House of David Season 1 Episode 1: Recap, Review, and Analysis
Are you worried that Amazon’s House of David series will waterdown the biblical story of King David? Do not fear! Episode 1 of House of David (“A Shepherd and A King”) shows a deep level of engagement with the Book of Samuel and the larger story of Scripture. At the same time, the show establishes an epic tone (ala The Lord of the Rings) that should keep most viewers engaged, while also differentiating House of David from the more down-to-earth tone of The Chosen. Below I will recap what happens in Episode 1 of House of David (*Spoiler Warning*), evaluate the episode, and analyze what the show has to say about fear and other key themes. [Also check out my reviews for Episode 2 here and Episode 3 here]
What Happened in House of David Season 1 Episode 1 (A Shepherd and A King)
As the title of the episode suggests, Episode 1 of House of David has two main storylines, one that follows a courageous young shepherd, David (Michael Iskander), and the other that follows an arrogant old King, Saul (Ali Suliman). It also has a few smaller storylines: one that introduces to the faithful Prince Jonathan (Ethan Kai) and his feckless brother Eshbaal (Sam Otto) and another following the compassionate Princess Mychal (Indy Lewis) and her snobbish older sister Mirab (Yali Topol Margalith). Below I will give a comprehensive summary of each storyline and highlight biblical passages that they are adapting.
House of David Season 1 Episode 1 Opening Sequence
Following in the tradition of The Lord of the Rings and other epic stories, Episode 1 opens with Princess Mychal delivering exposition to contextualize the events ahead. As David collects stones from a stream, Mychal briefly narrates Israel’s disunity during the period of the Judges (Judges 21), their foolish desire for a human king (1 Samuel 8), the rise of Saul and his triumphs against Israel’s enemies (1 Samuel 14:47-48), his growing arrogance, and Israel temptation to trust more in a throne than in God.
From here, we transition to a preview of what’s ahead. During the “Battle of the Philistines” in the Valley of Elah, we see Goliath (Martyn Ford) challenge the Israelites to send a champion to fight him and David emerges from the crowd and charges out to face Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Here, the show introduces a wrinkle to the well-known story. As David charges toward Goliath, Goliath begins throwing spears and him and one spear grazes David’s side, knocking him down. As Goliath approaches, David reaches for the stones he has brought with him and Mychal asks once again whether “one stone can change the course of history.”
David in House of David Season 1 Episode 1
Having telegraphed where the plot is heading, the show jumps back a year to when David was nothing but a simple shepherd boy in the hills of Bethlehem. Finding one of his young lambs that has been wounded by a large lion (The Old King), he hides until the lion has gone and carries the lamb home. Back in Bethlehem, he hears his father, Jesse, surrounded by village members, recounting the story of God calling Joshua to be “strong and courageous” as he take Moses’ place as the leader of Israel (Joshua 1:1-9). Here, Jesse expounds one of the key themes of the episode: “Fear is the enemy; fear is the thief… We must not fear. We must face fear because God will always be there on the other side.”
When some of the other young people notice blood on David, David explains that the Old King has returned – Jesse’s efforts to drive it off have apparently failed. The others question whether David was simply too busy playing his mother’s harp. Frustrated that the others aren’t listening and that he’s considered “nothing more than a bastard in this house,” David goes back out to the field where he belongs. There, as he looks up to the sky, we see David praying for God to reveal his will, while he recollects memories of his mother teaching him how to sing and play songs in praise of Adonai.
The next morning, Jesse finds David practicing his sling. He notes how David reflects his mother’s bold spirit. David questions why Jesse keeps him bridled instead of letting him prove himself and seek glory serving with the King’s armies. Jesse believes that Israel should have never sought a King and that there is no glory in serving him. Saul takes enough already – Jesse won’t let him take David too. Still, David insists that he hears God speaking to him, telling him that he is meant for more than the life of a shepherd.
Returning home, David discovers that the Old King has attacked. Finding his young sister, Avva, he hides with her, narrowly escaping the lion. As Jesse questions why God is judging him by sending this demon, David insists that he is done waiting and sets off to face the lion.
David tracks the Old King to a cave in the hills. Outside of the cave, he makes a torch, steeling himself with the reminder that “Fear is the enemy. Fear is a thief.” Inside the cave, David continues to encourage himself with the words of God to Joshua. Finally, the lion attacks and David slays it (a set up for his claim in 1 Samuel 17:37). He emerges from the cave at dawn, covered in blood, roaring like a lion.
