Mrs. Davis, the new Peacock series created by Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez, follows nun Simone (played by Betty Gilpin) on a mission to locate the Holy Grail in exchange for the program’s volitive self-destruction. The show takes place in a world where an Alexa-adjacent superpower, referred to as Mrs. Davis, is worn in earbuds by users worldwide, except Simone.
Mrs. Davis couldn’t have picked a better protagonist than Gilpin, who has been vocal about the scarcity of compelling, challenging parts for conventionally gorgeous women. Anyone who has seen her remarkable performance in Netflix’s gone-too-soon GLOW or Apple TV+’s flawed-but-fascinating Roar knows Gilpin is one of today’s most ambitious and interesting performers.
Her line delivery is always unexpected, and she can switch from aloof cynicism to genuine sorrow at the drop of a wimple. Mrs. Davis is often called upon to make such fast emotional adjustments, and she never fails to deliver. Simone is a witty, engaging character whose breezy demeanor masks a strong sense of religion and purpose—as well as some terrible childhood trauma.
Raised by magicians and married to Jesus Christ, Simone is skeptical of the technological panopticon that seeks to eliminate all mystery from the world. Alongside her ex, Wiley (Jake McDorman), Simone embarks on a quest that takes her on many detours, including a heist to retrieve a diving suit from her late father’s secret lair and a conspiracy in the form of a sneaker advertising campaign.
Mrs. Davis Official Trailer
Watch the official trailer of Mrs. Davis Season 1 here
Theological Tension and Exploration
Mrs. Davis offers a fascinating theological exploration of Christian myth, reflecting Lindelof’s signature style of respecting religious quandaries while including doses of sniggering profanity. The series constructs a metaphorically pliable deity in the form of Mrs. Davis, which allows the showrunners to channel their concerns about technology’s lockstep mentality and the difference between the devout and the blindly zealous.
Style and Execution
In typical Lindelofian fashion, the path to enlightenment can be circuitous, inscrutable, and often dumb, but it ultimately coheres into ideas that do make sense. The show balances skepticism and belief, weaving Simone’s intimate negotiations with Christ and “the Boss” into the overarching narrative. The showrunners poke fun at their own convolutions, admitting that the characters themselves are somewhat lost in the eight-hour-long plot points.
JQ, Wiley’s handsome right-hand guy with a shirt allergy, is perhaps the show’s funniest character. Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley) plays JQ with such machismo and little-boy delight that you can’t help but fall in love with him. As a scientist living on a desert island, Ben Chaplin balances out the series’ wild themes with calm, world-weary intensity.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Mrs. Davis’s strength lies in its earnest spirit of searching inquiry, embodied by Simone’s hard-fought middle path through Christian orthodoxy that emphasizes individualism and choice along with trust in a benevolent higher authority. The show’s weaknesses include the overuse of non-sequiturs, flat jokes, and a counterplot involving a squadron of “resistance fighters” that seems to have barged in from a different, broader show.
Overall Impression of Mrs. Davis Season 1
Despite its flaws, Mrs. Davis is a felicitous fit for Lindelof’s mystery-box storytelling style, and the streaming format allows the show to cut through any lingering confusion caused by the withheld information.
Mrs. Davis has a strong flavor, and we suspect that many viewers will be turned off by its sugar-rush intensity and bloated storyline. The series is so densely packed with ideas, people, and settings that it occasionally threatens to collapse under its own weight.
The show offers a unique exploration of the intersection of technology and faith, and Gilpin’s performance as Simone is a commanding cowgirlish presence in her cornflower habit.
Despite being a student and an athlete, Sachin never lets himself be confined merely to sports or academics and rightly shows vivid interest in work behind the lenses thus, making him the right fit for being a content creator at Landscape Insight. He serves the website with various reports from the entertainment industries right from web series to movies. When not found writing, he enjoys listening to music and playing video games.
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