Throng

Is it just me or do these promotional photos from Lost and The Cult look like they could be mixed together and come from the same show?

It promised so much and yet delivered so little.  Cinematically gorgeous but just not appealing enough to viewers as the ratings declined, ending with season finale matching its worst ever rating and ultimately being beaten by repeats of Outrageous Fortune over on TV3.  And that's in the 5+ ratings.  In the 18-39 demographic, TV3's repeats had close to twice as many viewers.

45% of the audience that saw the pilot were gone by the time it came to the finale.

So what went wrong? The premise seemed fine.  The show was incredibly well shot.  Was it the characters?  Were they just not like-able enough? Was it the storyline?  Was it just not compelling?

When I first discovered The Cult's Twitter account by hunting around online, it was creepy, intriguing and written in the world of the show.

The first fifteen tweets were all along the lines of the following:

Tonight's season finale (or possibly the final episode ever) of The Cult didn't generate as much hype on Twitter and elsewhere online as did the highly anticipated premiere.

Viewers most commonly said they were utterly confused watching the show, some saying even more so than even watching Lost.

The ratings started with a 6.3 (averaged at 5.2 for the first hour) and ended the second hour with a 4.6.

KiwiBede: "what a **** and tame finale ... no apocalypse, no shooting, no hitting. CCTV of small claims court more interesting!.  the only 'cult' was the duped viewers who hung on in the vain hope of a decent ending to a crap series (including my brainwashed self)"

8:30pm Thursday, December 10 on TV2

With the Liberators trying to get out of Two Gardens, and another group trying to get in, Edward (Latham Gaines, Law & Order) accelerates his day of Commencement, in the thrilling feature length finale of The Cult.

When Michael (Renato Bartolomei, Shortland Street) returns to the bush to find the Liberators taken by Two Gardens, Sophie (Lisa Chappell, McLeod's Daughters) manages to cover her tracks, but her lies are about to be blown when Michael is suddenly contacted by an unexpected source, who claims to know about Edward's true motivation.

Always a believer in the good in life and 'bountiful love', nothing has changed for Edward, as actor Latham Gaines explains of his character.

8:30pm Thursday, December 3 on TV2

Following the attempt on his life, Edward (Latham Gaines) takes action to start The Commencement, and Michael's son Ryan (Gareth Reeves) is first in his sights, this week on The Cult.

Edward has become a dangerous man - paranoid and determined to see his plan out at any cost. He orders Cynthia (Danielle Cormack) to begin the process with Ryan, but when called to the Healing Centre Ryan is suspicious, knowing Hannah (Chelsie Preston-Crayford) disappeared after Cynthia came for her. He escapes, but injures Cynthia in the process and underestimates the wrath of Edward.

Always the loyal follower, Gareth Reeves says his character Ryan now suspects something sinister is going on.

8:30pm Thursday, November 26 on TV2

Sophie (Lisa Chappell) has always been an unknown quantity to the Liberators, and this week on The Cult, her back story reveals she is not alone on her mysterious mission.

With suspicions raised about the Liberators in relation to the disappearance of Rick Weever, going to the police with Hugo's death is not an option. The stakes have been raised, and the Liberators are forced to consider other, more extreme options. So when Sophie raises the idea of shooting Edward North (Latham Gaines), Michael (Renato Bartolomei) thinks it might just be their best bet of recovering their people.

As Sophie's story reveals, it was a traumatic event in her past which triggered her mission to Two Gardens, and Lisa Chappell is quick to argue that her character is not all bad.