The Conversation You Don't Hear

This scene does a lot of things. Ben puts a huge question on the table, which is: Are the children going to be allowed or even encouraged to practice polygamy? As much as this scene is about him and Brynn and what's going on with his mother and father, the real subtextual conversation is going on between Barb and Bill.

That's the fun part -- the real conversation is going on between two people who aren't even in the scene together until the very end. And that question is answered by the end, which is Barb putting it on the line that she does not want her kids doing what she and her husband are.

Big Questions

That puts a lot of big questions on the season: Will Bill follow his wife's wishes or will he follow his religious beliefs? His religious beliefs say that his son would have to practice the Principle in order to get to the highest level of the celestial kingdom.

It filters into the other wives, because Nicki is going to have an opinion, as is Margene, as to whether their kids are going to be encouraged to follow the Principle. And Nicki would likely have very strong ideas that wouldn't match up with Barb's.

Barb was raised much more like I was raised. I was raised conservatively Mormon, a devout Mormon. We believed in the Mormon principles of the celestial kingdom and temple marriage and all of that. But we did not believe, at least on this earth, in plural marriage.

But you have this history of it, so you accept it in a way. In my family we had a great, great grandfather who had many, many marriage certificates, and there's only one thing that can mean.

Extra Great-Grandmothers

I had to reveal to my father's side of the family at a certain point that I was working on the show, and I was really nervous about it. And when I did, it was really the opposite of what I was expecting. I was expecting all the polite smiles, the Mormon etiquette. Instead what I got was overjoyed smiles, and "Oh I love that show - it's so fascinating to see a reflection of what our lives are." Because the show brings in a lot of LDS culture.

My uncle brought out the genealogy from my fathers side of the family, which had multiple marriage certificates for my great, great grandfather. My uncle showed a certain amount of pride - not everyone was given instruction to by Brigham Young to live the Principle. It really lifted a curtain for me.

Poking Holes

Kids sense hypocrisy. I think without judgment at first, but it confuses them. And they start asking questions and they start punching holes in your beliefs. Because they're curious and because they don't always know what's appropriate to ask.

In this family there's a lot of that. Barb especially is struggling with this life. She loves this life, but does she want it for her children? Probably not. So Ben senses that, and here he is innocently proposing a simple solution. But he knows. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's poking holes in her belief system and asking: how much do you believe in it?

Resident Mormon

Mark and Will have really done their homework; there are things they know that I don't know, because they're not part of the modern Mormon experience. I come in when it's more about the culture and the atmosphere - that's something that I think you have to live in to fully grasp.

The funny thing is that I left the church - which is a big deal - but sometimes I'll be in the writers' room and someone will say something and I find myself taking offense. That's when I sort of turn red and laugh at myself.

Life Experience

I write so much from experience. The things Ben goes through, I went through.

For each person on the show, I have kind of a connection to who they are in my life. Like for Bill. He reminds me so much of a bishop in my church in San Antonio, whom I loved. Who was such a father figure to me and my family. He was very patriarchal, very in control of his family. He had ambition, but he always knew to take care of you. I always channel that when I'm thinking of him.

And Barb - if my mom reads this she'll shoot me - is so much like my mom. Whenever I think of Barb it comes from my mom. You know we were devout, but for her, what always came first was family.

When Things Get Funky

I dig it when it gets a little explicit. It always has to be connected to story, that's the rule in our writers' room. But I was attracted to this script for that reason. I wanted to write this one, it had the Ben storyline, which I loved. It had the oral sex storyline. I wanted to see a script built on the sex storyline and how it was discussed in the family. I felt like I could sort of bring my Mormon tools to that.

I like a lot going on in a script, especially when the stories are very different. Like having Bill walk in, knowing that his family might be in danger, and knowing that having to deal with his kid who's horny and having to work things out with his wife. It's lovely to deal with how those things rub up against each other.