Last night, some of the season’s most compelling story lines were wrapped up on Big Love, but, that doesn’t mean they ended tidily.

First of all, Ana, the fourth Hendrickson wife who disappeared last season, turns up in a restaurant where she was a waitressing. And, it seems she was carrying Bill’s baby. Barb become obsessed with taking her in and raising the baby as part of their family but Ana wasn’t having any part of it. She did go to Bill and ask for his help and offered  him visitation rights, sans the wives.

Barb found out about their meeting and went to see Ana, who had a new fiance, and discovered the baby was not conceived during her 48 hour marriage to Bill, but it was actually conceived before they were married. Barb was hurt and confronted Bill who admited he was wrong, but let’s face it, Bill has bigger problems.

Meanwhile, Dale and Alby continued their affair until Bill confronted Dale about his “inappropriate contact” Alby. Of course, Dale denied it but, eventually the entire truth came out when one of Alby’s wives caught them leaving their love nest.

Dale, who is struggling with his alliance to the church and his feelings for Alby, ended up committing suicide. Alby found him in their apartment and was crushed.

Sissy Spacek’s character continued to be a problem for Bill, as she became a partner in the family’s casino. Even though it seemed like this may have been the end of her drama, it’s sure to be just the beginning.

In last night’s episode of Big Love, the distance between Bill (Bill Paxton) and Ben (Douglas Smith) grew as the tension continued over that kiss that Ben shared with Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin). Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn) insists that Bill resolve the dispute immediately and even tried to make nice with Marg until she found out it was Marg’s fault the kiss happenened. By the end of the episode Ben had run off with Bill’s mother, that can’t lead to anything good.

Bill also wins the Republican nomination for Senate after he gives a heartfelt speech about being a lost boy. Its important to note the only reason he admitted he was a lost boy was because a mugshot of a young Bill surfaced. That’s the sign of a great politician, take a mugshot and turn it into a campaign slogan.

Sissy Spacek is back as Marilyn who, once she finds out Bill had slandered her name to the tribe, threatens to take revenge on Bill. That’s not his only problem, Nicki is questioning how he feels about her since he has her do all his dirty work. He enlisted Nicki as a volunteer for Colburn so she can learn their secrets, helping Bill win the nomination.

As the episode ended, Marg and Bill were headed toward reconciliation, Barb was having a break down over the fact that Marg macked on her son, Nicki was ready to make another baby with Bill (despite the fact that he thinks she’s “Morally ambiguous”) and Benny was off with his crazy grandparents. What else can possibly happen to the Hendrickson’s?

Here’s a look at what happened to the Hendrickson’s on last night episode of Big Love:

Margene turn into a mini-mogul and finally gets her big shot at a prime time spot to hawk her jewelry on TV. But Ben is the only family member who takes an interest in her work and the only one who shows up at the studio to support her. Margie thanks him by giving him a very friendly kiss. A producer sees it and tells of America (on live TV) that he’s her husband, which does not go over very well with the rest of the family.

Barb is at the casino leading sensitivity seminars, which are a disaster. Then she hits one of girls living on the reservation with her car. It turns out the girl she hit is a methhead but Sarah (who feels bad) never gets the memo and has the methhead move in with her.

Bill is in Washington D.C. trying to get an endorsement for his senate run but ends up butting heads with lobbyist Marilyn Dencher, played by guest star Sissy Spacek. Luckily for him Nikki wins her over in the bathroom and Sissy decides he’s worthy of her time after all.

Nikki is hanging out in D.C. with Bill and Cara Lynn. She’s suppose to be there on a romantic getaway but she isn’t sure she’s that into Bill anymore (which is why Cara Lynn is along). She leaves Cara Lynn in a lobby while she tries to help Bill and when she returns, Cara Lynn calls her out for bailing on her and tells the guard Nikki has a gun. Bill returns the favor and gets her out of that mess but they’re never able to get back on track like they had hoped.

The bad news? There’s only six weeks left in this mini-season.

Last night, as Dexter’s Michael C. Hall walked on stage to accept the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama, some in the media, and in the live audience, made some unfortunate comments about the cap he was wearing.

Hall had revealed last week that he was on the road to recovery after secretly battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma. But, obviously, not everyone got the memo. On the live blog for MacLeans, Brian D. Johnson wrote, “Michael C. Hall wins best actor in a TV drama series for Dexter. He looks like a bit of a psycho cause he’s wearing a black toque. What’s up with that?” And the NY Times The Moment blog tweeted, “Is Michael C Hall playing Bob Marley in an upcoming movie? Don’t get the hat or what is hiding under it?” (In their defense they did remove the tweet after catching some backlash for the comment.)

But even if some didn’t get his new accessory, Hall was still having fun with it. After his win, he joked, “It is nice to have a justifiable excuse for accessorizing.” He also told reporters that his Japanese hat was “pretty simple but maybe a little fancier than your normal thing.”

But, some are suggesting that one of Michael’s fellow nominees, Big Love’s Bill Paxton, had worse even things to say about the actor. While the camera cut to Paxton after Hall was announced as the category’s winner, it appeared Paxton had less than complimentary things to say about Hall. The NY Post’s Jarett Wieselman pointed out Paxton’s gaffe today, saying, “I’m no lip reader, but it looks suspiciously like the Big Love loser says something about “the cancer card” when the camera cuts to him during Michael’s walk to the podium.” While others speculate he said, “I can’t believe I lost to an as*hole.” Either way, its not good. Take a look at the clip below and judge for yourself.

Was anyone else disappointed by last night’s season four premiere of Big Love? It all started with that new intro. It’s OK, but the old one was better, and the fact that the four Henricksons were on thin ice still seems more fitting than the falling through thin air metaphor, especially, since in so many ways, they’ve already hit rock bottom. But that’s why we love them, isn’t it?

