Yes, Cal looks and acts like a nervous chihuahua. Yes, Eddie whispers 90% of his lines. Yes, Sara's wardrobe was borrowed from Karen Carpenter's closet. But I can't stop watching this damn show! Maybe it's the anticipation of the ridiculous plot twists. Maybe it's my desire to watch the whole cult implode. Idk. Season 3 is an improvement over 2, which just got too random and weird. Kinda like this review.
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keithbriant22 March 2018
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I binge-watched this from beginning to end (s02 e13). I was fascinated at the beginning, learning the story of this particular "movement". The entire first season developed well, was entertaining, suspenseful, and I looked forward to each new episode. Things were revealed and the actors portrayed the characters well. It was a pleasure to see Aaron Paul again; this even seemed like an adult version of Jesse Pinkman. His Eddie has a mysterious past and some of his emotional reactions reminded me of his former character. It was believable and things were moving along well.
Then came season 2. As it progressed, problems with the story and actors emerged. Cal was the worst, and I thought his portrayal unraveled when I noticed that he reacted the same way to every situation. A scene opens, Cal sees or learns something, and we see panic and a brain moving almost out of control. Even when he states a fact he seems to lie. I don't understand how these people could trust & follow him. All his head and eye movements screamed DECEPTION, in every scene and situation. It would have been more authentic if the actor had added some variety to his character; even just a wee bit of development would have been applauded. But man, he could have seamlessly stepped from the pilot episode to the season 2 finale in the same workday. You could wind him up like a toy robot and there he would go, head jerking about, eyes avoiding & searching, stammering, etc. It got real old.
Ditto for Eddie. At first, I understood his character and how he played him. Season 2, though, it seemed that he had the same facial reactions in just about every situation. Good news, bad news, nice conversation, threatening conversion, and we got the same thing. Opens his mouth a little, rolls his tongue into his lower cheek, turns his head, looks down, looks up, then utters some disappointing line. Episode after episode of this. You could turn it into a drinking game. Will he look up or down after sticking his tongue in his cheek and turning his head?
After interesting developments in season one, season two started telling us circular stories. All the main characters went through some stressing event or situation; they changed, the story turned, then somehow they're right back in their original "configuration". Sarah was the worst. Her motivations & feelings would change almost from scene to scene. She trusts Eddie, she hates him. She trusts Cal, she can't believe what he did, trusts him again, turns to Eddie, back to Cal, etc. Some scenes I couldn't understand why she was frowning instead of smiling. I'm not spoiling anything here. It gets difficult to follow because it appears that the characters, their motivations, their subsequent actions, are almost random. Did the script writers draw all these things blindly out of a bowl? I had to consult a TV script service to make sense of certain scenes. Why, why, why? Hawks feelings toward Eddie lack logic and are on a merry-go-round. You never know what you'll get.
Lastly, if this is a movement based on truth, transparency, and The Light, why are people cussing so profusely? Are they members of a faith movement or drunks in a pool hall? There are so many lies among these people you'd think they were double-agents involved in counter- espionage. Why would any "believer" fall for their numb explanations of odd events? And it didn't get better. When the loopy lunacy mercifully ended with episode 13, I was relieved. Not because anything plot-wise was resolved or satisfied, but because I need at least a year's break before considering watching a subsequent episode. -
bgar-8093227 June 2018I only want to watch full shows before I review them and that badly hurt this show. The first season was very intriguing and interesting but it drops off big time and loses it's way. It's about a family that lives on a religious complex that seems pretty cult like. Eddie (Aaron Paul) married into the family and is starting to lose his faith. He's struggling with some parts of the religion that seem a little off. It was dealing with that and the families response to his loss of faith. That was super interesting and intriguing as it seemed there were some dark secrets regarding the creating of the religion. If they would have found a good way to wrap it up it would have been great. That said they went a weird way and made Eddie the leader of the faith eventually. Then the mom is the one losing her faith and the son and everyone basically and they all flip flop back and forth. And that's basically the show for two seasons until something big does happen at the end of season 3. It was clearly cancelled as a lot of lose ends weren't tied up but they did that to themselves. Also I loved the acting in season one and it fell off big time to me, especially Aaron Paul.
