ABOUT THIS
Hello, fellow Chosen Fans! This is meant to be the start of a series based on my notes from watching The Chosen (TC). Before you read down too far and it gets weird, please let me explain my purpose.
1. I’m a huge Chosen fan. The Chosen is driving millions of us to encounter more of the real Jesus and to passionate Bible study. I’m unaffiliated with the show, and am just here to stir up conversation and learn from their excellence. Parts of my analysis reflects my emotional and spiritual reactions, as well as my belief that Jesus is God, and the Bible is true.
2. I love storytelling. After melting and crying and falling in love with The Chosen, I couldn’t calm down until I could study the mechanics that make it tick. I had to see, HOW did they do this? I believe we need more stories to be this well-written, engaging, emotional, beautiful, and persuasive in pointing people to Jesus. I’m so grateful to learn from this team of writers, Dallas Jenkins, Tyler Thompson, & Ryan Swanson, and the other artists who have set a new bar for Christian media. My analysis would be much skinnier if not for the rich storehouse of behind-the-scenes (BTS) material Dallas & crew have provided. Most crucial was the special edition DVD that allowed me to read the Season 1 scripts. If any of my analysis feels cold, just know this is my love language in motion.
I love Jesus, this show, and the people who love it. Read on, and I’d like to hear from you if it's helpful to you.
Cheers!
Kristi
P.S. If you haven’t watched The Chosen, I highly recommend that you do before reading this. If you’re mid-show, consider me all spoilers.
By Kristi Moore © 2021 Please don’t reproduce without permission, thanks!
INTRODUCTION: THE POWERS THAT BE
Episode 101 introduces several familiar Biblical characters – Nicodemus, Matthew, Simon, Andrew, Mary Magdalene, and for mere moments, Jesus. Each main character in this episode illustrates a distinct social, religious, political, or spiritual power at work in 1st Century Israel. Right away we’re immersed in the dynamic of an occupier lording malicious power over a people who've been longing for their prophesied Deliverer for centuries.
We see not just the powers themselves, but their relationships and limitations. A small echo shows the shape of this cycle when Jewish Matthew tells his Roman guard Gaius, “Just do your job.” Later a Roman soldier tells the honorable Nicodemus, “Do your job.” Everyone has a role to fulfill in society, but none can relieve the suffering all around them.
The oppression of Rome is reinforced with subtle details and whole plotlines emphasizing the need for the promised Messiah. A beggar calls blindly at Matthew, "Are you the Messiah?” His sharp, “No, I’m not!” is bitter. All are waiting and longing, and their angst is on the surface. Foreshadowing more misunderstandings to come, in the Red Quarter we see "Messiah will destroy the Romans” scrawled on a wall. Clearly no one understands what kind of power He brings, but they can hope.
When the Deliverer does arrive, His power is unseen. In fact, He’s indistinguishable from the oppressed. Jesus’ first appearance is just a flash of an ordinary man behind Mary. The other patrons got in with a code, which suggests Jesus gave the code like anyone else. (Philippians. 2:7, “a man of no reputation”).
Although the hope for Messiah is written on the walls and shouted in the streets, no one imagined He would look this way. He is God. He is man. It’s a great mystery, but He’s here in the flesh (I Timothy 3:16). The Chosen's Jesus appears on-screen ready to cause a certain kind of trouble. The path of history is about to turn sharply in a new direction, and so will many individual stories, one at a time. For every kind of power, change is in the air.
Power,
corruption, good and evil, light and darkness, despair and hope, grief, trauma,
oppression, Scripture, love, redemption, tradition, quest for truth, the spirit
realm
CHARACTERS
B = Biblical
F = fictional
Pharisee Nicodemus (B) and his wife Zohara (F) are the elegant faces of Jewish social, moral, and spiritual authority. His open-minded questions resound in contrast to the rigid orthodoxy around him. Although he is one of the highest esteemed Jews, a teacher of teachers, he must submit to Rome’s request to help Lileth. His failure to redeem her reveals the devastating end of his spiritual power. He doesn’t argue when the demons tell him, "You have no power here, teacher.”
