Mrs. Davis' Magic Terminology May Reveal Something About Simone
Contains spoilers for "Mrs. Davis" Season 1, Episode 2 — "Zwei Sie Piel mit Seitung Sie Wirtschaftung"
Simone (Betty Gilpin) isn't the biggest fan of magic and illusion. In fact, she has seemingly made a hobby out of exposing magicians, with the third opening scene of the series premiere of "Mrs. Davis" showing her thwarting a rather brutal scam involving deception and extortion. It is rather unfortunate, then, that Simone is constantly drawn into increasingly bizarre situations that often require her to make what she feels is a false choice, at which point she makes a reference to being "forced."
Forcing is actually a very specific term in stage magic and is a technique magicians employ so that the same outcome is achieved regardless of the choice. The best example of this is a trick in which an individual is asked to pick from two cards. By offering a binary option without much context, the magician can always make sure that each person ends up with the card they need for the trick to work — if the individual picks the incorrect card, the magician will take that and offer the correct one to said individual instead.
Even though Simone has a history with magicians, she may still fall for a force
Considering Simone's contempt for magicians, as well as the ever-present nature of the eponymous artificial intelligence, forcing could have multiple meanings. Though she isn't exactly keen on her quest for the Holy Grail, it is important to remember that two drastically different entities have given Simone this objective. Both Jay (Andy McQueen) and Mrs. Davis want Simone to find said legendary object, and neither specifies exactly why.
However, if she succeeds, the outcome is one that Simone very much wants: Mrs. Davis will turn off permanently. When one takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture, this certainly looks like a magician's force, with the choice being not whether or not Simone will accept the quest but her motives for doing so. Is she being guided by her vows as a nun or by her contempt for the artificial intelligence that has come to dominate almost everybody's life in a short amount of time?
Even though Simone is definitely aware of stage magic and hypersensitive to the mind games involved, it seems as if she hasn't actually considered that she's been forced all along. Still, her intelligence and familiarity with magic-based theatrics are sure to play a major component throughout "Mrs. Davis."