Review | Big Love

AIR DATE: SUNDAY 1/10

Last year, TV's oddest family drama ascended to greatness as patriarch Bill (Bill Paxton) struggled to keep his polygamist world from collapsing. The momentum continues in season four's can't-miss opener as he and unhappy No. 1 wife Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) get ready to open the clan's first casino.

Will devious sect leader Alby (Matt Ross), lurking feds and wayward missus Nicki (underrated Chloe Sevigny) spoil things? Soapy elements aside, Big Love flows with captivating relationships, chilling rivalries and dark humor. (HBO, 9 P.M.)

--JOHN GRIFFITHS