Yuku free message boards

Glambert's AMAs make-out session was but a little blip on the gaydar compared to what Big Love has in store for season four: Alby (Matt Ross), the HBO soap's closeted villain is about to go courting his first beau - oh, and controversy. Lots of that, too.

The character is "being groomed for an incredible season," teases co-creator/executive producer Will Scheffer. Adds counterpart Marc V. Olsen: "Alby's boyfriend, Dale (Benjamin Koldyke), is appointed head of the UEB - a trustee. They stumble into a relationship, and this guy is [just like Alby] struggling with his urges. He's been going to [reparative therapy] for several years… unsuccessfully. Alby is going as well."

But attempts to "pray the gay away" are just the tip of the iceberg. "There's a provocative nature to what we're doing," Olsen suggests. "It's more than just the Mormon culture. We're highlighting certain aspects of the church's relationship with its gay members that I think, as the story unfolds, is going to cause no [small] amount of controversy."

The hot topic is also likely to cause no small amount of acclaim for Alby's portrayer. "Matt is in the middle of a career-defining season," marvels Scheffer. Chimes in Olsen: "We gave him a great story, and he's delivering with the kind of performance that is astonishing."

So what do you think? Do you expect to be astonished? Shocked? Scandalized? (Additional reporting by Andy Patrick)