If you were among the dozens who streamed the new Hulu show “The Path” last week, you were probably jolted by the opening scene. Devastation. Disaster. Survivors crawling through wreckage. And, appearing onscreen in the very first shot, the setting, in big white letters: “Rindge, New Hampshire.”
It’s not filmed in Rindge, of course, nor does the twisted wreckage of a giant multi-ethnic trailer park much resemble our own backyard.
One of the first “Rindge” residents we meet is Mary Cox, a strung-out addict so desperate for water in the tornado’s aftermath that she drinks what appears to be windshield washer fluid. She quickly makes an even poorer choice, hopping in a van manned by what appears to be a cult, who whisk her away to their cheery little compound in upstate New York. Once she gets there, she starts becoming acquainted with the members of this little group, including Aaron Paul, who came to fame as Jesse Pinkman on “Breaking Bad.”
Now, it seems the world’s introduction to the town of Rindge is through a trailer park populated at least in part by heroin addicts who have few reservations about jumping in a strange van. Will “The Path” paint a picture of Rindge to outsiders like the bright blue brush of “Breaking Bad” tinged Albuquerque? Only time will tell.
There’s another piece of fiction set in an alternate universe much like our own that can keep you entertained this weekend. For those who missed the uproariously funny, biting satire of “Detective Cooper and the Case of the Smoking Pipeline,” you’ve got a second chance. Holy Smokes Theater revives the supposed one-off play, with all new improvisation jam-packed into the raunchy fun of the original, Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Peterborough.
Our review of the inaugural performance is online at ledgertranscript.com.