We Have Undying Faith in FX's Miniseries 'Under the Banner of Heaven' — Here's the Episode Release Schedule

What if you were a chosen one? A prophet of sorts. What if God came down from heaven to gift you with a mission — a violent mission. This unsettling devotion to faith is what led to the 1984 murders of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her 15-month-old daughter. FX and Hulu's highly-anticipated true-crime miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven details the disturbing events that plagued the Lafferty family. It was Lafferty brothers Ron and Dan who committed the shocking slayings.

Created by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, Under the Banner of Heaven is based on New York Times bestselling author Jon Krakauer's 2003 nonfiction book of the same name. The show sees Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield as Detective Jeb Pyre — a devout Mormon who investigates the homicides that shook a little community in Salt Lake Valley, Utah.

With polygamy, pious violence, and the undying trust in God consuming the case, the detective grapples to understand his own devotion to the LDS religion.

Let's go over the episode release schedule for this gut-wrenching true-crime limited series.

Though the seven-episode series is an FX Networks original, it will only stream on Hulu in the U.S., starting on Thursday, April 28, 2022. The first two episodes of Under the Banner of Heaven will be available to stream on the premiere day, while the remaining five episodes will be released one at a time for the next five Thursdays. The finale will be released on June 2, 2022.

Creator and showrunner Dustin Lance Black also acts as an executive producer alongside Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and others, as reported by Deadline.

Aside from Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Fresh), Under the Banner of Heaven also stars notable actors Rory Culkin (Lords of Chaos), Sam Worthington (Hacksaw Ridge), Wyatt Russell (Overlord), Gil Birmingham (Wind River), and Denise Gough (Colette).

Naturally, when Jon Krakauer's book Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith was first published almost 20 years ago, the LDS Church was repeatedly asked to give a statement. As the media continued to buzz, several church big-wigs gave their very honest opinions.

"Krakauer’s portrayal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is utterly at odds with what I — and millions like me — have come to know of the Church, its goodness, and the decency of its people," Mike Otterson, director of Media Relations for the LDS Church, stated in 2003.

"This book is an attempt to tell the story of the so-called fundamentalist or polygamous groups in Utah, and to tie their beliefs to the doctrines and the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The result is a full-frontal assault on the veracity of the modern Church. This book is not history, and Krakauer is no historian," he continued.

We will say, the extremist ideologies present in this murder case represent certain Mormon Fundamentalist groups, not the modern-day LDS religion.

"His basic thesis appears to be that people who are religious are irrational, and that irrational people do strange things. He does a huge disservice to his readers by promulgating old stereotypes. He finds sufficient zealots and extremists in the past 150 years to help him tell his story, and by extrapolation tars every Mormon with the same brush," Mike Otterson spewed, clearly angry.

Perhaps the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will have more to say with the upcoming premiere of the series adaptation of Under the Banner of Heaven.

The first two episodes of Under the Banner of Heaven premiere on Thursday, April 28, 2022, on Hulu.