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adarshbohra6930 March 2016With Actors Lke Aaron Paul & Hugh Dancy The Path builds one hell of a foundation for seasons to come. It demonstrates the potential to grow deeper and more rewarding as it matures, like any drama Katims has been associated with. The Path begins with Eddie already suspicious of his faith, following an encounter with a defector and his own personal revelations about the group's leadership following a trip to a healing center in Peru. In the episodes that follow, a great deal of the dialogue centers on his uncertainty in relation to whether or not to defect himself. It's a big decision, to be sure, but the writing offers little in the way of nuance or original ideas each time Eddie is volleyed back and forth between the spiritual and philosophical certainty of Meyerism and the depressing yet liberating instability of "the real world." The Path is unfortunately content to focus on a variety of rote melodramatic byways that give little insight into the fight between faith and personal desire, or the psychological relief and societal bliss that believers expect from their chosen religions.
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SnoopyStyle15 June 2018Meyerism is a new age movement founded by Dr. Stephen Meyer back in the 70's viewed by the outside world as a cult. Its main concept is to climb a ladder to the top to receive the universal truth. Cal Roberts (Hugh Dancy) is an ambitious leader of the movement. Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) is a committed Meyerist married to doubting Eddie Lane (Aaron Paul). Their teen son Hawk (Kyle Allen) struggles to find his place. Mary Cox (Emma Greenwell) is saved by the Meyerists after a tornado and becomes infatuated with Cal. There are old guards, seeds of doubt, suspicion, and deceit as the movement faces challenges from outside and within. Rockmond Dunbar is an undercover FBI agent in the first two seasons and the show is cancelled after three seasons.
The first season promises some interesting intrigue within a secret society. The leading trio are all terrific actors and the characters are fascinating. It starts a little rocky. There are narrative issues but the great actors are always compelling. The second season adds its own issues. I really dislike the water plot device. I appreciate the purpose of it but I don't like the side road it takes the show onto. This is a show of intriguing potential and good actors. It does struggle to maintain the narrative at times. The triad leads probably diffuses the protagonist intensity. The rocky flow keeps it from being a great must watch. -
The Path is an excellent rendering of a contemporary cult and the machinations, lies, delusions and outright corruption engaged upon to ensure its survival. If one studies cults and how they lure in followers, and how they manipulate them into buying into their ideas and eventually losing touch with their own sense of reality, self determinism and free-will, the Path brings all of that out into the open. Sometimes it is actually painful to watch if you have ever known someone, especially someone close to you, who has been caught in the maws of a cult. Moreover, the producers did a great job of showing just how such a cult as The Path, can hide behind the mantle of religiosity, and using peer pressure, and more importantly, peer-mentality, cover up all manner of abuses, violations of human rights and corruption. Although the characters, in some cases, appear to be extreme, it can only be said that until one has experienced the reality of life inside the inner sanctum of a cult, that it is hard to believe that people can become, literally, another person altogether once they have turned over their loyalty to the cult. Normal people become abnormal. Kids disconnect from their families and loved ones. And social personalities become toxic - all in the name of the pursuit of spirituality. The contradictions are well played in this series. Definitely worth watching.
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kapotts16 November 2016As a couple who got out of a cult like scenario ourselves, my husband and I like certain aspects of this show and dislike others. Having been in a similar situation with a "religion", we relate to the two main characters a lot. However, there's various details about the show that irritate us on a logical level. Certain decisions characters make simply don't make sense at times if we are to believe they really are/were super into "the movement". Certain scenes don't make sense with the flow of the show too (especially a few of the random sex scenes in random places - and that's coming from people who are not offended by sex scenes, these ones just happened to be very weird in terms of placement in the show). Overall, the various plot lines and characters are gripping enough to carry the show and hold your attention, flaws and all. I see this as a mid to high 6 when compared to other shows we enjoy and rounded it up. We did get sucked in enough to finish season one and will watch season two when it comes out.
