Original subtitles

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[birds chirping]

[children shouting]

MORRIS: It should be right near here.

- If there is an anti-government group

camped out up here...

a police car would be a heck of a trophy.

Not to mention a detective.

[radio crackles]

[clears throat]

Detective Pyre. Go ahead.

DESK COP: Salt Lake's police records arrived.

One for Dan Lafferty, second for Allen Lafferty.

- Allen has a record.

DESK COP: Yep. Unpaid traffic citations.

Enough to get him arrested the morning after his wedding.

Served time on a related contempt of court charge.

- [sighs] Well, if he tries to walk out of there,

charge him. Copy?

DESK COP: 10-4.

- There.

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

That's Taba's car.

♪♪ ♪♪

- [mutters] See those?

♪♪ ♪♪

Okay.

One of those vests.

You both-- you're gonna stay here.

Be a radio chain. All right?

Stay safe.

- Yes, sir. - Okay.

[sticks snapping]

♪♪ ♪♪

[insect chirping]

[metallic tapping]

[bell ringing, rattling]

MAN IN CABIN: Get your boots off of this holy land,

or your blood will spill.

- Backup. Backup. Call in County for backup.

10-4. SHERIFF: 10-4.

Might take some time for them to find us up here, sir.

JEB: Copy.

[sticks snapping]

[dog barking]

MAN IN CABIN: You have no authority here!

[bell ringing]

We'll defend our private property.

[bell ringing, rattling]

[dog barking]

[wind blowing]

- [breathing heavily] Okay.

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[mouthing words]

[bell ringing]

MAN IN CABIN: Get your boots off of this holy land,

or your blood will spill.

- [breathing heavily]

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[wind blowing]

[metallic rattling]

[dog barking]

[rattling continues]

Ahh! - Ahh!

- Oh. [panting]

- You scared the crap out of me.

- [chuckles weakly]

- Tell me you're not alone.

- I got deputies at the-- at the woods' edge.

Calling for backup.

- Good.

- Detective Pyre. I'm here with Detective Taba.

He's--how you doing?

- Busted my ankle. Took my--my boot off

to check it out, and it won't go back on.

- Everyone knows you don't take your boot off

when you twist your ankle.

- You're such a Boy Scout.

- Eagle Scout, thank you very much.

Gonna need help getting Taba back to safety

when that arrives. SHERIFF: 10-4.

It'll take 40 minutes. Hold tight.

- Oh, boy, I'm happy to see you alive, Bill.

- Never been happier to see you, Jeb.

[bell ringing, rattling]

[dog barking]

MAN IN CABIN: You have no authority here!

We will defend our private property.

- Screaming that for an hour.

- Allen's got a record: contempt of court.

Seems he shares his brother's disdain for our kind.

- It's all in the family, huh?

- Really?

- Got a smoke? I'd prefer it.

- [exhales]

- ♪♪ Let me be the one you come running to ♪♪

♪♪ I'll never be untrue ♪♪

- Okay.

- ♪♪ Let's ♪♪

♪♪ Let's stay together ♪♪

[swing creaking]

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- Josie, it's Becca. I brought you some cake.

[knocks on door]

Josie?

Josie?

Josie!

[bell ringing, rattling]

[siren wails]

[dog barking]

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- You see that?

- I need eyes on the forest line

due north of our position.

I'm afraid we got company outside the cabin too.

SHERIFF: All right. 10-4.

Backup's on the way.

[police radio chatter]

- I'm gonna go there.

- Check it. - Yeah.

[mouthing words]

[police radio chatter] Stay safe.

[bell rattling]

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[breathing heavily]

♪♪ ♪♪

- Stop struggling. It's okay. - [grunts]

DEPUTY: It's okay. I got you. I got you.

- [exhales]

[breathing heavily]

WOMAN: Josie? [children laughing]

REBECCA: Josie? MAN: Josie?

WOMAN: Josie?

MAN: She's not there. I checked.

- The garage has been checked twice,

and there is no sign of his mother.

- Okay. - So I think it is time

that I open my address book

and call the brethren to service.

- Please, I don't need this

turning into some sort of news story, okay?

Uh w--um...

Annie, Caroline, Mama's gonna take a walk around the block

with Sister Dorren, okay?

I'll be right back. I'll be right back.

[police radio chatter]

[car door clicks open]

- Hi. Hi, honey.

These yours?

You out picking elderberries,

and then you find these out in someone's campsite, maybe?

I have two daughters of my own. They love stickers,

but these are something special.

Honey, if you want them back, you go right ahead.

Well, my name's Jeb.

And folks call me Pyre

or Officer Pyre or Brother Pyre.

I like the Brother.

What do they call you?

- Jenny. Jenny Lafferty.

- Well, that's a wonderful name.

You mind telling me your mom and your dad's names,

so I can get you back to them?

Unless you don't want to go back.

- I want to go back. - Okay, good.

So what are their names?

- My dad is Sam, and my mom is Sara.

- Sam and Sara.

Are they--are they in the cabin waiting for you?

- I don't know.

- Okay.

JENNY: Daddy sent me, my sister, and Mom

to go pick for food.

- I see. So where are they now?

Where's your sister and your mom?

- I lost them in the forest.

I don't know who's in the fort now.

- So that's a fort up there, huh?

Is that a fort?

For--for an army?

♪♪ ♪♪

With--with soldiers inside?

- They come and go.

- Who comes and goes?

- The men.

♪♪ ♪♪

- Hey. You know what?

I just remembered, I met a Lafferty once.

You know who?

Allen Lafferty and his wife Brenda.

- Auntie Brenda and Uncle Allen.

- Do they ever come around here?

Do you ever get to see them,

play with them, maybe on special occasions?

- Special occasions.

- Hey, I mean, you wouldn't have been invited

to--to their wedding, would you?

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[camera shutter clicking]

You remember anything else about that day

or the morning after,

maybe something about your Uncle Allen?

[bell rattling]

[police radio chatter]

[ringing, rattling]

- Jenny! JEB: Hey, hey, hey.

- Hey! Liar!

She's a liar!

JEB: Sister Lafferty.

I'm Brother Pyre. This is Detective Taba.

You're Jenny's mother?

So first and foremost,

we need to know who all is in that cabin,

'cause nobody wants anyone getting hurt today.

- My sons follow Heavenly Father's commands.

He rewards them with His protection.

- So they're inside?

Hey, we heard there was an army forming up here.

Looking to do battle with the federal government?

Something about taxes? Is that right?

- There are tares all around us now,

not just the feds.

- Tares?

- Heavenly Father's army will separate Earth's wheat

from its tares in the end of days.

- By tares, you mean sinners,

and by wheat, you mean the Lord's elect.

- Saints. - Saints.

SARA: Who follow the covenants.

You follow all of your covenants, brother?

- He probably does, actually.

Me, on the other hand, um--

how much time do I have till this judgment day, ma'am?

- In the latter days, the dark skin of the Lamanites

will blossom like the rose and become white

and delightsome again.

This invasion is one of His final signs, so...

I'd get myself to a baptismal font quick.

- Why'd you call Jenny a liar?

- She speaks about things she doesn't understand.

- She was only telling me about her Uncle Allen

and Aunt Brenda's wedding. That's all.

Unless there was something

she would have lied about about that day.

- You should ask Brenda and Allen, not me.

- Well, I--I've never met Brenda,

so would she be more of a wheat or a tare?

Your daughter said that, um, Brenda fit right in

with the Lafferty family.

SARA: I was there.

Heavenly Father's laws are black or white.

Brenda...

she's an ugly shade of gray.

- So what happened in the temple?

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[muffled speech]

♪♪ ♪♪

- Are you all right?

We know what just happened, don't we, Matilda?

BRENDA: A woman older than Jesus' sandals

just put oil very, very close to my private parts.

- It took me by surprise too.

I thought they kept me in the dark

because I didn't grow up LDS,

but I guess they don't tell any of us.

- The temple workers are listening.

You're not supposed to be talking

or making light of sacred things.

- Soon I will surrender to Allen for time and eternity.

I'll be a Lafferty, but when we covenant,

we don't give up our own minds.

- Of course not.

It's important that Brenda knows she doesn't

just earn a husband today, but sisters, too,

forever,

to keep all of our agency strong.

- What do you mean, "agency"?

- As in free agency.

- Nothing holy is free.

♪♪ ♪♪

JEB: I mean, I'm flabbergasted

that she would have broken

temple rules on her own wedding day.

I--I imagine that would have really upset you.

- She's a pretender.

She's drawn to converts like Dianna and Matilda

more than real LDS women.

TEMPLE WORKER: ...the most high God,

to rule and reign in the House of Israel forever.

Sisters, you have been washed and anointed to become queens

and priestesses to your husbands.

Names, signs, and penalties,

which you will receive in the temple this day,

are most sacred,

and are guarded by solemn covenants

and obligations of secrecy,

to the effect that under no condition,

even at the peril of your life, will you ever divulge them.

SARA: If I was a man...

with the priesthood...

I'd call her a tare.

- So what happens to tares in the end of days, Sister?

- According to Prophets Joseph and Brigham,

there are some sins beyond repentance.

