Amish Mafia

Amish Mafia
John, Alvin, Lebanon Levi, and Jolin (L-R)
Genre	Reality
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	35
Production
Executive producer(s)	Eric Evangelista Shannon Evangelista Matthew Kelly Max Micallef
Running time	42 minutes
Production company(s)	Hot Snakes Media
Release
Original network	Discovery Channel
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Original release	December 12, 2012 (2012-12-12) – March 31, 2015 (2015-03-31)
External links
Website

Amish Mafia is an American reality television series that debuted on December 12, 2012, on the Discovery Channel. The series follows "Lebanon Levi", along with three of his assistants, who are purported to be a "mafia" in an Amish community. Although portrayed by Discovery Channel as documentary reality television, the authenticity of the series has been questioned by scholars, local newspapers and law-enforcement. There have also been opinionated accusations of the series being bigoted toward and defaming the Amish people.

Storyline

The series follows members of the "Amish Mafia" in their efforts to keep the peace within the Amish community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and protect it from outsiders (usually referred to as the "English"), as they deal with internal struggles for power as to who will lead the Mafia.

Cast

• Lebanon Levi: "Lebanon" is the nickname of Levi King Stoltzfus. Levi has been arrested multiple times for drunk driving. He is also a member of the local fire department. Throughout the series, Levi mentions that he was never officially baptized into the Amish church.
• Alvin: Alvin Stoltzfus Lantz is Levi's "main assistant", who is soft-spoken but has a loud personality.
• Jolin: Jolin Zimmerman is portrayed as a Mennonite, and he can therefore accomplish certain tasks that the crew cannot, due to the restrictions by which Amish people must abide.
• John: John Freeman Schmucker is Esther's brother and a former member of Levi's group. He is mischievous and the son of the former leader of the alleged Amish mafia.
• Esther: Esther Freeman Schmucker knows Levi sees her as more than a friend, and she uses this knowledge to lead Levi on, to the benefit of her brother, John.
• Wayne: Merlin's former enforcer.
• Alan: Alan Beiler is known as "Schwarze Amish" or Black Amish.
• Caleb: Caleb is a member Levi's crew and is a from a Brethren community. He is a ladies man with a bit of a temper.
• Freeman: Freeman Schmucker is Esther and John's brother and is rumored to be possessed by the devil. He remained silent for most of the episodes in which he appeared.
• Crazy Dave: Dave is a member of Levi's crew.
• Big Steve: Steve is an associate of Levi's. He is the "muscle" for Levi and his crew.

Episodes

Season 1 (2012/13)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
1	1	"No Peace for the Wicked"	December 11, 2012 (2012-12-11)	3.43
Note: This episode was a pilot for the series.
2	2	"Fire from the Lord"	December 12, 2012 (2012-12-12)	3.41
Lebanon Levi takes his faithful group of men to locate one of their fellow members for whom they have questions. John tries to host a hut party and it doesn't go as planned. Alvin took care of a drug problem and John took care of the problem of fake Amish goods hurting the local business. Alvin dealt with a taxi driver who had been overcharging Amish people.
3	3	"Devil Comes Calling"	December 19, 2012 (2012-12-19)	3.07
Levi finds himself in an unusual predicament when a rival mafia boss comes his way. Jolin gets pumped up as he prepares for an upcoming MMA match.
4	4	"The Book of Levi"	December 26, 2012 (2012-12-26)	1.77
This episode provides viewers with an in-depth look of what is to come on this season along with the first three episodes.
5	5	"Fall From Grace"	January 2, 2013 (2013-01-02)	3.08
Esther releases information that could change who holds the power in the group, and John concocts an illegal buggy race in order to repay his debt.
6	6	"Holy War"	January 9, 2013 (2013-01-09)	3.51
Levi's crew contemplates leaving after an ongoing feud with Merlin escalates.
7	7	"The Reckoning"	January 16, 2013 (2013-01-16)	3.19
8	8	"The Book of Merlin"	January 20, 2013 (2013-01-20)	0.93

2013 specials

No. in series	Special No.	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
9	SP1	"Amish Exorcism"	March 3, 2013 (2013-03-03)	2.81
The two-hour special shows John and Esther as they partake in an Amish exorcism to clean one of their own. Lebanon Levi works to rebuild his crew while Merlin tries to gain control over the Ohio Amish community.
10	SP2	"The Resurrection"	August 12, 2013 (2013-08-12)	1.67

Season 2 (2013)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
11	1	"Wayward Sons"	August 13, 2013 (2013-08-13)	2.54
12	2	"Prodigal Son"	August 20, 2013 (2013-08-20)	2.38
13	3	"Paradise"	August 27, 2013 (2013-08-27)	2.38
14	4	"Brother's Keeper"	September 3, 2013 (2013-09-03)	2.58
15	5	"The Last Supper"	September 10, 2013 (2013-09-10)	2.30
16	6	"Sacrificial Lamb"	September 17, 2013 (2013-09-17)	2.71
17	7	"Judgment Day"	September 24, 2013 (2013-09-24)	2.15

