The Path Review: “A New American Religion”

I’d thought we’d seen the last of Dr. Jackson Neil on The Path after he abandoned Sarah during their not so intimate vacation at a bed and breakfast, but he’s back to throw a wrench into the Meyerist movement in a very big way. If you’ve watched the show, you know there were a lot of dark deeds Steve was involved with as he grew his religion. Steve co-opted Lilith’s visions to use in his new religion and claimed them as his own, but he also used this religion as a cover for his pedophilia. Cal is the living, emotionally damaged poster boy of Steve’s mental and physical abuse. He’s a shell of a human who’s just barely holding on, but he may lose his grasp entirely in the aftermath of Dr. Neil’s revelatory article about the true beginnings of Meyerism.

One could easily argue that Cal is a psychopath. He lacks the ability to empathize with others, focuses on himself and the power he feels he deserves, and has to actively remind himself to be a good, caring partner to Mary and their son Forest. His relationship with Mary seems to only be a mask he wears to appear human most of the time, but even that is crumbling at the edges. Cal has given everything for Meyerism, and lost everything in return. The only father figure he ever knew sexually abused him. He was indoctrinated into a religion that his abuser was the leader/god of. Cal has been trying to find bearings ever since we first met him in season one, and he’s done some terrible things along the way in order to gain or keep power for himself. He ascended to the leadership of Meyerism, left it for a short time and eventually came back, but can’t seem to quit it despite Mary’s pleas for them to leave Meyerism behind. What is his end goal? Does he want to run Meyerism or ruin it? It’s like Steve’s abuse continues on for Cal even though Steve has passed away. Will he ever be able to face the damage it’s caused him and put it behind him?

Dr. Neil’s coming book uses the information, and the writings Sarah gave to him to prove the darker nature of the movement’s origins, and it has every Meyerist up in arms. Most people want Eddie to go on the talk show to debate Dr. Neil about Meyerism, but he can’t do that personally. They have a shared history with Sarah that Eddie doesn’t want discussed publically. Eddie threatened Dr. Neil in the past about staying away from Sarah, so instead Cal goes on the show to defend Meyerism in Eddie’s place. Doing this places a wedge between Cal and Mary. She doesn’t want him to go on the television show (she wants him to leave Meyerism) and he doesn’t want her to accept the job Congressman Harbaugh offers her. For her this job is a way to leave Meyerism behind and not be reliant on Eddie and the movement, but Cal cannot leave. Meyerism is a sickness he can’t get over, so she leaves him.

The television appearance, and the claims Dr. Neil makes on it, pushes Eddie to learn everything Sarah told Dr. Neil about Lilith and Steve, including the origins of The Ladder. This research leads to a meeting between Eddie and Lilith in the psychiatric hospital. Lilith tells Eddie of her vision of his death, but it doesn’t shake him. He orders Vera to have Lilith released from the hospital despite Vera’s pleas that her mother is dangerous. Eddie doesn’t want to be like Steve. Steve had Lilith committed and banished from the movement, Eddie is different. When it comes out that Lilith believes Eddie will be assassinated in Bali during the unveiling of the new Asian Meyerist Center there, Vera warns him, but he won’t cancel the opening. To save him, Vera reverts to her old tactics behind Eddie’s back. She blackmails the donor to stop the Bali opening. Vera fears Lilith is behind the donation in order to place Eddie in the line of fire and assure her vision takes place. It’s hard to tell if Lilith really is the guiding force behind the donation, but Vera isn’t taking any chances. Afterward, she finds Eddie and Sarah holding hands. They stumbled on Steve’s notes about their wedding while going through his writings, and it’s stirred up feelings. Vera storms off in anger, and runs right back into the arms of her mother.

Between Cal’s television appearance, and the revelations of Steve’s questionable account of the origins of their religion, Eddie makes a huge decision. He and Sarah confront Cal and tell him that Eddie is going to write his own book titled Revelations, revealing the dark and sordid past of Steve and the movement. They believe Meyerism will benefit from coming clean about the sexual abuse and other dark deeds buried in Steve and Meyerism’s past. Cal worries this will destroy Meyerism, but Eddie thinks the transparency will make it stronger. Eddie welcomes Cal’s help and input, but he’s willing to do the book alone as well. This decision pushes Cal into a corner, where he argues aggressively that he won’t let Eddie do it, but Eddie doesn’t realize what he’s getting himself into with Cal. Cal’s killed before to protect what he saw as a danger to the movement, and he’ll clearly do it again. Why else would he buy a handgun from a pawnshop unless he planned on using it? Whether he uses it on Eddie, or on himself is the real question.