Some say the only way to forgive a tare...

is through the doctrine of blood atonement.

[tense music]

- I'm sorry. I--

I must have missed that lesson.

♪♪ ♪♪

SARA: It means...

to cleanse one of their sins...

by spilling their blood out onto the ground.

[police radio chatter]

Brother.

- Hey. - Any more on who all's inside?

- No, nothing exact,

but she made it sound like all of her sons are in there,

and they're all under 12 years old.

I gotta pray for their safety.

BILL: We got three or four pioneer types

holding up inside, we may well

wrap this investigation up right here.

- Copy that.

Everyone's in place.

MAN IN CABIN: Bring your fire!

The wrath of God will extinguish it!

We are ready to join the true saints!

- A flair for the dramatic.

- I worry it's not an act.

- You think they'd martyr themselves

without the press here bearing witness?

No, this type wants the glory.

- No, my guess is that Sam's army--

they consider themselves totally devout,

willing to give up their lives for their beliefs,

and their own sons included in their sacrifice.

- Well, let's get in there now.

- What if that's begging for bloodshed?

[soft dramatic music]

Allen told you that he feels the key to solving this

is to look to the saints, right?

I'm pretty sure, to Sam,

this looks exactly like the Haun's Mill massacre.

[horse neighs] Missouri in 1838.

The saints were working the fields

three days after the Governor of Missouri

put out an extinction order...

to kill all Mormons.

♪♪ ♪♪

[horse neighs]

[gunshots banging]

[people shouting] [bell ringing]

♪♪ ♪♪

[people screaming]

- [grunts]

JEB: The mill looked exactly like this cabin:

made out of logs, but with spaces in between,

so that light could sneak in.

And then, barrels come in through those gaps.

[gunshots blasting]

Every single one of them executed...

Apart from three Mormon boys,

seven, nine, and ten years old,

who'd hidden themselves

under the blacksmiths' bellows.

♪♪ ♪♪

- They're just boys, sir.

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- And nits make lice.

[gunshot bangs]

- In Sam's mind, with our guns all pointing at him,

we are those militiamen.

[quiet dramatic music]

- What are you doing?

- Proving to those inside that I'm a Mormon before I'm a cop.

- Jeb, you have a family.

- I know.

I wouldn't be able to live with myself

if my daughters came to think about me

as one of those militiamen.

I'm coming out.

I'm unarmed!

Lower your weapons!

Weapons down.

I'm unarmed, Sam.

Brother?

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

Sam?

Sam?

I'm Jeb. I'm Jeb Pyre.

Can we talk?

Brother to brother, saint to saint.

SAM: Let my girls go.

Turn your men around...

and I'll forgive this.

- Thank you, brother.

Thank you for your understanding.

Thank you for sparing me.

SAM: Fine.

Get off my land...

right now.

- Now, I understand, and you have every right...

to feel invaded...

and to feel angry.

I know how the authorities

have treated our most faithful.

When they slaughtered our kind at Haun's Mill,

our Prophet Joseph-- did he ever fire back?

Did he ever resort to violence?

No. He--he surrendered.

[crow cawing]

He ensured the future of our faith.

[horse neighs]

Brother Lafferty,

you can do the same as our prophet...

And this can end peacefully, Brother.

No one gets hurt.

SAM: I won't go down like Joseph!

I am heir to Brigham Young, Lion of the Lord!

[bang, clatter]

- Get down! Get down on the ground!

Get down! - I got two in here!

SAM: Your justice isn't Heaven's.

Like you did to Joseph,

you may sentence me to death without trial,

but it is you who will suffer come eternity.

Murderers!

Apostate pigs!

- I suggested you disarm and get your hands in the air

unless you want those to be your final words.

Pull him out.

- Tyrants. Tyrants.

Tyrants! - Hey! Hey!

[door clatters]

[Sam breathing heavily]

JEB: Suspect running in the forest.

Back side of the cabin.

[breathing heavily] Who was that?

- One of Heavenly Father's chosen.

DEPUTY: He's got blood on him.

BILL: Looks like we got ourselves a pioneer.

One of four.

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪

- Mama Pyre?

- Please help us, Sister. - Josie?

- Please, Heavenly Father. Please...

- Josie! Josie! Oh!

- Oh, sweetheart.

- Oh, you're okay.

[people whispering]

- She got on at a stop ten blocks from here.

A good long walk. Impressive for her age, really.

I tried explaining that my route wouldn't take her

all the way up past Sunset, like she wanted,

to farm country.

REBECCA: That's where she grew up.

- I'm just so pleased

that I recognized her from church, Sister.

- From the church.

- Thank you so much for bringing her home.

