Cult (Season 1)

Show: Cult

Season: 1

Episodes: 13

Created By: Rockne S. O'Bannon

Released: 2013

Rating: 4/5

Basic Plot:  Tracks the investigation of a string of mysterious deaths and disappearances surrounding the show-within-a-show.
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Not Given a Chance
I have seen a great show not get a second season (Last Resort) and I have seen a decent show get renewed (Elementary). Cult was one of those shows that its network didn't seem to care about. That its network didn't like airing even one episode because it might do well enough to earn a renewal. After its second episode it was moved to the Death Slot (aka Friday Nights where shows go to die). Then the CW held up its hands and acted surprised that a new tv show was getting bad ratings on Friday Nights! Never mind that Cult was already struggling with ratings on Tuesday nights. After a few more episodes aired the CW pulled the plug and said it wouldn't air the rest of the episodes of Cult's only season. Luckily they decided to show the final episodes, but it doesn't erase my feelings that this was a show that was cancelled before it even begun.


A TV Based Cult Makes Sense
In the beginning of Cult it seems insane that Nate (Jeff's brother) seriously believes that the cult of Cult (aka True Believers) are murderous psychos. But what Nate says isn't only proven to be true, but also that it is much more complicated. Nate isn't in the majority of the show, as for the earlier parts he is captured, and Jeff searches through the twists and turns (with the help of Skye, someone who works on the show and whose father went missing because he was getting too close to the truth of Cult) to find out what is really going on. As this show wasn't given warning of cancellation soon enough, by the end of the series you are left at a big cliffhanger as you realize that the scope of the True Believers (and Steven Rae) is even bigger. And, really, a cult giving out messages in a tv show makes sense in this day and age.

Legacies
Something that fuels the plot (and sub-plots) of Cult is figuring out what happened to someone's father. It's what is the driving force behind the True Believers and it's a reason why Skye helps Jeff in the first place. To find out what lead to a father's disappearance and left a child all alone. For one person it lead to an obsessive quest that left a large body count. For Skye it lead to a healthier interest in finding out questions that she didn't know before as well as getting a boyfriend.

Final Thoughts
This show is the cancelled show I miss the most this year. At least Last Resort was given enough time to wrap everything up (albeit some subplots did feel rushed). Cult wasn't even given a chance and that's really sad for a show like this. A cult that sends out messages through a tv show seems relevant to today. It's such a crazy idea that no one would believe it was happening. Those who figured it out would be labeled as crazy and ignored. In Cult, not even the police are there to help Jeff and Skye because they don't believe there's a cult that sends out clues through a tv show. I admit fans getting so crazy that they'd kill sounds insane unless you go on sites like tumblr and Twitter and see the insanity inherent in fandoms as a whole. There is a gigantic cliffhanger that raises unanswered questions, but the ride is well worth it. And to all the True Believers out there: Hey, these things just snap right off.