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“Cult” is a new series on the CW and also the name of a series that characters on “Cult” watch which also happens to be on the CW. It’s a show within a show which plays with your sense of reality and fiction. Depending on your level of interest in this very postmodern approach, you will either find it clever or too clever for its own good. I’m going to go with too clever for its own good.
The first character we meet is Billy Grimm (Robert Knepper), a charismatic leader who speaks directly to the camera in a “documentary” and tells us he rejects the harmful connotations associated with a “cult” and merely sees his role as providing “connection” for those who seek it. The action then moves to Kelly Collins (Alona Tal), a former member of Billy’s flock who is now an LAPD detective. Along with her partner, she is investigating the disappearance of her sister, brother-in-law and nephew who she believes Billy has harmed in retaliation for her breaking ‘the connection’.
At this point, the show is a police procedural except it’s not because Billy and Kelly are fictional characters played by the fictional actors Roger Reeves and Marti Gerritsen on a show called “Cult” which just so happens to have a strong cult following. One of these super fans is Nate Sefton, a twitchy, recovering addict, who disappears after telling his reporter brother Jeff (Matt Davis) that people are after him. With the help of Skye Yarrow (Jessica Lucas), a researcher on the fake “Cult,” Jeff’s search for his brother takes him into the mysterious underground world of the show’s extreme fans. This part is “Cult” the actual show.
Nate is a one dimensional character which makes it hard to care much about his disappearance. He has a history of obsessing over things, a history of drugs and a history of generally being a disappointment. In his frantic effort to convince Jeff that he fears for his safety, he says: “It all changed for me in episode 9.” If this show makes it to episode 9, maybe it will all change for me too and I’ll care what happened to him. But so far, Nate is just an obsessed fan mixed up with other obsessed fans.
“Cult” plays with the notion of fans as cults of their own who connect through the shared experience of television. It’s a commentary on the power of TV shows and the power of fans, an idea that as a TV critic and a TV fan, I appreciate. In the case of “Cult,” the fans use their power for seemingly dark purposes. It’s not an unfamiliar characterization in fiction (the great Kathy Bates took it to a new level in “Misery” for example) so the series needs something else to prevent the idea of “die-hard fans equal crazy” from growing stale. This is where the mystery comes in. What are people discovering that is making them disappear? The problem is that watching Jeff track down clues with a plucky researcher doesn’t rise to the level of the somewhat interesting premise.
“Cult” is on Friday at 9:00 p.m. EDT on the CW.
Melissa Crawley credits her love of all things small screen to her parents, who never used the line, "Or no TV!" as a punishment. Her book, "Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President on Television's 'The West Wing,'" was published in 2006. She has a PhD in media studies. To comment on Stay Tuned, email her at staytuned@outlook.com or follow her on Twitter: @MelissaCrawley.
