Mrs. Davis (2023)

[Greg]

Mrs. Davis. on Peacock. Anybody here watching Peacock shows?

[Drunk Monk]

This show had me at hello. It begins with a savage sanguineous sword fight back in the days of the Knights Templar. Choreographed for the shock value, it earned a dm ultravi chuckle when one dedicated fighter uses the sword stuck through her body to execute a final flying thrust to an adversary’s eye. Then it skips to a marooned scientist rescued by a Korean cargo ship to introduce the titular Mrs. Davis, and then to our main protag, the nun Simone.

I’m an ep and a half deep and it’s moving along at a steady clip. It’s quirky, and it almost tries too hard to be so, and yet it’s engaging enough so far. There’s a sense of black humor to it. It all hinges on Simone played by Betty Galpin, who is charismatic and reminiscent of Sandra Bullock’s less caricatured sister. The surrounding characters are funny, as Simone takes on a quest for the Holy Grail.

I’ll watch more…

[Drunk Monk]

Finished ep2 and started in on 3. Still quirky but has its moments. The lead actress Betty Gilpin is keeping my attention. The absurdity of it all isn’t lost on her portrayal and that makes it kinda fun. And it has glimmers of a cohesive underpinning so I hope it goes some where in the end. Turns out there are only 5 eps so I’ll likely see it through. When I start to waiver, it brings me back with some surreal tangent, like a field of pianos and a widower searching for his wife’s instrument just to hear it again, or the old hang someone upside down until they talk ploy going awry because the interrogates is slippery.

[Drunk Monk]

Finished 3 and started on 4. I decided I like this show. It’s religiously subversive akin to the film Dogma, and that’s working for me. Simone’s relationship to Jesus is clarified and that worked for me too (although it’s surely sacrilegious. And there’s a funny sword scene with a huge sword (like two stories tall) that struck me as funny.    

Did I mention it’s all about a quest for the holy grail? That works for me too.

I’m going to D00M recommend this now despite having an ep and a half to go…

[Greg]

I was intrigued by the trailer but I don't feel like getting Peacock.

[Drunk Monk]

Peacock is ok. I mean… Cocaine Bear, ya know?

‘Member what I said about there being 5 eps to s1? Well, there’s actually 8. I’m done with 5 and now I’m only a weekly feed until the next ep.

I’m on board now. All the absurdities came together and have a coherent underpinning. They even went back for that opening swordfight that I Italy hooked me and explained it in a way I never saw coming. It helped that ep 5 was a marooned character from the very beginning explaining everything. And ther was an exploded head that came out of nowhere and made me jump. Very entertaining. 

I stand by my D00M rec. I think several of you might enjoy this if you hang with it long enough. It’s clever writing and has a dark sacrilegious sense of humor.

[thatguy]

I think we're 6 episodes in. I'm enjoying it. It's so silly, but keeps going in unexpected places and then tying things together nicely. 

I keep recognizing various actors playing side characters which is a little distracting, but everyone is playing their part pretty well. 

Had to watch two episodes tonight because the first one ended and it didn't make enough sense, we had to continue to understand. Is that a new kind of cliffhanger? If so, it worked...

--tg

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This is probably my favorite "current" program right now...

--tg

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More blasphemous than Life of Brian...I'm surprised I haven't heard of any outrage about it...

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Glad to hear you're enjoying this too. 

And I feel ya on the lack of outrage. It's pretty blasphemous with its depiction of Jesus. 

I should catch up but I'm awaiting a screener tonight for a Thursday deadline.

[thatguy]

Finished ep 7...What!?! There's no more episodes!?!

Oh, the finale is on May 18, whew!

I've figured out the tone...this show feels like a Tom Robbins book. I never saw the Even Cowgirls Get The Blues movie with Uma Thurman. I heard it was pretty terrible. This series seems to have captured the tone of those books (Still Life with Woodlecker, Jitterbug Perfume)...that is, from what I can remember. I haven't read one of those in about 30-35 years. 

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

I watched 6 last night - the Lazarus shroud heist. The reveal on the dad was hilarious. 

Probably won't be able to finish this until the weekend. 

Betty is killing this. Her reactions are so funny. I loved the bit where she was telling her mom about the whale.

[thatguy]

I watched 6 last night - the Lazarus shroud heist. The reveal on the dad was hilarious. 

Probably won't be able to finish this until the weekend. 

Betty is killing this. Her reactions are so funny. I loved the bit where she was telling her mom about the whale.

I've seen several of them before (the Aussie and the fake-mom are from Silicon Valley, the Mother Superior was in The Americans). I think they're all killing it.

--tg

[thatguy]

That's a wrap...

The writers did a great job with all the different characters, the arcs, the layers of meaning, the humor, the feelz. 

It ended with a finality that was refreshing. No cliffhanger... no don't miss our next season. One and done. 

Recommended.

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

No spoilers, mmkay? E7 seen. The whale scene and the ‘Holy shit!’ made me chuckle. Something about the way Betty swears when she reacts just tickles my funny bone. 

And Avasarala as Mary? Well played. Of course the skull cap story behind the trail doesn’t work at all - how does that even fit into the Last Supper version? But then, it’s absurd to start picking at facts this late in the show. 

We’ll just have to see how it all pans out in the finale.

[Drunk Monk]

Seen. That was brilliant. Outstanding on every level - funny, wry, savage, observant, quirky, satirical, inventive, and oh those feels. Totally stuck the landing with style and grace. Begs to be rewatched because it seemed like such a mess at first but it all comes together. Bravo! I concur with tg. 

Totally D00M recommended.