- You're very welcome. - Thank you.

- You're very welcome, okay?

See you at church, okay? You take care.

- Thank you so much. - You're very welcome.

REBECCA: Oh. I'm so happy to see you.

- A wonderful man.

And he belongs to the church, our church.

REBECCA: Yes, he does. - Yeah.

And who are all these people?

- It was the girls' birthday, remember?

- Oh. - Remember?

It was the girls' birthday. - Yes.

I-I-I need to go home now.

- Yeah, o-okay. Yeah.

But they're all-- they're all leaving now.

JOSIE: Yes.

Go home, please.

REBECCA: Thank you.

- Thank heavenly Father

that she has you and that I have you.

REBECCA: Sister Dorren offered to watch her.

If you can still make

the girls' baptism meeting tonight--

- Yes. Yes.

I will see you at the church, at the bishop's office.

I love you so much, honey.

REBECCA: I love you too.

- [sighs] Thank you.

REBECCA: Bye, honey. - I'll see you soon.

Bye.

[phone ringing]

- There you go.

It's gonna be okay.

Starved.

Well, let me tell you, your family is A-okay.

Take a few big breaths for me now, sweetie, okay?

- [breathes deeply]

- Yeah.

Sounds to me like your family's had a real tough time.

Is that right?

Yeah.

I'll bet that it's a lot of responsibility

having a dad who's such a big leader.

How did you help him?

- To pick the food, the berries or vegetables,

and bring it home

without any bad people seeing me.

SOCIAL WORKER: Who are the bad people?

- People with uniforms.

My daddy isn't the leader, though.

[crying] Please, please let him go.

- Jenny, if your daddy isn't the leader,

do you know who is?

- Heavenly Father chose the leader.

JACOB: Well, you gotta remember how to spell "just."

[laughs] You can't wash it off.

AMMON: Stand up.

Bit much to almost destroy our life's work.

I've returned from what should have been a joyous day

to find I am about to lose my home

over unpaid taxes and a license fee.

DAN: A license is an agreement you enter with the government

to let them have control over you.

- The 12th Article of Faith tells us to obey, honor,

and sustain the law.

You may be able to hypnotize your brothers,

but you cannot hypnotize me.

Hands on the rail.

Whilst we live, we must shame the Devil.

DAN: If God spoke to you and told you

that I was ready to run things,

don't you think you owe me that chance?

- Hands on the rail.

SOCIAL WORKER: To be clear,

your grandpa gave Dan lashings in front of everyone?

Like, real ones?

Or were they just playing around?

[belt bangs]

JENNY: It was real. I saw the blood.

[belt bangs]

[banging]

RON: That's enough. That's enough.

There's children here.

There's kids here.

- There's only room for one patriarch

in the family.

You give me back my belt.

Oh, you're a big boy now?

[tense music]

[sighs]

So let's settle this like Lafferty men.

Come on, Ronnie.

Come on, Ron.

[both grunting]

♪♪ ♪♪

[car horn honks]

- Need any help, Brother Lafferty?

AMMON: I think we've got it covered, Sister Wright.

LAREA: See you in there.

AMMON: You want to hurt me?

It's making your ears ring, just like when you were a boy.

You got anger in your eye.

It's a dangerous defect.

Now, you count to ten, like I taught you.

One. - Eh. [chuckles]

AMMON: Two.

DAN: It's okay. We'll put the--

put the cans on the back of the truck there, huh?

SOCIAL WORKER: So is your grandpa the leader, then?

JENNY: No, ma'am. Uncle Dan and Aunt Matilda

had a party in the room the next morning.

That's when heavenly Father chose.

DAN: I got her! I got her! I got her! I got her!

I got her. Okay.

[laughter] Okay.

MATILDA: Prayer time, is it? - Prayer time?

We need our Lord's wisdom.

Okay.

Oh.

Our dear heavenly Father,

we ask that Thou would take away my own personal desires.

Show me Thy path.

I will do anything and go anywhere...

to be worthy of Thy wisdom.

♪♪ ♪♪

I will do anything and go anywhere.

I will do anything and go anywhere.

I will do anything and go anywhere.

- I will do anything and go anywhere.

- I will do anything and go anywhere.

ALL: I will do anything and go anywhere.

I will do anything and go anywhere!

I will do anything and go anywhere!

I will do anything and go anywhere!

I will do anything and go anywhere!

I will do anything and go anywhere!

- I feel it, Lord! Yes!

I feel it burning inside of me to lead us!

I accept Thy will, oh Father!

I accept Thy will, heavenly Father!

I accept!

- Jenny... [clears throat]

Did you see Aunt Brenda or Uncle Allen that morning?

