Artificial intelligence has long been a part of the sci-fi genre, with movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator (and its various sequels), and Ex Machina all exploring the technology and using it as a core element of their respective stories. With A.I. becoming far more powerful and present than ever before, we’ll surely be seeing more stories centering around it in the near future, like the upcoming Peacock TV show titled Mrs. Davis.
The soon-to-be-released sci-fi drama action series from some of the minds behind shows like Lost, Watchmen, and The Big Bang Theory is about to introduce Peacock subscribers to a world that is controlled not by a God in the heavens above, but a hyper-intelligent program in everyone’s mobile devices, as well as the group of people trying to free humanity from its clutches. Here is everything we know about the new project from co-creators Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez.
What Is The Mrs. Davis Premiere Date?
You don’t have to wait until the distant future to check out Mrs. Davis, as the new Peacock original series is slated to premiere Thursday, April 20th. Peacock has announced that the first four episodes of the 10-part first season will be released on Day One with each subsequent chapter premiering weekly throughout the spring.
This has become the standard for the streaming platform as of late, with shows like A Friend of the Family, and the 2023 breakout, Poker Face, utilizing similar release models.
The Mrs. Davis Trailer Introduces The Incredible Power (And Reach) Of The Titular Artificial Intelligence
In March 2023, Peacock released the first full-length Mrs. Davis trailer showcasing what the upcoming sci-fi drama (with some humor) is all about. Much like the teaser trailer that preceded it by a couple of weeks, this two-minute video provides an introduction to the incredible power and reach of the artificial intelligence at the center of the upcoming series. Though the brief teaser felt more like a fictional commercial you’d see on Black Mirror or Upload, this new video showed the resistance movement whose aim it is to bring an end to the A.I.:
The action-packed and mysterious trailer offers glimpses of the journey that is to come, which will prove to be no easy task for those dedicated freedom fighters who want to be in control of their own destiny and not one dictated by an app on your phone or other mobile devices.
Betty Gilpin And Jake McDorman Lead The Mrs. Davis Cast
When Mrs. Davis takes to Peacock in late April, it will feature an incredibly rich and versatile cast, but before we dive into the supporting actors who will make appearances throughout the show’s first season, let’s talk about the two leads: Betty Gilpin and Jack McDorman.
Gilpin, who made small appearances on Law & Order before landing major roles on shows like Nurse Jackie, GLOW, and Gaslit, will take on the role of Simone, a nun who ends up being part of a resistance movement to take down the A.I. after first being tasked with working for the program. McDorman, whose recent credits include shows like The Right Stuff and Dopesick, comes in as Simone’s ex-boyfriend, Wiley, a major figure in the underground anti-tech movement.
Peacock has also announced that Margo Martindale, Andy McQueen, Ben Chaplin, David Arquette, Elizabeth Marvel, and multiple others will appear throughout the first season.
Mrs. Davis Follows A Nun As She Is Tasked With Destroying An All-Powerful A.I.
Like Neo in The Matrix, Sarah Connor in The Terminator, and countless other protagonists set on destroying a machine or artificial intelligence to free humanity from its clutches, the series will follow Gilpin’s Simone as a nun caught between faith and technology who attempts to destroy the world’s most powerful A.I. before it’s too late. But with the Mrs. Davis A.I. already in control of much of everyone’s day-to-day lives, breaking the system, and freeing people from its influence, will prove to be no easy task.
The 10-Episode Peacock Original Series Was Created By Lost’s Damon Lindelof And The Big Bang Theory’s Tara Hernandez
The team bringing the 10-episode first season to life is quite the dynamic duo, with a few of the most popular and consequential shows of the 21st century between them, which makes the upcoming series all the more promising.
Peacock has announced that Mrs. Davis is the partly brainchild of Damon Lindelof, the creator of shows like Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen, which should give you an inclination of the series’ scope and scale. At the same time, Tara Hernandez, who wrote more than 100 episodes of The Big Bang Theory and a few dozen episodes of its spinoff series, Young Sheldon, is serving as showrunner, which could lead to a great balance of drama and comedy.
The Idea Behind Mrs. Davis Came From The Show’s Creators’ Fears And Reliance On Technology
Though the concept of an all-powerful artificial intelligence taking control of humanity seems like something ripped from the pages of a pulp sci-fi paperback, the idea behind the series actually spawned from creators Hernandez and Lindelof’s fears about and reliance on technology. During a panel at SXSW 2023 (via The Hollywood Reporter) following the show’s world debut, Lindelof broke down where it all came from, stating:
The idea [came from] taking something that was really worrying us. [We were] saying, ‘Oh my God, I am too reliant on technology. But at the same time, I really like it and need it and it is sort of connecting me to people. How do we start to reconcile this anxiety through a fun lens?
During the same conversation, Hernandez explained that the future of A.I. and where it’s going served as the inspiration for the series and the moral dilemmas it brings up.
Damon Lindelof Was Looking For The Venn Diagram Where The Sound of Music, Black Mirror And True Romance Overlap
Though this show touches on a subject that could lead to a dystopian future quite easily, Lindelof and co-creator Tara Hernandez were trying to avoid the trappings of the subgenre while initially conceptualizing the show. When speaking with Vulture ahead of its release, the three-time Primetime Emmy winner said the show needed to be “fun to watch” instead of a “huge downer,” adding:
Where in the Venn diagram do The Sound of Music, Black Mirror, and True Romance overlap? That’s what we were gunning for.
Those three titles don’t seem to have much in common with one another, but the analogy of a Venn diagram makes perfect sense for the tone of the show, as is evident in the Mrs. Davis trailer. However, we don’t yet know if Betty Gilpin will be dancing and singing like Julie Andrews in the iconic Sound of Music hill sequence.
Expect to hear much more about Mrs. Davis as we get closer to its April 20th premiere. In the meantime, check out the 2023 TV schedule to get all caught up on all the new and returning shows coming our way.
