With
a lunar eclipse approaching, the Henrickson clan has been haunted by
omens. Bill has a foreboding dream that he's being chased by something,
as the sound of drumming fingers gets closer and closer. Don thinks
the dream might be a revelation, but Bill's not so sure — his spiritual
revelations usually come in quiet premonitions. He decides to fast on
it in the hopes that he'll get some clarity. The next day, a state trooper
arrives at the store and hands him a letter — a legal document stating
that the UEB, Juniper Creek's United Effort Brotherhood, has the right
to audit his books. "I work for the Prophet," the trooper tells him
with a menacing smile. More trouble is brewing back home, as Nicki's
compulsive shopping  habit
catches up with her. Her phone's been ringing off the hook with credit
card companies threatening to send collection agencies. Even more ominous
is the call she picks up from her father — he wants her to come see
him. Bill and Don pay a lunchtime visit to an empty lot they've been
eyeing for their next store, and Bill tries to assure his colleague
that Roman will soon move on to easier prey. Don isn't so sure, and
he reminds Bill of what befell some of the prophet's previous prey:
a kitchen supply company that was torched, a man in business with Juniper
Creek who 'fell' out of his office window. Bill brushes off Don's concerns.
"You don't know that. His wife said suicide." They take the UEB letter
to Bill's lawyer, who is shocked to see that Roman has enlisted a high-end
corporate law firm. Reviewing the original contract, the attorney informs
Bill that the UEB does in fact have the right to audit them, as a female
assistant drums her fingernails on a side table. When Barb gets called
in to substitute teach, her day's chores and errands fall to Nicki,
who passes them off to Margene, citing a family emergency. While attempting
to juggle everyone's chores and four small kids, Margene has a disastrous
day, ultimately resulting in a humiliation for Tancy at her lunar eclipse
pageant.
Nicki arrives at her father's austere
office, just in time to catch a nurse drawing a syringe from his arm.
"Do you have thorough and complete check-ups?" he asks his daughter,
before changing the subject to the matter at hand. He received a call
from a credit card company — he had co-signed for a card with a $500
limit, but the balance has reached $6,000. He offers her a check for
half, and suggests there might  be
a way to pay off the rest; he wants to know how her husband's new store
is doing. Bill doesn't talk to her about business, Nicki insists. Roman
suggests pointedly that she ask him. "If Bill were to throw you out,
you know you can always come back home," he tells her. Bill gets another
surprise visit at work — this time from Joey and Wanda. Dressed in a
sharp suit, Joey explains he's off to make a presentation to an old
folks' home — Roman enlisted him to talk about his pro football days.
He gets the old people to trust him first, Wanda blurts out, then talks
them into writing big checks, investing in "worthless ranches out in
the desert and it makes me sick!" Some of the old folks have started
suing to get their money back, deals from before Joey came aboard. "Lawsuit's
put a real scare into Roman," Joey adds, before asking if he can borrow
back his Superbowl ring from Benny. The old people like to see it.
After Nicki clams up at the family
dinner, Bill tries to comfort her. "You're my rock," he tells her, before
gently inquiring why she didn't tell him about the Roman visit. "I don't
know... he just called me," she says, before confiding that her father
asked about the store. Bill becomes suspicious, but Nicki assures him
she let Roman know he doesn't talk to her about business. "Bill... you're
my husband. I would never do anything to hurt you," she says emphatically.
Sarah's new friend Heather wants to know how her mother was able to
agree to polygamy. Sarah offers two explanations, her mother's (she
started to believe in the Principle, too) and her own (she loves Sarah's
father too much, and was afraid of losing him). The curiosity prompts
Sarah to go searching for answers of her own, including how Nicki's
father ended up controlling the compound. "Roman was your great grandfather
Orville's accountant," Barb explains. "After the raids in the 50s, Orville
set up the UEB, and Roman manipulated the shares. I don't really understand
how, but he tricked Orville and was able to vote him out... like a hostile
 takeover.
Roman took Orville's land and most of his wives, and left your Dad's
family poor as dirt." At work, Sarah's wild co-worker, Donna, invites
her to a party up at the university. Heather wants nothing to do with
the "whore" Donna or her party, but Sarah thinks it might be fun to
go "boy hunting," and cancels plans with the more reserved Heather.
When they get to the party, Donna quickly abandons Sarah, leaving her
alone with two bottles of cough syrup to get a buzz. At the end of the
night, woozy and unable to convince Donna to leave, Sarah is saved by
Heather, who's stopped by to offer her a ride home. "You have to promise
me something," Sarah asks Heather, curled up in the grass. "You can
never tell a soul about my family." Heather promises.
Ben's been having "weird dreams"
lately — the kind that make him want to wash his own sheets — and he's
confused about his girlfriend. On a father-son hunting trip with the
Embrys, Ben asks his dad how he'll know if God's talking to him. It's
a question Bill's been wrestling with himself. "It's one of the most
important challenges in life, to hear, recognize the voice of the Lord,"
Bill tells his son. "Staying wholesome's part of it. So many addictions
in this world — TV and food and gluttony — things that are offensive
and numbing to the spirit. But you also have to be very careful. Sometimes
you think it's the Lord speaking, but it's just your own emotions. Your
own demons." They're interrupted by Jason Embry on his walkie talkie
— his dad's gone to the car, and he just saw a wolf. "Just leave it
alone and it'll leave you alone. Rule of the wild," Bill tells him.
Determined to keep Bill in the dark about her finances, Nicki calls
the Suze Orman show, and ends up getting chastised by the financial
guru for not coming clean to her husband about her debt problem. She
finally tallies up all her bills, and  as
the numbers approach $60,000, she goes into a panic, locking herself
in the bathroom. Hours later, when Barb and Margene finally coax her
out, the three have a showdown. Still hiding her debt problems, Nicki
takes her frustrations out on the "boss lady." She heard Barb was offered
a steady teaching job, and she tells her she cannot take it. "You can't
make decisions that effect us without consulting us first, right Margie?"
Nicki rants. "We're equals." Barb calls Nicki on her less-than-equal
treatment of Margene, before announcing she's taking the teaching job,
"for ALL of us." As they wind up their hunting trip, Ben stops to tie
his shoe, and a rabid wolf emerges from the brush, closing in on him
from behind. Ben, Bill and the Embrys freeze for a moment before Bill
takes action — shooting the wolf dead. Seeing his son in danger, Bill
decides to confront one of his own demons. "We're going after Roman,"
he says to Don. "We're gonna take it to him."
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