ah yes…do you smell that? take a big whiff. it’s the smell of love in the air. it’s not just any little love, but big love.

that’s right, ladies and gentlemen, hbo’s hit drama (and my favorite show of all-time) big love is back in its fourth season. last night, the henricksons returned for what’s shaping up to be, possibly, the most dramatic and anxiety-ridden season to date.

following last season’s finale with one of the most incredible scenes in the show’s brief history, the henricksons now live with the knowledge of roman’s death and in the reality that bill has begun his own church. throughout this first episode, we see the henricksons in their aforementioned new church (awkward is a word that come to mind…) and watch as bill’s new casino finally opens. but, of course, the star of the show is still roman grant. even in his frozen death, he shows up at the casino on the day of the grand opening, thus drawing fbi agents from an “anonymous tip” (read: albey).

so, needless to say, there’s a lot brewing this season. one final note about the show that worth mentioning is that this season has a markedly different tone and feel. one of the themes is the supposed dismantling and rupturing of the henrickson family (which really began last season). with that, there’s a much more frantic and dark tone, it seems. the big buzz today—keeping in the spirit of the new tone—is a completely (and beautifully) redone intro, featuring the various characters falling away from each other and a great song from the engineers called home. from what i’ve seen online today, the reaction is a mixed bag, with some loving it and some completely hating it. i fall in the “loving it” camp, but i thought i’d let you decide. here’s the new intro:

so, what did you think about the first episode and its new intro?