Mennonite Drug-Crime Drama ‘Pure’ Adds Alyson Hannigan

“How I Met Your Mother” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star Alyson Hannigan is joining the second season of “Pure,” a drug-fueled crime drama set in a Mennonite community.

Did you even know there was a season one of a drug-fueled crime drama set in a Mennonite community? Me, neither. Apparently, it’s Canadian, and has been airing on the CBC and Super Channel there, and streaming on Hulu here — and now it’s coming to WGN America. The creator/showrunner, Michael Amo, is the grandson of Mennonites.

From the Toronto Star:

The show is grounded in some reality: drug enforcement agents in cross-border investigations have found links between Canadian Mennonites and drug smuggling from Mexico. Canada’s Mennonite community had a history of migrating to Mexico during the early 1900s when the government was trying to attract farmers.

“I thought the news story about the mob was a great contemporary way to get into the topic,” says Amo, who also created CTV drama The Listener.

Despite the portrayal of some of the darker aspects of the Mennonite community, the creator says he doesn’t expect pushback for his portrayal.

“I stress that we’re talking about a small minority of people. By and large Mennonites are very law-abiding, exemplary people. But the story is out there; I didn’t invent the reality of a Mennonite mob.”