- The last time I saw her,

she was alone outside her room, and all in black.

SOCIAL WORKER: Black what?

- A black robe.

SOCIAL WORKER: Why was she wearing that?

JENNY: I don't know. I don't know. [cries]

SOCIAL WORKER: Shh. It's okay. It's okay.

It's gonna be okay.

[phone ringing]

BISHOP YOUNG: I'm so glad you were able to make it,

Brother and Sister Pyre.

Come in. Come in.

Why don't you two take the middle seats

between your parents?

Haven't your parents done

a magnificent job with you both?

And now that you've turned eight,

the time has come for your baptism.

When your father baptizes you,

all of your old sins will be washed away.

But from then on, any new sins are yours to repent.

Now, that is a big responsibility,

being so grown up.

But I know you can do it, can't you?

BOTH: Yes, sir.

- Now, I need to ask you a few questions first, okay?

BOTH: Yes, sir. - Okay.

First, have you both paid your full and complete tithe?

Now, that means you've taken 10% of any allowance or gifts

and given that to the church.

Annie, you first.

- Yes, Bishop.

BISHOP YOUNG: Great. And how about you, Caroline?

- Yes, Bishop.

BISHOP YOUNG: Next, and this is very important...

Do you believe this is the one true church

on the face of our planet,

that Heavenly Father sent His only son as our savior,

and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet

here to restore His church?

BOTH: Yes.

- How about one at a time, please?

Annie? ANNIE: Yes, Bishop.

BISHOP YOUNG: And you, Caroline?

CAROLINE: Yes, Bishop.

BISHOP YOUNG: Good. Good.

Anne and Caroline, I very much look forward to your baptism.

And I understand your mother

has sewn you the most beautiful dresses.

[chuckles] - Oh. I try my best.

JEB: They're wonderful, yeah.

Great job.

- Thanks. So good to see you.

[door clicks shut]

- So...

how can I help you, Brother?

- Well, there's a couple of things going on right now.

And, um...

well, one is my mom.

She, um--

so she moved in with us...

almost ten years ago now.

And at that time, Becca and I--

we--we didn't think we could have kids.

[both chuckle]

And my brothers already had eight, ten kids each,

and so I--

we--we gladly, you know, took her in, and--

even though I was the baby.

But, um, couple years ago,

she--my mom--she started to show signs, um...

- Of dementia.

Yes, Brother, I know.

JEB: Sorry.

She stopped being able to sleep at night.

And, um...

she doesn't know the difference

between her nightmares and what's real,

and, um, she gets-- she gets angry.

She gets very anxious. And...

- You worry you can't pass this test.

- No. No, I don't.

It's more that...

The other night, she had this really clear moment.

Just--

She was right there, just like the old days.

Like my mom was back, you know? And she says to me

that she doesn't want to be here anymore.

She's in so much pain, Bishop.

And all the pain she's in, what do--what do we...

What do I--what do I do?

[chuckles]

- To in any way help...

abbreviate a life...

is to interfere with Heavenly Father's plan.

- Of course.

- Now, this life is a test,

and the challenges put before us

are not to be avoided.

They are to be overcome.

- Yes. BISHOP YOUNG: Hmm?

- Yeah. - But...

medication is not looked down upon by the Lord.

Antidepressants, antipsychotics.

It's a fact.

Women struggle more with feelings than men.

Many of the women in this very congregation take medication

on a daily basis to help with their feelings.

Heavenly Father created pharmacology to help us,

and trust me, I've seen it work.

- Thank you. Thank you, Bishop.

[sighs] The second thing is, um...

It's this case that I'm working on.

This--this will stay between us.

- Of course. JEB: Sorry. I don't mean to--

It's a double murder case.

And so far, what we've found

isn't pointing outward...

If you know what I mean.

Most--most of the evidence so far...

points inward,

towards the early days of our people,

to beliefs that I...

only ever heard whispers of.

- Be frank with me, Brother.

- One of the suspect's wives...

She used a term, "blood atonement,"

saying that some sins were so wicked

that the only way one could...

be cleansed of them

is by spilling

the--the sinner's blood on the ground.

And she said that these ideas

came from the words of our prophets.

- What are you asking me?

- I guess I'm asking, could such things be a part of us,

from--from our--our past, or today?

- Brother Pyre, I'm not an academic,

nor am I trained as a historian,

and so I never concern myself with such deep dives.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

- No, I'm not sure I do.

[tense music]

- I don't go digging in the past...

And neither should you.

You place your trust in today's prophet,

Spencer W. Kimball.

You leave the things you do not understand

on a shelf.

And you trust that the prophet will never lead us astray.

