Mrs. Davis, as a TV show, is hard to recommend because when I look around at the different things on offer, what people seem to ultimately want (or what the studios have decided people ultimately want) is formulaic generic shows that I reinforce our desires; wishes for wealth, the desire for fame, the need to have that middle class security, and Mrs Davis does not provide you with that.
What I love about Mrs Davies is that it takes wild swings at really relevant topics but it does not spoon feed you. You're going to have to do some research; to do some thinking about each episode by considering the images used in each episode, and then stepping back at the end of it all and asking yourself how it all fits together.
There are certain images that allude to theological ideas that I've not seen done before in this way. Putting all that to one side, the performances by Betty Gilpin, Jake McDorman, Chris Diamantopous and Andy McQueen are just fantastic. I found myself really moved by a lot of what was going on but at the same time what you are looking at is just absurd.
The religious ideas in the TV show are going to really upset people because they're just so left field from what we're familiar with but. Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez, as the writers of the show, are conceptualising notions of religion without attempting to address any specifics in religion. It’s important for people to watch the show and go with the ideas being suggested, asking what is it that we're ultimately wrestling with and what is going on between the various characters, while at the back of your mind consider how universal ideas are addressed in this show.
I think one of the main themes is our relationship to technology and the show future casts what it will be like when AI becomes all pervasive. However, I also suspect that the show is a critique of humanity's relationship with religion. At the bottom of it all is the unquestioning adherence religion and technology, and the drive in people to be satisfied in order to be satisfied, not taking any risks or initiative but to pursue gratification. I think if someone approaches religion as a cure all it leads to disappointment. Modern capitalistic sensibilities are at odds with deep historical truths that are conveyed in religion. As modern people we approach religion in the same way as we approach self help; this need to ‘get fixed’ (fixed according to whose?). The show parodies that idea.
I don't recommend the show without reservation. People are going to get offended at the religious stuff in the show. If people can look past the depictions into the iconography of what's going on and consider what is being represented. There’s important exchanges between characters that are full of emotion but what they're talking about is just really stupid. There's a brilliant moment in the show where there is a conversation in which one of the characters says “This is all just so dumb:”.
I watched a lot of this show thinking this is so dumb and so strange however I'm deeply moved. Having seen a couple of Lindelof’s shows, in particular The Leftovers and The Watchmen (and as a caveat I've never seen Lost, but my understanding was it became a bit of a disaster and I think Linden off learned some important lessons about not having a conclusion before you start writing). There is some really clean coherent ideas explored in Watchmen and The Leftovers about spirituality, about family, about how we how we identify in particular ways. Watchmen hit the media simply because it addressed the Tulsa race massacre that occurred in 1921, which had largely been forgotten by popular culture and this show brought it back to the forefront again. Such a spectacular address of profound issues through comic book characters. When it Comes to Mrs Davis, the writers weren't restrained in their wild ideas, and so there's these endlessly brilliant sequences. It’s going to annoy the hell out of people and if people make it past the first episode, be prepared to have to reflect on what it all means.
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