Will ‘Scientology And The Aftermath’ Be What Takes Down Scientology?

It’s a great time to be Leah Remini. The actress has been making more and more headlines thanks to her upcoming role on Kevin Can Wait, but the real reason she’s made such a comeback in the past couple of years doesn’t have anything to do with sitcoms. It has to do with her critically-acclaimed and highly-rated docuseries Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, which returns to Season 2 tonight.
Scientology and the Aftermath is far more than just a ratings grab. It’s a docuseries dedicated to to exposing, according to A+E, the “shocking stories of abuse, heartbreak and harassment experienced by those who have left the church and spoken publicly about their experiences.” There’s also a chance this may be the project that may leave a lasting mark against the Church of Scientology.

Remini’s docuseries is far from the first project that’s attacked the church of Hollywood, but it is one of the more bolder projects. South Park was one of the first shows or movies that focused on the organization with its 2005 episode “Trapped in the Closest,” an iconic episode that imagined Stan as the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard and, point by point, showed off the mythology behind the belief system. It was silly, but it grabbed people’s attention. One of the next major projects was the Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix drama The Master, which follows a younger veteran who meets the compelling leader of a movement called “The Cause.” Though the movie is careful not to mention Scientology, it’s widely accepted to be about the religion. Those were the kinds of projects Hollywood used to produce about Scientology — either joke-heavy exposes or allusion-heavy works of fiction. All of that changed with the release of Going Clear.

Lawrence Wright’s 2013 book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief was more than a shocking read. It’s a chilling longform expose that did a lot to normalize criticizing the church’s practices and examining its alleged abuse of its members. Wright’s book was later the inspiration for HBO’s documentary, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, which was released the same year as Remini’s bestselling memoir, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology. Those projects were later followed by Louis Theroux’s comedic documentary film, My Scientology Movie. That’s the environment Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath was released into, one in which mainstream audiences were very familiar with criticisms of this organization. However, what sets Scientology and the Aftermath apart as a project is its length and flexibility.
Almost every other expose of Scientology has been a one-shot project, whether it be an article, book, documentary, one-off episode, or film. Conversely, Scientology and the Aftermath has embraced one of television’s strengths — prevalence. During Season 1’s run, Scientology and the Aftermath ran consistently from late November of 2017 to mid January of 2017, allowing for a much wider and much more heavily promoted viewership window. Not only that, but being a show dedicated to contradicting Scientology rather than being something more constrictive like a movie has allowed Remini, Mike Rinder, and the Aftermath crew to respond to fan questions in as close to real time as possible. Originally, Scientology and the Aftermath was only supposed to run for one season, consisting of seven episodes. However, questions from fans, whether on Reddit or other social media channels, prompted the series to add in two more episodes as well as a special, “Ask Me Anything,” “Ask Me Anything Special, Part 2,” and May’s “Merchants of Fear” special.

The docuseries’ high-ratings and critical success have also led to the show being renewed for a second season, and hype for the series is only getting stronger. Thanks to her upcoming addition to Kevin Can Wait, which will essentially be an unofficial King of Queens reboot, Remini’s star power is stronger than ever, and Scientology and the Aftermath is returning at the perfect time. After winning at TCA, the A+E series will be starting its second season a few weeks before this year’s Emmys where it has been nominated for two awards. That nomination is almost sure to attract even more attention to the show.
When you add all of these things together what you get is one network-backed show led by an increasingly beloved celebrity that has ratings and critical power to keep going for many more episodes. Likely the last thing Scientology wants is a well-watched show dedicated to exposing the organization’s alleged crimes, even one that allows Scientology to offer its own rebuttal as the A+E series does. As The Atlantic explored near the release of Going Clear, Scientology has been struggling to curate its message in the middle of the ever-connected digital age. Add that to the fact that it’s become almost commonplace for former members to speak out against the church, Remini and A+E’s show is in a good position to explore this organization. Whether the series will lead to any lasting change is another question entirely, but it’s one worth asking.
New episodes of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath premiere on A+E Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET
An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information as it relates to Scientology’s tax exempt status.

Where to stream Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath