"The higher the hair, the closer to God" is definitely a phrase lived up to by Gwen Shamblin Lara, the founder of the Weigh Down Workshop. And now her story is coming back to HBO Max after seven months away. Following the unbelievable true story behind the late cult leader and founder of the Remnant Fellowship Church, the series takes viewers behind the scenes of the church’s destructive hold on its community through brainwashing weight loss techniques. Originally released in September 2021, the series quickly climbed to the top of its game, earning itself the title of HBO’s most-watched docuseries at that time. The final two episodes of The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin will premiere on Thursday, April 28.

In a new teaser released ahead of the finale’s premiere, fans get a look at the final days of Shamblin’s life before she and several others were killed in a plane crash. Director Marina Zenovich does an excellent job of unveiling the weight-loss fellowship for exactly what it was — a mind-controlling cult that used psychological and emotional abuse to pull what they wanted from their parishioners. The teaser promises to share the stories of those closest to the cult, pulling in interviews from the people that it deeply affected and continues to affect through today.

And if you thought that the unexpected death of its leader would be an ending point for the church, you’d be wrong. After her mother’s death, daughter Elizabeth stepped up to the plate to pick up where her parents left off. Hoping for an end to it all, those previously involved members are wishing for a karmic downfall of the church and all of those still supporting it.

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Image via HBO Max

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The final two episodes of The Way Down premiere on HBO Max on April 28. See the madness unfold for yourself in the trailer below:

Here’s the series' synopsis:

After rising to fame with her Weigh Down Workshop, a Christian-based diet program, Gwen Shamblin Lara founded the Tennessee-based church. Despite a carefully curated image, Lara and the church soon fielded accusations of emotional, psychological, and physical abuse, and exploitation for their alleged cult-like practices. THE WAY DOWN explores the legacy of Remnant’s infamous leader –whose life came to a shocking end after a plane crash in May 2021. Part two of the docuseries examines the mysterious circumstances surrounding the cause of the crash and investigation into the aftermath, including new stories from former survivors who felt compelled to share their experience following Shamblin’s death.