'Under the Banner of Heaven' Episode 3: Battle between fundamentalists and law enforcement
Contains spoilers for 'Under the Banner of Heaven' Episode 3
The first two episodes of ‘Under the Banner of Heaven’ gave us an idea about how religious extremism can corrupt people’s minds. Some people go out of their way to only live like what is being told to them by an authoritative body and that’s when we can get holy people or diabolical ones. The second episode of the FX series ended on a massive cliffhanger with Detective Taba (Gil Birmingham) being attacked by one of the Lafferty brothers.
We didn’t know if Taba got injured or not, but the latest episode doesn’t waste any time in telling us that Taba is absolutely fine. He just twisted his ankle and was waiting for Pyre (Andrew Garfield) to show up. The entire scene leading up to the revelation of Sam Lafferty is brilliant and intense. You are literally at the edge of your seat while watching the opening scene which perfectly sets the tone of what is to come.
RELATED ARTICLES
'Under the Banner of Heaven' Episode 1 Review: Faith breeds dangerous men in extraordinary saga
'Under the Banner of Heaven' Episode 2 Review: Garfield stuns as he uncovers dark side of faith
The first 15 minutes of the episode are done beautifully and you are constantly asking yourselves which way it would go. However, Pyre’s “Mormon insight” once again turned out to be valuable and they were able to get hold of Sam, who looks like a man who has completely lost his mind. Rory Culkin, who plays Sam in the series, looks terrifying and most people won’t be able to recognize him because of what they must have seen of him in the flashback scenes.
On the other hand, Pyre wants to see good in everything and everyone. Even though he is a good man, that doesn’t mean he is perfect and we can see that in the way he is approaching the Lafferty case. One of the most important issues tackled in this episode is how certain people treat women in their lives. I mean, by saying “we are protecting you”, they are not letting the women live their lives as they should or want to.
Meanwhile, Allen is turning out to be someone who shouldn’t be trusted. He is not telling Jeb everything and he only tells the truth when he is being confronted by Pyre at the police station. Brenda herself is still a mystery.
When it comes to the murder that took place, it seems that Sam was undoubtedly a part of the plan. But he is not the only one who is a part of this shameful act.
As of now, three men of the Lafferty family have been taken into custody and now, with four episodes remaining, it seems each episode will now feature all the people from the aforementioned clan. We might see Dan, Ron, Jacob, and their father in the upcoming episodes. It will be interesting to see who turns out to be the savior and who turns out to be the maniacal killer.
Once again, a solid episode with a lot to think about.
'Under the Banner of Heaven' returns to FX on Hulu with a new episode every Thursday.