♪♪ ♪♪

[crickets chirping]

REBECCA: Are the girls asleep?

What about your mom?

JEB: She's fine.

- Hey, um...

What did, uh, the bishop say?

- Same old, antipsychotics.

I just still--I...

I get these moments with her, Becca,

these moments of real clarity,

and--and-- and she's still there

when we go for a walk or when we talk at night.

And I'm just concerned that these medications

are just gonna...

take away anything that's left.

- You know it's temporary.

In the Celestial Kingdom, you'll have her back,

restored.

JEB: Of course.

I've been thinking, um...

- Warned you about that.

- Oh. Oh, no. [laughs]

I think it's wise if we postpone the girls' baptisms.

- Wh-why?

- This--this--this case.

I--I need to just get this case behind me

so I can clear my head

and so that my heart can--can be fully in it.

REBECCA: But, I mean, my--

my parents are coming from Arizona.

And our congregation. It wouldn't go unnoticed.

It's highly unusual.

- You don't think I'm aware of that?

- People will think that our girls

failed their interview.

It will be humiliating for them, for us.

It's not just our congregation, it's our neighbors,

our friends.

I have waited my whole life for this.

I have worked so hard to make it perfect.

- I assure you, I-- REBECCA: Don't--

- I've prayed on this. - Just don't do this to me...

JEB: Becca... - And them.

- The decision's been made.

And as our priesthood holder,

I need you to back me up on this.

And I am not asking. - That old chestnut.

- I would rather not have to.

REBECCA: You know what? You're right.

You're right.

[dog barking in distance]

Stop staring at me.

Stop.

JEB: [exhales]

- You know what, Jeb?

- What?

- I acknowledge and accept

that you are indeed the man of this house,

and as such, you are our priesthood holder.

But don't you ever forget,

it's me who chooses when

or if I ever hold your priesthood again.

- [chuckles]

[laughs]

- Come here.

[sentimental music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- Whoa.

Honey, honey, honey. I have to go back to work.

- Don't you dare.

- In the name of Jesus Christ.

♪♪ ♪♪

SAM: He will slice your throats from ear to ear

to cleanse you.

I hear his voice.

He wants this world back!

JEB: Hang in there.

SAM: [indistinct rambling]

[phone ringing]

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

[Sam groans, shouts]

- Sheesh.

SAM: Open to the Lord's interpretation!

- How much longer? - 30 minutes.

- Let's--

SAM: Open to the Lord's interpretation!

- [sighs]

[phone ringing]

- Sam?

JEB: Mm-hmm.

- Do you think he had--

That he had anything to do with this?

- I just feel like I should be asking you that, Allen.

SAM: Never again!

JEB: Saw your police record.

You were arrested the morning after your wedding?

And then you earned yourself a contempt of court charge?

You know, for a second there, Allen, just for a second,

I really felt like we were on the same team.

- Uh, I--I didn't think it was consequential.

JEB: It's consequential, Allen.

You disobeyed a judge's orders by recording his hearing.

[Sam shouts] [bang]

JEB: And you were put in jail for it.

So that tells me...

maybe you and Sam are on the same team.

- No, I--

JEB: So what else are you not telling me?

[quiet dramatic music]

Who else are you protecting?

- Brenda and I-- we planned our wedding, um,

for the day before she was due to graduate from BYU

so that her family could do both in one trip.

I--I was on my way to buy her some flowers.

COP: I'll have to take you downtown.

Get out of the car, please.

ALLEN: But my brothers had pushed me

into refusing to pay traffic fines.

They said it went against separation of powers.

Brenda was angry that I had put my brothers ahead of her,

ahead of us.

So she confronted Dan.

♪♪ ♪♪

- This country is in shambles, and it needs our help.

And it starts by resisting illegal taxes.

That's federal income tax, traffic fines.

You see, we must start to break these unlawful rules

in order to challenge them now,

because we cannot get a tax lawsuit through the court

fast enough in order to save our businesses and our homes.

- Okay, but they say if Allen doesn't pay the tickets,

they'll impound his truck.

I mean, your--your dad helped him get that truck.

- Does it scare you to think that Allen

might disappoint Father, say, more than disappoint me?

Or us?

- Are we still talking about tickets?

- The truth is absolute, Brenda.

We cannot decide, for convenience sake,

when we're going to honor it.

- That's right.

- And if a traffic cop

is acting as law enforcement, judge, and jury,

then Allen's fines must not be paid.

And if a tax defies the original U.S. Constitution,

it must not be paid either.

Obeying unholy laws for Daddy's sake

is not going to make anybody happy,

not here or in the next life.

