For me, the biggest issue with the show isn't the fake ness (which if you read any other reviews, is certainly a problem), but the boring and predictable nature of the events they depict. The idea of an Amish mafia is stimulating (and perhaps it could be a good fictional drama series on HBO or Showtime), but a bogus reality TV show about "real" Amish people who think they are tough like a mafia gang is not interesting television (note, whether these people are "real" Amish people is certainly in question).
A mafia consists of an interconnected group of criminals who work above the law, and while the Amish are slightly separated from American justice, they are not immune from getting arrested. But the criminal record for these Amish people only consists of DUI and Theft charges, which is not very hardcore.
The "hardcore ness" that takes place in this show comes in the form of the Amish people taking an ax, hammer, or bat to a motor vehicle, buggy, mailbox, or even bottles of milk? I mean sure, this is like level one mafia business, but this is the roughest their business ever gets. Some of them hold guns and practice shooting, but they never seem to carry them when doing their "business".
Another real problem of this show is simple, and I'm going to address it assuming the characters of the show are really who they say they are, and do what they say they do. You can't have a REALITY TV SHOW be about CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, because believe it or not, people aren't going to commit crimes when there's a camera crew around. So immediately, the audience knows that none of the characters are going to get killed, or even beaten up badly, because the character in question would be in trouble for murder or assault. Sometimes there will be moments in the show when one of the characters tells the cameraman, "hey, you guys can't come in for this," or "you guys can't shoot this," but this is not so much the Amish people hiding their criminal activity as it is the producers making the events seem more exciting by hiding the boring events that are actually occurring (like the Hitchcock technique, it's more frightening if you can't see it). And it's been stated by the police in their area that if any criminal business is going on with the Amish, they would have picked them up.
So in conclusion, I'd just like to say that Discovery should be ashamed of what they're doing with this crappy TV show. For one, they're shaming the Amish community, by trying to profile and reduce their people (I'm not even religious, but it feels like they stepped over the line). And secondly they're shaming the reality TV audience, by assuming they're dumb enough to believe this show, and bored enough to have real interest in it.
A mafia consists of an interconnected group of criminals who work above the law, and while the Amish are slightly separated from American justice, they are not immune from getting arrested. But the criminal record for these Amish people only consists of DUI and Theft charges, which is not very hardcore.
The "hardcore ness" that takes place in this show comes in the form of the Amish people taking an ax, hammer, or bat to a motor vehicle, buggy, mailbox, or even bottles of milk? I mean sure, this is like level one mafia business, but this is the roughest their business ever gets. Some of them hold guns and practice shooting, but they never seem to carry them when doing their "business".
Another real problem of this show is simple, and I'm going to address it assuming the characters of the show are really who they say they are, and do what they say they do. You can't have a REALITY TV SHOW be about CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, because believe it or not, people aren't going to commit crimes when there's a camera crew around. So immediately, the audience knows that none of the characters are going to get killed, or even beaten up badly, because the character in question would be in trouble for murder or assault. Sometimes there will be moments in the show when one of the characters tells the cameraman, "hey, you guys can't come in for this," or "you guys can't shoot this," but this is not so much the Amish people hiding their criminal activity as it is the producers making the events seem more exciting by hiding the boring events that are actually occurring (like the Hitchcock technique, it's more frightening if you can't see it). And it's been stated by the police in their area that if any criminal business is going on with the Amish, they would have picked them up.
So in conclusion, I'd just like to say that Discovery should be ashamed of what they're doing with this crappy TV show. For one, they're shaming the Amish community, by trying to profile and reduce their people (I'm not even religious, but it feels like they stepped over the line). And secondly they're shaming the reality TV audience, by assuming they're dumb enough to believe this show, and bored enough to have real interest in it.