Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 12/11/2007

Early on in Big Love's second season, closeted polygamist Bill Henrickson's kids come to him with a broken toy. "I can fix anything," he reassures them. If only his chaotic life were as easy to mend. Among the crises vying for his attention this season are finding out who was responsible for outing his wife, Barbara (Jeanne Tripplehorn), at the Mother of the Year ceremony; the investigation into the poisoning of his brother-in-law, Alby, for which he could be implicated in a cover-up; negotiating a deal to purchase a gaming company coveted by Roman (Harry Dean Stanton); and, in a "holy spirit sucker punch," meeting Ana (Branca Katic), a Serbian waitress who just could be wife No. 4. A Golden Globe nominee for Best Drama, Big Love further draws viewers into the polygamists' shadow world. "If they could show just one normal plural family for a change," someone remarks at one point. Grounded in "the principle," the Henrickson households are about as normal as you can get with the sister wives at once fiercely protective of the family, while at the same jockeying for position and influence. Nicki (Chloe Svigny) is beholden to her father, the prophet Roman (whom Bill aptly calls "venal, corrupt, the face of evil"), and duty-bound mother, Adaleen (Mary Kay Place). Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin), the third and youngest wife, has absolutely no boundaries, and initiates a friendship with Ana, and agrees to be a surrogate mother for her unwitting neighbor. "Boss Lady" Barbara must come to terms with the sacrifices she made for her marriage. Meanwhile, Barbara's teenage son and daughter are at their own crossroads on deciding whether to follow their parents' path. Complicating matters even further are Rhonda (Daveigh Chase, the voice of Lilo in Disney's Lilo & Stitch), the lying and manipulative child bride who runs away from Roman and the compound, Alby's sinister ascendancy, and Hollis Green, a rival polygamist patriarch and fierce fundamentalist with a penchant for branding those who cross him.

Season 2 further fleshes out television's most unconventional family drama. This set also includes three "prequels" that peek in on the Henricksons up to five years before the events of the first season. In one, Nicki suffers post-partum depression following the birth of her first son. In the second, Margene makes an indelible first impression in "Meet the Baby-Sitter." The third shows how Bill's three wives compel a move to the suburbs and into their three-home compound. This series has emerged from The Sopranos' shadow to earn some Big Love of its own. What happens next? As the Beach Boys sing during the haunting and etheral opening credits, "God only knows." --Donald Liebenson

In Season Two of Big Love, the Henrickson family finds that the challenges of being one, big, polygamous family is just beginning.

Season One of the show leaves off with Barb - Bill's first wife - not winning the mother of the year award, Margie (Margene) discovering that she is pregnant, and Roman Grant (leader of the polygamous compound at Juniper Creek) being seriously wounded. But Season One turns out to be child's play in comparison with the events of Season Two.

In Season Two, Nikki (Nicolette) - Bill's second wife - is more manipulative than ever, leaving the audience wondering just how far she'll go to become first wife. Bill, who for all of his faults appears to be a decent person in Season One, also becomes more deceptive (both at home and in his business dealings) as he secretly courts a woman that he considers for a fourth wife and wrests a gambling company named Weber Gaming away from two polygamous factions.

The political intrigue surrounding Juniper Creek and the Grant family also becomes more pronounced in Season Two, with many unexpected twists from characters such as Alby Grant (Nikki's brother), and Adaleen Grant, Nikki's biological mother.

The most notable difference between Season One and Season Two however is the focus on how the Henrickson's secret life of polygamy affects Barb and Bill's two oldest children, Ben and Sarah. Sarah, the Henrickson's oldest child, becomes resentful of her parent's choice as the season progresses and takes action in the last episode of the season to ensure that she never makes the same choice as her parents. In contrast, Ben, (now sixteen in Season Two) begins to romanticize the idea of leading a polygamous life like his father. He ends his relationship with his girlfriend and beings to court two girls (twin sisters) from the compound at Juniper Creek.

With each event that unfolds in Season Two, Big Love fights past being just entertainment and tackles the hard questions of polygamy and the LDS fundamentalist lifestyle.

The bottom line is that Season Two of Big Love does not disappoint; there is no adequate way to express how tastefully, artfully, and successfully the staff of Big Love portrays what is considered difficult subject matter. Each event that unfolds in Season Two of Big Love fights past being just entertainment and tackles the hard questions of polygamy and the LDS fundamentalist lifestyle.

While some individuals may find certain aspects of Big Love offensive, I hope that people will be willing to look past something that might make them uncomfortable to an experience that is both entertaining and highly enlightening. It is especially a must-see series for anyone who is interested in shows that deal with religion or the psychology of cults.

Shows a different point of view on the FLDS. Great Cast. Very well acted. Loved it.

This show is a very interesting drama... Its a lot like Desperate Housewives except that they are all married to the same man. Creative writing and interesting plots. I am looking forward to the next season!!

Great intrigue as Bill's perfect world starts to fray at the edges. Nicky, surely the least likeable wife, wrangles with her money demons. Barb renews her attempts to placate and mediate impossible situations for love of Bill and Margene makes efforts go her own way.

The threats hinted at in series one emerge powerfully in this series because it was too good to be true. Veterans of series 1 knew that and the narratives which drive series 2 will please them. Bill's oldest children have to find ways to deal with their weird family which adds an extra level of intelligence to the script.

In Big Love - The Complete Second Season we learn the effect of polygamy on Bill's oldest children, Sarah and Ben. Sarah is against the principle, and joins a support group for ex-Mormons. Ben decides to embrace the principle whole-heartedly, and begins dating homely identical twins who wish to marry a 'rigeous man' such as he. Barb, Nicki and Margene all get more screen time the season, with Bill figuring in when there's a business deal or something is amuck at the compound.

The climax of the season is when Roman is shot by a rival polygamist family (the Greens) and Bill very nearly gets voted to be prophet-in-waiting until Roman dies. Instead, the unstable, dangerous Alby begins taking over well before his father is ready to go. The relationship between sibling-rivals Alby and Nicki is fascinating, one which I hope the writers develop further next season.

There is no let-down in Season 2. The acting, writing and pacing have a cinematic quality to them, not unlike other HBO series. Watch out for Nicki's emerging gambling addiction, Ben leaving the family for an 'alternative' (i.e. nonpolygamous) lifestyle pushed by his mother and the possibility of Bill bringing a fourth wife. Season 3 has been delayed due to the writers' strike.