- The Henricksons embark on a road-trip pilgrimage to a Joseph Smith shrine in Cumorah, NY, where Bill intends to bury a family time capsule in the sacred earth. Along the way, a series of jarring revelations test their limits--and Bill's faith.—Anonymous
- Three cars are parked by a vast field covered in dry, brown grass. The Henricksons stand in a cluster at the field's center, and a stone roadside marker reads, "Dedicated to the courage and perseverance of the pioneers that traveled this trail."
Bill tells the kids that this marked the trail to the Old West, and today on their pilgrimage East, they're stopping to remember the 600 saints buried there and the great sacrifices their ancestors made for them.
Margene holds her baby and looks meaningfully at Nicki as Barb reads a card explaining the history of the place: That in the winter of 1846 to 1847, their ancestors made encampment here, and that most of the graves were for children under the age of three. And yet, they pushed on. Bill informs them that is the lesson they are to take from this place, that no matter what curveballs life throws their way, the most important test is how they deal with it, how they rise to the occasion, and to know that Heavenly Father is with them every step of the way. With that, they head back to the cars and press on.
Sarah and Ben are driving the kid's car, and Sarah moans that during this first trimester of her pregnancy she just wants to sleep or throw up all the time. She says the vacation makes her feel like a prisoner of war on a death march. "Prisoners had stuff like scurvy," Ben says.
"Yeah," Sarah retorts, "and we have dad."
In Barb and Bill's car, Bill is explaining to the smallest kids that their family time capsule will be buried near the hill in New York where the angel Moroni led Joseph Smith to find the golden tablets, so that their kids and grandkids can discover it and find out about the time they live in. In a softer voice, Barb tells Bill that she thinks it's a good idea that they're putting some distance between them and the trial, and "the whole Ana thing." Bill shines it on and gets on the walkie talkie to tell Margene and Nicki, in the second car, that they'll be taking a turn ahead soon. Margene replies with a saucy, "Copy that, Big Daddy" and goes on to say how excited they'll be to meet at the hotel. Nicki, who is behind the wheel, swipes Margene's walkie from her hands and angrily pitches it into the back seat, telling Margene she needs to bring it down a notch. Margene, smiling broadly, replies that she's just happy and she's not going to let anything dampen her mood. There's a pain behind her forced grin. After a pause, Margene gossips with Nicki that Barb was being snotty to her. Nicki gripes that this is the most depressing cross-country slog she could imagine, that she feels like she's been dumped and they're a bunch of divorcees.
"This family's at a big fat stop sign," Nicki says.
Cut to the motel at dusk. Margene is unpacking her mother's ashes while Bill's washing up in the bathroom, putting his little blue pills into the bottle. Margene calls for him, and he nervously knocks the pills into the sink, where the running water sends them down the drain. He opens the door and Margene tells him not to freak out but -- ta-da! she presents the urn. "I brought my mother," she says, explaining that she never found a place that felt right to spread the ashes, then she remembered that she has an uncle in Illinois, and her mother always talked about his place. They'll go practically by his front door! she says. Well, maybe not practically...the uncle's place is 150 miles off-track, 300 miles round-trip. She says she can take a car and zip up and return while the rest of the family is at one of their stops along the way, Locust Creek. Bill says they'll make something work out, and they kiss. That's when she notices the empty Viagra prescription bottle. She ribs him about them and he insists he doesn't need them...it's just all the pressure he's been under. She says she understands and that his secret is safe with her. "Great, Margie," he says, sending her off to get the kids ready for prayers. As soon as she leaves he desperately tries to fish the pills out of the pipe, to no avail.
In Nicki's and Barb's room, Nicki's cell phone rings. It's Ray, calling her Margie. She gets flustered, and Barb notices. Nicki calls him Mr. Henry, and he insists he call her Ray. Barb is suspicious of Nicki's obviously flirty tone. Nicki tells Ray she has to go and hangs up on him. Barb remarks he has a lot of nerve, calling her on her vacation. Nicki snaps that he's really busy, then goes to sleep.
The next day, Nicki excitedly calls Wanda to tell her about the flirty call. Wanda asks if Ray chases her at night and if he's tried to put her in the trunk.
"It's not like that," Nicki replies. "He wears cardigans." Wanda says it sounds serious. "You can't be talking about another man's cardigans," Wanda warns Nicki. Nicki hangs up and heads back to the car, and Bill, who asks her about the phone call as she plays it off, saying that Wanda was just being Wanda. When she heads around to the back she finds her boys playing with the ashes of Margene's mother, and freaks out. She explains through her screams that they're sifting their fingers through the remains of Aunt Ginger. The boys join her yelping.
