In God's Country (TV)

A Mormon woman fights to protect her children from their dominating religion and its determined and vengeful Bishop. In "In God's Country," Judith Joseph (Rowan) marries the charismatic Church Bishop Josiah Leavitt, (Richard Burgi, Desperate Housewives, In Her Shoes), as dictated by her religion, becoming one of his eight wives and mother to four of his children. The Bishop outwardly demonstrates that Judith is his "favourite" of all his wives, including the robust, middle-aged Erleen (Catherine Disher, Terry, Murder in the Hamptons). Judith watches as Charlotte (Martha MacIsaac, This Is Wonderland, Emily of New Moon), her 16-year-old daughter from her first marriage, pines for Jamie (Kristopher Turner, Dark Oracle, Instant Star), a young man that she will never be allowed to wed. But when her 12-year-old daughter, Alice (Hannah Lochner, The Elizabeth Smart Story, Child Of Mine), is molested by local teenager Nephi (Mac Fyfe, 11 Cameras), Judith finds the courage to break the code of silence and report the incident to Child Protection Services. Berated for her betrayal, Judith, along with her five children, is banished from Leavitt's house. Until now, the Church's ailing Prophet (Marc Strange, ReGenesis, The Beachcombers) had been hinting that Josiah Leavitt would be named as his successor. But this unrest in Leavitt's household has distressed the Prophet and given him reason to question Josiah's worthiness. While Josiah fumes and plots revenge against his wife, Judith tries to comfort her children in an abandoned house on the outskirts of the community. But when she learns from her sister Pearl (Melody A. Johnson, This Is Wonderland, Slings & Arrows) that the Prophet plans to marry off some of the younger girls - and that Alice will be one of them - Judith packs the family's belongings and makes her decision to escape with her children.