rchalloner

I avoided watching this series for a long time because of all the hype and sadly, as expected, the hype was overdone. There is so much wrong with this series, starting with the language which is peppered with 21st century phraseology, such as "stay on topic," I'll reach out to Peter," "I sold the rest of the shares in my company to follow Jesus," to give a few examples. Then we have Jesus practising his lines for the Sermon On the Mount, as if it were a marketing speech - and indeed it is referred to as "a speech." The followers of Jesus even handout 'fliers' advertising Jesus's speech. The Romans are all Americans (a sly suggestion of American Imperialism perhaps) and their accents grate on the ear; and then there is the scenery, nothing like 1st Century Palestine, because it was filmed in North Texas. As for the characters. Jonathan Roumie is pleasant enough as Jesus but more Flower Power than revolutionary and walks around with a very 21st Century satchel on his back. It is hard to imagine Roumie's Jesus as someone who would inspire people to follow him to their deaths. He does look the part though. Many of the characters are just annoying. Most of all Shahar Issac as Simon Peter, a strutting little peacock of a man who turns unbelievably from being a drunken, gambling, potentially treasonous fisherman, to being an ardent follower of Jesus. Simon Peter is perpetually angry and aggressive and just plain irritating. Equally irritating is that some of the characters are presented more as comic turns than serious apostles; and then there is Matthew: the relentlessly on message autistic character just to make 21st Century viewers more comfortable. The fact that Matthew is one fo the best characters in the series does not detract from anachronistic and appalling choice of including someone on the spectrum just for the sake of popularising the series. The great and believable character is Mary Magdalene played by Elisabeth Tabish who brings greater emotional depth and feeling to the series than anyone else It is because of her and some genuinely moving and heart stirring moments in the series that I have given it a five.

Badly written, poorly directed, with so many pot holes, ridiculous situations and character flaws, this series is an insult to the Intelligence community, not to mention viewers with brains. Annie Walker is supposed to be a top level CIA operative and yet she goes into the field in high heels, often Laboutin's; she trails people in a bright red Volkswagon which can be seen for miles; fails to notice the most obvious dangers and traps and has a permanent look of anxiety and guilt on her face that shouts "suspicious person.' If that were not enough Annie Walker is reckless, insubordinate and undisciplined, character flaws that would rule anyone out of a career in Intelligence work. In the real world Annie Walker would not last five minutes and yet we are supposed to believe that she is a super spy. It's ludicrous. To be fair, she is not the only character in the series who behaves erratically and stupidly and allows themselves to be compromised - which is why I mention the bad writing. Then there are the irritating aspects of certain characters, such as Auggie Anderson, who spends more time sleeping with a variety of women than doing tech work for the Agency and whines a lot about his relationships; and Calder Michaels a senior member of the Agency behaves like an impetuous child and with reckless disregard for protocols. Yes, I know this is meant to be entertainment and it is entertaining and exciting in parts; it is however possible to make a series about the Intelligence community and be intelligent as well as entertaining and exciting. It's a pity that those involved in this show didn't realise that.

There is a lot to admire about this series including the actors's performances, the photography, the scenery and more. It is let down however by the screenplay and the lack of proper editing which drags the storyline out with a lot of unnecessary scenes that get in the way of the unfolding drama. Frankly there were a number of scenes which were long and boring, including those of David endlessly singing and Saul's madness which added nothing to the story. They appear to be there as padding and not much else, in an attempt to keep the viewer waiting for the important bits. Unfortunately the ploy fails and it becomes annoying. It's a shame as tighter direction and editing would have made the series far more exciting and engaging. A missed opportunity to tell a great Biblical story in the way it deserves.