After watching the episode of "The Cult" on October 8, I quickly came to the conclusion that the writers know very little about cults, relying instead on sensational "I wuz brainwashed" type stories that used to abound. Aside from the alliance of family and friends seeking to save their adult son by force, the schizophrenic son, the semi-crim dad, the extortionist, and Narcotics Anonymous characters, together promise another trip through the seedy underworld that New Zealand writers and actors seem most familiar with. Will I continue to watch it? Nah, I would have to be able to suspend disbelief to get into it. I think I've dropped out of it already.

I totally love this show although I have only been able to see the first episode. I started watching NZ tv shows in order to follow my favorite actors on The Tribe. I am so glad I did because I absolutely love them. I know so many of the kiwis on here are dissing NZ television, but as an American, I actually prefer the NZ tv shows. I actually keep telling my boyfriend that we have to move to NZ because they have better tv and it is nearly impossible for me to find episodes of the shows I watch online. For instance, I am 3 years behind in Shorty because the person who uploads them is in Ireland and they are quite a few years behind the NZ schedule. The Cult is really really good so far though, and I really hope that an US network will pick it up because nobody seems to be posting it online, and NZ blocks people from other countries from watching the videos.

My first reaction to Episode 1 was "just another dark, turgid NZ drama" but with Episode 2, the story and the pace is beginning to pick up; the characters' back-stories, how they met, and the sub-plot with the bush hermit and the strange girl are all coming together. I'm still reserving judgment a bit, but will keep watching. I'm guessing that each character's story will be flashbacked in coming weeks, while the main plot develops. And yes, Kate Elliott (Gina) is the girl from the chocolate ad. One character who I think has a wonderful sense of suppressed menace is Scott Wills (Saul). Watch this guy!!

The Cult is brilliant. I am hooked. It was like watching a film. I can't wait to watch the next episode.

All this publicity about how new and ground-breaking The Cult is; does no-one remember The Chosen? Cliff Curtis, Radha Mitchell and some Australian bloke as the benign/sinister cult leader. Foreign cult shows up in small-town, bush-clad New Zealand and bad stuff happens. Yes, The Chosen was only a mini-series, but after that it all sounds pretty darn familiar to me.

Lost is the most awesome series of all.Like Fringe, Heroes, Alias etc it requires you to 'think' rather than veg out and passively watch the mindless 'usual'(of which Lost is not) American crap that we're subjected to night after night.Finally NZTV is heading in the right direction.It's about time NZ got rid of the tall poppy syndrome and stopped knocking our own creative efforts.We seem to believe that the only good things come from the bigger countries.Maybe some TV viewers are a cult of their own-brainwashed into watching only predictable plots that Hollywood churns out like Big Macs.:)

all these people drooling over the show. its been One episode! It certainly didnt have me on the edge of my seat, nothing original yet... looked more like a tourism NZ ad in HD.

total waste with even more unbelievable story line & acting from a bad script ..d for dud :)

http://www.floatfinder.com - take a trip in a isolation tank and THEN you'll understand more :)

Just watched the first episode on the TVNZ website - that's the way to watch it, folks, it's in 5 sections with only 1 advert between each one. And yes, I will be watching this again. I like the way this started, making you work out who was who and what they were doing. More please!