Roberta's Funeral

Nicki (Chloë Sevigny), realizing that something sneaky was going on between Bill (Bill Paxton) and Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), has announced her desire to "bring a new soul" into the family. This enables her to manipulate the wives' schedule according to her menstrual cycle. But she's secretly taking birth control pills. Bill and Barb continue their affair. Barb confesses to Peg (Wendy Phillips), who disapproves. Bill obtains the state file on Roman's (Harry Dean Stanton) shady real-estate ventures. Bill visits Juniper Creek to attend the funeral of Frank's (Bruce Dern) first wife, planning to also meet with Roman. Bill is outraged to learn that Frank refuses to make Lois (Grace Zabriskie) his first wife, as he once promised, because, among other things, he thinks she tried to kill him. Bill tries to persuade Frank to change his mind. He also checks with Joey (Shawn Doyle) to make sure Joey's name won't appear on any of Roman's real-estate deals before going to Roman with a cash offer and a threat to expose him if he doesn't take the money. "God will have a humble people," Roman warns Bill. "Either we can choose to be humble, or we can be compelled." Meanwhile, back in civilization, Nicki creates a scene at Home Plus when she demands the "family discount" while buying a garbage disposal, and Ben (Douglas Smith) chastises Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) for inviting Pam (Audrey Wasilewski) over to watch a DVD. This episode was directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho).