Eddie also explores new temptations with the introduction of his publicist, Vera (Freida Pinto). She’s supposed to give Meyerism its much-needed facelift and keep Eddie in the right direction. She continually talks about the future rather than getting lost in the past. At the start of the season she feels like a pretty obvious obstacle that exists just to keep Eddie and Sarah apart, but she soon blossoms into one of the darkest, most complex characters on The Path. There’s definitely more to Vera than the show originally lets on. There’s a reason that she studies Eddie just as much as she appears to push his word.

Matters are currently much worse for Sarah and it’s comforting to see that The Path still doesn’t back down from darkness and is ready to go to some disturbing places. Early on in the season Sarah comes face-to-face with death and a tremendous amount of guilt that she’s unable to shake. So much goes on in this show that it’s sometimes easy to forget how damn impressive all of the acting is in it. Aaron Paul, Hugh Dancy, and Michelle Monaghan all deliver incredible performances where nobody is a weak link.

Sarah also starts to question Meyerism and examines whether she’s actually better or worse with the Light in her life. These feelings are exacerbated when she meets Jackson, a College Professor of Religion (Raul Esparza, making this a mini Hannibal reunion of sorts) who vastly opens her eyes and challenges everything she knows. It’s always nice to see these characters undergo crises of faith and meet individuals who are from the complete opposite set of beliefs. The show has done this a lot, but it’s still fascinating and has even more fuel to play with here. He also makes for a wonderful new foil to bounce off of that’s not toxic in the same ways that Eddie and Cal are.

On the topic of Cal, he continues to be one of the most fascinating characters in this show and he only becomes more thrilling when a fire gets lit under him. Cal is in full-on freefall mode in season two and makes an increasing amount of terrible decisions. This season places him in a very different place as he begins the year isolated in Florida with Mary and their son, Forest, in their “new” life. It’s really disgusting to see how Cal re-appropriates Meyerism into his own personal gain and tries to take advantage of the susceptible people around him that are in need of help. What’s worse is that he’s roped Mary into it, too. His lectures are all about how to re-invent yourself, but he’s hopelessly lost in the past as everyone else moves forward, including Meyerism itself. Cal struggles to face the truth and continually seems like he’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown.