Three’s company as ‘Big Love’ returns

By Terry Morrow

“Big Love” is about to get bigger.

With the polygamy drama starting its third season (9 p.m. Sunday, HBO), Utah businessman Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) is considering adding another wife to the fold. The news is met with mixed reactions from his other three wives.

Wife No. 1, Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), isn’t pleased and is the most vocal about her displeasure.

Paxton calls it “the sinister season” for the show.

“They put me through the hoops this season,” he says. “We did 10 [episodes] this time instead of 12. If we had done 12, we might be doing this interview from a mental hospital.”

Paxton says he thinks this is “Big Love’s” best season yet.

“The first season was all about getting the chess pieces on the board,” he says. “It was opening up a world to an audience.

“The second season started to grab people. This third? We’re starting to burn rubber. This show is finding its identity.”

Henrickson is trying to find a partner for his casino business. At home, Barb doesn’t let anyone know her cancer has returned.

The centerpiece of the season is Henrickson’s courting of a new woman.

Paxton welcomes what a new wife can bring to the household. Henrickson, who’s lived in Utah all his life and lived in a secret sect of Mormons, is swept away by this new woman in his life.

“For a guy like Bill, she’s exotic,” he says. “This woman has an accent, and she is confident. She’s not like the other wives. She is as appealing [as heck] to Bill. There could be trouble there.”