Lodestar is an old navigation term mainly used by sailors to refer to a star used in celestial navigation, by far the most common lodestar used was Polaris (North Star) as it is always in the same position in the sky and a reliable indicator of north.
Detectives Frank Cosgrove and Jalen Shaw debate with Lieutenant Kate Dixon about what exact criminal charge they could bring against someone if they did in fact prevent the victim from seeking medical attention. Cosgrove mentions assault for the brand, but that's only if it was done against her will, and it sounds like the cult members willingly are branded, so that doesn't apply. However if someone did prevent her from leaving and seeking medical treatment they would be guilty of at least two crimes: unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, a class E felony, and manslaughter in the second degree, a class C felony. This person would be looking at a minimum of 4.5 years in prison, and a maximum of up to 19 years, though that is unlikely unless they have prior felony convictions.
'Lodestar' seems to have taken its main premise from 'Scientology'. Hidden behind a philosophy but a blackmail scheme in reality. You get people to "confess" their darkest secrets and then get them to pay you to keep them. Has worked for many cults in history.
This episode appears to be based on several separate cases/incidents:
- The 1995 Death of Lisa McPherson.
- The 1993 Ant Hill Kids cult case involving Roch Theriault.
- The 2017-2019 NXIVM sex cult case and the related 2019 disappearance of Kristin Snyder.
- The 2010 Sarah Lawrence College sex cult involving Larry Ray.
- The 2019 Jeffrey Epstein and the 2022 Ghislaine Maxwell cases.
- The 2010 David Letterman blackmail attempt by Joe Halderman.
- The 2022 T.J. Holmes/Amy Robach extramarital affair scandal.