HBO photo: Lacey Terrell
Well, you can say this much for Bill: When he orders the pie, he really orders the pie. Seeing him chat up the waitress in the diner–and then confess his feelings to Don Embry–was one of those bracing moments where you realize that his lifestyle is still alien, as comfortable as you may have gotten with this show. (Kind of like when Tony Soprano would kill somebody really brutally just when you were in danger of getting to like him.) It was still shock to hear him confess pulling off his ring–you creep! you bastard!–and then hear Don congratulate him and ask whether he has a “testimony” for wife #4. Oh, that’s right. In his world, this is the kind of thing he’s supposed to be doing.
Speaking of moral disorientation, the Catholic-school subplot was another good reminder of how well the show immerses you in the polygamists’ worldview. When the last time you ever heard anyone criticize the Catholic Church because it was too liberal and decadent? (Nicki railed against the church’s seductive trappings–”Kids can’t resist that pageantry!”–the same way other suburban moms might rail against rap music’s or videogames’ influence on their kids.) It also raised an issue that hasn’t come up much on the show, focused as it is on the husband-wife dynamic. We know what it does to Nicki and Margene that Bill can’t acknowledge them publicly; but what does that situation do to kids?
In all, we continue to juggle a lot of balls in the air this season: Rhonda on the run (her invoking Jesus and claiming assault to get a cooler place to stay was beautifully typical); Joey’s increasing defiance of Bill, now running up against Wanda’s practical insistence that he just might need a second wife who’s not a nutjob; and Don’s realization that Bill may be doing the poker deal solely for revenge (ya think?). Grace Zabriskie, meanwhile, still manages to be a hoot in any scene she appears in. But more important–with the continuing storyline of his becoming more like Roman, scheming and seducing and perhaps overreaching–Bill is actually in danger of becoming an interesting character.
What say you? Should he get dessert or just the coffee?
