by Zakiyyah Madyun, Staff Writer

Breath of Fire
Created by Hayley Pappas and Smiley Stevens
“Episode 3”
Now streaming on Max

In the third episode of Breath of Fire, the millennial “boss babe-isms” of the Ra Ma Institute reckon with 3HO’s disturbing history. The episode starts out mild, covering “spiritual materialism,” an attempt by both groups to normalize their wealth by breaking “the caricatures of spirituality.” Former Ra Ma employees, Charlotte Medlock and Nicole Norton, candidly dive into the ways that they, along with other staff members, were instructed to upsell and manipulate students into grossly exorbitant donations. By corrupting the traditional Sikh tenet of Seva (taught to us in this episode as selfless service), Ra Ma’s wealthiest followers are conned into donating over twenty-thousand dollars a year.

While I caught myself pausing here and there to re-read the caption of exactly who was speaking, this episode sees Breath of Fire take off to a captivating sprint. I’ve seen a fair share of documentaries covering shady cult operations, but the ventures highlighted here stand out in terms of scale and longevity. I really appreciated the depth of detail, as well as the full explanation of what language was used to control targets. It felt much more realistic and validating than the typical “no idea how so many people fell for this” dead-end other projects have fallen into.

Breath of Fire once again has a lot of ground to cover in an hour’s time, and the second half of the episode takes a horrific turn into Yogi Bhajan’s history of sexual abuse. This difficult segment, which includes a courageously candid first-hand account, highlights the cruelty of being born into 3HO. Several 3HO parents are included in the episode as well, and their frank and controlled admissions of guilt and responsibility felt rare to see on-screen.

As far as lows, a few strange storytelling moments like decaying rabbit stock footage in an American Horror Story-esque cult re-enactment and some very uncomfortable end credits music (a children’s choir rendition of Good Vibrations) left me a bit confused amid the otherwise excellent coverage. I also, admittedly, found the continued mentions of Guru Jagat’s “daddy issues” a bit reductive. Overall, however, Breath of Fire has found its pace, connected its characters, and handled their stories thoroughly and with honesty. I’m on the edge of my seat for next week’s final episode.