shipperx | Big Love - Series Finale (Reply)

First off, fandom take a bow. Fandom guessed it ages ago online from Chekov's gun to too many 'random' appearances by Carl to express his grievances, fandom pegged the neighbor as the guy who would kill... someone. And, I'm plenty okay with it being Bill. I understand fandom's desire that Barb and/or Margene walk away all on her own, but honestly, by the end, I didn't think they were capable of it (and Nicki was never capable of it). There were too many reasons why they wouldn't or couldn't. So, I think killing Bill was a necessary step. It allowed the women to be free insasumuch as they can be (albeit can I say that Margene leaving her kids for months on end with... I'm assuming Nicki is a 'whu?!' This is why marrying at the ripe old age of 16 was a horrible idea. Margene is only 22 years old and has three kids. I suppose without sister-wives she wouldn't have a shot in hell of living her dreams. And, I suppose Nicki is still living in-compound with Barb, so it's not like the kids are entirely up to Nicki.

As far as Barb goes, I find her/Bill's new church hard to buy as I cannot imagine that the compound folks would be all up on female-priest-holder, but I'll let that slide because it's less about what's realistic and more about what is needed to complete Barb's character arc, and I thought this did. Similarly, I think they did a relatively okay job with Nicki. Nicki isn't going to suddenly change and be fixed, so seeing the hints of emotions, having her express her fear of being alone, and showing that she is loved for herself (as Barb showed. Barb knows exactly who Nicki is ("I know" ... LOL) and yet chooses to love her anyway, and in a way far more healthily than Bill ever did. I don't think Nicki will ever be 'fixed' but I think she'll have a far more happy life than she would have otherwise.

And no they can't live in a sorority of sister-wives forever -- though I doubt Nicki will ever wander far -- but I do buy that they'll always be an extended family. So, I'm 110% okay with "Bill had to die".