In the era of Too Much Television, it can be challenging for any show to break through the noise. Then again, most shows aren’t about a nun caught in a cold war between the Catholic Church and an all-seeing, all-knowing evil algorithm. “Mrs. Davis” is another feather in the cap of Peacock, who has quietly survived the collapse of platforms like HBO Max to become perhaps the best creator-focused streaming service of 2023. And depending on your love for the brand of absurdist humor made famous by writers like Douglas Adams and the Coen Brothers, “Mrs. Davis” might also be Peacock’s best show yet.
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The year is 2023, and humanity is under the watchful eye of Mrs. Davis, an app-based algorithm that keeps millions in its thrall. Not Simone (Betty Gilpin), though. Years after a tragic accident upended her life — and inspired Simone to seek out a quiet life of servitude as part of a religious order — the now-nun suddenly finds herself being singled out by a system she hates for one final task: locate and destroy the Holy Grail, and Mrs. Davis will grant Simone a single wish. Naturally, this is also a quest blessed by God, whom Simone sometimes does errands for — mainly seeking out local magicians-turned-blackmailers in the American Southwest.
But before she can unravel a centuries-old conspiracy — one that will take her halfway around the world and to the beating heart of the Vatican — Simone must reconnect with an old friend. Wiley (Jake McDorman) is a former boyfriend with secret plans against Mrs. Davis. As the head of a top-secret organization focused on the destruction of an algorithm, Wiley and his men offer Simone much-needed allies on the journey. And hot on her heels is Celeste (Elizabeth Marvel), Simone’s mother, who believes Simone is also secretly conspiring with her presumed-dead magician father to hide something from the world.
Got it? Good.
On paper, “Mrs. Davis” is a show designed to provoke. Simone is a nun whose relationship with Jesus Christ may not be as platonic as we initially thought. For his part, Wiley is the founder of a group of resistance fighters whose shirtless training regimens and sweaty celebrations are the textbook definition of homoeroticism. In the wrong hands, these creative decisions could come across as anything from overwrought to mean-spirited, but “Mrs. Davis” refuses to let cynicism creep into its storytelling. Even accounting for the sheer volume of Douglas Adams-adjacent gags that end up on the screen, this is a surprisingly sincere show.
And that sincerity is notable given each character’s complaints about the lack of narrative complexity. For example, in the second episode — when Simone is called on her quest to find the Holy Grail — the nature of that request is greeted with derision from the group of resistance fighters around her. “Algorithms love cliches, and there’s no cliche bigger than the quest for the Holy Grail,” explains JQ (Chris Diamantopoulos), the resistance’s hyper-aggressive field general. “The most overused MacGuffin ever.” “Mrs. Davis” takes every opportunity to gesture to its twists and turns, but these gestures are backed by confidence; the show certainly does not lack the courage of its comedic convictions.
Because in the upside-down world of “Mrs. Davis,” nothing is as it seems. Every stranger on the street — who connects with the algorithm through a process called proxying — calls upon Simone with the benevolence of a well-meaning hivemind. Meanwhile, the series frequently defies narrative expectations entirely or, in keeping with the above brand of meta-humor, indulges in the most cliched screenwriting tropes with unflinching abandon. At times, “Mrs. Davis” operates as a “Naked Gun” level of broad spoofery, only to reign it in with a decisive moment onscreen.
Of course, tonal shifts require just the right actors to make things work, and Gilpin offers maybe her best performance here. In “Glow,” her now-canceled wrestling show, Gilpin was often tasked with being the sole voice of reason in a world of excess. “Mrs. Davis” further demonstrates her gift for being both the straight man and the stooge in any scene. Meanwhile, Wiley is the exact kind of confident idiot you should hope to build a show around, with McDorman channeling Tom Cruise’s signature glower with every narrative twist and turn. Together, the two actors provide the elasticity “Mrs. Davis” needs to veer between the absurd and the poignant.
And “Mrs. Davis” will certainly also benefit from the (mostly) episodic nature of its release. Given that the pendulum for streaming seems to be swinging back toward episodic releases, it’s not surprising to see that “Mrs. Davis” will be released in one four-episode chunk and weekly after that. This approach allows its complex blend of magical realism, religion, and futurism to percolate in viewers’ minds. Creators Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez even offer their in-world commentary on audience puzzle-solving; in one episode, two characters are chastised by a third for trying to puzzle out the flashbacks as they occur. “Lost” fans, take note.
Veterans of Lindelof shows may appreciate the opportunity to tease out meaning from a more abbreviated episode list. The rest of us can enjoy a more surface-level read of the series and its characters. As much as “Mrs. Davis” may throw religious conspiracy theories and two-bit magicians at its audience, the underlying themes are considerably less complicated. “Mrs. Davis” is a show about telling comforting lies and how the impact of those lies can often be long-lasting. Whether the surrounding humor adds or subtracts from the power of that message is a journey every viewer must take for themselves. [B+]
“Mrs. Davis” premieres on Peacock on April 20.