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Big Love
SERIES: HBO, Sunday 10:00p (60 minutes)


7.5

based on 26 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 93 votes
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

TV:

Big Love: Season 2 (HBO)

Official Show Site

Starring Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin, Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Dern, and Grace Zabriskie

HBO's latest hourlong series follows the Utah family headed by Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton), who has seven kids... and three wives.

GENRE(S):	Comedy, Drama
CREATED BY:	Mark V. Olsen Will Scheffer
FIRST AIR DATE:	March 12, 2006

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Salon Heather Havrilesky

There are elements of this new series that have a quirkiness that might seem deliberate or overly clever against a different backdrop, but that feels natural in its own gracefully odd environment.

Time James Poniewozik

Secrets, threats, Viagra--Big Love was always going to be interesting TV, but what makes it first-rate drama is how confidently it moves past exoticism to the ordinary universals of family life.

Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz

Thoroughly sharp, seriously compelling.

New York Post Linda Stasi

It's excellent on every level.

San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum

Much of its strength comes from a group of actors so skilled that, like the ensemble on "The Sopranos," they draw us into the lives of their characters even if we don't initially want to go there.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

"Big Love" sounds like a high-concept, comedic, intentionally sensational enterprise. Parts of "Big Love" are sensational, all right. But only in the best sense of the word.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

A very original, extremely well-acted and complexly written drama.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The casting is so good and the production design so sophisticated that the series' pull toward baroque psychosexual doings is, so far, pleasurable. [7 Apr 2006, p.51]

Village Voice Joy Press

Big Love... is in no hurry to unfurl its plotlines or push its charms. Give it a couple of episodes, though, and you'll be snared.

Variety Brian Lowry

Captivating.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

''Big Love,"... is layered enough to do what HBO's ''The Sopranos" and ''Six Feet Under" have done so well: make atypical heroes knowable and universal. It pulls us into its parallel moral universe, rather than keep us standing outside in judgment.

Baltimore Sun David Zurawik

The acting is among the finest on television.

LA Weekly Robert Abele

It’s something of a feat that the makers of Big Love are willing to put the ugly side of this phenomenon up against the mainstream sheen of Bill’s setup, and -- thanks in great part to the marvelous acting on display, from Paxton’s rugged haplessness to all three women’s unique variations on maternal stress and wifely sensuality -- still offer up a family to root for, warts and all.

The New Yorker Nancy Franklin

For a lot of viewers “Big Love” is going to need time to settle in; it doesn’t have much dramatic texture until about the fifth episode.

Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron

It is a series that boasts more than a few terrific performances, and yet it is surprisingly mellow, nearly devoid of the kinds of dramatic moments that resonate after the final credits roll.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

By the third episode... "Big Love" becomes an addictive treat.

Washington Post Tom Shales

It's not an easy task to figure out where the thing is going, but it is intriguing watching it go there.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

By the end of the five episodes HBO sent for review, one's interest in the tangled future of this offbeat clan may be piqued, but be forewarned, it takes a while -- and there are a lot of petty spats and crying kids -- before one gets to that point.

New York Magazine John Leonard

The first five hours feel more soapy than salacious.

The New York Times Alessandra Stanley

"Big Love" gets better and more compelling, once the plot thickens and the wives' personalities and conflicts take deeper form.

TV Guide Matt Roush

More of a curiosity than a necessity.

Newsday Diane Werts

[The episodes are] smarter than you might expect but not quite as clever as they work at being. Like the family unit it portrays, this dark/lighthearted drama tries to have everything at once and struggles under the far-reaching effort.

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

Hopefully, the scriptwriting will improve and make better use of the cast, which is ripe for higher-quality material.

USA Today Robert Bianco

From what I can tell, the goal of Love is to prove that life can be just as mundane, colorless and boring with three spouses as it can with one or none. Mission accomplished.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

Its impressive cast can't beef up the show's predictable conflicts and pedestrian secrets.

Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd

There are good things in it, some well-written scenes and dynamic exchanges and excellent acting... But, ultimately, it doesn't cohere or quite convince.

The average user rating for this tv show is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 93 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Lola gave it a0:
Show is weird and nothing I know about the Mormon church, or the Mormon friends I have is anything like this show. It's seems to me it's all about a man on viagra.

Nessy D. gave it a10:
I have heard about the show when it was starting up but had no real interest in watching it. I decided not to change the channel one day while a rerun was on and got curious and watched the entire previous seasons on demand, back-to-back. To my satisfaction it was not a waste of time. The cast is very talented and shares great chemistry. The storyline is interesting, keeps one asking for more. I hope to see more seasons to come: Long Live "Big Love"!!

David gave it a0:
This could have been interesting and good, and has had its moments. Instead it is gradually stooping to gutter levels lower than most soap operas, and tries to make up for its lack of quality by dragging the Mormon Church through the mud for ratings. This is becoming more like something that Jerry Springer would do. Tom Hanks should be embarrassed.

Jessi B gave it a5:
It's an interesting idea. I was fascinated to see what polygamy looked like in our society, but as it turned out, the wonder wore off quickly and I was left watching a random family drama that really didn't bring much excitement to my tv watching life. I think I'll sit this next season out.

Steven L gave it a2:
Just don't get the fascination.

Evan M gave it a10:
Everything you need to know about Mormonism you will learn from this show. Unfuckingbelievable.

rita f gave it an8:
I was a huge fan of "True Blood" but I never watched "Big Love". Last night they were having a bit of a marathon and I decided to see what the fuss was with this show and I must admit I watched it. Than I went to HBO on Demand and watched the next episode. The verdict is stil out BUT I am going home tonight and watch a couple more episodes. I am watching last season. I am a fan of Bruce Dern and Grace Zabriske. I have always liked Harry Dean Stanton even though he is so creepy in this. I have this feeling I am going to be hooked, something about each episode drew me further into these families.. I will be back with my verdict.

Big Love SERIES: HBO, Sunday 10:00p (60 minutes)

Big Love
SERIES: HBO, Sunday 10:00p (60 minutes)