Going into watching The Path, I wasn’t especially sure what to make of it. The pre-air information that I had read was very limited in what it gave away, and the trailer for the show did little to suggest much about the show. As a result, I had no real grasp of what to expect. So in that regard, I was neither surprised nor disappointed by the first hour of The Path.
Starring Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan and Hugh Dancy, among others, The Path follows a family at the centre of a controversial cult movement as they struggle with relationships, faith, and power. Eddie Cleary (Paul) begins suffering a crisis of faith following a trip, and as wife Sarah (Monaghan) attempts to figure out what is going on with her husband, she turns to cult leader Cal Roberts (Dancy) for help.
While watching this, I was reminded of The Leftovers to a degree. Namely, the mysteries surrounding the cult and what happened to Eddie on his trip are all very conceptual, and the show plunges you right into the middle of it all with very little explanation as to what is going on. At times, this can add to the show, but at others, particularly in moments where it’s difficult to know what you’re even seeing on the screen, it’s a hindrance.
Plot-wise, things move quite slowly, with a considerable amount of build-up and development to reach a certain moment. And that’s fine, but The Path doesn’t have a compelling enough story to warrant this. There’s a lot going on that is very strange, and I’m not particularly convinced that I care enough about any of it, based on what the first hour gives us.
Frankly, the best reason to watch this show is the performances, and there are some real performances in this. Even if, going into this, you still see Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, that side of him doesn’t come through and you’ll quickly separate the two. Eddie is a much more mature character, and Paul really nails that. One scene, shown briefly in the trailer, involves Eddie describing his relationship with his brother and it is easily the highlight of the opening episode.
Dancy does a great job of balancing the two sides of his character, as Cal switches between a welcoming, charismatic and likeable personality and one that is far darker. Monaghan too puts in a great performance as Sarah struggles with what Eddie is going through.
But in this era of Peak TV, it’s difficult to want to remain onboard just because of the performances.
Much like faith, The Path will appeal to some and not to others. Though this didn’t especially interest or speak to me, I think there’s a lot here to be liked. It is very much a show that you need to sample yourself to know whether or not you’ll like it.
The Path debuts on Hulu on Wednesday 30th March with two episodes, with the following eight episodes rolling out on a weekly basis.
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