Episode 1
The Path sets its story in an interesting time for Meyerism, the cult/religion at its center. It has become more than a movement built around a charismatic leader, but has yet to make the leap to becoming an organized belief system built around the teachings and life of said charismatic leader. This is why the decision in the show's first season to have Meyerism founder Steven Meyer still alive but comatose and on the brink of death so fascinating. As Meyer lay in a bed in Peru caught between life and death, his uncertain condition acted as a metaphor for Meyerism as a whole. Without the presence of its founder, what would it become?
So this second season premiere foretold a big change for the show, as it killed off Stephen Meyer, and in a way that was fittingly anticlimactic after last season's cliffhanger, which had him miraculously wake from his coma. Opening directly with this scene, the premiere starts with Meyer rambling on about "the light" in front of a startled Eddie, before running away from the compound. After a time jump, we then learn that Cal and the others believe that Meyer ran into the woods that night with another man and "became one with the light".
Towards the end of last season The Path was beginning to hint that perhaps some of Meyerism was in fact real, as we saw Eddie and Sarah possibly display what can be called, for lack of a better description, super powers. And this season premiere plays off viewers doubts well in that regard, leading us to wonder, "did Stephen Meyer really become one with the light?", before later revealing that no, he just got struck by lightning and fell off cliff to his death. But that still leaves room for questions. Was the lightning divine, in some way? How did Meyer know of Cal's abuses as his successor? Has the Light really chosen Eddie to lead the movement? These questions take a physical form later in the episode, as Eddie's scars are revealed.
But while The Path seems increasingly interesting in raising questions of the possible validity of Meyerist teachings, as of this premiere it still doesn't seem too keen on providing any firm answers. Instead, its main focus still lies in exploring the characters at its center. In particular, the premiere episode is interested in exploring the character Sarah, played wonderfully by Michelle Monaghan, a character who was a little underused early in the series before eventually becoming one of The Path's most intriguing figures.
The Path is much less a show about cults than it is a show about faith, and one of its most potent dramatic sources to explore themes of faith is the marriage between Sarah and Eddie. With its central couple, The Path asks what happens when one spouse stops believing in the religion they both once so fervently believed in as one. And while the first season seemed most interested in exploring that idea from the perspective of the non-believer, i.e. Eddie, this episode suggests that will change.
Sarah's family life began to slowly crumble last season, as Eddie's behaviour became more and more strange and Hawk (Kyle Allen) started seeing a girl outside the movement. This only became worse once Eddie actually expressed his doubts, and was exacerbated by Silas' mysterious disappearance. The possible involvement of Cal (Hugh Dancy), the only person in Sarah's life she felt she could trust, in said disappearance only exaggerated her sense of isolation. While Sarah would insist that the movement is what's most important to her, her dissatisfaction in spite of her rise up the ladder says otherwise.
So Cal using Silas' disappearance (and death, though nobody else knows that) to his advantage by working it into the story of Steve's "transition" acted as a breaking point for Sarah. Late in the premiere she runs over a deer, killing it, and when Cal shows up she turns on him, dead deer in her arms, blaming him for what happened. The irrationality and desperation in her accusation is a stark contrast to the haunting beauty of the scene's composition, which is not lacking for religious and biblical echoes.
But perhaps Cal revealing Silas' true fate to Sarah is more significant to Cal as a character than it is to Sarah. Cal has always taken a pragmatic approach in running the movement, treating it more like a business. Yes, he can give dramatic, inspirational speeches, but often he is the character to reject idealism for something more practical. Willing to alienate others, he goes to great lengths to achieve what he believes is right for the movement, often at great risk to both the movement and his already unstable mental state.
We see Cal take several risks in this premiere, perhaps most notably telling Sarah the truth about Silas. For as much as Cal is willing to alienate others for the advancement of Meyerism, he has always cared what Sarah thinks of him, and so instead of continuing to tell an uncomfortable lie, he tells an even more uncomfortable truth.
But this premiere sees Cal gamble not only with his relationship with Sarah, but with the finances of the movement. Not only does he pay money they don't have on a building in New York, but he also seeks to get them recognized as an official religion in order to get government funding. The others see this as corrupting Steve's vision, but Cal sees it as an important and necessary step in legitimizing the movement. Now that the leader is dead, the movement has already begun to shift away from his original teachings, echoing many real-life major religions, including Christianity.
Outside of the Cal and Sarah material, most of this premiere is concerned with catching viewers up on where the characters are. Eddie doesn't feature all that heavily in the episode, but while he's trying his best to live an ordinary life and stay close to his kids, the night in Peru with Dr Meyer still lingers. Abe is now even deeper undercover in the movement, and hardly every sees his family. And Hawk has a new love interest. This last part I'm not totally convinced about as of this premiere. While the teen romance in the first season was perhaps that season's strongest aspect (a rarity for prestige dramas), that was because not only was it emotionally involving and tragic, it was used as a microcosm for the show's larger theme of the personal cost of belief. I'm not sure yet that this new Hawk subplot will be as dramatically or thematically potent.
Grade: B
Episode 2
After a solid season opener, in which The Path caught us up on where its characters are now, this stellar episode gave the show a chance to slow things down and narrow its focus a little. With much of the season's set-up and exposition out of the way, now Jessica Goldberg and co. can take their time to tell the stories they wants to tell. If the results of that are always going to be as good as this episode, then we're in for quite a season of television.
Much of the episode is built around a set-piece, that being the fundraiser to raise money for the movement, which is desperately needed now that Cal's risky financial maneuvers have failed to pay off. So far this season The Path has focused mostly on the characters of Cal and Sarah, and this episode gave both characters (as well as Michelle Monaghan and Hugh Dancy) a fantastic stoplight.
In my review of the previous episode above I wrote about how Cal has often been the pragmatic one among the high ranking members of the movement. But Cal has occasionally shown that he has an intense moral compass, and sometimes allows that to take priority over what's best for the movement. We see this in the scene in which, after a night of empty conversation, Cal chastises the guests at the fundraiser, and implores them to empty their pockets and give money to the movement, for the sake of the sick and homeless, "the forgotten", that the Meyerists care for.
But this episode also shows us a different, more violent side to Cal, a side we've seen before, most notably when he killed Silas. After losing all chances of raising money after his speech, he is confronted by the man Sarah had a brief and unfinished sexual encounter with as he and Sarah are leaving. Cal doesn't like the way the man is talking about Sarah, and so he punches him, thereby further de-legitimizing the movement.
This episode also finds Sarah struggling with her knowledge of Silas' murder. There are few more devoted to Meyerism than Sarah, but given that so much of the movement is based on complete honesty, in her mind her faith has been compromised in some way. In her session with Richard she could not completely unburden, and this incompleteness gnaws at her throughout the episode.But Silas' death is not the only thing that Sarah feels is compromising her faith, as she continues to talk to Eddie and allow him to see the kids. She even straight up lies about talking to Eddie in her session with Richard.
Of course, Cal has been living with such a burden for a lot longer, as Sarah realizes at the end of the episode. Cal has done some terrible, very illegal things in his time as leader (and maybe before), most of which in an effort to improve the state of the movement. As leader he should be setting an example for all other members, yet he cannot fully participate in the movement, as that would mean confessing his many sins.
But while the burden both Sarah and Cal are living under is terrible, Cal argues that its worth it for the important work the movement is doing, as he shows Sarah the good work the city shelter is doing for those in need.
This is not the only part of the episode in which we're reminded of the good Meyerism does, despite some of its rules being a little archaic. As Eddie reaches out to someone, looking for an emotional connection, he speaks of how joining the movement got him through the aftermath of his brother's suicide. While Eddie may no longer believe in the movement's teachings, he likely wouldn't have survived without it.
But people still have preconceived notions of what Meyerism is, demonstrated by the character Chloe, the woman Eddie goes out to dinner with. But while Eddie fears she only went out with him for juicy details on Meyerism, she is proven to be a more complicated character than that, given her actual desire to get to know Eddie and her connection with his brother, Johnny. While Chloe has yet to gain a narrative function beyond being a love interest, this episode made me a bit more hopeful on that front.
This episode also finds Hawk going on a pilgrimage of sorts, and we get a chance to spend a little more time with him and Noa, his new love interest. While Noa as a character did receive some shading here, I'm unsure whether or not she'll eventually become more than a plot device in Hawk's storyline, and become a character in her own right. Though a focus on Hawk was welcome, as we got further insight into his state in the aftermath of his parents' separation.
Finally, I have to talk about the episode's conclusion, in which we see Hawk seemingly levitate. As I've written about, The Path has grown increasingly fond of teasing a possible supernatural element, and this scene is an obvious example. But while the miraculous recovery of Abe's baby at the end of last season is possible evidence of Meyerism's validity, I don't see this scene in the same way, as it's impossible to tell if what we saw was real or if the show was merely placing viewers in the mind of a fervent, delusional believer. The Path being The Path, we may never get answers.
Grade: A-