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prichardson-5575528 May 2016This show is fantastic for anyone who like a tense slow burn character piece. There are definitely huge moments here, but they a few and far. This is a series best enjoyed as a whole. All of the main characters have huge, impactful arcs, that have them completely evolve by the time the credits roll on the finale. Beyond that it is a wonderful musing on religion, spirituality, and family. Definitely a must watch if you are a fan of slow but rewarding drama. I've seen a lot of reviews where the critic has given up after the first episode. All reiterate, this is a slow burn that needs to be experienced in full. Each episode carefully expands and twists on the last. The first episode serves to put all of the pieces into place, instead of lighting an explosion to draw you in. After 3 episodes I couldn't stop watching and now, I'm counting the days until it returns for season 2.
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curlyq-4242219 September 2020Pretty entertaining. There were no scientologist harmed during the making of The Path.
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This show is great. If you just don't think of it from a religious stand point, you'll get it. Seems to be about people with moral and unmoral things that cause conflictions, major burdens, community issues, unsolved emotions and those who are insecure wanting something more to believe in more than anything. Gave it a 9, maybe would be an 10, if new episodes wouldn't show previous situations that was not envovled in last episodes. Showing new unseen footage at the beginning of new episodes as if we saw them in details previously makes for confusion. Can't wait to see what happens with Eddie in the near future. Great characters, great acting, great script and a sort of slow burner with cliffhangers. Probably better as binge worthy if impatient.
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hanyap26 April 2016I love Aaron Paul - he is brilliant, and I think he does a good job here; sometimes he seems too intense, casting nearly everyone else into shadow. He doesn't pass muster as someone who has a 16 year old, however, because he is just too youthful.
Dancy is creepy, as he should be - you suspect there is something else lurking there and Monaghan is good, although her character is predictably a bit flat.
The show however, feels sloppy. There is a tornado in NH, (which is really rare), and it feels very staged. The woman with the wailing baby, the frenetic young woman who drinks wiper washer fluid because she craves water, but the tornado just happened, so the timing seems off. Then the young woman steps on top of a pile of boxes and planters that *happen* to be arranged like steps to the top of a shipping container. Remember, this is after a tornado, when everything else is thrown around and cars are overturned.
There are also some odd but important things that aren't explained. At least of the followers live off the compound,yet the cult seems insular. More than a few of the scenes, (like where the recruits are trying to convert people on the street), are overly simplistic and not believable. Paul's anguish over his vision in Peru is almost palpable; he appears like he is on the brink, and I wonder for a moment if he is sane. It's almost too much considering how average a lot of the rest of the show is.
Still it is interesting, and seems to combine some Scientology and Mormonism into a reasonably believable construct. I wish there was more depth, but perhaps that will come in time. I'm 2.5 episodes in and although I'm not chomping on the bit to see the rest, I am curious to see how Paul's crisis of faith is played out, and whether he continues to chat with the woman who left Meyerism. -
ejonconrad25 January 2017I've never been a joiner, so I've never had much sympathy for people who get drawn into cults - or even serious religion.
This show really examines the things that make people join cults, and makes some of the behavior a bit more understandable. I find it absolutely riveting.
"Meyerism" is sort of a mix of Scientology and a hippie commune. The central character is Eddie, who joined the cult when it helped to straighten out his life. He's been a star pupil, but is starting to have doubts. His wife grew up in the cult because her parents were founding members, so her obedience is a lot stronger, but events happen that eventually challenge her beliefs as well.
Well written and very well acted, this is a very addictive show. -
This review doesn't have spoilers as such but does discuss the general direction of the show in each season.
