"Big Love" Is Back

Knowing a long-running series is winding down can sometimes prematurely take the air out of the so-called tires but such is not the case for the start of the fifth and final season of HBO's polygamy drama Big Love.

If you need a refresher from where the show left off last year, the Henrickson clan - Bill (Bill Paxton) and his three wives Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloe Sevigny) and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) - came out of the closet. Not the gay one but the polygamy one though the parallels are just as painful and just as trying and (hopefully by the series end) just as rewarding.

In the new episodes, Bill is coming up against some opposition in his new job as Senator since he chose to come out after - not before - he was elected. However, like the entire series, the best moments of the show come from the dynamics between the three wives who are each going through their own trials and tribulations. Barb is starting to drink more than a little wine; Margene, devastated by the fall of her home shopping network empire, meets a charismatic stranger (Grant Show) who says he can help her get it back; and Nicki, as always, is saying things she shouldn't say and doing things she shouldn't do.

At its core, Big Love is about a family that sticks together through thick and thin so do yourself a favor and check out the final season of Big Love, beginning this Sunday on HBO at 9pm ET/PT.