Matt Aiken and his wife, Callie, have lived in Fulton’s Keep their entire lives. Matt is the pastor of Keeper’s Grace Bible Church, formerly Fulton’s Bible Assembly.
Matt’s father, Adam, was the pastor of the church before he left town. Matt’s mother, Evelyn, left when Matt was young abandoning him, his older brother Tim (a.k.a. Occy) and her devastated husband.
As the pastor, Adam felt it was his job to put on a brave face and show people that he was doing okay because he was able to “rest in the Lord”. As a result, Adam didn’t allow the needed support to move through his grief properly. Faced with running a church and raising two boys alone; Adam isolated himself, becoming bitter and angry.
He hid this from his congregation. His life became a lie and Occy and Matt became the objects of Adam’s anger. Adam began to abuse the boys. Occy, choosing to protect Matt, took the brunt of this father's anger.
When a friend stops by unannounced, she witnesses Adam abusing the kids. Adam’s secret is out and instead of travelling the long hard road to healing, Adam becomes a slave to his shame, leaving the town - and his sons - behind.
Occy, now 18 and Matt 15, stay in their father’s house with the support from the congregation. Matt finishes school while Occy begins to tread into darker waters.Occy forms allegiances in the town, engages in petty crimes, and in true small town fashion, begins to get a bad reputation as the gossip mill grinds.
When Matt reaches 21 years of age, Occy feels like he no longer has to protect Matt. Matt and Occy’s relationship had been deteriorating for years as Matt learned to lean on God and Occy sunk further into crime. Occy finally leaves Fulton’s Keep after a big fight with Matt and a very public meltdown. Occy leaves to join a biker gang while Matt stays in Fulton’s keep to try to restore the family name. Matt takes over shepherding his dad’s old church drawing the ire of Occy. Season one picks up when Occy returns after a 14 year absence. The ensuing war between the brothers threatens to tear the town apart.
Set in middle America, this thinly veiled modern take on the Cain and Abel story explores the familiar themes of conflict, betrayal, love and redemption while exposing under-represented territories as we watch - in real time - a narcissistic psychopath tear his environment apart. The viewer is let in on Occy’s secret early to be able to truly understand how lies and manipulation are used to bewitch good people.
Season one picks up at the point where Matt and Callie have established themselves as the pastors of Keeper’s Grace Bible Church. They have also become pillars in the Fulton’s Keep community. They live a happy, simple life having taken over Matt’s father’s church as well as the family home.
Episode one begins with a knock on the door. Callie opens it to find Matt’s estranged brother Tim(Occy). Matt is suddenly plunged into a sea of emotion. All the old feelings from his childhood come flooding back. Matt struggles with this for the season as he thought he had put his past behind him.
To make matters worse, Occy had an intense, passionate love affair with Callie before he left town. Occy’s appearance tells the story that he has long since abandoned petty crimes for a much more sinister path. When Occy tells Matt and Callie that he wants to come home and get right with God, Matt does not believe him.
Occy promises that Matt will come to trust him again, but Matt is not so sure. We are let in on Occy’s deception in the first episode so the viewers can watch Occy tear down his father’s legacy, destroying what Matt has built in the process. We also find out that Occy has less personal reasons to come home. Fulton’s Keep is the perfect sleepy little town to set up shop for his criminal organization. It helps that the mayor is one of Occy’s old partners in crime.
Fulton’s Keep becomes the battleground in the war between brothers while Matt also fights the war within. Constantly trying to keep his fear and insecurity in check as we watch his brother try to destroy everything he’s worked so hard for.
Season 1: 10 episodes x 45 minutes. Budget available.