2013 Christmas special

No. in series	Special No.	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
18	SP3	"A Very Amish Christmas"	December 10, 2013 (2013-12-10)	1.47

Season 3 (2014)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
19	1	"He Has Risen"	February 25, 2014 (2014-02-25)	2.27
20	2	"De Rott"	March 4, 2014 (2014-03-04)	1.73
21	3	"Deadly Sins"	March 11, 2014 (2014-03-11)	2.30
22	4	"Joining the Flock"	March 18, 2014 (2014-03-18)	2.06
23	5	"The Bear"	March 25, 2014 (2014-03-25)	2.27
24	6	"Doppel Leben"	April 1, 2014 (2014-04-01)	2.42
25	7	"Shepherds' End"	April 8, 2014 (2014-04-08)	2.45
Levi and his crew demand that production end and cease any further participation. Steven Breit, who defended John and recommended that Levi drop out, filed a cease-and-desist order. The episode ended with an on-screen note stating that as of February 26, 2014, production has been halted.
26	8	"End of Days"	April 8, 2014 (2014-04-08)	2.31
The season finale features unaired footage, background information, and further explanation of the season's sudden end. The majority of those involved refused to participate. The only people willing to talk on camera were a private investigator, Lancaster County Constable Paul Castline, lawyer Steven Breit, and Alan Beiler.

Season 4 (2015)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Original air date	U.S. viewers (million)
27	1	"The Return"	February 10, 2015 (2015-02-10)	2.08
28	2	"A Church Divided"	February 17, 2015 (2015-02-17)	1.72
29	3	"Love Your Enemies"	February 24, 2015 (2015-02-24)	1.44
30	4	"Forbidden Knowledge"	March 3, 2015 (2015-03-03)	1.34
31	5	"Merlin's Judas"	March 10, 2015 (2015-03-10)	0.86
32	6	"False Prophets"	March 17, 2015 (2015-03-17)	1.53
33	7	"Day of Reckoning"	March 24, 2015 (2015-03-24)	1.65
34	8	"The End is Near"	March 31, 2015 (2015-03-31)	1.65
35	9	"Amish Confidential Post-Show"	March 31, 2015 (2015-03-31)	1.65

Authenticity and criticism

The veracity of the events depicted on the series has been widely questioned, with The New York Times noting that "An early credit warns of 'select re-enactments', and since we're never later told whether we're watching staged scenes, it's fairly safe to assume that everything is staged." Additionally, "A closing credit clarifies that 're-creations are based on eyewitness accounts, testimonials and the legend of the Amish Mafia'." It is not publicly known which scenes are based on accounts and testimonials and which are based on legend.

The series has been strongly criticized by scholars of the Amish. Donald Kraybill, an Elizabethtown College professor and prominent researcher of and author about the Anabaptist lifestyle, commented about Levi allegedly being an unbaptized Amish: "Baptism is essential in the Amish faith: Either you're in or you're out." Also, Kraybill and others observed that genuine Amish people wouldn't appear on camera, as their faith forbids it. Such criticisms include: "To call these shows documentaries is a fraudulent lie," and "[the show] is just sort of an example of the foolishness and stupidity and lies—misrepresentations I should say—that are promoted [about the Amish] in television...These production crews should be ashamed of trying to say that represents Amish life."

These views are echoed by Donald Weaver-Zercher, Messiah College Professor and authority on the Amish, who stated that upon initially seeing the trailer for the show, "I thought maybe it was a Saturday Night Live skit on reality television because it was so far fetched". "My sense is this Amish mafia is about as real as the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in The Office." Several sources agreed that the Amish themselves are unlikely to respond about the show's credibility because they value their privacy and usually do not interact with the media. Jeffrey Conrad, a former prosecutor in Lancaster County, stated that his office was not aware of an "Amish mafia", and if there were they would have been prosecuted.

Several factual errors have been highlighted by local press: during one episode the narrator states that Lebanon Levi was arrested by the Lancaster County Police, which does not exist. There is a Lancaster City Bureau of Police, but no county-wide force. The owners of one store portrayed as paying protection money to Lebanon Levi have denied having any relationship with him. A scene purported to be shot in the "heart" of Amish country – south-central Lancaster County – turned out to have been shot in a riverside park in Columbia on the county's western edge.

The series has been controversial both locally and in national media as a result of its alleged bigoted and inaccurate portrayal of the Amish. Churches and Lancaster County residents have banded together in opposing the show. Additionally, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett called for the show's cancellation and said it was "bigoted" and "an affront to all people of faith and all secular people with moral principles".

References

General references

External links

• Official website
• Amish Mafia at IMDb