- Okay, but, I mean,

there's gotta be a way to do it

where we won't all have to go to jail.

- Your husband made his decision.

Honor your priesthood holder.

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

DAN: Brenda, I can assure you

that if Allen gets arrested again,

he will not go to jail.

- No? Why not?

- Dan's getting on the ballot.

He'll be more powerful than any judge.

- Yep.

- For what office?

- For sheriff. I had a vision about it.

- Sheriff of what?

DAN: [clears throat]

Before we settled here,

our ancestors sought refuge in Missouri.

- Yeah, I know.

DAN: And did you also know that one day,

without reason, without cause,

U.S. Government troops appeared out of the woods,

and they fired on our ancestors,

and we sought refuge in a log cabin?

- Yeah, I know. Everyone knows.

- Joseph Smith loved,

loved, the Constitution more than he loved revenge.

And so, after heavenly Father helped him escape from prison,

he was called on to help protect our people,

to help protect our Constitution,

by running for the presidency of the United States.

And that is simply all that I'm doing.

I'm just following in his footsteps.

If a sheriff can convene common law jury,

and court is where we are ultimately headed,

then imagine how helpful it will be

when I have become the courts.

- So you just get rid of the 16th Amendment.

- Yeah. BRENDA: No more federal taxes.

- No. BRENDA: Okay.

And, um--and what about the other amendments?

- Well, after the first ten, yeah, they all go.

BRENDA: All? The 13th, too?

Slavery's back?

I mean--[laughs]

It all sounds pretty crazy, if you ask me.

- But he didn't ask you!

And he wouldn't!

So if I was you, I would keep my mouth shut

till I'd done my research if you don't want to sound

like an idiot in front of your new family.

ALLEN: You know, a lot of LDS husbands

might have been mad at her for intervening.

But, you know, Brenda was--

she was trying to protect me from going astray.

Our wives often see us

much clearer than we can see ourselves.

Don't you find that with your wife?

- All the time.

ALLEN: And so did Emma, Joseph's wife.

- Joseph. Joseph.

Perhaps the Lord provides a bounty of new saints,

that we may raise up an army.

- Don't be foolish, Brigham.

What Gentile would sell us armaments in such quantity

that we might win such a fight?

- A rifle aimed by God

will beat back 100 of their arms, Sister Smith.

JOSEPH: Brigham. Do we build a Zion on Earth

for our pleasure?

For power?

Revenge? Bloodshed?

Enough.

ALLEN: But after Joseph escaped jail

and avoided execution in Missouri,

he started to sound more and more like Brigham.

JOSEPH: We must strengthen our army...

That it might prove worthy of our Heavenly Father.

For if blood must be spilt,

let it be theirs, and not ours.

- And Emma was right, wasn't she?

- I don't--that's enough, okay?

- I mean, wasn't it Joseph's turn toward aggression

that gave birth to our very first destroying angel?

[eerie music]

Isn't that how the Missouri governor

got filled up with lead?

♪♪ ♪♪

- I don't want to hear it.

All right? I don't want to hear it.

- They got to you, didn't they?

How high up they go?

Bishop?

Stake president?

The office of the president?

Did they tell you to "put your questions on the shelf"?

[gunshot]

- Let's get back on track.

Did you do anything to try to heal this rift

between your brothers and your wife?

With Sam, maybe?

ALLEN: Yes. - Okay.

- More than anything, I--I wanted Brenda to be happy.

So I offered her what, at the time,

I felt was a significant sacrifice.

Look, if God's plan for--for this life

is for us to build up an eternal family,

and...

you want me to give up most of mine...

then I'm gonna need something from you.

I'm gonna need to know that you want us to start a new family,

one of our own.

And so that we'll be able to do that,

I--I think both of us need to give up a few things first.

- You don't want me to take that job, do you?

- I just think it'll take up too much of your energy.

- It's...

It's Channel 11 News.

- Look, let's--you know,

let's have a bunch of babies.

And then you can be a newscaster.

You have your degree.

People are always gonna want to hire you.

Okay? And then-- and then I'll do like Ron.

Okay?

I'll leave my brothers to it themselves.

Our sweet wives all being told that

by having dozens of children,

that would somehow make them more holy,

more righteous.

Lately, I've started to wonder,

isn't that just another surrender

that we push them into in the name of God?

And I certainly didn't see it like that at the time.

You know, that I was building Brenda a new cage,

a prison.

[somber music]

♪♪ ♪♪

But I was.

Wasn't I?

[phone ringing]

- [grunts]

- Hey, Sam. How you doing?

Once again, I'm Detective Pyre. This is Investigator Taba.

