HBO: The Way Down

It's a fascinating docuseries about very shallow Christians.

Why do these Christian warrior women try to out-Tammy Tammy Faye Bakker?

This show had all the ingredients to be fascinating, but I found the way it scrambles up the timeline and intermingles different storylines to be super confusing. Sometimes the old-fashioned approach of moving a documentary in chronological order just works best.

I did love the sad cowboy.

R1: Exaggerated womanhood is part of the package.

Huh. I didn’t know about this. Sounds right up my alley.

Thanks, OP!

Watched the first three episodes last night. As R2 said, mixing up the stories and the timeline makes it a bit hard to follow.

Most of the talking heads actually have something to say. I like how one former follower said that Gwen went from looking like a 90's housewife to a strung-out hooker.

And her video deposition in the custody case is interesting.

Her son Michael should come to Datalounge at once and start posting here, if he doesn't, already.

She was so revolting looking with that big mouth, big hair and skeleton body.

Religion is truly the last refuge of scoundrels.

When you wear a squid on your head you're on the way down.

Chrissy Teigen is a co-producer of this. FYI.

These people aren't that dissimilar to the owners of LuLaRoe. SO many people must have rejoiced upon hearing that plane went down.

It was a true miracle.

I watched the whole enchilada this afternoon. The whole time I kept talking to the TV, telling Joe Lara’s babymama “don’t worry, honey. He’s dead now, and you guys are safe!”

It gave me such satisfaction to know that those awful people feel out of the sky, thanks to that lazy gigolo.

But then again, the daughter will probably replace her horrible mother and be twice as awful.

The daughter is flat and charisma free. That cult is gonna die out.

What a bizarre looking woman.

R12 Emaciated, too. Really skeletal.

Lots of juicy parts for a movie adaptation: Gwen, Joe Lara, that abusive Anger guy, and the alcoholic son. The daughter would have to be CGI-ed.

IMDB says two more episodes in 2022.

I will give Gwen some credit for getting some of these parishioners down to a much healthier weight. That one woman being interviewed looked like Jabba the Hut. She obviously wasted no time getting in line at the all-you-can-eat soft serve ice cream station at Golden Corral as soon as she quit the church.

Could they have come up with a more horrific title?

Crash Landing

Crash dieters

Dead Weight

I really felt for the parents who lost their daughter Delaney to the cult. And I liked them more for putting their foot down and telling their stupid daughter they wouldn’t attend her wedding if Gwen officiated.

Which also makes me wonder - if Gwen had stayed in town to officiate the wedding, would she and Joe Lara be alive today? Given how the leaders liked to point fingers at its parishioners for bringing misfortune to the church, will Delaney be blamed for this misfortune?

"When people were in those concentration camps, [italic]they lost weight[/italic]!"

Wow, Joe Lara was stunning, but he had lost in his looks by the time he entered into this cult.

I didn't know until I watched this that Gwen grew up in the Churches of Christ, which most mainstream evangelicals consider heretical in itself. (Based on her wig fashions and her gaudy lifestyle, I had thought Remnant was some Pentecostal prosperity-gospel sect.) But now it's clear that she drew a lot of inspiration from the CoC, mainly the "we're the only true church" worldview.

Karma would be another alternative title for a doc about these grifters.

I think the notion that gays are child molesters to be the gay equivalent of Jewish blood libel.

HOWEVER, the second "Tedd Anger" appeared on screen, my first two thoughts were "closet queen extraordinaire" and "I would never, EVER let him near any child whom I knew. Particularly the boys."

It's rather poorly made, with poor commentary by somewhat peripheral subjects with dubious credibility. For example, does anyone believe the morbidly obese woman was ever any kind of insider in that fat-obsessed church?

All religions consider themselves the true religion.

They should have spent more time on the daughter and Tedd Anger.

