want to worm its way up my neck and straight out the back of my head like sp,e bizarre alien larvae working its way through my innards for a chance at breathing some clean air.

Sure, the tension was thick and coated the show in a gooey texture from the opening to closing credits, but this week also added an extra layer of pure visceral emotion that broke through the screen and made you feel the unspoken tension in places you didn't know had nerve endings.

(S04E03) "Dear Heavenly Father, I tested your calling and now you're testing me, but if this is what your plan is for me, you've got to help me out." - Bill

Last week, The Onion's AV Club did a supportive review of the episode but a scathing review of the characters. In fact, the reviewer flat out called Bill Henrickson "dumb."

It sounds like a gross simplification of a very complex man. After all, here's a guy who is not only guided by his faith and the directions that it points him in, but also in his undying devotion to his family, the influences of his business and even his politics.

But to be honest, dumb isn't far off. In fact, it doesn't go far enough. The whole Henrickson clan is dumber than a pile of unpolished doorknobs in a sack marked "hammers."

(S04E02) "It's clear that Bill has a calling, I'm sure of it. Just maybe the wires got a little crossed. Maybe you're meant to be the next prophet of Juniper Creek." - Nicolette on the revelations that he should run for the State Senate

Just when I thought I had a handle on everything surrounding the swirling complex vortex that is Big Love, Bill decides the best way to protect his already complicated family from slipping even further out of each other's grasp is to run for public office. Politics, it truly is nature's weed whacker. It aims to clean up messes, even if it destroys everything surrounding it in the process.

Now that Roman is dead and almost buried, talk of a new prophet is rising. In the red corner stands Alby, a frail, shadowy, smarmy little man with plenty to hide and expectations to live up to that everyone knows he can't possibly meet. And in the blue corner stands Bill, a rock of a man with just as much to hide but an ambition and willingness to stand and protect his beliefs, even in the face of unfathomable scrutiny and ridicule. Who does it sound like would come out on top in this sparring match?

The new season of HBO's Big Love also brought with it a new opening sequence for the first time in its history and not everyone is in love with it.

Some readers of my review of the show's season four premiere made some well reasoned arguments both for and against the new sequence, something I didn't do because it wasn't included in the screener review HBO sent out before the show hit the airwaves last Sunday. It not only has a much different look and feel but it also has a new theme song, "Home" by the Engineers replacing "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys.

It's still early in the season, but I like the new sequence just as much as the old one. As for the song, well at least they didn't go with Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'."

What happened on this week's 'Big Love' season 4 premiere, 'Free At Last' -- in 100 words or less.

Hold on tight! The FBI investigates the whereabouts of Roman, but Alby is away during the raid at the compound, "bird watching" with a hottie guy at the park.

Testimonies abound in the new Church of Bill, as the feds question where the casino money hails from. Seems someone's been padding Nikki's bank account.

(S04E01) "Tonight we share a new beginning." - Bill to his wives after seeing the profits from the new casino

I always figured a show like Big Love would be complicated. It just makes sense. Sometimes having to follow one married couple on screen can wear even the most focused man into a coma, but I had no idea until I sat down and watched my first episode. Mutant onions have less layers.

'Big Love' (Sun., 9PM, HBO) season 4 premiere
The 'Big Love' team has to follow its own tough act, namely a third season that was the best in the show's run so far. Of course, it did end with the death of the deliciously villainous Roman (Harry Dean Stanton), and even in death, it turns out that he'll be stirring up lots of trouble on the Juniper Creek compound. But the biggest storyline of the new season: polygamist Bill's (Bill Paxton) quest to win a Senate seat and try to get the public to accept his family's multiple-wife ways. Aside from his own issues, Bill will also have to contend with his wacky mom, who begins importing exotic birds; his wacky mother-in-law, Adaleen, who is anything but a grieving widow following Roman's death; his wives, who are all seeking their various means of independence; and tricky political lobbyist Marilyn Densham, played by new cast member Sissy Spacek.

Season four of 'Big Love,' HBO's juicy drama about volatile life in a Mormon community, premieres Sunday, Jan. 10 at 9 PM. The tagline for the new season is "Hold on Tight," and we can't wait to do just that.

If you prefer not to know a single thing about the new season, do not read any further! Spoilers ahead ...

Sure, you've resolved to make some positive changes in your life after you wake up from your hangover on Jan. 1, but will your favorite shows do the same? Here are some resolutions we'd like to see our favorite shows stick to in 2010.