‘Mrs. Davis’, the series of the moment on HBO Max: this is the blessed madness of the creator of ‘Lost’ that you are going to consume addictively

‘Mrs. Davis’ is a somewhat strange series. One of those that, when you start to see her, you don’t even know if this madness that they are putting in front of her face is a supine stupidity or a true genius. It will surely polarize viewers between those two opinions, but as the episodes progress it becomes easier to position yourself as a staunch defender of this crazy, but not absurd, new work by Damon Lindelof (yes, the same as ‘Lost’, ‘The Leftovers’ and ‘Watchmen’) that he created together with Tara Hernández (screenwriter of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Young Sheldon’) and of which HBO Max has just released in Spain its first four episodes, out of a total of eight (it is currently broadcast in the US on Peacock).

The premise of ‘Mrs. Davis’ is already crazy, but everything we can imagine is later far exceeded in the development of the series. The title refers to the name of an artificial intelligence that many people have adopted as a guide for their lives, as if the algorithm had been capable of replacing religion, or directly God, taking charge of the lives of some subjects who they would rather have a higher being handle their adulthood than do it themselves. But this AI has an enemy, the protagonist of the series, a nun, Sister Simone (whose name before the habit was Elizabeth or Lizzie). Played by a masterful Betty Gilpin (‘GLOW’), the nun wants to put an end to this little machine, for reasons that we will learn about.

There, after losing the convent in which she lived, her journey begins. And on the way he will meet Wiley, his ex-boyfriend, who also wants to destroy the AI ​​although his motivations are not entirely clear either, and will make a pact that will lead her to search for the Holy Grail around the world. In parallel, we will also learn about the past of Elizabeth and Wiley or her parents and, with this, for each question that is answered, endless more questions will be opened. But don’t worry, there are no polar bears here like in ‘Lost’. If you fear that, as in the island series, seventy mysteries will be released here that will never have an answer, it does not seem the case. It is true that we still do not know how the story will close (or if it will with its first season), but Having seen the first half, it is clear that the construction of a mythology or the arrival of an answer is not so important as the fun of a hectic trip interrupted by action scenes, secret societies and constant script twists.

That is the key to ‘Mrs. Davis’, what everything is dedicated to the entertainment of the viewer and the enjoyment, and that she does so with a surprising mix of genres and tones: no matter how silly she may seem to us, or no matter how badass she is, she never stops taking herself seriously. Humor is one of its strong points, but humor does not engulf the power of an entertaining story that never stops advancing. And Gilpin herself embodies this perfectly, showing a wonderful comic vision but never falling into parody and making us totally empathize with Simone. The actress defined the series in ‘The Daily Show’ saying that “it’s like a Rubik’s cube fucking a cursed calculator” and we can only applaud the definition. Actually, the series is, in terms of its tone, much more related to ‘Watchmen’ than to ‘Lost’.

if you feel like it cool sci-fi series to talk to you about faith and artificial intelligence and never put your foot on the brake, ‘Mrs. Davis’ is for you. We can say little more, for now, so as not to burst the surprises. Well, a piece of advice: if you are one of those who watch series while looking at your mobile, this is not the right title for it. If you blink, you’re lost. Not for nothing, from the third, the chapters are preceded by a “previously” that comes from a fable to check that we are still aware of everything that has happened.