it’s no secret to long-time blog readers that i love big love. rarely is there a show that completely engrosses me like it (the only other show that does that for me is breaking bad). throughout the last 4 seasons, i’ve felt like a part of the henrickson family (which isn’t always a good thing…) as i’ve watched with growing anticipation.

following a mixed bag response from season 4 (which, um, some people didn’t exactly love…), season 5 has been a refreshing return to character development and most of the elements that made me and others fall in love with the strange brew that is the cast and plot of big love.

over the last several days, hbo has been running a really great promo spot for the finale that features a bit of a retrospective of the series. for the first 3 seasons, the intro music was the beach boys’ god only knows. for the retrospective, natalie maines did a great cover. check it out to see just a glimpse of what led me to love big love.

but alas, my 5-year-long television obsession will all come to an end in less than 2 weeks. as usual, a lot is going on with no sign of resolve. i certainly don’t expect a neat and packaged resolution to everything, but i do expect that many answers will be offered. i expect the series finale to fall somewhere between the mystery of the sopranos’ finale and a perfectly resolved plotline.

alright, so what’s gonna happen?

well, let me first say that this thing is wide open at this point. anyone claiming to have it figured out is someone who might be full of it. i have some predictions, but the writers really haven’t tipped their hand. i might be wrong. in fact, i probably am. but here goes.

1. barb won’t leave. everything this season has led up to her departure from the family. everything. and that’s why i don’t think it will happen (among other reasons). while some have predicted that the entire series is intended to paint a nice picture of polygamy, only to reveal the “truth” about polygamy: that it is doomed to crumble. but i think the fundamental fabric of the show is a united family despite the overwhelming odds against them.

2. nicki and margene will also stay. again, ditto on the barb stuff. despite competing love interests over the years for both nicki and margene (including 1 for margene that is still percolating), i think the family will stay intact.

3. alby will be ousted as the prophet. i waffle between alby being killed and being arrested (or more likely exiled pending his imminent arrest). quite frankly, i could also see him killing himself. either way, i think his days are numbered. i just can’t imagine the writers letting alby “win” by remaining as prophet when the series ends. despite the strong backing from the ueb, his crimes and sins will be outed (by bill or someone else) and he will no longer be the prophet when the show concludes.

and the big one…

4. bill will take his rightful place as the prophet of juniper creek. first of all, bill won’t die. when season 5 began, that was my prediction, but i no longer think that. the writers have tried to prepare us for that ending, but i just don’t think it will happen. alby went as far as hiring s hitman to kill bill, but alby ended up killing the hitman (who was also, of course, his secret gay lover) at the end of this week’s episode. the path to bill’s death seems too cluttered.

great writing never forgets the roots and journey of its characters. in this case, to form a perfect circle of character and plot development, i think bill should return to juniper creek and become the prophet. why? because that was very likely bill’s original path in life. bill is the grandson of orville henrickson, the former and beloved juniper creek prophet. orville’s accountant was power-hungry roman grant, who is believed to have killed orville to become the wicked prophet (roman is also the father or bill’s wife nicki and current prophet, alby). when bill was 14, roman sensed that he had the makings of a great prophet and ordered frank and lois (bill’s parents) to exile him from the compound. after that, of course, the journey of bill’s present life began, marrying 3 times, running a business, becoming a state senator and founding his own church.

with bill facing 10-20 years for statutory rape (after discovering that margene was only 16 when they married), i predict that bill and the family will flee to juniper creek in order to avoid prosecution (not that going to juniper creek will allow him to escape prosecution, but there’s a more layered prediction here that i’m not gonna spend the time going into). in the preceding days, alby will be ousted as the prophet, leaving it for the true prophet, bill.

the path to bill becoming the prophet seems to be paved with bill founding (and becoming a prophet-like figure) his own church and with bill pushing the safety net legislation (which has led to a prophet-like and messiah-like role amongst the various polygamist groups throughout utah).

i don’t predict that we’ll see the aftermath of bill’s tenure as prophet. i believe that the final scene of the show will be bill assuming that position and that’s about as much information as we’ll receive before the show fades to black.

so, those are my predictions. what do you think? i am 100% open to being totally and completely off the mark. bill could die. barb could leave. margene could begin an affair with the goji ceo. a lot could happen that i don’t foresee.

this week’s penultimate episode will reveal much more, that will likely either support or contradict my predictions. 2 more weeks and we’ll all know for good.