The road trip continues with Margene driving along with Ben. They play road trip games, and Ben tells her he really likes her hair.
In Barb's car, she chats with Sarah about college plans, and Barb tells her they need to go shopping for her dorm room. Sarah informs Barb that she's going shopping with Heather in Tempe instead. Barb is surprised that Heather's going to ASU with Sarah, and Barb insists she's not making a fuss, that she just wants to go shopping with her daughter a few more times before she goes off, possibly forever.
In the car with Nicki and Bill, Nicki reads a story about the angel Moroni to her boys. Bill is pleased, and holds her hand. They exchange a loving look.
Later they stand at Carthage jail, and hear an audio re-enactment of a crowd storming the place to murder Joseph Smith. The guide allows them to walk through but not to touch anything. One of Nicki's boys asks how many wives Smith left behind, and the guide stammers that nobody's sure. Bill corrects him saying that he left behind 32 wives, and admonishes the guide to tell the truth about their history. Another man on the tour points out that 32 isn't such a large number when we consider how arduous the journey was, and that many of his wives were actually widows and orphans who needed the prophet's protection. Bill scoffs at the suggestion, saying they weren't just widows and orphans, but the man is insistent, and introduces himself in a friendly manner as an amateur church historian. The man walks away, and Ben approaches and asks why he let the man off the hook. Bill tells Ben that he didn't want to embarrass the man in front of his family.
Later at a hotel, the kids are doing calisthenics as Ben swims up to Sarah, who's sitting by the side of the pool. She fills Ben in on her heart-to-heart with Barb, then drops a huge truth bomb on him: Contrary to their prior conversations, she's decided to keep the baby and intends to raise it with Heather's help. "I can't have this baby and hand it over to a couple of strangers," she says. "It would kill me." She says she's going to figure it out. She asks Ben to say something.
After a pause, Ben tells her, "It's going to be your whole life Sarah. I know you want me to tell you it's the right thing, but I don't know."
Later in the motel room, Bill is watching the weather report and notices they may be hitting storms on their trip. Oddly, he's wearing a cardigan. Nicki emerges from the bathroom in a seductive satin gown and robe, and asks how he likes her gift. "It's great, thanks," he says flatly, looking at the logo on the chest, confused. Bill tells Nicki that since he's tired, they really don't have to do anything, but she puts the moves on him. He continues his attempt to brush her off...and there's a knock at the door. Margene comes in, wearing an itsy bitsy teeny weeny red polka dot bikini, and asks if they want to take a swim. Bill looks at her and tries to hide his pleasant surprise. Nicki, huffy at the intrusion, says no and tells her she needs to cover up. Margene gingerly comes into the room, with Bill gawking at her and Nicki fussing that it's her night. She apologizes for the intrusion and asks, meaningfully, if she's being a pill. She sits down on the other side of Bill, puts her hand on his thigh and explains that she just wants to kiss Bill goodnight, is all. She plants a long one on him as Nicki protests, but it gets the job done. Margie slips out of the room, and suddenly Bill seems quite a bit more passionate.
In his hotel room, Ben is in the altogether and is sifting through his luggage when -- whoops! -- Margene walks out of the shower, also completely naked, her head wrapped in a towel. They notice each other at the same time and are frozen in place, Margene by shock and Ben by lust. She quickly turns around and runs back into the bathroom. Ben smiles.
Next day, as the family is packing up the cars, Barb pulls Ben aside and asks if he's seen Margene. (Har har.) She wants to know if her sisterwives are upset at her. Ben says no, not at all. Bill stops everyone and asks where the time capsule is. One of Nicki's boys has it and is trying to pry it open, saying he doesn't want to give up his toy. After a brief discussion, Bill relents and tells him he can have it back. While they're sorting that out, Barb and Margene come over to the car where Sarah is ready to ride shotgun as Ben drives. Barb tells Sarah to ride with her so they can continue their discussion about school. Sarah doesn't want to, but Margene insists she's going to ride with Ben, which won't be uncomfortable at all, no way.
Ben is looking straight ahead as he drives and Margene stammers through her speech: They saw each other naked, that's all, she says. "I'm not embarrassed," Ben says.
Margene is pleased at this, glad that he's over it and it's not a big deal.
"But it is a big deal, Margene," Ben says. "It is a big deal to me."
Margene looks shocked. "Trust me, Benny, it's not," she says.