Zohara’s influence, though hidden from the public, is a driving force in Nico’s role. She responds to his searching questions by steering him back to his purpose and identity as a Pharisee. In her mind, the truth is static, written in stone. She reminds him of what they would lose if he wandered away from their central beliefs about who God is and how He communicates with His people. Nico’s influence is extensive, but his position is secured by the abstract thread of his honor. All will be lost if he loses credibility.
Andrew & Simon (B) are the working class crushed beneath their occupier's unjust arm. Their fishing business provides to a point, but the taxes lifted off their backbreaking work are padding the pockets of Rome. Though devout Jews, the threats against their livelihood war on their deepest loyalties. Their obstacles are concrete. They need fish. They need money to pay taxes to avoid jail and maintain a lifestyle of relative freedom and safety in their own homes. The brothers respond differently. Simon considers forsaking sacred traditions; at his lowest point, he plots to betray his fellow Jews. He tries to outsmart the system and maintain their rights by wits and brawn, but his solutions are not so simple and hint at danger.
Matthew (B) is alone, caught in an ugly gray area. He’s the product of a Jewish family, but profiting off of Rome’s taxation of his own people. Matthew is gifted, wealthy, privileged, and protected. He has the powers money can buy – servants, luxuries, conveniences, and isolation from the undesirable conditions around him. The masses don’t dare turn their aggression against Rome, but Matthew is a safe target and they shout “Tax man!” at him like it's a curse. As tax collector, he is a lightning rod for the Jews’ anger at the Romans and all the manifestations of their oppression. He’s unloved, and by the time we meet him, he’s fairly powerless to change his broken relationships. His reputation is sealed, and only his dog tolerates his presence.
Quintus and Gaius (F) are Rome’s boots on the ground. They boss the Jews, practically own them, and only negotiate when it suits them. Their presence imposes a looming threat of violence onto a people who long to be free of centuries of oppression. The military hierarchy creates tension between the two men, but they are a united front against the Jews. Their power is raw, bloody, physical force; Quintus’ victims, it’s suggested, are dead or maimed. The witnesses, though untouched, are terrorized by them. For all their armor and weaponry, the Romans recognize the danger of what they can’t see and are unwilling to face the demons in the woman they know as Lileth.
Lileth, who is really Mary Magdalene (B), is a lost soul tormented by both devils and godless men. She’s the lowest victim of a society that has gone spiritually dry as dead bones. No prophet has heard from God for four centuries, and in her we see how the people are locked in a morbid darkness they can’t overcome (Isaiah 9:2). She clutches written words of Scripture, words that remind her of a God who knows her name. In the depths of demonic attack, the words become nothing to her. Hope is destroyed, and she is powerless. Nico’s declaration that she was "beyond all human aid” lays the stakes. Her cry, "I am in Hell!" goes unanswered. Nothing can help her now, but some unlikely divine intervention.
Jesus (B) enters the bar unnoticed, interrupts Mary’s despair by pressing her hand and saying, “That’s not for you.” He soon frees her from demonic possession. Many of the firsts in this encounter foreshadow His future ministry. He enters a dark, carnal place where holiness doesn’t belong. He stands between a person and what would destroy them. He touches the unclean. He overpowers evil, mirroring the vision of His mission – to change people with the revelation of His power, and eventually to fill them. The demons who had rebuked Nicodemus, “You have no power,” are gone without a chance to speak through her again again. In a total reversal, the demons are powerless against the absolutes of the Messiah’s power on display (Matthew 28:18). Jesus, both fully God and fully man, can do whatever He wants. The authority He carries will disrupt human regimes, upend ancient traditions, subdue evil strongholds, terminate the years of silence, and redirect the entire flow of history. The world has never seen power like this.
We also meet Pharisees Yussif and Shmuel (F), Mary M’s father Omar (F), her friends Rivka and Sol (F), Simon’s wife Eden (B), Eden’s brother Jehosaphat & Abrahim (F), and Roman soldier Marcus (F).
The following outline shows what is accomplished plot-wise in each act. See the CONFLICT and STORY STRUCTURES sections below for more on what drives these elements.
Of, skip down to "THE WORD: A BEAUTIFUL THREAD" for what I believe is the strongest chain of this episode's emotional and spiritual impact.
Act 1 (+teaser) establishes:
- Mary now possessed, traumatized, dangerous
- Matthew is quirky, privileged, and an outcast
- Nicodemus is powerful, but still subject to Roman power
- The Romans are ominous and do what they want
Act 1 asks:
- What will happen to Mary?