I've already written soooo much about this show in my blog that I don't want to go into too much detail in this review (Ranting & Raving on Wordpress, just saying) but I can sum up my opinion on this show in three very simple points.
Season 1 was incredible. This show filled a gap that other shows had left and I couldn't have been happier with everything about it. It was gritty, it showed a very realistic side to cults/religions and the characters were all very interesting.
Season 2: Changes direction completely and while still being entertaining to watch, is no longer anything special. It feels like the show loses its purpose and doesn't hugely acknowledge the events of season 1.
Season 3: Just no. Honestly, I couldn't be more disappointed by this season. There's no consistency with characters from episode to episode. Each story arc is ridiculous and apart from one, all of them spring from nowhere. If you want to see what it would be like if Jessie Pinkman had a psychedelic trip where he saw himself become a modern day Jesus, then you'll probably enjoy season 3...no, that actually sounds kind of cool. Hell, that would have been a better story that season 3. Sigh! it sucks, let me just say that.
I gave this 6/10 but id probably rate season 1 as 9 or 10, season 2 as 7or 8 and season 3 as 4 or 5 so I decided to round it up a little from 3 or 4 to 5 just to acknowledge how good the show used to be. -
thethinman7610 May 2018I like this show, but man, I think it's missing something. We spent the first season trying to figure out what it's about. I get it, it's a slow build like many shows these days. Good season finale for the first season. Then the second season has Eddie questioning his beliefs, he gets shunned, and his wife starts sleeping with his frenemy, then he's back in the fold as the "savior". Ok, I get it. It's television. Then season three, they just seemed to run out of gas. This time the wife is questioning her faith, she gets shunned a little. We get a little back story on Stephen Meyer, suddenly the son is in an interracial, gay relationship, we meet some new boring cast members, the FBI agent is gone and never seen again. And we have a melodramatic end to the season that ends in a whimper. So much potential. Who do I write so that I can give them my ideas, real ideas?
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mysecrets12325 May 2016I find that the plot and characters are well written. Based on an interview I read online by the writer, I know have a strong understanding as to why the story has a good plot. I like that the story starts light and at first glance you will be like, OK these nice people are all living together like a hippie community, nothing wrong with that. Then the next move is watching the main character Eddie, doubt the path and slowly but surely figuring out that he is not part of a movement but rather cult. The whole story is slow but intense. I like that the series is taking it's time to show different members and how the cult function. If you are into cults and religions you will like this TV series. I would like to find another TV series like this one. It kind of reminds me of Wayward pines but less spooky and you know what is going on from the start.
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Ed-Shullivan31 March 2016I guess I just "want to believe" in this new cult themed series but after just watching the pilot episode I can't say that I was overly impressed. The series two star anchors are the husband and wife team of Eddie Lane (Aaron Paul Emmy winning supporting actor for Breaking Bad) and his wife Sarah Lane (Michelle Monaghan) who are two twenty something senior leaders of a cult like church called Meiyerism. Eddie has just returned from a religious retreat from Peru where their church leader is in the process of climbing the last three rungs of the church leader's self-appointed storybook Meiyerism church ladder.
There is a third wheel on this bicycle of faith whose name is Cal Robertson (Hugh Dancy who played the very troubled Will Graham in the TV series Hannibal) who is perfect for his part as the sheep herder who just happens to still be in love with Sarah Lane even though he knows that Sarah has married Eddie. Sarah makes it clear to Eddie that she alone had chosen Eddie, and so Eddie asks the obvious question of Sarah, "Do you mean you chose me over Cal?" Mmmm.....is this a love triangle?.....I think so.
So we have these three twenty something year olds in charge of this huge compound which has a locked front gate and a security guard to protect their faithful from outsiders, or is the locked gate to keep the herd of followers from getting out?