They stop at Locust Creek, and Nicki stomps up to Margene to ask about what happened the other night. She also informs Margene that Bill asked her to accompany her on her side trip. Barb walks up and asks what they're talking about, and informs them that she's coming along too, and that Sarah will take care of the kids during their absence. Barb walks up to a napping Sarah in the car and chides her for sleeping their vacation away. The family gathers as Margene reads aloud a card that explains the history of Locust Creek, qualifying it by saying it's probably not right since she got it off of Wikipedia. Bill goes to ready the camera for a family portrait, and Ben walks up to Margene and tells her she doesn't have to feel guilty about their naked interlude. Margene, again, insists that nothing happened, but Ben's not ready to accept that, saying that they both have to admit that in that moment, something happened. Margene doesn't want to discuss it anymore and walks away. They gather for Bill's portrait in front of the cabin and Bill notices, during a brief glimpse, how unhappy they all look.
"Just take the picture Bill," Barb says.
The sisterwives head off on their road trip, and there's an obvious tension in the car. Barb finally brings up Ana, and Nicki cuts her off, saying they have bigger fish to fry, starting with Margene and her hair and her interruption the other night, inferring that she almost instigated a "menage a something." Margie insists she was only trying to help, that she just wanted Nicki to have a good night with Bill and that she was responding to his look. "He gave you no such look!" Nicki cried. Barb is sitting in the back, shocked and confused. Margene goes on to say that she just wanted to take responsibility for the situation, and now both Barb and Nicki are very confused. Without much prying, Margene spills Bill's secret about the pills.
"Bill takes Viagra?" Nicki cries. Margene explains that Bill is stressed out, and Nicki thinks she's the one causing him stress. Margene, in her Margene way, tries to deflate that notion, but only makes it worse.
Many road trip shots of lakes, bridges, interchanges and trees later, we join Sarah in the car with Bill. He wants to know what Sarah's thinking, and she says it's so pretty where they are, and can't they just stay? Bill brings up that he can see something's wrong between Sarah and her mother. "She's just being a good mom," Bill says, "And you're about to fly the nest."
"Yeah," Sarah says, "I am."
Bill then offers to take Sarah out for a night on the town in Chicago on the way back from New York, just the two of them and a night on the town. Sarah is overjoyed.
Barb, Nicki and Margene have finally reached Margene's uncle's place, and have a chat with him, his wife, and the ferrets in their laps. To the sisterwives, it looks like Noah's Ark in there. The uncle explains that Ginger was just a kid, like Margene, when she had Margene, and that Ginger would come and go, and then she was just gone. The aunt offers to dust off a place for Ginger's ashes, then asks if Ginger ever got off the bottle and her pack and pulled herself together.
Cut to Margene clutching the urn tightly to her chest and scampering out of the house, Barb and Nicki on her heels. Barb asks why they can't just leave Ginger there and Margene says she can't leave her mother with people that didn't even like her. Barb insists they were OK and Nicki interjects, "Oh for Pete's sake, they were petting rats. Rats!"
Bill is on a riverboat with Jerry and a woman who calls herself Vicki Nabors, allegedly Jim Nabors' daughter. She's a booking agent, and Jerry's there to see what's available in terms of entertainment. Vicki is selling them on the acts that they might be able to book -- Tony Orlando for instance! But, uh, not Cher. Cher's a whole other ballgame. Margene leans in to Barb and whispers that her mother was a huge fan of Jim Nabors, and she's pretty sure he doesn't have a daughter. Following this awkward meeting, Bill assures Jerry that their signed proposal will be in front of the tribal council by the next day, and they'll be off and running. Jerry says goodbye with a handshake.
Bill confronts his wives about the weirdness of the situation, and Margene confesses the secret's out on the Viagra, and slinks off. Nicki hisses that "the box of soot is still with us," and she skedaddles. Bill asks Barb what the heck happened on their road trip, and Barb coldly replies, "All I can say is, wish you woulda told me." She starts to walk away stiffly, then turns and tells him, "And I'm pretty sure you didn't need it when it was just us."
On the boardwalk, Teenie is trying to convert a black man...who also happens to be a Baptist preacher. Oops. Bill walks up, gently pulls his daughter away and apologizes, but the man is insistent on having his say, starting by pointing out that Bill's church didn't admit black people until about 20 years ago. Bill is gently firm in standing by his beliefs, but the man is on fire, insisting that the Book of Mormon is wrong and that they're living their lives believing in darkness. "Sir," Bill finishes, "all I have to say to you is have a nice day."
