Apart from Simone, there is a whole cast of eccentric characters that inhabit the beautifully absurd world of “Mrs. Davis.” Among them is Simone’s best friend/former lover Wiley (Jake McDorman) who seems especially hell-bent on rising up against Mrs. Davis and has an entire undercover, black-ops-style team dedicated to this cause. Many of the sillier aspects of the episodes stem from scenes that center on this operation, where the self-serious dudebros jump off planes for a rescue mission or dramatically snap off flip-phones to maintain anonymity. These running gags manage to never go stale.
Then there’s the question of Mrs. Davis herself (or “itself,” depending on who you ask), who seems particularly interested in Simone for reasons that are gradually unveiled. The emergence of chatbots that mimic sentience and original thought (“mimic” being the operative word here) is a discussion that warrants complexity and nuance, and “Mrs. Davis” lays out the various threads of this discourse in interesting ways.
Can AI truly be benevolent, its purpose simply being the satisfaction of the human race, with wars, conflicts, and unrest becoming relics of the past? Or is this veneer of holistic harmony only a distraction from the ugliness of reality, where the masses are trapped in an endless cycle of validation? The truth can often be stranger than fiction, a sentiment this show aims to nail.
Finally, there’s an exploration of faith and belief, where characters with varying religious stances (or lack thereof) experience sudden epiphanies or uncomfortable revelations. The foundation of entire realities is questioned, and all of this is done with equal parts sincerity and irreverence. The results are deeply fascinating and absolutely worth sticking around for.
The first four episodes of “Mrs. Davis” are streaming now on Peacock.
