Big Love Season 3

Right now you can watch Big Love Season 3 on and — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. A single, tightly-focused season means there is plenty to get through without ever feeling padded. With 150 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Bill Paxton's performance alone is worth the time investment. Start it whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Whatever else is competing for your attention this week, Big Love Season 3 is worth clearing space for. Big Love Season 3 trusts its audience to sit with discomfort instead of resolving it too quickly. In Season three, Bill Henrickson, who last season bought a gaming-machine business to supplement his Home Plus superstores, is looking to diversify even further in the face of a flat do-it-yourself market and a crackdown on polygamists around the country. It's not a polygamist-friendly world out there and that's why Bill wants to protect his growing family by diversifying his businesses, building goodwill in his neighborhood, and adding a new wife who can deliver him more children. Bill Paxton and Jeanne Tripplehorn lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was aired in 2009. The performances in Big Love Season 3 do a lot of work in the silences between the dialogue. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Drama fans who appreciate slow-burn storytelling will feel right at home with Big Love Season 3. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single week. Bill Paxton's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.