Margene is about to get in her car when Ben walks up and hands her a note. Margie places her mother's ashes on top of the car and reads the note, her face falling as she shakes her head back and forth in horror and gets into the driver's seat. As the caravan pulls away, the urn falls on some train tracks and shatters. Margene screams and gets out of the car, but it's too late. Margene says into the walkie, "Guys, my mom's gone. She just blew away."
Later in a motel, Bill baptizes Barb on behalf of Ginger, and Nicki explains that no soul is ever lost. The family prays together and seems closer, for a moment.
During a picnic, Teenie finds Ben's note. She reads it.
Bill panics as he finds out that one of the kids spilled a juice box on the time capsule, and Barb asks him to relax. He goes into the bathroom to wash it off.
Meanwhile, all the sisterwives go into a full panic as they're packing to go. Teenie says she won't ride with Margene, and Margie scrambles to find a car without Ben in it. Once they're all situated they drive off...without Bill, who emerges from the bathroom to find an empty parking lot. So, in the tradition of his ancestors, he walks up the road alone, holding the time capsule and gritting his teeth through the pain caused by the blisters on his feet.
The sisterwives don't notice until they reach the motel in New York that Bill isn't with them, and he reaches Nicki on the phone, saying he has a ride and he'll be there in half an hour. Nicki and Barb are sharing a room, and putting the kids down; the youngest ones are all car sick. Barb asks Nicki for some aspirin, and Nicki tells her to check the toiletries. She goes through Nicki's bag and finds the birth control pills. Upset, she collapses in a chair. Before Nicki can say anything, Barb assumes they're Sarah's. Nicki doesn't correct her.
Teenie confronts Margene, saying she found "her love note." Margene sits Teenie down and insists that nothing happened, nothing will happen, and that she'll take care of it. Margene confronts Ben in his room, and yells at him about the note. Ben replies that he's a very normal guy in a very abnormal household and that he has feelings for her, but not like a mother. Margene tells him to get over it, and that she loves him like a mother, and as such, hopes he finds true loves one day, "but this is not it."
Sarah goes to Barb and Nicki's room, where Barb tries to confront her about the pills. Nicki sits on the bed behind Barb, looking panicked. Sarah says they're not hers, and Barb tries to catch her in a lie, saying she found them when she went through her things. Sarah notices Nicki on the bed as Barb tells her that if she's having sex with someone, she needs to stop because sex is sacred. Sarah runs out of the hotel and Nicki runs after her. She weeps and tells Nicki that she doesn't want to be there, that she doesn't belong. Nicki tries to comfort her as Bill drives up and asks them what's going on.
He calls a meeting with Barb, Nicki and Margene. Nicki comes clean about the birth control, saying she's been on them for four years, and Margene yells at her, blaming Nicki for her having to bear all the babies. Bill says Nicki's undermining the family's mission. Nicki blames Bill for lying to them about taking Viagra, and that he only has to take it for her because he's obviously not attracted to her. They snipe back and forth at each other, then Bill grabs the time capsule and insists that they're going to bury it right now, at this moment. Barb objects, saying they'll miss the show, but he insists.
He marches the family out to the hill and buries the capsule. Then he gathers them together, asking them to pull in close, and says he doesn't know what they learned on the trip. Yes, they traced their ancestors steps here and didn't have to starve, survive the cold or fight for their beliefs, but they were given trials along the way. What's important, he continues, is that the trip got them to that place, to sacred ground. The sound of the show and the cheers of the crowd roar behind them, and he tells the wives and the kids to go on ahead without him. He stays behind to pray.
He tells Heavenly Father that he's been waiting his whole life to take this trip, and all along the trip he's been looking for His presence, but he hasn't found Him anywhere, and he doesn't feel Him here. He says he's never been so worried for his family.
He finishes with, "I feel lost, forsaken, and....I don't know what to do."
Behind him at the open theater, an actor playing the angel Moroni floats above the crowd in the smoke, but Bill doesn't see it.
Later, Nicki is asleep but wakes up to the sound of Sarah crying in the bathroom. She opens the door to find Sarah on the toilet, doubled over and clutching her stomach. "I'm losing my baby," Sarah tells her.
The next day in the car, Nicki tells Sarah they have to tell the rest of the family, and that she'll be with her. She dials Barb on the phone and, from a perspective outside of the car, we see Barb get the news. The family stops by a lake and Barb hugs Sarah. Then Bill walks up and holds his daughter very tightly.
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