The main characters all seem to be harboring secrets which I assume will be divulged over the first five scheduled episodes. I am not a fan of the TV series chosen suspenseful themed music that is piped in continuously in an effort to build suspense and I hope that in future episodes this attempt at suspenseful music will become less noticeable and the storyline more palatable. Time will tell if The Path will continue or come to a dead end after the first five spring episodes have aired. I give the pilot episode a 6 out of 10 rating for trying hard to please a younger audience on The Path. -
jesurveys15 July 2016I liked this show from the start because it's different from most TV fare and the acting is superb, especially Hugh Dancy as Cal. Now it's really growing on me as the hidden secrets of the cult leaders and followers start to slowly come out and the clash with the outside world becomes inevitable. Although some of the contextual scenes are over the top and do kind of spoil things sometimes, it's a small thing to complain about and the overall production values are great.
I'd recommend this show to anyone and the good news is that it seems Hulu and their US viewers agree as it's just been renewed for a second season! -
The Path, is definitely worth sometime, and... if you're willing to grant forgiveness for it's flaws. There's a roughness to the characters, some mark missing climactic points, and an unusual amount of sex for the pace and content of the show. Is The Path to the base of The Ladder?- a few terminology mismatches.
However, As someone prone to material that explores humanity and the way we get by in the world, I'm always down for watching an imagined way this can manifest. Drawing on organisations within Christianity, TM and Scientology - the Meyerist Movement presents us with an example of how grouped belief provides an escape from the isolating and confusing vortex of existence. It presents the fictional imagining of the dangers associated with trying to beat the game of life. Elevating oneself above the seemingly chaotic world creates its own problems, as the members cling so tightly to their created world that they strangle it. We watch these crude characters explore this all in their own way. Bring on season 2~lets have faith the writers settle in, and go further with the potential for this show. -
mailofthefuture10 October 2017"The Path" will appeal to anybody who has ever attempted to start their own religious or spiritual path, which indirectly involves every person in some way or another. The acting is fantastic. Aaron Paul & Michelle Monaghan are always very good, so no real surprise there. But they also co-produced this, & I think they did outstanding work. The show is one of those with very complex characters, real life people who you can identify with their pain & struggles. The star though is Hugh Dancy who plays Cal, the leader of "Meyerism." I've never seen him before, but he totally kills it and steals the show. I would give him an Oscar for best actor, hands down. Bravo Hugh!
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The Path just started up and the first two episodes were released to introduce us the Meiyerism cult.
This cult show stars Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad branching back into his successful medium after a few attempts to enter into movies. Paul isn't expect to lead a show alone without a master actor like Breaking Bad but is supported by other stars of television. Hugh Dancy and Michelle Monaghan back him up as other members of the cult.
Aaron Paul plays Eddie Lane, a former drug addict who has converted to the new cult, utilizing his skill as an actor. After a ayahuasca trip, he is enlightened to the truth and decides to expose the cult as a fraud. He is quickly discovered by his wife Sarah played by Monaghan who is much more serious about the cult.
Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com -
I just found this show. It's already on the third season. It's surprisingly good. The actors are all top notch. It's up there good with Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Stranger Things - you name it. Don't miss this one. It really heats up in the second season - in shocking ways. I'm watching it on Hulu, and I prefer the way Netflix puts out their own shows - a whole season at a time. Giving us one episode a week makes me feel like a child. Usually I love anticipation - but this time I want it all.......
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timthelion14 March 2018There is no lack of transparency about the unnecessary leftist SJW narrative, which gets in the way of what could be a very good story.
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alex_s-804-870485 August 2016Administration IMDb, accept my review! *
In the world of a great variety of different religious and other small sectarian movements, not quite adequate dogmas. And each of the followers of sects promise their own paradise (amusement park), just to obey, but did not hesitate to help financially. For the actions of one of these religious groups, vaguely reminiscent of the hippie commune we are to observe.
Eddie (played by Aaron Paul), after the suicide brother gets into the sect called "The Light" and live there quite happily for many years. He had a wife and two children, and even pets goes to the local "authorities". Sincerely believes in all that he imposed, he went to Peru and under the influence of any substances, coming home has all the doubts about whether his faith is the ultimate truth ...
