Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Way Down: Part 2’ on HBO Max, the Fascinating Continuing Story of the Life and Death of Cult Leader Gwen Shamblin

HBO Max true-crime-ish documentary series The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin: Part 2 promises to catch us up close to the present day in the twisty continuing saga of a Tennessee church-cult and its dead leader. You may recall that series director Marina Zenovich was smack in the middle of the series’ production when her main subject, Gwen Shamblin, founder and head of the Remnant Fellowship church and Weigh Down weight-loss program, died in a plane crash; Zenovich reworked the series from four to five episodes, premiering the first three in Sept., 2021, and at last follows up with the final two chapters. The series’ disruption and subsequent retooling allowed Zenovich to explore, fascinatingly, the impact of not only Shamblin’s passing, but also the series’ initial volley of episodes.

THE WAY DOWN: PART 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Drone shot: the Remnant campus in Brentwood, Tenn.

The Gist: An interviewee outlines one of the primary arcs of this episode: “Be careful how you throw around terms like ‘God’s faith’ and ‘God’s will.’” So maybe it was ‘God’s will’ that Gwen Shamblin should die, and give her many followers an opportunity to escape the abusive and controlling grasp of the Remnant cult? You can’t help but pose the question, to turn Shamblin’s logic back on her. Former members explore the idea in the most provocative stretch of this episode (and maybe the entire series). Of course, there’s no answer, but sometimes, the questions without answers are the most philosophically vital.

Anyway. Before the ep gets into the deeper stuff, Zenovich pieces together the events of May 29, 2021: Shamblin, her husband Joe Lara and five other Remnant leaders were aboard a private jet that suddenly crashed into Percy Priest Lake near Smyrna, Tenn. They were on their way to Florida for a MAGA rally (headlined by – ready your puke bucket – Roger Stone) when air-traffic control lost contact with Lara, who was piloting the plane. It was a cloudy day, and he was only licensed to fly during clear weather. Did he get disoriented? Or was there a mechanical failure? Hard to tell – the plane crashed into eight feet of water, and there wasn’t much left of it.

In the wake of the crash, Lara’s ex-wife, Natasha Pavlovich, tearfully recounts how she frantically confirmed that her and Joe’s young daughter wasn’t aboard the plane. (Breathe easy: she wasn’t.) The Wingerds recount how their daughter, who was scheduled to marry into the cult the day of the crash, forged ahead with the wedding anyway as church members didn’t acknowledge the event at all, just being “happy fake happy” the entire time. A TV reporter who’s covered Remnant for two decades says it’s his duty to report the truth despite a swell of public opinion to “not speak ill of the dead” – and that’s where ex-Remnant members come in and start, deservingly and understandably, rubbing Shamblin’s face in her own bullshit. One shares a conspiracy theory that the crash was “deliberate,” implying a suicide pact, because hey, stranger things happened inside Remnant’s walls.

Then there’s the now-what of it all. Shamblin’s daughter, Elizabeth, is poised to take over the church, at least as its figurehead. Cue former friends of Elizabeth’s, revealing that they were dropped from her circle when they chose not to join the church. Cue ghoulish photos of Elizabeth spiritually chip-off-the-old-blocking it right next to her mother, save for the look – next to Gwen’s gonzo-tall hair and clownish makeup, Elizabeth’s vibe is vampiric, with pointy cheekbones and hair pasted down and slicked back. Each is cartoonish in their own way. Cut to: workers putting up a billboard. For what? HBO Max’s The Way Down, of course. In the wake of the series’ debut, more former Remnant members came out of the woodwork to trash the cult and its lead personality – which looks to be the arc of the very last episode.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Shamblin/Remnant’s Scientology Lite vibes are so strong, The Way Down feels more and more like HBO doc Going Clear (and A&E’s Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath series).

Our Take: HBO’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark similarly looped back around to eat its own tail, producing a special episode a year after the initial series debut, catching up with the Golden State Killer’s sentencing and providing final thoughts on its story – and it was anticlimactic, a coda at best. The Way Down takes a similar path, but ends up being more than a little bit about itself (although it’s unlikely to document such a relatively satisfying conclusion). After watching episode four, it’s hard to see exactly where Zenovich is going to go – will more people pile on and continue to state the obvious about the evil of the Remnant cult? Or is there more to it than that, another twist or turn in this saga?

The desire to find out is likely to keep us going through the end of the fifth chapter, which hopefully isn’t bloated with repetitive testimonials for the sake of filling time. (OK, I watched ahead a little, and there’s a hilarious anecdote from Shamblin’s former hairdresser, who talks about teasing and teasing her hair until it got bigger and bigger and bigger.) Let’s face it, series like this are pretty much designed to morally divide us – the schadenfreude-obsessed half of you wants to see Shamblin and her shady church eat shit, and the empathetic half wants to hear the emotionally fraught redemption arcs of former members. Tonally, Zenovich continues to walk the line between journalism and exploitation, which is an impressive skill. It also makes for pretty damn good TV.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: A woman sits down for an interview for the series and says, “My name is Ge’cobi Pittman. I’m an ex-Remnant Fellowship member, and I’m here to tell my story.”

Sleeper Star: As with the first three episodes, Pavolovich continues to be the most emotionally impactful contributor to the series.

Most Pilot-y Line: Megan Cox assesses the death of Shamblin: “It’s just poetic justice at the end of the day.”

Our Call: Regardless of the sometimes hyperbolic manner in which it’s told, The Way Down is a relevant story about a cultural piece of 21st-century America. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.