Episode
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath: Buying a Town (1)
Overview
In 1974, operating under an alias, the Church of Scientology moves into Clearwater, Fla., and proceeds to make the city its spiritual headquarters; in 1977, an FBI raid uncovers the church's secret plans to take over the city.
Details
- Series
- Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath
- Season
- Season 3
- Episode
- Episode 9
- Air date
- 2019-01-22
- Runtime
- 47 min
Episode context
Buying a Town (1) is Episode 9 in Season 3 of Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. It aired on 2019-01-22. The runtime is 47 min.
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Episode 8: Gilman Springs Road
In a remote corner of Riverside County, Calif., lies Scientology's International Base, a compound that houses the church's most dedicated members. In this episode, Leah Remini and Mike Rinder, a former occupant of International Base ("Gold Base"), speak with four other former high-ranking residents who reveal their shocking stories behind the locked gates.
Episode 10: Buying a Town (2)
Leah and Mike travel to Clearwater, Florida, spiritual headquarters for the Church of Scientology. Speaking with some of the city’s most prominent Scientology critics, they explore how the controversial 1995 death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson marked a turning point in the Church’s history.
More episodes from this season
Episode 7: The Collection Agency
Leah and Mike speak with former Scientologists who share how they were exploited for money for their exclusive membership. Their stories range from those who are thousands of dollars in debt, to those who were left financially and emotionally bankrupt. We'll also hear from a former member of the church whose job it was to solicit money from parishioners by what she describes as "any means necessary."
Episode 11: Church and State
Leah and Mike speak with Jay Wexler, an expert in constitutional law, to discuss the remarkable story of Scientology’s journey to tax-exempt status. Mike and Leah also talk with Lt. Yulanda Williams, a police officer, about law enforcement’s community engagement strategies.
Episode 6: Ideal Orgs
The church purchases large buildings to use as upgraded church locations, celebrated as Ideal Orgs; the church claims that the new buildings signal the rapid expansion of Scientology, but former members and critics say otherwise.
Episode 12: Waiting for Justice
Filmed for the first time in front of a live studio audience, Leah Remini and Mike Rinder explore stories of how Church of Scientology policies have hindered members from reporting instances of abuse and sexual assault to the authorities.
Episode 5: Where Is Shelly?
After Leah remarked on the absence of church leader David Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, the question set off a chain of events that ultimately led to her leaving Scientology. More than a decade later, Shelly still has not been seen in public.
Episode 4: Unlikely Pairing
Leah and Mike explore the new symbiosis between the Nation of Islam and Scientology.
Episode 3: Spies Like Us
A Florida private investigator school recruits Cierra Westerman to spy on critics of the Church of Scientology; Cierra details how investigators dug through trash, installed tracking devices on cars, and infiltrated the lives of the church's critics.
Episode 2: Star Witness
The heavily guarded Scientology compound known as Gold Base in Riverside County, California, houses up to 1,000 members of the church's elite inner core; Valerie Haney tells how conditions at the base led her to contemplate suicide.
Episode 1: Emotional Aftermath
We see Leah, Mike and their closest family members, in ways we’ve never seen before as they share—for the first time—the emotional toll leaving Scientology has taken on them and their families and the challenge of unlearning the systems and practices that were ingrained in them for decades.