King Saul and Samuel in House of David Season 1 Episode 1
Saul’s story begins in the midst of the Battle of Havilah against the Amalekite army (1 Samuel 15:1-8). The narrator explains that the Lord had commanded Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites, a brutal nation of blood drinkers led by the cannibal witch-king Agag, but Saul disobeyed by keeping the cattle and other spoils for his men and sparing Agag (1 Samuel 15:9).
We later see Saul in Gilgal apportioning the spoils of battle to his men beside a stela he has raised to the glory of Israel and of Saul – not God (1 Samuel 15:12). When Jonathan brings news of Goliath’s attack on the border town, he dismisses it as a Philistine trick to intimidate them. When Jonathan questions why Saul is dividing the spoils of the Amalekites, contrary to the command of Samuel, Saul insists that the time of the judges has passed and the time of Kings has come. He too is anointed and is much more concerned with honoring the tribal leaders of the men who fought and died than he is with appeasing one seer.
Meanwhile in Ramah, we are introduced to the seer Samuel (Stephen Lang), who is weeping and crying out to the Lord. Samuel explains to his assistant, Silas, that he must go and speak the words of the Lord and unmake what has been made.
Back in Gilgal, Saul hosts a great feast for the leaders of the Israelite tribes. Adriel, the elder of Judah, recounts how Saul has brought prosperity to the twelve tribes and renews his pledge of fealty to Saul. Saul raises a toast to his son, Jonathan, who he believes will be an even greater King than him one day. As the revelry continues, Agag sits at Saul’s feet – Saul unwilling to gift him death, contrary to the advice of his general, Abner. Suddenly Samuel arrives and publicly denounces Saul for ascribing glory to himself instead of the Lord and for disobediently sparing Agag and taking the spoils of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:13-16).
Saul asks Samuel to talk to him in private, where he rebukes Samuel for shaming him in front of the tribal elders. When he insinuates that Samuel’s words are motivated by jealousy because the Israelites rejected the leadership of his sons, Samuel insists that he wept for Saul but must now declare the words of the Lord. When Saul was little in his own eyes, the Lord raised him up as King but now that he is great, he has rebelled in his arrogance (1 Samuel 15:17-19). Therefore the Lord is handing him over to a twisted power and his mind will be cursed. When Saul points out how much he and the men have sacrificed, Samuel declares that to obey is better than sacrifice and stubborn disobedience is as bad as idolatry (1 Samuel 15:22-23). Saul has feared the people instead of fearing God. As Samuel leaves, Saul tears a piece of his robe and Samuel declares that the Lord has torn the Kingdom from him and give it to another (1 Samuel 15:27-29).
In fulfillment of Samuel’s words, Saul is immediately struck by spiritual torment (1 Samuel 16:14). Meanwhile, Samuel goes back into the main tent, where Agag remains chained up by Saul’s throne. Taking a sword, Samuel pronounces judgment on Agag for all the lives he has taken and proceeds to hack him to pieces (1 Samuel 15:32-33), declaring to the people that God is not mocked. Samuel then departs from the tent, explaining to Silas that they must go and find a new king.
Jonathan and Michael in House of David Season 1 Episode 1
After participating in the Battle of Havilah near the beginning of the episode, Jonathan, the Crown Prince, hears rumors of an incursion in one of the Israelite border towns. Although he is exhausted from battle, he sets out immediately and eventually arrives in the ruins of the town, where he meets a young boy, one of the few survivors of the attack. We get a quick flashback from the boy, who is otherwise unable to speak, and witness the hulking Goliath stalking through the town, while flaming arrows rain down destruction. Jonathan laments how he failed to protect the child even though that's his job as prince and he swears that when he finds the perpetrator she will return them to the dust. He then discovers a massive handprint and recalls the tale of the Sons of God taking the daughters of men spawning the gigantic Nephilim (Genesis 6:1-4).
When Jonathan returns to the Israelite camp at Gilgal with the child survivor in tow, his second in command expresses concern that the child might talk and spread frightening tales throughout the camp, but Jonathan dismisses the concern, given how the child remains silent. As he looks about the camp at the spoil and sees Agag in prison, he’s concerned to see his father’s disobedience. He brings the child to his family tent, where his mother Ahinoam (Ayelet Zurer) and his sisters, Mirab and Mychal, have come to prepare the celebration for Saul’s victory. Mychal immediately embraces the child, while Mirab chides Jonathan for taking in a stray and Mychal for dirtying her expensive dress by hugging the dirty child. Ahinoam also prods Jonathan to keep an eye out for a wife, noting that he’s grieved long enough (presumably for a deceased wife).
