The Garden: Commune or Cult

I wouldn't describe this show as terrible. I don't really like fake drama passed off as real, but I could tolerate this show most of the time.

My blood would boil every time a character would deliberate about if The Garden is a cult. They would say asinine things like, "well, they have a leader, so they're definitely a cult." Or "they kicked someone out, which as everyone knows means they're a cult." Never mind that there is no religious component, people are free to leave whenever they want, there is no overt pressure of conformity, etc etc. The tagline question of "Commune of Cult" is clearly answered in the first 10 minutes.

Now, there are other dysfunctional practices that are still allowed to be questioned, but we've got the big one out of the way. Kinda click-baity to base the entire premise of your show around something so obvious from the get-go.

By the way, voluntary communities are allowed to have leaders, agreed-upon systems of governance (ie. Unanimity, consent through silence, etc.), and they can kick people out for whatever reason they want.

Wtf did I just watch? Why can't I stop watching? Oh bc it's junk food and junk food is addicting. I don't, for a second, believe a single solitary event or person in this FICTIONALIZED series is legit. This goes double for the girl with the lashes. Hon, we ALL know you took the first callback that came your way to get on TV and try to quit your day job to be a full time influencer.

This series makes me disgusted to be a millennial and have to be grouped in with these complete and utter morons. If you hate people who coin themselves "Tree," or - wait for it - "VIBE," this will be utter rage fuel. Idk what made me laugh harder - the girl who uses moon water to try and cure someone's severe back injury, or the Tree guy throwing a child-level temper tantrum over BeING aBLE tO PaRtY. This isn't a cult. This a group of privileged morons who think they are CHANGInG thE WoRLd by not taking a shower.

And don't even get me started on Narayah.

I took the bait... I thought this was a documentary about a cult. But as soon as those credits rolled with a fake fight happening in the background like all those discovery channel garbage reality show I was quickly reminded that discovery is part of hbo max now. It is terrible of HBO to clearly come after the people who like cult documentaries and use false advertising like this. This merger is going to be the death of hbo, they are catering to the extremes on both sides and are forgetting about us normies. Well that was a long rant about hbo, tk get back to the show...well it sucks, it is so obviously fake, they bring in actors who have no skill set to be outdoors. It's just bunch of paid actors who have fake fights like every cheaply produced discovery channel trash.

Coming off actual documentaries on harmful cults like Love Has Won, , this one was framed from the start as something shocking, teasing at violence and coercive control.

Instead we get a semi-scripted reality show where it appears that actors responding to the casting call were structured around whatever roles as "the Viking", "the outcast who hates hippie nonsense", "the out of water influencer", "the citizen detective investigator" etc etc, offered talking head moments and given childhood camp-like "survival training".

The production company doesn't appear make documentaries but reality shows about sexy Amish people or whatever Discovery exploitation du jour, replacing actual HBO documentary content with this will be the future of your subscription budget.

Back to the series!

There's a plot of land, a general misunderstanding of collective decisions, a disdain for people who live as they want to, and a wacky cast with roles that primarily involve disgust for the way some people choose to live.

The legacy of this show for me is how lazy it is in reinforcing xenophobia and small-mindedness through the usual reality TV lens. Was it a mistake for the commune to make any deal with Discovery? I hope it paid for some infrastructure so they can live freer.

But jeezy, I don't know how it'll be seen by people (it'll just be seen since it cost very little for Discovery) but I did look up the general response on Reddit and I had a hard time finding anyone who thought it didn't do the commune a disservice with this sloppy, boring fiction, people mugging for the camera and causing distress to their hosts who for any flaws of prepper skill didn't ask to be harassed and intimidated.

I don't usually leave reviews! I think this is really what the old HBO sub budget will become, slickly filmed (I'll give field sound / video workers props, BEGRUDGINGLY) but Discovery will sell us these trash true crime "series" with pretense of content and end up with cheap "freak show" exploitation and ironically perpetuating small minded paranoia a lot more than the actual outcasts that.

Is there more to come? This documentary ended without an ending. I feel frustrated about the whole thing. I wasted hours watching this just to have it end, abruptly. In my opinion, I felt that nobody in this documentary was appealing in any way, or was a sympathetic character. Everyone came across as self-indulgent, narcissistic, and egomaniacal, to some degree. I wish HBO would add a warning that this is an incomplete documentary, so people don't waste their time if they are expecting a wrap-up at the end. I really thought there would be more episodes. Why didn't the question asked in the title ever get answered? 👎