Animation
Good Times
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
In the great walk-in closet of world religions, the Meyerist movement is a bit of dryer lint. The sect has a few compounds scattered around the world that at first blush seem like quirky, well-meaning clubs. Maybe even neo-hippie communes. Sure, its members may seem a little, well, odd at times. They don’t fight or eat meat. They’re truthful to a fault, and they talk about “unburdening” themselves while scaling a metaphorical ladder to enlightenment. But they also seem so generous and peaceful and ever so nice. In a hurting world searching for answers, the Meyerists look like they actually have some.
But some, even within the movement, have their doubts.
Eddie used to have his. He left the movement once, actually, leaving his uber-faithful wife, Sarah, and the rest of his family in its fold while he was at it. But faith is a funny thing: He once wanted to expose the movement; now he leads it. The visions he had were just too strong, the pull of the movement was just too insistent.
It wasn’t enough to save his marriage, however. Now Sarah’s the one with doubts—learning that the movement’s founder didn’t “climb the ladder” to enlightenment, as they say, without some help and a little hypocrisy. Revelations like those have thrown Sarah for a loop, and she wonders whether the only faith she’s ever really known might be a fraud.
And that’s not the only pot simmering on the Meyerist stove. Cal, the former leader, still belongs to Meyerism, and he plots and schemes behind the scenes. As the movement grows, there’s robust debate whether such growth is a good thing. Eddie’s own son—once a devoted Meyerist—is exploring life outside its strict confines and toying with same-sex attraction, too.
Yep, life in a cult ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. And even though Eddie feels like he’s found the one, true way, that way’s foundations may even now be crumbling under his feet.
The Path offers us a strange, off-kilter belief system, one that obviously shares a lot of DNA with Scientology, specifically, as well as other modern spiritual movements. And in some ways, the show actually treats adherents’ faith with a measure of respect. We see their real spiritual hunger. We watch as the Meyerists, for all their cult’s faults, try to help the communities they’re a part of. And sometimes the show even hints that there are, perhaps, realities beyond the empirical—what we can see or hear or touch.
But The Path is also an intense and unrelentingly problematic show. While the Meyerists pride themselves on their self-control, this Hulu series itself exercises very little.
The Path’s inherent spirituality is the first hurdle we run into, a murky stew of mysticism, machines and psychobabble. Obviously, Hulu isn’t out to convert anyone to a made-up cult; still, its depictions of Meyerist convictions might be confusing to those who are seeking their own path.
Meyerism also provides cover for a litany of dark, disturbing elements—from predatory sexual behavior to rumors of in-cult abuse to violent put-downs of dissent (one of the darker nods, it would seem, to Scientology). The Path is filled with other serious barriers as well. The sexual content is extreme, flaunting nudity and explicitly rendered couplings. Foul language is replete with uncensored f- and s-words. The violence we see can be indeed troubling.
“Ponder the path of your feet,” we read in Proverbs 4. “Then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” Hulu’s Path, in contrast, swerves quite a bit.
Some of Eddie’s most important Meyerism acolytes travel to France to accept a lavish gift: a grand estate given to the movement by one of its richest devotees. But despite the idyllic setting, all is not well. Sarah continues to struggle with her faith and searches for one of the movement’s disgraced founders, Lilith, who embraced an angrier, more punishment-oriented version of the movement. Meanwhile, Vera—Meyerism’s “secular liaison”—plans parties and sells skincare products connected to the movement, all while scheming with her mother … Lilith.
Hawk, Eddie and Sarah’s son, has begun a same-sex relationship with Caleb, the son of a prominent Christian pastor and a worship leader himself. We see them meet at one of Caleb’s concerts (a huge, shining cross hangs overhead), where Caleb sings about God’s mercy and greets Hawk with the words, “God bless you.” Later, they rendezvous at Hawk’s house and kiss several times over dinner. Both talk about relationships they’ve had: Hawk says he once fell in love with a woman. “I’m not gay,” he says. “At least I’ve never thought of myself that way. I just liked who I liked.” Caleb talks about his fleeting sexual encounters with a “super-closeted guy at the church.” The next morning, Hawk’s grandmother and little sister barge in and find Hawk and Caleb in bed together in their underwear.