I wasn’t as scandalized as I suspect I was supposed to be, about the clannishness of the church. Like, if you wanted your children watched or your lawn mowed, you’d hire a church member. It’s like that anywhere. Churches, synagogues, etc. Hell, I’ve given a bunch of business to neighbors I like.

What a bunch of shitty people, the world is definitely a better place without them.

Any news on season two?

Why has this freaky woman based her 'look' on the Long Guyland Medium?!

[quote]It's rather poorly made, with poor commentary by somewhat peripheral subjects with dubious credibility.

Agree! It felt like it was made to provoke outrage toward Gwen but I never felt any empathy or compassion for any of these losers trying to convince me that Gwen was awful. These people followed her and believed her because they wanted something for nothing. Serves ‘em right that they got hoodwinked.

Joe was so handsome. Until he wasn’t.

Episode 4 is now available!

Thanks for the update, r33! I know what I’m watching today.

Thinness is next to Godliness. The message couldn't be any clearer. Now put down those big Macs you fat whores!

OMG the woman who did Gwen’s hair at the beginning talks about it. LOL, she made the point that she wasn’t responsible for the giant beehives.

So, is the daughter the new Queen?

R37 No, she’s one of 28 leaders. It was supposed to be the son, but he bailed on them hard.

Thanks, r38!

That's one crazy wig. Wtf is with religious nutball women and crazy hair?

R25, I think the notion that gays are child molesters to be the gay equivalent of Jewish blood libel.

Is that sentence on purpose? I know auto correct will mess with you.

I watched this over the weekend. I really felt sorry for the parents of the young women who got wrangled into the cult and the woman Rachel who shaved her head.

The story is intriguing, although I don't think the series is all that well done. First of all, it isn't convincing in its depiction of Gwen Shamblin as a cult leader. Sure she's authoritarian and became kind of creepy but she never coerced anyone to do anything. She relied on gullible people to make her rich. She was just a classic grifter. What makes the story unique was that she was a female pastor with no training in religion with a message tailored to women in a religious environment dominated by men. Yet, the documentary seems uninterested in that angle.

Late to the party, may start watching this.

Trapped - The Only Way Out. Viewer Discretion Advised. Fatal Jet Crash of N66BK. premiers tonight, 5/29 at 9pm Vid by Probable Cause Dan Gryder

[quote] This is my conclusion of why N66BK crashed on May 29, 2021 with 7 on board.

Uptdates?

Updates*

Hair is sooooo close to God!

Jennifer Grey WAS Gwen Shamblin Lara.

This looks good, thanks OP.

Was the Lifetime movie any good?

Anyone?

R51 I watched. It was ok, but not great.

R53, will the hair/wig get any nominations?

Are there any rumors or theories as to what caused the plane crash? Wikipedia says it’s still being investigated two years later.

I love. LOVE that they were on the way to a fucking Trump rally. Bwahahahahahaha.

Yeah, it's not really that great. Nothing along the lines of Keith Renerie. Mildly interesting.

Were they really, r56?

R58 Actually I misunderstood the documentary. But it was a MAGA rally with Roger Stone and Michael Flynn.

I enjoyed this documentary. Jesus had no money. His only dealings with money stem from the wealthy benefactors who paid His taxes and those of His disciples. Jesus had no use for money.

As an aside, Kenneth Copeland is worth 760 million dollars...

Man, I so don't get it. I was raised Catholic. Went to church every week because my dad made me. I could not WAIT to turn 18 and stop going. I never got a single thing out of it.

So how is it that throngs and throngs make it the center of their lives? What is it that I don't see? You've got these weird stories of a guy who was executed, then came back to life. They don't even seem to care about his actual supposed WORDS or philosophy. Only that he lived and "died for our sins." I never understood that concept either.

It's not like I'm particularly smart or anything. It just never made amy sense.

Life then was brutal - extremely brutal. Jesus came to teach of the ways we are intended to live our lives. Sum it all up in a few key phrases. Live and let live. Love and let love.