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'Under the Banner of Heaven' Episode 2 Review: Garfield stuns as he uncovers dark side of faith

Andrew Garfield gives a killer performance as Officer Jeb Pyre as he dives deeper into the world of the Laffertys

Contains spoilers from 'Under the Banner of Heaven' Episode 2

The first episode of FX Network’s newest series ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ proved to be one of the most compelling stories told in recent times. Based on the real-life killings of Brenda and Erica Lafferty, the series talks about how faith and religion can create dangerous men. The church, which is supposed to guide people to the right path, might have some dark secrets that they will never want to come out.

The second episode starts where the first one left off and the police have Robin Lafferty (Seth Numrich) in its custody now. It’s time for Jeb and Taba to go ahead and know what happened that fateful day. So, we get to see two perspectives here: One story is being told by Allen (Billy Howle), and the other one is being told by Robin. Robin and the other “male members” of the Lafferty family didn’t like Brenda (Daisy Edgar-Jones) as she wanted to be something big in her life and the church believed that women should just be obedient wives. Brenda was not like that and that was the reason why she became a roadblock for Robin (Seth Numrich) and Ron (Sam Worthington).

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Meanwhile, Taba has gone to the forests in order to search for the other Lafferty brothers. While driving his car, he sees a little girl in the middle of the forest and quickly gets to the forest officer’s cabin. He asks him if he has seen something peculiar here or heard gunshots. The officer takes him to the inner part of the forest where they see dead bodies of various animals. So, Taba alone wanders in the forest to find more clues. Meanwhile, Robin talks about the “anti-tax group”. He and Dan were creating a group because they felt that the US government was implementing its own laws and forgetting that God’s laws were bigger than theirs.

The entire scenario gives a clear picture of how some people become fanatics. They think nothing is wrong with doing things that are illegal because God has apparently told them to do it. The best part of the episode is when Allen keeps on asking about Jeb’s family because he knows that he is somewhat the same. His wife is a homemaker and didn’t work. That doesn’t mean that she didn’t have dreams, it’s just that the church has labeled women as someone who can only be obedient wives and daughters. So, Jeb continuously tells him to not talk about him and his family.

On the other hand, the world of men, as you would expect, is full of people who want to impose their own set of rules. There have always been conflicts between people who believe and people who don’t, that’s something the show has conveyed beautifully. Another thing that makes the show amazing is how Jeb questions himself about what he was taught and what he is witnessing now.

Abuse always doesn’t happen physically, it comes in various forms. Allen’s father used to abuse his sons, sometimes physically but mostly, it’s mentally. So, this also played an important part in their lives and made them obedient sons as well.

‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ might not be liked by a lot of people who follow the religion with their eyes shut, but I would suggest them to see this because whatever is being shown on screen, happened in real life and has been proven.

What are your thoughts on the latest episode of 'Under the Banner of Heaven'? Let us know.

'Under the Banner of Heaven' returns to FX on Hulu with a new episode every Thursday at 12:01 am EST.