Losing Faith in <em>The Path</em>, Hulu's Cult-Set Drama
Religion, fanaticism, and the “prison” of faith is rich territory for television in this moment. HBO’s The Young Pope stars Jude Law as an arrogant, movie-star-handsome pontiff bent on restoring the Catholic church to its authoritarian roots, who might also be capable of working miracles. The Leftovers, which returns for its final season in April, has considered the role of organized religion in society with rational and emotional complexity. Even the A&E docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath has been exploring the psychological ramifications of being in, and leaving, an organization that prizes fealty over freedom.
In its first season, which debuted on Hulu in 2016, had a little of all of the above: magical’s creator, Jessica Goldberg, seemed undecided on whether the sect she’d imagined was a cult, a benign but insular community, or a positive force for social change. As the first ten episodes played out, framed around Eddie Lane’s (Paul) crisis of faith, the show resisted clarity, leaving Meyerism open to interpretation.
