Mrs. Davis Episode 1: The Crucial Clue To The Stranded Man's Identity
Contains spoilers for "Mrs. Davis" Season 1, Episode 1 — "Mother of Mercy: The Call of the Horse"
Though "Mrs. Davis" begins with a rip-roaring and highly action-packed version of the fall of the Knights Templar on Friday the 13th from long ago, the show quickly shifts gears after a group of women absolutely massacres their would-be attackers. One of these women then absconds with the Holy Grail after being told to deliver it to allies across the sea. The Holy Grail has long been the subject of many stories, superstitions, and legends, but before "Mrs. Davis" lets audiences simmer on that plot for too long, the scene shifts to the present day, where a haggard and scrappy-looking man appears to be stranded on a tropical island along with an equally scrappy-looking cat.
The man manages to somehow construct and launch a rudimentary rocket, and soon both are rescued. When the man is addressed, he is called Mr. Schroedinger (Ben Chaplin) by the proxy for the artificial intelligence Mrs. Davis. His name, as well as his accompanying cat, may mean that Mr. Schroedinger is related to physicist Erwin Schrödinger, who is known for his study of quantum mechanics and penchant for putting cats in boxes. Considering the general zaniness of "Mrs. Davis," there has to be some reasoning behind the name.
Who was Erwin Schrödinger?
Erwin Schrödinger has been recognized as "the father of quantum mechanics," which deals with subatomic particles. At this level of scale, the normal laws of physics begin to break down, which is why quantum physics is now considered a separate school of thought from classical physics. Famously, Schrödinger once presented a thought experiment to illustrate a paradox inherent in the principle of quantum superposition, which provides that a system can exist in multiple states until its observation leads to the result: There is a cat inside a box, and the cat is both alive and dead until the box is opened, which is an interesting concept to make an allusion to on "Mrs. Davis."
It is hard to deny the similarities between Arthur Schroedinger on "Mrs. Davis" and the Nobel Prize-winning physicist. Besides the cat, Arthur claims to be a scientist himself, and both of them wear glasses. While Arthur is possibly a descendant of Schrödinger, who died in the 1960s, the zaniness of "Mrs. Davis" allows for the possibility that he may be Schrödinger himself in a different state. Either way, it will be interesting to see where the character fits into the equation and why he was missing for ten years.