Meanwhile, Jonathan’s lecherous younger brother, Eshbaal (aka Ishbosheth) is sitting around in his tent, drinking wine and hitting on one of the servant girls. When she asks whether he might be king someday, he boasts that he prefers the decadence of his position to the burden of real power. To illustrate that point, Jonathan arrives and chides Eshbaal for sitting out the battle while younger men fought and died – and for convincing Saul to keep the cursed spoil. Eshbaal offers him some wine, encouraging him to enjoy some much deserved revelry, but Jonathan turns him away.
When Jonathan finds his father at the stela memorializing the victory, he is concerned to see how it boasts of the greatness of their house and not the greatness of God, although Saul insists that their greatness is God’s greatness. He reports the signs of the giant but his father insists that the giants were all destroyed by Joshua (Joshua 15:13-14) and that this must be a trick to intimidate them. Jonathan also expresses concern about Saul’s disregard for Samuel’s instructions about the spoil and Agag, but again has his concerns silenced by Saul.
Later, during the celebration, Saul raises a toast to Jonathan – one that is mockingly followed by a toast from Eshbaal to his “perfect” brother. As the feast progresses, Jonathan watches as David’s older brother, Eliab, participates in a boxing match in order to win Agag’s sword. Meanwhile, Mychal is concerned when she notices Agag apparently casting a spell. She flees out of the tent and encounters a sudden storm. When Jonathan joins her outside, he realizes that the storm is a sign of God’s displeasure at what they have done. After Samuel denounces Saul and hands him over to spiritual oppression, he expresses his remorse to Mychal. Meanwhile, the child Jonathan saved earlier curls up in his tent, terrified by the storm and the din from the camp.
Review of House of David Season 1 Episode 1
Episode 1 left me hopeful and eager to continue watching House of David. A few elements that I was particularly impressed by:
Biblical Fidelity and Themes: I was impressed by just how closely the events of the episode were dictated by 1 Samuel. In particular, I was surprised that the show didn’t shy away from the idea of God devoting the Amalekites to total destruction – and that it even portrayed Samuel hacking the imprisoned Agag to pieces in an approving light. It also appears to be going all in on the idea of the Nephilim giants. If Amazon was going to try to soften the hard edges of the biblical source material, this is the sort of thing I would have expected them to cut out, so I left the episode pretty confident that the show will continue to hew closely to the biblical story. Perhaps more importantly, I left the episode confident that the show was engaging with the biblical story at a deep level and not just reproducing events. The key themes of the episode reflected the key themes and concerns of Samuel. Of course, the show also includes heavy amounts of fiction, but even the invented portions were designed to uphold Samuel’s themes and they were clearly setting up dynamics that will arise later in the story (e.g. Eshbaal’s unwanted kingship, David’s status as a family pariah and his love for music, the Mirab-Mychal-David triangle).
Creative Solutions to Biblical Problems: God’s command to annihilate the Amalekites and slaughter Agag strikes many modern readers as problematic. I was pretty impressed by how House of David handled this issue – by highlighting the decadence that resulted from Israel not devoting the spoils of war to destruction and by characterizing Agag as a kind of psychotic cannibal witch-king, who apparently could have corrupted the Israelites if left imprisoned. The show demonstrates a similar degree of creativity in the way it deals with other aspects of the biblical story that would either be puzzling or troubling for modern audiences (e.g. its explanation for why Saul disregards the Lord’s command, its justification for the Lord sending an oppressive spirit against Saul).
Ambition: No one can fault House of David for being too modest in its aims. It would have been easy for the show to play things safe by keeping the story more contained (e.g. the show could have started later in the biblical story and avoided the need for large and costly battle scenes and the complexities surrounding the destruction of the Amalekites). But House of David takes on these challenges, as it aims to be truly epic in scale and in worldbuilding.
Dealing with Faith: It can be difficult for a show to deal with aspects of faith in a way that doesn’t feel hokey. But the faith-centered elements of House of David feel pretty organic – perhaps largely because of how the show contextualizes them within the tropes of modern fantasy (e.g. David’s sense of calling feels reminiscent of Luke Skywalker’s sense of destiny, Samuel feels reminiscent of a Gandalf-like figure).
Performances: I can’t think of a single performance that disappointed me. Ali Suliman has a difficult job, making Saul spiritually flawed and yet appealing from a worldly perspective, but he pulls it off well. I was also surprised by the ferocity of Stephen Lang’s Samuel. Eshbaal oozes with the kind of empty charm that will make him a character viewers love to hate. Ethan Kai and Michael Iskander are both likeable heroes that are easy to root for.
