I thought it was a set as a nice kick-in-the-pants to conservative Christianity as represented by Woodward's character who is so rigidly defined by his church attendance at the beginning, his baleful-eyed lack of recpetivity as the Islanders' neo-paganism is revealed with great frankness in the middle of the film, and his open-eyed walk into a fairly obvious trap set him by the locals.

Woodward's interpretation of a Protestant Scotsman tone-deaf to the tastes and colors of a rich life beyond his training (socio-religious as well as constabulary) was masterful.