#choices were made with The Location From Whence Jeb Ate Those French Fries and there have been other moments too

[theaggresivepacifist]

detective taba appreciation post (utboh spoilers)

I’ve barely slept in three days and definitely shouldn’t be up now, but I made the decision to watch Under the Banner of Heaven E6 as soon as it came out and here is my conclusion (spoilers below the cut):

The real hero in this narrative is not Jeb Pyre. It’s Detective Taba.

(ANDREW GARFIELD STANS DON’T COME FOR ME, I love him and Pyre is also a fantastic character in his own right, but hear me out.)

If the extreme happens and Taba dies or gets hurt in episode 7, with the narrative purpose of either saving Pyre’s Mormonism (deathbed-convincing Pyre to cling to his faith - an unexpected and touching appeal from a supposed “zealot in the Church of Caffeine” who has actually respected, protected, and advocated for Pyre’s faith and religious practice all season) or severing Pyre’s connection to it entirely, it will suck majorly in terms of the fridging/suffering of a Native character to serve a white character’s development. That being said: it would also fit a pattern, because despite their friendship, and a few touching moments (e.g. Pyre rescuing Taba at the cabin), Pyre has in many ways treated Taba as being disposable this entire time.

The hard truth is that Pyre has been consistently willing to ignore or tolerate racism against Taba, even when it occurs directly in front of them both. The violence and bigotry Taba is subjected to became visible as soon as we met him and has been escalating rapidly over the course of the season, going from the forest ranger’s microaggressions, to Sam’s wife’s blatant racism talking about his skin color, to Bishop Low and his wife treating Taba (a detective) like some kind of dangerous invader in their home, to now, in this last episode, Mrs. Lafferty 1.0 all but calling him racial slurs to his face and a fundamentalist whackjob accusing him of being subhuman - of being used to abominations like the murder of a mother and a fifteen month old baby. The warning signs, the signs of escalation, the signs that Taba is in increasing danger, were there this whole time (as well as all the tropes: all the times Pyre let Taba go alone into a dangerous situation even though he comments on it being dangerous; Taba talking about and showing pictures of his [estranged?] kids, which never bodes well), right under Pyre’s nose.

Pyre has never defended Taba from this, even if he values and cares for Taba as a partner, friend, and confidante. None of Pyre’s crisis of faith seems to involve reflection on the racism in his religious community and their doctrine, and the ways he’s seen it enacted against his partner and friend, even and especially in this single investigation alone. Instead, what Pyre has done is censure Taba in the few instances when he’s reacted against the hypocrisy of the faithful (not even against the racism directly), asking Taba to moderate his tone, to cool off, to step back, to stay silent. If the series culminates in this – if Taba dies or is harmed – Pyre will be complicit, whether or not he realizes it. 

And yet meanwhile, in the background, Taba has been working tirelessly to bring the murderers to justice, and has done nothing but try to make the Mormons around him feel comfortable and safe and understood, despite the fact that they do little or nothing to reciprocate. 

He is constantly thinking of Pyre’s family, of potential threats to Pyre’s family, and trying to protect them. He knows about everyday aspects of Mormon life such as blessings and family home evening, and, unprompted, tells Jeb to go home to his family for it. He gives the girls the skates they wanted but didn’t get for Christmas. He works through the night while Pyre goes home.

With rare exceptions, he changes his language and habits around Pyre and the other Mormons. He seems to chew gum instead of smoking or indulging in other “vices” (and yet gets accused of drinking anyway, by those nasty detectives in E1). 

He’s willing to humble himself to the extreme in front of the stake president of a religion he doesn’t belong to, take insults on the chin, absorb the nastiness and the undercutting of his superior experience without commenting on it. Even though he also makes some efforts, out of compassion and humor, to help Pyre step out of his bubble – with the French fries, with insisting on telling him that he’s “goddamn proud,” instead of just “proud” - he also respects Pyre’s boundaries, and doesn’t start debates or push him farther than he wants to go. 

And so when Taba (GOD, WHY) steps out of the car at the end of E6, making the decision to follow Onias, alone and unarmed, into the dark - bravely, foolishly making the decision to potentially take on all of the brothers himself, to finally take this fundamentalist cult down for himself as well as for the victims, now that Pyre’s not here in harm’s way and Pyre isn’t here to stop him...part of me is terrified for him, and the other part recognizes: this is the hero going for it, ready to save the day, no longer waiting for permission or approval from anyone else, no longer putting up with anyone else’s vitriol and stupidity, and honestly, hell yeah.