Characterization: Despite my problems with David’s story arc, other aspects of his characterization were interesting. The show is doubling down on his status as an outsider, which strikes me as a wise choice. The connection he has to his mother through music and his complicated relationship with his father were also very strong elements. Saul’s characterization was even more complex and interesting. I like how the show uses the various members of his family and court to highlight his conflicting desires and qualities. To that end, we see Saul pushed and pulled between several competing pairs: between the dissolute and apathetic Eshbaal and the ethical and protective Jonathan, between the supercilious Mirab and the compassionate Mychal, and between the adoring elders of Israel and the harsh Samuel. These competing pairs help provide Saul a real depth and also help highlight the show’s key themes.
Production Value: In general, I was quite satisfied with the costuming, sets, effects, and scale of the show. The battle scenes felt appropriately epic and the fighting felt appropriately stylized and exciting. The lion felt a little borderline – but it worked about as well as could be expected (I generally don’t like CGI lions even for much bigger productions like Disney’s “live action” Lion King). And, as I note below, I wasn’t a big fan of the filter used for Saul’s madness. But for a show that’s as ambitious as House of David, having only a couple small quibbles is impressive (even the classic The Lord of the Rings films have occasional weak points).
Music: The scenes of David and his mother singing in Hebrew are moving and beautiful. It’s quite appropriate for a movie about the sweet psalmist of Israel to go out of its way to include music.
The Influence of Dune: I was intrigued by a couple of apparent allusions to Dune. Most obviously, “Fear is the enemy. Fear is a thief” seems to echo Dune’s famous line, “Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.” But I also think there’s an interesting parallel between Princess Mychal’s role, as the narrator of the fall of her father and the rise of her world-changing husband, and the role of Princess Irulan. That parallel is particularly interesting given Mychal’s eventual fate – being kept in David’s harem but left childless (2 Samuel 6:23). Perhaps I’m reading into things, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for other parallels as the show progresses. Drawing on Dune would be a savvy move – after all, it is the most recent fantasy to achieve significant success at the box office.
Although I was, for the most part, impressed by Episode 1, there were a few flaws with the episode that stuck out to me:
Issues with the Opening and Narration
I understand and sympathize with the challenge of constructing an opening sequence for an epic series like this, and what House of David did was passable, but it had a few significant flaws.
I don’t think we needed to begin the show with what essentially feels like a “coming soon on House of David” preview – an impression that is strengthened by how much of the actual trailer for the show overlaps with this sequence. I get that they want to telegraph where the show is heading, but that’s what a trailer is for. The decision betrayed a lack of confidence (we need to tease the big flashy stuff up front or the viewers might not stick around) and may diminish the potential tension building up to the event. More importantly, the time would have been better invested in showing bits of the historical context that is being narrated (ala what we get while Galadriel narrates in The Fellowship of the Ring).
The whole “can one stone change the course of history” bit doesn’t sound nearly as epic as the show seems to think.
Mychal’s narration also feels redundant, overly didactic, and on the nose at several points. We don’t need her to come out and tell us how Saul is growing arrogant and that he has ignored Samuel’s instructions about the Amalekite spoil. All of this information comes out in a much more natural way as the story itself actually unfolds. Again, it feels like a lack of confidence (we need to spell out all of this historical stuff and the big lessons or the viewers might not understand). We live in a time where audiences are used to navigating complex worlds and don’t need to be hit over the head with information and themes.
Issues with David’s Story
I have plenty of positive things to say below about David’s characterization, but I do have a couple issues with his storyline:
David has a pretty flat arc. He already seems pretty brave at the start of the story and never really seems to waver in his courage. As a result, when he heads off to face the lion, it doesn’t really feel as significant as it should. Moreover, when he’s in the cave and recites God’s exhortation to be strong and courageous, it doesn’t really land emotionally, because he hasn’t really seemed to struggle with fear in a concrete way. Maybe we’re supposed to see fear in his performance, but it would have been better if the show had grounded that in a more specific moment of weakness (e.g. maybe David fails to act and someone gets hurt as a result).
I was disappointed that we didn’t get more of David’s battle with the lion. Maybe the show wanted to avoid the gore or maybe it was the visual effects, but it felt like an anti-climactic ending.
Issues with Saul’s Story
I only had a couple small critiques of Saul’s story:
I wasn’t a big fan of the visual effects used for Saul’s madness. It was a quick moment though, so maybe I’ll get more used to it later.
The speech by the elder of Judah feels a little too much like a “as you know” moment.
