jacobs-greenwood

The House of David should be watched as entertainment, not for its veracity. Credit its producers for admitting to the liberties taken before every episode; I can't remember if The Chosen's producers do the same.

Season 1 is an excellent story which starts with Saul taking the actions that lost him God's anointing and ends with a form of the David & Goliath narrative; each segment is worth seeing, especially episodes 4 & 8 (despite its flaws).

The actors are fantastic; I particularly like the characterizations of David, Saul, Mychal, and Samuel. They're the closest to being Biblically authentic. However, so many of the others (along with characters that have no mention in the holy writ) have been fleshed out with nonexistent storylines that one who is familiar with the Bible can be easily frustrated.

Additionally, there are some accurate parts of 1st Samuel that have been brought forth early, as if the producers feared they wouldn't have the funding for follow on seasons.

My real concern for anyone (including myself) watching this extra-Biblical series and The Chosen is their potential for coloring one's mental picture of these real historical figures and events, such that when one reads the Truth they recall what they saw herein instead of listening to the revelation of The Holy Spirit.

I have been a watcher of The Chosen from the beginning, a supporter and an enthusiastic evangelist to everyone about the series. I used to say that every episode will make you laugh AND make you cry, especially if you too are a follower of Jesus. I did not see Season 4 in theaters earlier this year, either time, and so I have anxiously awaited (too long) their traditional release, recently. Unlike before each other season's release, I did not rewatch the previous seasons leading up to Season 4's release. I highly recommend this practice, especially since the delay between seasons appears to have lengthened.

In any case, while Episode 1 of Season 4 was good, it wasn't as good imho as Episode 2. Of course, Episode 2 covered a lot more familiar Biblical ground than Episode 1, which was hyper focused on John the Baptist (and necessarily so).

I believe that the closing scene of Episode 2, Season 4 is one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in The Chosen series, especially for Jesus followers who will likely feel the effects of Christ's forgiveness for themselves (as I did). I not only cried, I sobbed.

Thank you Dallas and The Chosen team; May God continue to bless you as you film the remainder of the series.

Obviously, Amazon wanted to buy a beloved character to capitalize on the fan base (generated by the 24 books from Lee Child, and 4 with his younger brother Andrew) for their series to be an instant success, and it was as Season 1 delivered a fairly faithful Reacher and story from its source material.

However, as has been mentioned, Season 2 delivers neither of these things, save for the hulking presence of Alan Ritchson. While Ritchson inhabits the physical characteristics of Reacher, the screenwriters did not give the book series' fans the intelligent, award winning sniper military policeman that his readers expected (especially after S1).

Whereas Child's character is physically imposing, he's also very smart, knowledgeable, even a numbers guy ... a leader of Special Investigators! When it comes to physical confrontations, he's brutal and efficient (even the more diminutive Tom Cruise better represents the Reacher brawling style in the much-maligned movie adaptations).

Amazon's S2 Reacher is determined, but he's not a thinking man, and relies more on handguns, his accuracy significantly less than the top sniper he is in the books. For some reason, Neagley's character is given the real sharpshooter skills.

I don't know whether Season 2 will be more liked by TV viewers overall or not, perhaps the character Amazon has created is more appealing to those not familiar with the book character. But this reader would prefer, if the series continues, a return to Lee Child's Reacher in Season 3.