The indoctrination & emotional extortion used against young girls by Warren Jeffs is horrifying as well as infuriating. The trauma they endured is truly heartbreaking.
3 Reviews
Incest and paedophilia
estathena225 June 2022
Child bride
Calicodreamin12 June 2022
A Crime Story
aherdofbeautifulwildponies28 December 2022
Tonally, there is a shift from the opening episode to the second one in the series: if the introduction to Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (2022) included happy memories and videos of smiling children, 'Part Two' is much darker. Structurally, the second episode also appears as a beginning of a larger plot - whereas 'Part One', dedicated to the period when Rulon Jeffs was the Prophet, is much more self-contained.
A private investigator (Sam Brower) and a journalist (Mike Watkiss) provide external insights into the recent history of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Brower claims the organisation to be 'number one source of domestic human trafficking', referring to the unpaid labour provided by boys from Fundamentalist families. Construction is one of the main sources of income for the Church: boys and young men are moved from site to site across states, and, since their work is free, the Church can successfully compete with other businesses in the field.
On the other side of the gender divide, 'young girls were like commodity owned by the Church' (Brower). Watkiss echoes, when talking about his journalist investigation: 'In essense, this was just a crime story. A sex crime story.' And: 'The man who can give the brides holds all the power.' The man in question is Warren Jeffs, the son of the late Prophet, now declared his spiritual successor. Warren Jeffs begins his rule by marrying his father's widows. One of them, Rebecca Musser, decides to escape before her turn arrives.
Ruby Jessop, a newly-introduced interviewee, shares the story of young romance between her and Joe Rohbock. That part of the episode combines Jessop's retelling of the events with the footage of a young actress playing Jessop as a girl - as impersonally as possible, long hair, long dresses, Tumblr filters galore. There is no happy ending to that story. There is only a woman trying to make peace with what has been done to her.
A private investigator (Sam Brower) and a journalist (Mike Watkiss) provide external insights into the recent history of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Brower claims the organisation to be 'number one source of domestic human trafficking', referring to the unpaid labour provided by boys from Fundamentalist families. Construction is one of the main sources of income for the Church: boys and young men are moved from site to site across states, and, since their work is free, the Church can successfully compete with other businesses in the field.
On the other side of the gender divide, 'young girls were like commodity owned by the Church' (Brower). Watkiss echoes, when talking about his journalist investigation: 'In essense, this was just a crime story. A sex crime story.' And: 'The man who can give the brides holds all the power.' The man in question is Warren Jeffs, the son of the late Prophet, now declared his spiritual successor. Warren Jeffs begins his rule by marrying his father's widows. One of them, Rebecca Musser, decides to escape before her turn arrives.
Ruby Jessop, a newly-introduced interviewee, shares the story of young romance between her and Joe Rohbock. That part of the episode combines Jessop's retelling of the events with the footage of a young actress playing Jessop as a girl - as impersonally as possible, long hair, long dresses, Tumblr filters galore. There is no happy ending to that story. There is only a woman trying to make peace with what has been done to her.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