Here it is where the fun begins. Eddie is changing right before our eyes, which immediately notices his wife, Sarah fierce sectarian (part-time home detective) who lives with his birth in the commune. She begins to sniff out what exactly happened to her husband. Along the way, this story turns on the heads of the sect of the branch itself (Cal - played by Hugh Dancy). In which, incidentally, has long stigma of a gun. He (hopelessly?) Drinks, but tries to hide it carefully, and do not mind to spend the night with some "the lost soul" of a female in his own philology. In general, standing at the helm, at first glance, a very sweet and innocuous movement, he "started up in all heavy," not very much tormented by remorse. Greedy power-Cal is struggling to "get a promotion" and to rise in the eyes of colleagues on the sect, leading to and illegal immigrants and a money from wealthy citizens, who are desperate to put on the right track-addict son. Also, feeds promises all our colleagues that is about, and they will meet with their creator, who has prepared something special for them ...
Disorder in friendly of sectarian little family is making Eddie, who tormented by the question of truth of their faith (in principle, it is easy to guess by looking at the title poster for the series), passing inadvertently pushing besides his eldest son, who and so hard to choose between family and favorite "unbelieving" girl.
The series is a smooth, viscous and almost all built on the dialogues on the principle of "Do you believe our creator or not? ... If not, then we (go to you), you are led to believe." Atmospheric, nice looking picture with warm colors throughout the first season, as if gently says, "we are all living in the world, it's so cool, and you are mired in their darkness." * I do not speak English and can not properly write commentary. I spent six years on this site and suddenly know that my grades do not count! As I understand it, I did not pass inspection because it does not write any reviews, so let me take part in the evaluation taking comment in this form or simply allow. Am I in vain estimated 800 films? Do IMDb website only for English? You do not have the normal support so I write here -
dwankan17 August 2017I watched this over the course of several days on Hulu, and I enjoyed the gripping drama, but I had to suspend quite a lot of disbelief. As other reviews have pointed out, quite a few logical inconsistencies show up in the series, from some unbelievable character choices to some established facts being contradicted in later episodes. The writers did a wonderful job of keeping my interest in the struggles of these characters to get their crazy lives together. Unfortunately, by the end, it's clear none of them has, and most who seemed to have had some backbone at some point ultimately dropped their spines for the sake of some magical mumbo jumbo. And that's where the real problem of the show comes out. Though the series does a great job of depicting the corrupt and amoral workings of a cult's leadership, the plot's final verdict seems to be that if a cult is nice to people, everything is okay. It's not. Cults are destructive, evil things that should be avoided, ridiculed, and shunned by society at large. Any organization or person who offers magical answers to real life problems is dishonest and cannot be trusted.
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Season 1 was OK with some brilliant moments in between. Until the end of season when there were some illogical behaviours (aka assigning an event to a character not bothering to make it believable)... But all in all it was OK.
Season 2 went downhill very very fast. It's become obvious that they have no idea what they are doing and how to develop characters. They are just throwing stuff at us that make no sense half the time. This in turn undoes the characters believability. The series are supposed to be a drama and all about why people does this and that... But what I see is people just doing random stuff... It's very lazy script writing and not even the actors can help it any more. They gave it a good try but there is just so much they can do with what they are given.
Where I left it was also very obvious they want to keep things mysterious and undefined in order to make the show last longer. It's also obvious that when they have no plot they just create some situation/conflict without giving it much thought to (try) distract and entertain (poorly) the viewer.
I fear they will drag on until canceled and everyone who stuck with it in hopes to reach a conclusion will be disappointed. And that's why I just gave up. I have no wish to see the characters devolve more and more into the ridiculous, knowing I'll probably never get any satisfying ending. IF this ends not being canceled and feedback about its ending is positive I MIGHT come back to it. But I think it won't happen and only positive reviews will be motivated more by people being a fan of one of the 3 leads than because the story itself was worth anything.