prana
New Member
Posts: 14
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Post by prana on Mar 16, 2011 15:59:47 GMT -5
Before season five, Barb was definitely my favorite. She has been nothing but selfless and giving- her #1 priority truly is her family. She was a strong woman who seemed to know what she wanted, and really seemed to be the glue that held everything together. I felt that she had a certain, subtle power about her.
This season, I've lost my liking of Barb, just a little. I think that she is disgusted on all levels, I honestly feel like she has no happiness in her life, nothing that makes her happy, nobody routing for her or giving her support. She's lost herself a little, and some of her presence along with it.
Second in line to Barb would be Margie for me as well. I like that she is carefree, and somewhat of a free spirit. She wanted to be in the family, and gave it her all, in whatever way she could. She's quirky, naive and pretty lovable. She just needs some guidance.
I've never really liked Nicki. Even though she's technically a 'product of her environment', I put her in the same category as the rest of the shows villains.
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Post by LD no S on Mar 16, 2011 16:00:04 GMT -5
this is difficult to answer because i'm not particularly "fond" of any of them ... Barb and Nicki are both too religious for my taste, and i feel like Margene just sold herself short marrying a "father figure" ... if i HAD to pick a favorite, i guess it would be Barb, as she appears to be the most "grounded" of the three ...
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Post by kambria on Mar 16, 2011 16:12:40 GMT -5
I've never liked Nikki and don't even want to waste words on this post to explain why (she makes me that mad...lol).
I have always loved Barb for being the most compassionate of the three and because I know that she loves Bill and married him for the right reasons (at least in the beginning).
I love Margene as well, but I do agree that Bill is a father figure for her and she married into the family because she didn't really have a family of her own.
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Post by marigoldmama on Mar 16, 2011 16:17:15 GMT -5
Nicki was always my favorite, followed by Barb and Margene.
Nicki was just fun to me. Barb was a decent woman. Never a big fan of Margene because she was just so immature.
Now? No one. I don't care for any of them and who they've become. Kinda sad.
Nicki is evil and demonic. Barb is too smart to be so miserable and whiny and Margene is probably the best one at this point but she's not my cup of tea either.
I'd have to pick Lois or Wanda.
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Post by nychic on Mar 16, 2011 16:24:55 GMT -5
s1-Nicki s2-Barb s3-Nicki s4-Nicki s5-Margie
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Post by marigoldmama on Mar 16, 2011 16:31:36 GMT -5
Betheaz,
;D
We'd all pick Lois or Wanda.
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Post by writerwannabe on Mar 16, 2011 16:42:10 GMT -5
I don't know which one I like the most, but it's Barb I identify with. We are both in the generation that thought we had to do it all, wife, mother, career, with a smile on our face, while dancing backwards in high heals. I appreciate Barb for her wide range of skills and abilities and apparently limitless energy. She bakes from scratch!
I feel sorry for Margene because she seems like a lost child, trying desperately to find something to latch on to. I'm glad they revealed her true age, because before we found out she IS a lost child looking for a family to take her in, I thought she was just a silly twit. Of course she wanted her own car, sat around the house watching TV, let the kids draw on the walls, used kerosine in dryer.....she's just a kid and one who did not have much of an upbringing. I see her as a person of normal intelligence and a good spirit who can grow into a fine adult. I worry that she is still on her own when it comes to growing up because Bill and Barb are too busy with other stuff and Nikki doesn't have anything helpful to say about being a successful adult.
Which brings me to Nikki. I still can't decide if Nikki's meanness is hard wired or programmable. If it's hard wired, meaning she has a mental illness such as narcissistic or borderline personality disorder, the family needs to just learn how to handle her and protect themselves from any emotional or financial damage she can inflict. Those illnesses are pretty much impervious to treatment, but that doesn't mean a family can't learn how to continue to love and accept the individual just as they are. On the other hand, if Nikki is just emotionally crippled by early life, she is programmable, she can change her ways of thinking and her ways of acting. She will need many years of counseling and a loving family who will hold her accountable for change, but she can change. To me, this is the big mystery of Nikki, will she always be the way she is now, or is there hope for her future?
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Post by kathy36610 on Mar 16, 2011 16:44:24 GMT -5
My favorite is Barb. I think in a way she was just as brainwashed as the women on the compound because even the mainline Mormon church is very paternalistic and confining for women. I admire Barb because she has continued her education. Out of all the wives, she will be able to take care of herself and probably find a good LDS man, if that is what she wants, once she cuts Bill loose. She is taking baby steps. I think her desiring to be a priesthood holder is a desire to have her opinions just as valid as Bill's. She knows his "testimonies" have led them down a destructive path and needs the validation that she does not have to "follow him in harmony" no matter how stupid or misguided he is.
