In a sea of ever-growing streaming services and platforms, NBC’s Peacock has often struggled to distinguish itself from its competitive brethren beyond its vast back catalog of comforting nostalgia properties. Perhaps it’s this need to find an identity—in addition to some genuine hits—that has caused the streamer to be more willing than most to say yes to the unexpected and different. From Poker Face and The Resort to We Are Lady Parts and Killing It, Peacock’s greatest critical and commercial successes have thus far come from its embrace of the offbeat, quirky, and ambitious. And perhaps its biggest swing to date comes in the form of Mrs. Davis, an almost indescribable series from Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof that takes on faith and the idea that there’s still an audience out there for big, messy, audacious storytelling. (And, truly, I hope they’re right.)
Much of the early promotional material has positioned Mrs. Davis as a sort of commentary on our current AI-fueled moment, a story that wrestles with what allowing algorithms to run our lives might do or mean for humanity. And, it is, obviously—one of the key questions its story asks is whether the titular superpowered AI that knows all and sees all can somehow be a benevolent force in a world where people are all too eager to compete with one another for in-game advantages and bonuses that validate their worth. But it is also something much bigger. A complicated exploration of faith, belief, and the love that passeth understanding all wrapped up in a story that includes everything from jaded magicians, a ship-wrecked scientist, and jam-making nuns to a quest for the Holy Grail and a very literal relationship with Jesus Christ, this show is, no joke, like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
In a television landscape fully stocked with procedurals and reboots of familiar IPs, it’s rare to find something that’s genuinely ambitious, a show that feels so bonkers you can’t actually believe a network somewhere actually greenlit it, that you know from the jump won’t be for everyone but that will deeply impact the people it connects with in unexpectedly meaningful ways. Mrs. Davis is absolutely that show—its heavy religious themes, non-linear timeline, and genre-defying narrative swerves are the definition of “high concept” and also “extremely extra” depending on who you’re asking. But despite what are, objectively, a lot of weird and wild storytelling decisions, there’s something incredibly compelling—dare I say, miraculous?—about the way that what initially seem like unconnected, disparate pieces ultimately fit together.
Look, it’s almost impossible to explain the plot of this show without spoilers, and you’re truly best served if you go in knowing as little as possible about the connective tissue that makes the series sing. But, here are the basics: Mrs. Davis follows the story of Sister Simone (Betty Gilpin), who has spent the better part of the past decade as a nun at the charmingly rustic convent of Our Lady of the Immaculate Valley. But while she’s been making strawberry jam and embracing her newfound, deeply genuine faith, the rest of the world has essentially become enthralled by Mrs. Davis, a sentient, chatty algorithm who ostensibly seeks to make everyone’s lives easier (and also sets people a variety of quest-like tasks). Simone, for personal reasons of her own, abhors the global AI and has subsequently tried to live a life disconnected from its reach and influence. That determination is tested when Mrs. Davis—who spends most of the series’ first episode trying to force Simone to talk to her using increasingly complicated run-ins with various strangers—sets her a seemingly impossible task: To find the Holy Grail. And if she’s successful, she’ll be given a wish, one that just might allow her to change the world for everyone.
Her quest takes her across the country and the world as she searches for the secrets behind an object that may or may not even exist and the last woman who was known to possess it. At various points, Simone is aided by her charmingly roguish ex-boyfriend (Jake McDorman), his band of tech bro resistance fighters (led by the hilariously over-the-top Chris Diamantopoulos), the aforementioned shipwrecked scientist (Ben Chaplin), a mysterious woman named Mathilde (Katja Herbers), a kind-hearted diner cook (Andy McQueen), her devoted Mother Superior (Margo Martindale), and even her own estranged mother (Elizabeth Marvel).
Gilpin’s remarkable performance is, without doubt, the glue that holds Mrs. Davis together, a fact that is unlikely to surprise anyone who saw her on Netflix’s taken-from-us-entirely-too-soon series GLOW. Her expressive face can (and often does) contain multitudes, from deep vulnerability and radiant joy to tough-as-nails ferocity and frustrated anger, and her deadpan comedic timing is often deployed to devastating effect. As heroines go, her Simone feels deeply, almost comfortingly human.
Simone’s isn’t the most traditional of Grail quests, but its themes will feel familiar to anyone who’s ever read a story inspired by Arthurian legend. (Or seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.) A journey that is mysterious and dangerous by turns, Grail stories come in many forms and from multiple countries, but no matter their origin, the tale isn’t simply a search for a mystical object but a spiritual quest for meaning and grace that encompasses many stages and challenges. Such is Simone’s journey, which requires her to confront her own history and damaged relationships even as it asks her to reaffirm her faith in God, humanity, and herself along the way. Given that this series hails from the guy behind The Leftovers and features a lead character who is a nun, it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that Mrs. Davis is one of the most honest and heartfelt series about faith in recent memory.
Rather than play a story about a crusading nun attempting to save the world for laughs (though there are plenty of those along the way), the series takes its heroine and her faith seriously, embracing the joy of Simone’s conversion and depicting the life-changing power of believing in something greater than yourself. Yet, Mrs. Davis doesn’t ask us to believe that science and faith must be in opposition to one another, and although Simone and the series’ titular AI are at odds about what technology is meant to be and do, the show itself takes a much more expansive view of both their perspectives. Because in the end, its central concern isn’t a question so much of belief or technology, but a rich, complex, and deeply emotional exploration of what ultimately makes a life worthwhile.
Mrs. Davis premieres Thursday, April 20th on Peacock.
Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter @LacyMB.
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