At the end 0f season three, Joey (Bill’s brother) killed Roman Grant, Sarah (Bill and Barb’s daughter) was struggling with having had a miscarriage and Barb was kicked out of LDS.

As the new season opened last night, Bill was leading the way in his new church. As soon as the service ends, we see an FBI raid at Juniper Creek where they are trying to find Roman Grant. Alby is busy during the raid, picking up a guy in the park. I’ll never look at bird watchers the same way again.

The authorities come to question Nikki because someone has been putting his money into an account in her name. But that’s not Nikki’s only drama. Her daughter, Cara Lynn, is getting ready for high school when her father, Nikki’s first husband, J.J., shows up and demands his daughter back. Bill gets J.J. to agree to having her on the weekends so she can go to school but she tells them privately that if he goes back to Kansas, she’ll go with him.

But, it gets worse for Nikki. Her mother calls, asking her to bring a generator and when she gets there, her mother forces her into the basement freezer for Bacon, but instead, she finds Roman’s dead body. Nikki wants to turn the body over to the FBI but her mother says no so she goes and tells Alby, which was a very bad move.

Alby dumps his father’s body on Bill’s casino property. Jerry, Bill’s casino partner, gets a tip that the FBI is on its way. So Bill drives with Nikki and the dead body back to the compound.

Margene, who looks hot with a new wardrobe and haircut, is still selling jewelry on television but her boss is afraid she is about get burnt out. So, she tries to pawn off her casino responsibilities on Barb while she concentrates on the jewelry line. Barb, who is very insecure after getting booted from the church, struggles with her role at first, but in the end is able to fill in for Bill at the opening of the new casino and does a decent job at that.

Lois is now raising birds in an apartment outside of the compound. Frank attempts to kidnap her and later tires to kill her so she offers him a piece of the bird biz if he leaves her alone.

Amanda Seyfried, who has played The Henrickson’s eldest daughter on Big Love for the past three seasons, is moving on. Seyfield got her big break as Meryl Streep’s daughter in “Mamma Mia!” last year and now feels that she would like her path to move further in that direction.

In an exclusive interview, TV Guide magazine obtained confirmation of Seyfield’s departure from the show’s creator Will Scheffer. Scheffer told the mag, “She’s been exploring her movie career for a couple of years now, and we’ve been giving her a lot of room to do that. I know having a commitment to a show for six months definitely cuts into her ability to pursue that career.”

Seyfried will remain in the upcoming fourth season of “Big Love” up until the eighth episode. Her character, Sarah, will get married in the third episode against her parents’ consent and then “move away” in the eighth episode.

The actress, who started her acting career in soap operas like “All My Children”, just finished filming another movie in New York City entitled “Letters to Juliet”.

The fourth season of “Big Love” begins January 10 on HBO. Here’s where you can find episodes of the show online.

While not many people have heard of the show, me included, Big Love on HBO has had decent success.  It is a drama about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy.  Of course leave it to HBO to fulfill its groundbreaking series roles.  The show stars Bill Paxton and Chloe Sevingy as well as a few other recognizable people.  Big Love is already in its fourth season and is set to premiere next year on January 10^th.

The show was researched for more than three years before filming began and the producers’ goal was to put forth a fair portrayal of polygamy in America.  While most conservatives would disagree and probably boycott the show entirely, the show has enough fans to where it has been renewed year after year.  The producers try and make the show un-judgmental, but a show like this is hardly the case.

The show is one of a kind and if you’re into the whole taking risks thing, then Big Love should be on your list of shows to watch.  Big Love’s fourth season premieres on January 10^th on HBO at 9 pm.  While episodes cannot be watched online week after week, there are a few alternatives to watching the show.

• HBO
  This is the best way to stay up to date on the show without having to wait until after the season.  You must sign up for a subscription to HBO either through your cable or satellite provider.
• Netflix
  When the seasons are finished, they will release them in DVD bundles and one can have a Big Love marathon.  You have to subscribe to Netflix.
• iTunes
  While you also cannot watch any episodes from season 4 on iTunes, they do have a Big Love starter pack that includes the first five episodes of Season 1 for $6.99.  Unfortunately, the videos are in standard definition.

At a Big Love event during the PaleyFest last week, the show’s cast and producers spilled a few secrets about what’s coming up on season four.

For fans hoping that Roman Grant isn’t really dead after being choked in the season three finale, we’re sorry to report, there’s no chance he’s coming back, ever. According to show runner Mark V. Olsen, “There’s Roman’s funeral, and his presence on the show is huge next year. He’s still a looming presence. Things are coming to light that were hidden; things are coming up from the past, from the grave.” `

Olsen goes on to say, “A theme we’re exploring this season is the subjugation of women. It’s not as if we haven’t done this before, but we’re going to do it in a deeper way.” The women will also be more deeply involved in each others lives at points when they would have split in the past.

As for Bill Paxton’s character, Bill Henrickson, he has big plans for the future. “I’m ready for us to become who we are without all the fighting and for Barb to really know that she’s on this thing. I want her to be Bonnie to my Clyde. I want to see us take on the world, be a little more empowered, to see my empire grow. I think the Church of Bill could be a go, and Bill the Prophet could be in the cards.”

Regardless of what Bill wants, Barb will try to establish a new identity for herself. “The Henricksons are truly starting their own faith, and I hope that Barb takes a real active role,” says Jeanne Tripplehorn who plays Barb. “She’s always been on the fence [about polygamy], so it will be interesting to see her try and embrace it.”

It also looks like Nicki’s daughter and ex, J.J., will also be back in the picture. As for Alby, he will most certainly be caught in a power struggle now that Roman is gone.

Season four begins filming in the next few weeks and will premiere on HBO at the end of the year.