Under the Banner of Heaven's Andrew Garfield Reveals the 'Weirdly Self-Sacrificial' Meaning of Pyre's Priesthood Speech

[The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Under the Banner of Heaven. Read at your own risk!]

Jeb Pyre (Andrew Garfield) is one of the more progressive and feminist characters in Under the Banner of Heaven, though when he's being compared to fundamentalists who can be driven to murderous rage when a woman dares to want a job of her own, we admit the bar isn't that high. However, there is a moment in Episode 3 of the FX on Hulu limited series that makes you question just how much Jeb believes in the "a woman must serve her husband" teachings of the LDS faith. 

After an alarming conversation with his bishop about blood atonement and the way Jeb's questions about the church's old ways are shut down, the detective's crisis of faith becomes an urgent matter. In a later scene, he suggests to his wife that they delay their young daughters' baptisms and the idea doesn't go over well. The in-laws have already made travel plans and Rebecca doesn't want the congregation or their neighbors to think the girls failed their baptism interview because of a "highly unusual" postponement of the ceremonial right of Mormon passage. 

When his wife refuses to concede and put off the baptisms, Jeb declares, "The decision has been made. As our priesthood holder, I need you to back me up on this and I am not asking." Yeah, on the surface it seems like Jeb has definitely been drinking the Lafferty Kool-Aid, but Andrew Garfield reveals there is more to the scene than meets the eye. 

"He is conditioned by the religion that he was born into. He pulls that card because it's something deeper happening. I don't think he wants to. I don't think he's ever done it with his wife before," the actor explained to TV Guide. "But I think there's a protection of his wife in that moment, like 'You have to trust me on this. If we do this baptism now, my heart isn't going to be in it and I can't tell you that. I can't tell you that my heart isn't going to be in it, so I'm actually going to do something that is going to make me look really bad in your eyes.'" 

For Jeb, helping girls officially enter the church and take responsibility for their own sins as he's just beginning to unravel the twisted damage of the Laffertys' perverted faith feels much worse than embarrassing the family by delaying the proceedings. For Mormons, showing doubt in the faith is one of the worst things a believer could do and Jeb wants to make sure his heart is pure before officially bringing his daughters into the church. It's just impossible to explain that to his wife without upsetting her far more than he already has. 

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"It's a weirdly self-sacrificial moment. It's not 'I'm the man and you do what I say.' It's more 'I need to protect you from the truth of what I'm going through and I'm going to make myself look like a patriarchal asshole in the process in order to protect you from the crisis of faith that's beginning to happen in my heart,'" Garfield continued. "It's a little misdirection from Jeb." 

Like with almost everything in this series, even Jeb's declarations aren't exactly what they seem. As the case begins to unfold though, it seems like a postponed baptism is about to be the least of Jeb's problems when it comes to getting answers from the church.

The first three episodes of FX's Under the Banner of Heaven are now available on Hulu, with new episodes premiering weekly on Thursdays.