- What will happen to Matthew?
- Will Nicodemus be able to help Mary?
- What does Quintus want from Nicodemus?
Act 2 reinforces:
- Matthew’s isolation (his interactions are all out of necessity)
- Mary M has hurt people
Act
2 establishes:
- Simon & Andrew are in trouble
- Simon is leading; Andrew follows. Simon is more willing to push limits
- Andrew’s “bug-eating friend” is a hint at John the Baptist
- Simon’s family, wife Eden & her Eema, are important to him
- Nicodemus is strategically exerting as much power as possible (against demons & Rome)
- Nicodemus is powerless against the demons
Act 2 clarifies stakes:
- Simon & Andrew could lose their boat and their livelihood
- Matthew could go on hopeless, unfulfilled, and living in sin
- Mary M could harm herself if she becomes any more desperate
- Nico could lose his reputation and status if he questions too much
[Act 2 ends with Nico & crew’s defeated exit from Mary M’s, and is about the halfway point of the episode. It leaves you feeling that things will only go downhill from here, and they do.]
- Lileth/Mary is haunted by her father’s death and the Roman soldier’s attack
- Lileth/Mary is beyond help and has given up the Scripture’s meaning for her
- Nico’s questioning is intensifying
- Matthew’s stress
- Nicodemus has questions going unanswered
- Mary M’s final hope disintegrating; she’s “beyond all human aid”
- Simon’s taxes are in total crisis; he’s doing business with Quintus
- Mary’s demon possession and loss of identity
Jerry
Jenkins’ blog is a rich resource for storytelling, and in this post he includes Dean Koontz’ story structure:
- Plunge your main character into terrible trouble as soon as possible.
- Everything your character does to get out of the terrible trouble makes things only worse.
- The situation appears hopeless.
- Finally, your hero succeeds (or fails) against all odds.
Watch how this works with Mary’s plotline:
- Mary loses her father, becomes traumatized, loses her identity (her name, her grasp on the Scriptures, her culture, the lifestyle she was raised in), and loses her agency to demonic possession. [Looking forward: it’s interesting to note that not all these details about Mary’s “lost years” are revealed in 101, but are referenced later as she assimilates into her new life. This kept the pacing strong through her arc. Too many details here may have lagged, and wouldn’t have added impact to her desperation. Later, however, they are helpful to round out her backstory.] Mary’s terrible trouble is absolute, and is a symptom of the overall spiritual dryness in Israel
- Her drinking doesn’t help. Her fits and violence, even if out of control, will ruin her reputation. The looming thought of suicide threatens to cut off her last hope.
- She is beyond hopeless. No one can help her, and she is powerless to help herself.
- Finally, against all odds, she is rescued by the Messiah. Although the hope of the Messiah was known to her, she could never imagine He would appear to her as a stranger in a bar and set her free in a moment.
Observations that only came after drowning in this process for a while:
There are simultaneous fast (Mary), medium (Simon), and slow (Nicodemus, Matthew) story arcs running at once.
- Mary completed steps 1-4 by the end of 101
- Simon was into step #_*
- Nicodemus was at step #_*
- Matthew was into step #_*
- Simon’s terrible trouble is literal when he’s being punched in the face. Soon we see it’s more complicated – he’s in debt, he’s gambling irresponsibly, and everything he loves is in jeopardy.
- Matthew’s trouble is emotional. He’s isolated, friendless, and trapped in a cycle where nothing can change.
- Quintus isn’t in his own trouble yet. He’s intriguing because he might cause trouble. (Also, we’re trying to decide if we like him or hate him.)
- Andrew isn’t causing trouble. His supporting role helps us understand Simon trouble better, and helps us see the consequences for their entire family.
- Jesus, in all the best ways, IS trouble. His potential is open-ended and disruptive, and we feel the anticipation of what might happen next.
Stories
need conflict? We have plenty and more where it came from:
- Rome vs. Jews - this is reinforced throughout the story
- Simon & Andrew vs. Rome’s cruel taxes – a specific POV of the oppression
- Mary vs. her demons and most of the world around her – a specific POV of the spiritual darkness and a women's vulnerability to Roman cruelty
- Matthew’s emotional needs vs. total disconnect around him - a specific POV on both oppression and spiritual darkness
- Nicodemus’ commitment to tradition vs. his longing for more – a specific POV on the unfulfilling nature of the law, and the hope for the Messiah
Notice
that even though 101 ends with massive relief, the other conflicts are still in
place and will carry us bingeworthily into 102. We can’t help but imagine where
this new supernatural power will spread next. This kind of life-transforming
power could change everything. What kind of man has power like that? Who but
God?
