What’s the name of this show? The Path
When does it premiere? The first two episodes start streaming on Hulu on Wednesday, 30 March. A new episode premieres each Wednesday after that.
What is this show about? Eddie (Aaron Paul) and his wife Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) are higher-ups in a cult in upstate New York called Meyerism. Cal (Hugh Dancy) plays the charismatic head of the “religious movement” (and Sarah’s ex) who wants to take the operation from a small compound to national prominence.
If they’re in a cult, what do they believe in? It all seems vaguely New Age with lots of talk about opening up and discovering “the truth”. Members are always “unburdening” their negative emotions to be greater people. They follow “the light” so they can experience everlasting life in “the garden” and work to ascend “the ladder” laid out by their founder, Dr Meyer, and achieve the rungs of enlightenment. There is also a fair amount of old hippie doctrine in the mix, with members regularly smoking weed, maintaining a vegetarian diet, drinking green juice and dosing with ayahuasca.
That doesn’t sound so bad. You’re right, but no cult does on the surface. Once you see the intimidation and isolation tactics, locking members up for minor infractions, and harassing those who have left the flock, it starts to seem a lot darker.
So, is this supposed to be Scientology or what? There are a lot of similarities between the two. Meyerists use a sort of biofeedback machine that is similar to e-meters and undergo a process where they talk about their transgressions that sounds similar to auditing. The most striking similarities however are between Cal and Scientology leader David Miscavige, who took over the from L Ron Hubbard just as Cal is trying to take over for founder Dr Meyer. He’s intent on bringing famous and wealthy members into the fold and publicizing the religion through the media. There’s a line in an early episode where a church elder says “We’re not Scientologists,” probably to keep the lawsuits at bay.
Who created the show? Playwright Jessica Goldberg created and writes the show. Jason Katims, the man behind Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, serves as executive producer.
So is the show any good? There are quite a number of shows on the air right now that question how faith and ideology warp people’s perceptions, including the thoroughly excellent The Leftovers and The Americans. The Path is not as stellar as either of those, but it does have its good qualities. Much like Philip and Elizabeth on The Americans, Eddie is experiencing doubts about his religion where as his wife, who was born into the faith, is a true believer. In early episodes she suspects him of cheating with a woman, but she has no idea that he’s actually cheating on their faith, a sin that would be far worse to admit.
Cal is also an excellent character and Dancy brings him to dark fruition with his brooding stares and too-broad smiles that mask a creepy streak. It’s fascinating to see how he manipulates everyone around him, justifying any means to serve his own agenda.
However, just as Dancy was better on the more multi-layered Hannibal, and Paul’s all-out emoting was better suited to Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad, everything on The Path seems like it could do a little bit better and have a bit of a lighter touch. Meyerism is painted with too dark of a brush at the outset so its hard for viewers to understand the appeal of this way of life (like they could with the polygamy on Big Love, for instance). Still, as an off-kilter family drama, it packs quite a punch.
Is there anything really bad about it? The Path needs to fire its music supervisor immediately. I can see how the pilot script would have read as nuanced and intriguing with just the words and description on the page, but the over-the-top score, with its dark rumblings and obvious intonations of the scarier parts of this religion, robs every scene of any subtlety. The music is all sinister menace, which the movement might be, but bringing it to the fore in such an obvious way makes the show seem simpler than it really is or really should be.
Is there anything you really love? Kyle Allen gives way more depth than you would expect from such a young actor. He plays Hawk, Eddie and Sarah’s devout teenage son who is flirting with a girl outside of their way of life. Also Kathleen Turner has a guest role as Cal’s mother and she is delicious and completely unrecognizable.
Should I watch this show? If you’re in the market for a new show, you could do a lot worse than The Path, which is just a few rungs away from achieving the truth – to use Meyerism’s parlance. Plenty of people are going to love this show and you might be one of them. I don’t think it’s essential viewing but, like The Leftovers, it could rebound for an even stronger second season, placing it in the pantheon of greats.