We hear a great deal of religious language related to Meyerism, including phrases such as “climbing the ladder” and “finding the light.” We also hear about some of the cult’s previous (and now outlawed) practices, including burning children to let in the “light.” When we get a glimpse of Vera’s partially exposed back, we see a telltale burn scar. Someone lights a ladder on fire, urging Eddie to climb it and thus duplicate one of the movement’s supposed miracles.
People discuss past drug addictions. (One of Meyerism’s big attractions is its promise to help folks rid themselves of such addictions.) We hear how people in the movement lie, mislead or simply ignore uncomfortable truths. (Someone also references sexual addiction, a woman sobbing as she confesses to finding anonymous “sex on the Internet.”) We hear how someone’s father was a “rapist,” and how his ancestors owned slaves.
Characters drink wine and champagne, a few perhaps to excess. Sarah submits to hypnotism, seeking answers in a dream. Characters say the f-word four times and the s-word twice. We also hear “p-ss” and a misuse of God’s name.
In the second season’s two-hour premiere, Eddie tries to re-acclimate to traditional society even as he struggles with visions or memories related to his time in Meyerism. Meanwhile, Sarah—who’s now leading the movement with Cal—struggles with Cal’s hypocrisy and lies, and she wonders whether there’s anything left for her to believe in anymore.
Sarah hits a fawn with her car: We see her touch and cradle the animal’s lifeless body (blood covers her white top). When Cal goes out to bring her home, she blames him for the accident. Cal decides to come clean with his dirtiest little secret—the fact that he killed a prominent Peruvian guru named Silas last season and buried him in secret. (He digs up the disturbing-looking corpse to prove it.) In Peru, founder Steve Meyers’ corpse is also discovered: The dying man apparently tumbled off a cliff, rather than “walking into the light,” as Meyerist dogma has it. The discovery puts “the whole movement in jeopardy,” says a Meyerist on-site. Moreover, there’s a suggestion that Steve might have been pushed—and the implication that Eddie was there when Steve met his real maker.
Eddie goes on a date with a woman and sleeps with her. We see the two removing each other’s clothes. (She strips down to bra and underwear, he takes off his shirt.) They have sex on Eddie’s bed. That same night, Sarah drinks a few glasses of wine at a “friendraising” gala and nearly has sex with one of the attendees. (He pulls down part of her dress, revealing the side of Sarah’s breast, then lifts up the rest before Sarah puts an end to the encounter.) At the gala, a Meyerist newbie who had an affair with Cal encourages him to touch her pregnant belly. There’s a suggestion the baby could be his, even though she’s now married to another cultist. Other members kiss forbidden partners, and Eddie’s son Hawk has a romantic encounter with a cultist in the woods.
Hawk throws a rock through the window of an industrialist’s mansion. (The man’s business is said to be poisoning the water in town.) Cal buys a building with money neither he nor the cult has. A Meyerist is described as an “alcoholic salesman.” There’s a great deal of lying and misrepresentation. We hear loads of religious talk. Characters say the f-word about 15 times and the s-word about 10 times. They also say “a–,” “h—,” and misuse God’s name at least eight times (once with the word “d–n”). Jesus’ name is also abused.
Sarah is convinced Eddie’s having an affair and demands he enter a two-week regimen which he’ll spend in almost total isolation while a brow-beating “counselor” forces him to spill his secrets. Eddie at first refuses—not because he’s having an affair, but because he’s worried he’ll accidentally start talking about wanting to leave the cult. But eventually he relents out of love for his family.
Still very angry with each other, Eddie and Sarah engage in rough sex. (We see graphic movements.) Their son hears their talking and sexual sounds, and he vomits. Mary, a recent convert (whose father, she says in a previous episode, sexually sold her to his friends starting when she was 11), shows her devotion by performing oral sex on Cal. (He then pushes her away and suggests that she find another man.) In a vision, we see Eddie and Sarah naked (from the back and the waist up). A home has a number of nude paintings.
Mary’s father is shown bloodied from the fierce beating Cal gave him in the previous episode. Hawk gets into a fight. We hear about a fatal school shooting. A former cult member is said to have committed suicide (though his widow has her doubts). Someone else died from a drunk driving accident. A boy is essentially kidnapped.
We hear about drug addictions. Wine is drunk. A cult member smokes marijuana. The f-word is said eight times, the s-word three or four. We also hear “a–,” “b–ch” and “h—.” God’s name is misused.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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