A DEVICE: DEUS EX MACHINA
The term “deus ex machina” where a god comes out of the machinery to resolve a plot was introduced to me with a negative connotation. As in, if God has to drop in to save your plot, maybe you didn’t construct it very well. The final scene where Jesus rescues Mary physically, emotionally, and spiritually, may be the most effective and hard-earned moment of deus ex machina in history. It works when the God is actually God. It serves as a powerful example how the inverse of a rule may at strange times become the perfect technique. The writers weren’t breaking a rule so much as knowing precisely when and how to maximize the impact of Jesus’ entrance.
Thank goodness they did. A tempting alternative to surprising us with Jesus at the nail-biting last moment would have been to hint at Him all episode long, showing glimpses of His shadow, the hem of His robe, His silhouette… Those tropes would have been just okay, and they would have damaged the emotional impact of the story. Our intrigue at seeing Him mid-episode would have 1. Removed our attention from Mary’s suffering, and 2. started dissolving the antithesis between her despair and relief. We would have begun to feel relief too soon. Keeping Him out of the picture allowed us to feel the depth of her hopelessness. After a spiritual drought, we needed to appreciate, if only for a few minutes, how it looked when evil was in control.
The
spiritual and emotional heart of 101 is felt in a progression that begins in
the opening scene. Mary M and her father model the command of Deuteronomy
6:6-7. As a young child, it’s natural to recite Scripture and apply it to her life.
He sweetly prompts her to “say the words” from Isaiah 43.
Later when her father is sick, he says the words to her. She listens, but doesn’t speak. It’s clear he seeks comfort and stability in the promises of God to Israel.
In present day, her despair has disintegrated her sense of self. Evil spirits possess her and speak through her, defying Nicodemus’ confrontation. She is disconnected from God, her loved ones, who she used to be, and who she was meant to become.
After Nicodemus fails to free her, she tries to reconnect to the words. They’re externalized now on a ragged papyrus, her last hope. She tries to read the words aloud, but traumatic memories overpower her voice. Flashbacks reignite the grief of her father's death, and a Roman soldier’s assault. She’s still living the horror, and the words are slipping away, becoming less and less a part of her. In a grief-stricken rage, she rips the papyrus to pieces.
For years she’d stored the little scroll of Scripture in a doll. It’s empty and battered now. She gives it away to her friend Sol for his nephew. In that moment she lets go of her last connection to her childhood, to her father, to God, and to the words.
Later she drops the pieces of papyrus over the cliff, and they scatter in the wind. The words are gone.
When Jesus approaches her, she runs. “Leave me alone.” She doesn’t know He’s the one she’s been reaching for. She doesn’t know He is the face of the words. He calls her, “Mary!” (No one knows that name for her anymore.) Then He speaks the words to her face to face: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.”
Jesus’ appearance is the WORD [logos] become flesh. The words are His: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine” (Isa. 43:1 NKJ).
This scene of minimal dialogue could not be more rich with spiritual truth. Suddenly the words of John are not faceless. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Mary is the one beholding His glory, the one standing in the brightness of His light, and the one taking a first step of many toward believing and becoming a child of God.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it…” Mary M. couldn’t wrap her mind around it, and neither can we. She is among the believers who received Him, and was given the right to become His child (John 1:1-14). She is the captive being set at liberty (Luke 4:17-19). She is the lost one Jesus came to seek and to save (Luke 19:10). She is the redeemed (Luke 1:68).
THAT’S ALL FOR NOW
I confess my attention to Mary M's story was at first focused only on my emotional reaction to the ending of this episode. Even after hearing Dallas talk about a spiritual heaviness he felt to get her right, I didn't grasp the importance of it. I've linked here a much more personal expression of how I finally saw the light of her story.
What kind of NERD are you that read to the end? Can we be friends?
***
By Kristi Moore © 2021 Please don’t reproduce without permission, thanks!
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