Episode Overview: Margene's lush of a mother visits, stirring up all sorts of trouble. Barb helps Wanda move back to Juniper Creek, but there's trouble waiting for them there in the form of Bill's violence-prone father, Frank.
Margene (
Ginnifer Goodwin) gets a phone call from mother Ginger, who's coming for a visit. The
Big Love family goes into action mode, with Bill (
Bill Paxton) planning strategies. Margene is happily naive about how great it will all turn out. When Ginger turns up, she almost immediately starts doing a penguin impression. She then offers her pregnant daughter vodka and cigarettes. The nut didn't fall from that nut tree. At dinner with the sister wives, Ginger continues her track record of comically insulting her daughter, and Nicki (
Chloe Sevigny) takes an instant shine to her, naturally. After dinner, Ginger takes a smoke break, cracks a window and spies Bill kissing Barb (
Jeanne Tripplehorn). Let the hilarious misunderstandings ensue.
Ginger confides what she saw in Nicki, who poorly tries to hide the plural marriage arrangement. After struggling to lie for about a minute, Nicki announces that they're polygamists. Dang, where were the wacky shenanigans? Ginger disapproves and snaps at her daughter, and Nicki's attempts to make it better are futile. However, while Ginger resents Margene, she loves Nicki and moves into her house. It's kind of nifty how Nicki turned that situation around and stole Margene's mother.
After some petty bickering, Bill has a heart-to-heart with Ginger, assuring her that he has Margene's best interests at heart. She seems to get it, then takes a swig of vodka to make the medicine go down better. The next morning she lets him know he's "a good guy," then start dancing with him. Yes, Margene's mom is drunkenly trying to seduce her daughter's husband. She heads back to Margene's and blacks out on the couch. When she wakes up, mother and daughter bond before Ginger informs her daughter that she's the one with all the power, as the hottest, youngest wife.
Bill's mom Lois (Grace Zabriskie) is happily taking some of her fortune from one of the vegetable cans she keeps it in when there's a knock at the door. Her husband Frank (Bruce Dern) is back! It's about time, after being MIA all season. He looks around at her fancy new furnishings and wants his cut. She takes $50, throws it out the front door, and when Frank goes after it, she locks the door behind him. God I love her, and I can't believe that worked somewhere other than a cartoon. Later Frank returns, tears the place apart, and threatens Lois with violence unless she tells him where the money is.
Wanda is being released from the asylum, and Joey asks Barb to accompany them back to the compound. Frank shows up, still angry over the whole "Wanda tried to kill him last season" thing, and for the second time this episode, he threatens violence on a woman. Lois, awesome as ever, pulls a shotgun. That old bat could be one of the best characters on TV. Even later, Frank shows up again to psychological terrorize Barb. That's the hat trick!
Wanda and Barb spend the night talking, and Wanda shows a glimmer of that insanity when she starts questioning why Barb is so invested in Joey's future. You can see the wheels turning - a delusional Wanda thinks Barb wants Joey, and it's just a matter of time before antifreeze comes into play. Joey's potential second wife brings over a pie, and the lights go out. Three scared women in a house, and the horro movie cliche is set, with the crazed Frank eager to do harm to some ladies. Joey busts in to save the day and calm everyone down, but Barb is a blubbering mess.
Bill does some more dealings with the gaming business and the psychopath Greens who nearly branded him last episode. While trying to hammer out some details, Sarah's creepy older boyfriend Scott shows up to warn him about Alby nosing around his daughter. Bill's solution is head over to the motel Alby is staying at and beat the crap out of him.
Finally, Roman Grant gets a visit from two creepy girls. Eagle-eyed viewers will recognize as the same duo that torched Bill's boat last episode. Roman finds his wife hog-tied and gagged. The compound goes into lockdown, and Roman enlists Bill's help in dealing with the Greens. Barb, still at Juniper Creek, confronts Roman about outing her last season. Roman ends the episode warning everyone in the UEB against any dealings with the Greens, while Barb prays for her husband's soul.
-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of HBO)