Jessica Goldberg Answers Burning Questions! The Path Hulu – Is Hawk Cal’s son? What’s in the Green Juice? 30 mins w/ the creator of Hulu’s hottest new show.
Jessica Goldberg takes us through the roots of Meyerism and all “The Path” mythology.
Jessica Goldberg, The Creator of “The Path” on Hulu, discusses Faith, the Roots of Meyerism, Characters to Watch, and Fan Questions and Theories!
It’s no secret that Hulu‘s hottest original show, starring Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul, Hannibal‘s Hugh Dancy, and True Detective‘s Michelle Monaghan, is getting rave reviews all over the internet. The Path blends elements of mystery-thriller, romance, and mysticism, following a family at the center of a controversial movement as they struggle with relationships, faith, and power. We here at Bay Area HQ were so impressed with the storyline and performances that we even launched a dedicated weekly post-show podcast, you can subscribe to on iTunes (search for The Path Hulu) and everywhere else!
While we had the pleasure of interviewing stars Aaron Paul (“Eddie”) and Hugh Dancy (“Cal”), we are more than elated to share with our audience our recent interview with “The Path” creator, Jessica Goldberg. We’ve included some excerpts from our podcast interview below, but to hear the story of Dr. Steven Meyer in detail, and more of your “burning” questions answered, you can listen to the interview in its entirety on our podcast. Make sure you listen carefully, as we mention stuff that happened in the first 6 episodes in the second half of the interview.
Bay Area HQ: Talk about the balance between keeping the story of “The Path” engaging without going too crazy or too far so that people can still relate in some way?
Jessica Goldberg: That is definitely the challenge of the show. We spend hours in the room talking about that. And always sort of referring back to accepted belief so we don’t veer too much into the world of just looking at cults. A lot of our research is from Christianity, Judaism, Muslim texts. We try to explore religions that are accepted to talk about some of the issues in the work. We’re definitely veering away from the guy with six wives and that kind of stuff that would throw it out of the world of being able to relate, I think.
Bay Area HQ: Do you feel that things could get even more wild in later seasons (if renewed)?
Jessica Goldberg: I love the idea of it. The Bible is wild. In a weird way, we’re telling a story of a faith and there should be “Is it real?” “Is any of it real?” just the way a lot of people born into religion ask about their own faith when they look at the stories. It’s shocking that there’s nothing more violent than those stories in our texts that we all grow up with. I think that mythological element of the show – we just love looking at that and writing about that and finding that subterranean, strange, violent world that a lot of faith is born out of.
Bay Area HQ: How did this article about faith and “The Path” (discussing our need to belong, and relieving suffering as some reasons why we turn to religion) from a Harvard professor, resonate with you?
Jessica Goldberg: I loved that article because it talked about not just the show, but about those questions that we all live with. I think having lost a parent and sort of facing that question of what happens to people when they die, it becomes more resonant. I have a 9-year-old daughter who’s obsessed with ghosts…I think those questions become more important to us as we get older, and maybe at anytime, but I think death is such a big part of it and why people are drawn to faith.
Bay Area HQ: How do you think atheists would respond to this show?
Jessica Goldberg: Honestly, I think it appeals to atheists because atheists have sometimes – and I may even be an atheist – I’m not totally sure, but I think we suffer from that emotional hole. I am always very sort of seduced by people who believe in things. I find it really seductive and I wonder if life would be easier, you know?
Bay Area HQ: Talk about how organized religions can have a positive impact on society and how important was that when writing about this?
Jessica Goldberg: I think that’s also a big part of why religion has caught on so much is that society fails its citizens in a lot of areas and religion can step in and provide camps for kids and healthcare and I think that because our government is not so able to do everything it needs to sometimes these other organizations become really powerful in our lives because they can provide. And I think that’s interesting and I think there’s two ways to look at it – they’re doing these amazing things, but are they at the same time more proselytizing? It’s not totally selfless. But I don’t think missionaries were totally selfless. Obviously throughout history, groups that step in and do compassionate work have agendas often.
Bay Area HQ: Is there anything one could do that’s totally selfless? Is that even possible?
Jessica Goldberg: I don’t know either. It’s very interesting to think about. It’s about the high of a good deed. And now with Facebook and all these ways to sort of get our goodness into the world and be patted on the back for it. You can see it. It’s more on the surface in a way. But you know I love all that complexity. And I think it’s super interesting. It’s really just like – in a way – it’s a little heightened society that hopefully – and it has to be dramatic because its a TV show and there has to be love interests and crazy things , but hopefully its relatable and its a little microcosm of things that are happening in the world.
Bay Area HQ: In “The Path” we see a cover-up of sorts, and the movie “Spotlight” comes to mind, as we see a moment in history where even the church tries to hide something from everyone.
Jessica Goldberg: I mean that’s such an amazing example because it’s not a cult and that was really intelligent people making really bad choices.
Now listen to hear Jessica talk in-depth about Steven Meyer, The Garden, Rungs of the Ladder and answers (or non-answers) to the following questions:
Who are some characters to watch in future episodes?
Is Hawk Cal’s son?
Is Ashley pregnant?
Will we see Miranda Frank again?
What’s in the Green Juice?
What does the yellow python symbolize?
Will Joy ever be liked?
Will we see Tessa again?
