Mrs Davis review: Damon Lindelof’s frothy quest series

High on entertainment value and wild twists and turns, TV legend Damon Lindelof has a new show out.

Mrs Davis stars Betty Gilpin. Picture: Colleen Hayes/Peacock

It’s a quest story. And if you know that Mrs Davis is a quest story, it’s a lot easier to keep up with its wild twists and turns, and hijinks and shenanigans.

Because there is a lot of, well, just a lot.

There are warrior nuns, not-actually-decapitated car crash victims, exploding jam jars, German kidnapping bikies and an omniscient AI program. And that’s all in the first episode, before everything really kicks into gear.

Although, arguably, Mrs Davis starts with its gear kicked high. It’s ambitious, maximalist and unrelenting. This is a series that demands your full attention. If you start scrolling on your phone, you’re going to be lost.

There are time jumps back and forth, and a cavalcade of characters with obscure and shifting motives. Seriously, pay attention. And in return, you’ll be rewarded with an imaginative series that keeps entertainment value high in its priorities.

Co-created by Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez, the series stars the incomparable Betty Gilpin, who is, as always, highly watchable, and a supporting and guest cast that includes Jake McDorman, David Arquette, Margo Martindale and Ben Chaplin.

Betty Gilpin as the crusading Sister Simone. Picture: Sophie Kohler/Peacock

The titular Mrs Davis is not Gilpin’s nun character, Sister Simone, but the name of the Siri- and Alexa-like AI program that has seemingly solved the world’s big problems such as famine and war. As a result, almost everyone on Earth seems to have a slave-like devotion to Mrs Davis. But not Simone, who holds it responsible for her father’s death.

Despite the nun’s rejection, Mrs Davis is obsessed with Simone, who moonlights as a foil to trickster scammers (ie. magicians). When it finally gets Simone’s attention, it makes a deal with her, find and destroy the Holy Grail and Mrs Davis will erase itself.

Yes, that is the Holy Grail, as in King Arthur and Monty Python.

It’s not an easy or straightforward quest by any stretch – not that quests involving mythical receptacles ever are – and Simone will encounter foes, allies and troublemakers both familiar and new.

Mrs Davis was created by Damon Lindelof and Hernandez. Picture: Colleen Hayes/Peacock

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Mrs Davis has a playful energy that evoked something like Good Omens, the streaming adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s book. Like Good Omens, there’s a pitched, high-stakes conflict with centuries-old roots and so many invested parties, all with an interest in the outcome.

That heightened vibe and propulsive momentum makes for captivating viewing experience – but it’s not much more than that.

Lindelof made one of the most revered series of this century, the incredibly smart, meditative and incisive The Leftovers, a series that asks big questions about existence and humanity.

And yet Mrs Davis, with its many dances around religion, faith and belief – and technology – seems to only be flirting with it. Perhaps that will change as the show moves into its back-half, but at least in the first five episodes, it’s more frothy than weighty.

Mrs Davis is streaming now on Binge and Foxtel On Demand

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