While watching this week's episode of FX's The Riches, in which the Molloy clan returns to the Traverlers camp to attend the funeral of the murdered Earl (and nearly attends the wedding of DiDi to Ken Dannigan), I couldn't help but reminded of the commune on HBO's Big Love (which thankfully returns to the airwaves after way too long on June 17th).The two series are definitely distinct in their own ways, but they do share some similarities in the familiar theme of outsider families pretending to be something they're not, in suburbia, no less. While the series' leads couldn't be more different from one another (I don't, for example see Dahlia and Boss Lady knocking back drinks together), it's impossible not to compare the two series' most insane characters.
Yes, I'm talking about examining the crazies: Big Love's Alby (Matt Ross) and The Riches' Dale (Todd Stashwick).
Name: Alby (Big Love)Occupation: Commune enforcer
Likes: Knives, sandwiches, holy missions
Dislikes: Bill Henrickson, anti-freeze, hospital stays
Antisocial Traits: Terrorizing little girls, strangling Ben Henrickson, breaking and entering Home Plus
Deviant Behavior: Alby takes a male hustler he picked up outside a grocery store back to his motel room, makes a sandwich, then bangs his own head against the wall after forcing the guy to leave.
Crazy-O-Meter: 10
Name: Dale (The Riches)Occupation: Acting Patriarch of the Travelers
Likes: Tacky neon beer signs, pens with ink, Dahlia Malloy, small, unmarked bills.
Dislikes: Wayne Molloy, getting passed over for leadership opportunities, yellow Mercedes and the people who drive them
Antisocial Traits: Pushing pregnant women, beating up the mentally disabled, reneging on sworn oaths of protection
Deviant Behavior: After learning that Earl had selected Wayne as his successor, Dale takes his paralyzed father out into the woods, says he'll carry him forever in his heart, and leaves him to die from exposure.
Crazy-O-Meter: 9
Conclusion: they're both pretty damn insane, but I do have to give Alby the slight edge in craziness over Dale as the root of his insanity is still somewhat under wraps, while Dale appears to be a sociopath with a fixation on Dahlia and some daddy issues.
Who do you think is the more certifiably insane of the two? And which one should be locked up post haste?
Comments
There are obvious similarities between Big Love and The Riches but, as you said, they each hold their own. And I never thought I'd say this but I'm starting to enjoy The Riches just as mucy as Big Love (although I can't wait for it to come back in June)! But Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard are absolutely wonderful to watch and I'm really glad I decided to give the show a chance.
I don't think Dale is crazy. I just think he's mean as hell. He's determined and he won't let anyone get in his way.
Alby, on the other hand, clearly has mental health issues.
Dale is mean and vindictive. And yes, a little crazy. But I think somewhere there is a heart.
Alby is positively certifiable.
I saw a Big Love billboard yesterday and got SO excited!