He said that if Barb had been the priesthood holder they wouldn't have allowed Nikki or Margene in the family and their precious children's souls wouldn't be in the family, which I disagree with. She went along with him but it was after he started getting ridiculous when he ran for office and then outed the family, when he went behind her back and got Tommy and his Dad thrown out of the casino business, when he took advantage of her acquaintance with his opponent on the hill, and lastly when he decided to give in the Nikki and even brought the subject of divorce up to Barb. She should have at least been given the consideration of putting the option of Nikki's parental rights being given up for the sake of adoption. I mean look - as soon as Nikki got the marriage and the custody of Cara Lynn, she went behind Bill's back and tried to get the child sent away to boarding school, hid the affair from the rest of the family. Bill has been so off base as a "priesthood holder" he has pushed Barb away from the ridiculous burden of membership in the Church of Bill.
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Post by marigoldmama on Mar 16, 2011 16:46:16 GMT -5
Writerwannabe, I always assumed you were male. I have NO idea why but I read your post a few times and said "Holy cow, writerwannabe is a femal? ?" ;D ;D I totally agree with you about Margene. I always thought she was an impulsive foolish person. Now I see her as a lost soul trying to fit in a grown up world. Remember the scene with Margene and Ben and the pool, the hose and the book club? Of course she acted like that...she was barely 18.
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Post by writerwannabe on Mar 16, 2011 16:53:51 GMT -5
Writerwannabe, I always assumed you were male. I have NO idea why but I read your post a few times and said "Holy cow, writerwannabe is a femal? ?" ;D ;D I totally agree with you about Margene. I always thought she was an impulsive foolish person. Now I see her as a lost soul trying to fit in a grown up world. Remember the scene with Margene and Ben and the pool, the hose and the book club? Of course she acted like that...she was barely 18. :DHa Ha Ha. Girl here. Pink all the way. Yea, I feel really bad about all the nasty things I said about Margene on this board and the old HBO board. Poor kid! I'm cheering for her now, but I do wish Bill would take advantage of the teaching moment and say, no, Margene, we don't need another baby just now. Let's think about what that would mean for the future. But NO!!! Our boy Bill just jumps her bones, sigh.
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Post by sportyone on Mar 18, 2011 1:46:22 GMT -5
I like Marge the best as far as how she has grown throughout the series. She seems like the one who if she had to would find a way to provide for herself and family. She is the one who wants the family to stay together & is willing to make sacrificies towards that end. As far as the acting talent I'd pick Niki. That actress has so much talent! She just nailed the 'essence of Nikki.'
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marie
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by marie on Mar 18, 2011 3:58:41 GMT -5
I've always liked Margie the best. At first I think it was how she was so young, and then I've enjoyed watching her grow as a person. I think she's been the least selfish of all the wives, I can't recall her ever going out and really pursuing something which serves just her own self interests at the expense of anyone else in the family. But then you could look at it that keeping the family together is in her own self interest.
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Post by limeade on Mar 18, 2011 19:41:38 GMT -5
Barb. I love her. I always liked her character throughout the series, but I never felt she had a lot of weight and umph to her character. She was just 'the good wife' and the selfless one. But then as the show progressed and they depicted the special bond Barb and Bill have, how she's the public face and head of the family in her own way, and her going back to school and pushing against what's expected of her vs. her own independence/wants, I have come to love her the most.
As dreadful as much of Season 5 has been for a finale season, I will say that I have enjoyed Barb's plotline the best. Her becoming more of a feminist, wanting priesthood, finding her own calling and pursuing her own independent thoughts, exploring to find more of her own identity, etc... I really liked that. Which is why it gave me hope that she'd leave Bill for never compromising for her and, well, all the Other Crap (tm) over the last five years.
Marge would be my second choice. I liked how they were growing and evolving her character, but it seems erratic this season. Like it's regressing or she's going back to just being Margie cliches for laughs.
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Post by jules on Mar 19, 2011 9:38:25 GMT -5
Barb, Barbara, Barbie (as her sister calls her. .... It's all about Barb for me in this series. I love her character! I feel sorry for Barbara on so many levels. For starters, when Bill even brought her into polygamy. This was after both of them being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.. I am a member, so I'm a bit biased in this thought. LOL! I grew up LDS as Barb did, so I could identify with her in a lot of ways. I know that she loves her husband so much that she would do anything for Bill. (Maybe not anymore) with this season, but she is the epitome of the "Loyal" wife and I love that about her. I have been glad that she has blossomed, but am personally sad with her wanting to hold the priesthood. Somewhere along the way, she truly lost her "testimony" of The Book of Mormon and of course I find that super-sad, but I will root for her to the end of this series. I root for her to be "happy" at the end of the day, whether with Bill or the entire Family. She has suffered so much, I just want her character to end with pure "Happiness!" ¢¾
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Post by firstwife on Mar 19, 2011 13:31:47 GMT -5
Barb has always been my favorite, though I love to hate Nicki. It was her character that dragged me in to this show. I have always been fascinated by the question of how far a woman will go to keep her family together. To me, this whole show has been about whether those sacrifices are worth it.
The first episode of season 2 sums it up well. When Bill is trying to guilt Barb in to coming back home from the Don's house, she says something to the effect of "don't tell me what I have had to sacrifice. I had to sacrifice the love we had in order to create this family." Pretty powerful. All through the series, it's been Bill spouting off about "family is everything" (when in reality most of it has been about him 'getting some'). Barb is the one who actually put it in to practice.
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