CW’s ‘Cult’ review: Billy Grimm excites and delights as cult leader
The CW has been so busy promoting “The Carrie Diaries” that it seemed to have forgotten all about another new show premiering on the network called “Cult”, which is a real shame because the show has promise to be pretty great, but without the viewership it’s likely on its way to the television graveyard.
We had high hopes for the CW’s new show “Cult” when we first heard the premise and while the plot did not disappoint with it’s many delicious layers, the acting is holding this show back from being really great. Matt Davis did a fine job of portraying Jeff, a shady journalist who is on the hunt for his missing brother, Nate, but we are not completely convinced that he was the right person for the job. Unfortunately it was the same feeling with most of the actors – they were okay, but that was about it, save for Robert Knepper (who plays cult leader Billy Grimm) who was pretty fantastic and gave us a major case of the creeps.
As for the plot we love the idea of a television show within a television show that is some how coming to life. Billy and his cult members are the ultimate in manic and had us at the edge of our seats as they left clues leading Jeff on a wild goose chase to find his brother. Does the cult actually have Nate or is this all part of his obsession with the show? Is there really a cult at all or have the fans made this real in their minds? The other aspect of the show that we thought was very clever on the part of the CW is that the Cult “television show” within the series airs on the CW. Integrating the actual network into the show is the most brilliant form of branding and promotion we’ve seen in a while, unfortunately without viewers no one will know just how smart this show is. The ratings for “Cult” have come in and they weren’t good at a 0.3, so we are already worried about it even making it to the end of the season let alone getting picked up again.
Over all we think “Cult” has great promise as long as the actors can get into some sort of groove with the plot and we hope that it will at least last the season, because we are hooked at this point. Did you have a chance to watch “Cult” and if you did leave us a comment and tell us what you thought of the pilot.
Photo: CW