- I am the Lord God of Israel's chosen servant,

my soul sent to Earth in these latter days to earn a body,

these hands, this strength,

to separate the wheat from the tares.

- So we've heard.

Tell me, what kind of chosen one

cuts the throat of a 15-month-old?

Hmm?

- Heaven calls its destroying angels.

I am thee,

sent to spill the blood of those on His list

onto the ground. - There's a list?

SAM: A holy list,

revealed to Heavenly Father's destroying angels.

I've heard his voice. And now, I--

- Wait, wait, wait, Sam.

You're saying there's-- there's an actual list.

Is that right?

Who all's on it?

- The fornicator Brenda, wicked and defiant.

Her spawn Erica,

the rotten fruit of fornication.

Heavenly Father demanded

their blood be spilled to the ground.

It has been done.

- Fornication?

As in sexual relations with someone other than her husband.

- What?

Did--did she? - Well, you said it, not me.

- Not that fornication.

She disobeyed her husband...

and me

and God's chosen men.

That's fornication. That's fornication!

- Ever hear of that definition?

- Mm-mm.

Sam, who else is on this list?

- It's not given that you should know.

- So apart from you, uh...

who are the other destroying angels?

- Ask ye of God, not me.

- What about the man

that ran from your cabin into the forest?

- Ask ye of God, not me.

- All right. All right, tell me this.

Uh, where are the rest of your brothers?

Where's Dan?

And Ron and Jacob?

[uneasy music]

Are they okay?

♪♪ ♪♪

Or were they on your list, too? Were their wives on your list?

- The list is God's! Idiot!

How should I know how dang long He wants it?

Yeah, I've done my work.

I feel His love and glory now.

I don't need yours.

[banging on door] Hey!

ROBIN: Pyre! Pyre, get in here!

- Be right back, Sam. Thank you.

ROBIN: Hey, Pyre! Pyre!

♪♪ ♪♪

- I'm sorry, did we wake you?

ROBIN: Is all that true?

[breathing heavily]

Is that true?

Are Brenda and my niece Erica-- are they dead?

- You tell us.

♪♪ ♪♪

- You know I'm not an idiot.

I know what you're doing in there.

I know that you're in there, trying to--

trying to take advantage of my little brother,

trying to trick him into a false confession.

I see you. I know what you're doing.

- Robin, he's awful eager.

We hardly said a word.

- Yeah, well, given his current mental state,

none of what he says in there will ever hold up in court,

and you know that, so you tell me.

Tell me right now, are Brenda and Erica okay?

- That's a masterful performance, Robin.

- You can go to hell.

- Not very LDS, Brother.

We call it outer darkness, last I checked.

[police radio chatter]

[Robin breathing heavily]

[inhales sharply] No.

- [grunting]

- Hey!

BILL: Spilling your blood on my floor...

JEB: Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

BILL: Won't cleanse you of anything.

ROBIN: [inhales sharply] On my life...

[panting]

On my family's lives, I had no part in this.

[crying]

- What about Sam? ROBIN: I don't understand.

I don't...

I don't know how things could have turned to this.

It's not... possible.

- Well, it happened. BILL: Look at their bodies.

We need to know who and why and now.

- Sam could not have done this. Please.

- Robin, when you were with your actual brothers...

did they ever mention a list of names?

If there was a list...

and if this little girl's name was on it...

- [breathing shakily]

Then there would be many more names.

- Whose?

Tell me. - I can't be sure, I--

JEB: Robin.

You want me to extend my trust to you...

Give me names.

- The Lows.

And--and the Stowes.

Our bishop and our stake president

and their wives.

- Why them? - Sam was angry... with them.

They--they tried to intervene in my brothers' research

into original LDS teachings and documents,

into...

our past, Brother Pyre.

[sniffs]

- Hey. Hey.

Get my car fueled, vests on seats.

Call in Gray and Peters.

I need them to get to Stake President Stowe's home,

pronto.

And get me an address for a Bishop Low.

[uneasy music]

[engine starts]

[siren blaring]

[dramatic emotional music]

♪♪ ♪♪

ALLEN: And I certainly didn't see it like that at the time.

You know, that I was building Brenda a new cage...

♪♪ ♪♪

A prison.

♪♪ ♪♪

[Brenda coughs, retches]

ALLEN: And after I had locked her in there,

once she became pregnant,

her heart changed shape.

BRENDA: I know. [laughs]

I know. [laughs]

But Dianna...

I heard the whispering of the Spirit.

And... I felt impressed upon,

that we must do whatever it takes

to keep all of our family together...

To fight for each member's exaltation,

no matter what it takes.

But I--I'm going to need your help, Dianna,

to get them off this wicked path.

♪♪ ♪♪