If you’re like us, you were hooked on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives over the past year.
But if you’re missing the ladies of MomTok and their scandalous stories, we recommend checking out another show about Mormon wives — albeit a group who are very different from the MomTok crew.
And no, we don’t mean TLC’s Sister Wives — we’re talking about HBO’s acclaimed drama series Big Love. Watch With Us recommends you stream this gripping drama show in July 2025 — here’s why you should check it out on HBO Max.
It’s a Complex, Non-Judgmental Look at Polygamy
Big Love revolves around Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton), a man who was excommunicated by his extreme Fundamentalist sect (the United Effort Brotherhood, or UEB) as a teenager. In Salt Lake City, he met and married Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), a more modernized Mormon woman, and did not intend to follow “the principle” of plural marriage — but when it seemed that Barb would die of cancer, he married Nicki (Chloë Sevigny), one of the daughters of the UEB prophet, who helped take care of her.
Miraculously, Barb went into remission, leaving Bill with two wives. A few years later, Bill fell in love with Margene Heffman (Ginnifer Goodwin) and added her to the family as well. When the series begins, Bill, Barb, Nicki and Margene live in neighboring houses with adjoining backyards, with their many children growing up as siblings.
The backstory of Big Love’s polygamist family sets up a lot of interesting storytelling, but one of the most fascinating elements is the case of Barb and Nicki. Their marriage to Bill presents a rare case in which viewers who don’t practice or support polygamy might still understand how someone could genuinely fall in love with more than one person. Though Big Love doesn’t exactly encourage polygamy, it doesn’t condemn it either — as long as it’s carried out by consenting adults, unlike many of the abusive and coercive marriages portrayed in the UEB compound.
16 Must-Watch Drama Shows on Netflix Right Now (June 2025)
Today, non-monogamous relationships are more mainstream than ever, though not typically in the context of marriage and religion. If you’ve seen Big Love before, it’s worth rewatching to see the parallels the show draws between polygamy and other “nontraditional” relationship styles, such as same-sex marriage (which was still illegal in most states when the show premiered in 2006).
The Huge Cast of Characters Is Engrossing
Four adults and eight children — and that’s just Bill’s immediate family. Big Love balances their stories, as well as those of the extended families that Nicki and Bill left behind at the UEB compound, expertly. Nicki’s power-hungry father Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) and devious, closeted brother Alby (Matt Ross) overlap with stories about Bill’s aging and impoverished parents, Frank (Bruce Dern) and Lois (Grace Zabriskie), as well as Bill and Barb’s teenage kids Ben (Douglas Smith) and Sarah (Amanda Seyfried) and more
What’s New on HBO Max in July 2025
It would be dishonest to say that Big Love never feels crowded, but it’s a testament to the power of the performances that all the storylines are genuinely engrossing. It’s similar to Game of Thrones in the scope of its world-building, despite taking place in a much more grounded reality.
‘Big Love’ Doesn’t Shy Away From Darkness — or Light
Despite the aforementioned non-judgmental attitude toward consensual polygamy, Big Love is a sharp and well-researched look at some of the worst abuses of Fundamentalist Mormon sects. The placement of underage girls whose parents believe they are ready for marriage in a “Joy Book,” a sort of catalog of potential wives, is a major plot point for Nicki’s arc in season 3. The “Joy Book” is straight out of the headlines about Warren Jeffs, a Fundamentalist leader who was arrested in 2006. (Big Love premiered that same year.)
21 Must-Watch Shows on HBO Max Right Now (July 2025)
While Big Love’s drama is dark, it also emphasizes the genuine love and acceptance among the members of the Henrickson family, despite their many disagreements and differences. The Big Love in the show’s title is a genuine presence in the story, causing the viewer to question their assumptions about love and family.
Big Love is a complicated, messy and, appropriately, big show — and that’s what makes it great. If you’ve seen it before, it’s worth revisiting in the context of changing cultural attitudes about monogamy, and if it’s new to you, then you’re in for some truly captivating television.
Stream all five seasons of Big Love on HBO Max now.
