‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ Episode 2 Recap: True Believers

I’ll do you a favor, DoesTheDogDie.com users: Two dogs are killed in this episode of Under the Banner of Heaven. First, a dog is strung up and shot to death by enemies of Joseph Smith’s nascent religious community. (The shooting takes place off screen; the hanging does not.) Second, an unseen pup is beaten to death with a baseball bat by Ammon Lafferty, in order to teach his sons not to shirk their chores.

The parallels and divergences are intriguing. In the former case, the killing of the dog is meant to demonstrate the capricious cruelty of the “Gentiles” who persecute the early Latter Day Saints communities. In the latter, the killing of the dog is meant to demonstrate the importance of LDS commandments regarding obedience and responsibility. The dog dies in both cases; the only difference is one of perspective.

“Perspective” is at a premium during these early stages of Detective Jeb Pyre’s investigation into the murder of Brenda Lafferty and her baby daughter. The picture that emerges from Jeb’s interrogation of both Allen and Robin is less a straight line than a latticework, as a series of overlapping events and ideas drive the Lafferty brothers into an increasingly radical form of faith.

Take the family chiropractic business as an example. Dan and Robin, it turns out, are not nearly as good at running the business as their dad Ammon was, while Dan’s wife Mathilda proves incompetent at managing the books. Dan and Robin travel to Los Angeles to learn new techniques and return with the idea of praying during their chiropractic procedures, which alienates the clientele, furthering the business’s downturn.

Mathilda, meanwhile, is encouraged by Brenda—sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong, as far as the men are concerned—to heed the voice of the Holy Spirit when making difficult decisions. Unfortunately for everyone, Mathilda hears the Holy Spirit (as well as Dan) telling her to dodge tax bills and licensing fees and, ultimately, ignore an order to appear in tax court, leading to a raid on the premises that Dan ends by swinging around a lead pipe while getting maced in the eyes by a government agent.

To the brothers, the trouble with the government is preventing them from their father’s commandment—also that of their Heavenly Father—to keep growing, keep building. So they turn to a radical anti-government group with the oh-so-imaginative name Patriots for Freedom. It’s not taxation they object to per se, it’s that taxation is preventing them from doing what they feel called to do.

Meanwhile, Brenda finagles her way into an anchorwoman position by threatening to expose the fact that her professor came onto her. This new job furthers the brothers’ resentment of her; keep in mind that they believe families last throughout eternity, so picking the right wife is crucial. But unfortunately for Allen, his plan to drift away from the Lafferty milieu and over to Brenda’s people goes belly-up when Brenda’s father—a bishop, but far more liberal than the Laffertys—rejects Allen as a lightweight from a family that will prevent his daughter from living her dreams. A fair assessment!

Underlying it all is the biography and mythology of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saints movement. As we learn from a series of flashbacks, he too ran afoul of the government; he too became increasingly radicalized and open to violence as a result.

Running parallel to Jeb’s end of the investigation is the journey of his partner Bill Taba out into the hills to track down the mysterious bearded figures associated with the brothers. With the help of a local Forest Services cop, he finds a grove of trees practically leveled with gunfire, then runs into a trap in the forest floor, injuring his leg. He follows a mysterious little girl to a cabin and comes face to face with the barrel of a gun to end the episode.

My main critical takeaway from this episode (“Rightful Place”)—as was the case with the first half of the two-episode premiere, this installment was written by showrunner Dustin Lance Black and directed by David Mackenzie—is how ultimately pathetic the behavior and motives of the Lafferty brothers really are. Wyatt Russell, in particular, is a perfect choice for would-be “man of the house” Dan; his snot-nosed “you think you’re better than me?!?!” performance here echoes his similar work as the replacement Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, of all things. (I wasn’t nuts about that Disney/Marvel show, but Russell was well cast, that’s for sure.) There’s a brilliant bit where he insults a client, then says “you can say that twice!”, then literally says it a second time. As for Robin, Seth Numrich gives him the air of an inveterate second banana, so determined to make a life for himself as Dan’s father-appointed right hand man that he’s called down the Word of God itself to justify his conduct. The fact that he’s grown a shaggy beard, prophet-style, shows just how far he and his kin have drifted from the conservative but straight-laced beliefs of their father. This generation wants to be seen as different from the norm.

All in all, it’s another compelling glimpse into the secret life of America, fueled by faith and resentment in equal parts. Good thing we’ve moved past all that, huh?

Sean T. Collins (@theseantcollins) writes about TV for Rolling Stone, Vulture, The New York Times, and anyplace that will have him, really. He and his family live on Long Island.