Mrs. Davis: Could Simone's Parents Be The Cause Of Her Need To Expose Magicians?
Contains spoilers for "Mrs. Davis" Season 1, Episodes 1-4
The title of "Mrs. Davis" refers to an artificial intelligence program, also known as the Algorithm, an all-knowing presence that lords over humanity. The resulting society is supposedly free of issues like famine and war, though it's unclear how the Algorithm came to be or who's actually in control. However, there are just as many unanswered questions about the show's leading lady, Simone (Betty Gilpin). Right off the bat, it's clear that Simone is a nun from Reno who saves unsuspecting targets from magicians who use the skills of their craft to con people. Episode 2 gives viewers a glimpse at her childhood, and it's easy to see why Simone might be inclined to expose magicians.
Simone's real name is Lizzie and as a kid, she helped her parents make their act believable by posing as an audience member at every show. Monty (David Arquette) is the charming magician and his wife, Celeste (Elizabeth Marvel), is his beguiling assistant. Behind the scenes, Celeste is the one engineering the act, while Monty is just the face of the operation. In the present, Simone's father is dead and her mother runs a security firm. Her parents' dynamic is sour enough to leave a bad taste behind, especially after their petty squabbling leaves Simone shot through the liver with an arrow, but the fact that her distrust of magicians led her to become a sort of anti-hustler vigilante in adulthood implies that her motives go deeper than an intrinsic need to help people.
Are Monty and Celeste more than magicians?
Technology and faith are central to the plot of "Mrs. Davis," and a number of religious themes have been referenced in the first few episodes. The Holy Grail isn't the only medieval motif that we've seen so far. In Episode 1, Simone uncovers an elaborate hoax to defraud a man, who's being targeted by a trio of mischievous magicians named Guinevere, Morgana, and Lance. Jay obviously helps Simone connect with her faith, but he's also giving her the tools she needs to track these magical con artists down. The magicians she's hunting could be more than a reminder of her parents since so-called witches were persecuted by Christian authorities in witch trials that killed an estimated 40,000 people in Europe between 1550 and 1700.
Simone's actions indicate that she wants to be different from her parents, but she still manages to get caught up with people who appear to be someone they aren't. Simone gets information about her targets from a cook named Jay (Andy McQueen), but he's actually a manifestation of Jesus who exists in her mind. Even if the restaurant where Jay works isn't necessarily real, it's hard to ignore that the mysterious door that she's reluctant to knock on looks like the entrance to her mother's workshop.
It's getting harder to figure out who to trust, so viewers will have to wait and see if Episode 5 reveals any more details about how Simone's parents connect to the larger storyline.