Spiritual Reflection & Discussion Guide Backstories

There are the historical characters (those whose words and stories are known to us from Scripture), and there are characters created just for The Chosen. All of them have backstories. That’s exposition, a sometimes-necessary technique in drama that often becomes leaden. Not here though. The interactions between the fictional Roman praetor Quintus (Brandon Potter), who “runs” Matthew in both his tax-gathering and intelligence operations; or Thomas (Joey Vahedi) and his fictional girlfriend/business partner Ramah (Yasmine Al-Bustami), who first meet Jesus when they cater a certain wedding in Cana. Marvelous backstories for one and all.

From the Catholic perspective, there can be no backstory more compelling than the Blessed Virgin’s, played here by Vanessa Benavente. She is very much a Jewish mother, the ima of Jesus, who is always ready to help: famously at Cana, of course, but also in soothing the frazzled nerves of Mary Magdalene (Elizabeth Tabish).

Miss Tabish has some remarkable scenes involving Nicodemus (Erick Avari), who attempts to exorcise her demons, followed by a meeting between him and the man who succeeded in freeing Mary, in which Jesus explains the paradox of being born again. Ms. Tabish has, so far, the most interesting character arc, going from distraught over the stir Jesus is causing, to joyful, to despairing, to more deeply joyful as she comes to realize who Jesus is.

Accessing the series can be a bit complicated. I was easily able to stream Season 1 from Amazon [3] ($22.99), but the only way I found to watch Season 2 was on computer, probably because both my “smart” TVs are actually stupid. But the Angel Studios website [4] has both seasons – for free. So, if you don’t mind watching on a small screen (or if you’re better at getting website content to your television than I am), that’s the way to go.

Season 3 is in the works, and Mr. Jenkins and Angel Studios [5] could use your help in crowdfunding it – and the projected four to follow. So, now you know not to do what I did. Watch it. Now.