I wish the show had contrived a way to give us a moment between Saul and Samuel before their big confrontation. I think the moment would have felt much more emotional if we had seen them have more positive interactions before, instead of just having Samuel tell us that he once loved Saul as a son. This is another option for what they could have done in the intro instead of previewing David vs. Goliath – we could have had Samuel meet with Saul, giving him the instructions about the war against Amalek (this would also eliminate the need for that information to come to us second-hand through the narrator and other characters).
In a similar way, it would have been ideal for us to have briefly seen Agag before he was captured so we got actual evidence of his cannibalism instead of merely hearing about it.
None of these issues felt so significant that they prevented me from enjoying the episode or discouraged me from continuing on. Indeed, I am hopeful that a few of these issues will be contained to Episode 1 (e.g. the opening and narration). Still, I like to provide honest and constructive feedback even on shows I like, with the hopes of helping future seasons continue to improve.
Key Themes of House of David Season 1 Episode 1
Episode 1 of House of David centers around fear, but the show approaches this broad topic from several complementary angles, each of which is attached to a specific character/storyline:
Fear is the Enemy, Fear is a Thief
As David’s father, Jesse, recounts the story of Joshua being commissioned to lead the conquest of Canaan, he quotes the famous line, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed” (Joshua 1:9, ESV) and elaborates that fear is the enemy and a thief. Just like an enemy attacks the body and a thief can steal ones belongings, fear attacks the soul and steals one's spirit and willpower. Although Jesse is the one who articulates this key theme, his understanding is apparently superficial, as he seems to be clinging onto David, fearing the loss of the last reminder of his deceased wife. David, on the other hand, seems to begin the episode with an already established sense of courage, grounded in his belief that God is with him and has a greater purpose for him. Even so, he naturally experiences a sense of primal fear as he enters into the den of the Old King. Meditating on his father’s admonition and God’s words to Joshua help ground him in the face of fear, so that he can take on the existential threat to his family’s way of life.
Of course, David’s battle against the Old King is only a warm up for what lies ahead. The opening scene telegraphs how Goliath will soon pose an even more fearsome threat – one that the other Israelite men will fail to step up to because they are, as Goliath says, “cowards” who haven’t learned to find courage through their faith in God (just like their ancestors failed when they first witnessed giants in Canaan in Numbers 13). It’s only by continuing to conquer his fear that David will be able to stand strong as Israel’s champion and leader, just as Joshua once did.
Fear of God vs. Fear of Men
Not all fear is bad. It’s good to have a proper fear of God that leads to diligent obedience. Indeed, that is the ultimate aim of God’s command to Joshua – “being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, that you may have good success wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7). When we give in to the wrong kind of fear – the fear of man – it inevitably leads us away from the reverent fear of the Lord to which we are called.
Saul’s story is designed to illustrate this tension. He is afraid of the people – specifically the tribal elders – and feels the need to appease them with spoil and to impress them by taking Agag prisoner, even though by doing so Saul is disobeying the Lord’s command to devote the Amalekites to utter destruction. He sees the decision in completely human terms – it’s a choice between listening to one man (Samuel) or many men (the elders). After all, according to Saul, “life is politics” – there is no real transcendent dimension that supersedes political calculations of loyalty, strength, and cunning. Not only does Saul see the world this way himself – he projects his perspective onto others like Samuel, who Saul assumes is motivated by jealousy and a desire to regain the political status that he once had. Even when Samuel begins to pronounce divine judgment upon him, Saul seems more concerned with avoiding the public shame and political fallout than he is with having displeased God.
Of course, Saul is not an atheist. He believes in God – but he has come to identify God’s glory with his own personal glory. That’s why, when he sets up the stela to memorialize the battle, it doesn’t see why it’s such a big deal that he only talks about his own glory and Kingdom and not the glory of God. Granted, he will occasionally give lip service to God, honoring him through external sacrifices, but what he doesn’t understand is that “to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. or rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.” One cannot glorify God without humbly seeking to listen to and obey his voice. God cannot be bribed with the external fruits of human glory like animal sacrifices – what he actually wants is the internal sacrifice of a humble and submissive heart. Fortunately, we’ve seen evidence that David is quite different – his efforts to be still and listen to God show that his heart has the humility and fear that is lacking in Saul’s.
Fear of Discomfort vs. Fear for Others
There’s another type of legitimate fear that we see on display in Jonathan’s storyline. A righteous and caring leader is concerned for the well-being of his subjects. He will take threats to them seriously – even if it means sacrificing his own comfort and security. Jonathan is driven by this proper fear for the people of his kingdom. When he hears news of the raid on Baal Hatzor, he immediately goes to investigate, even though he’s still exhausted from battle and may be riding into danger. After he sees how the town was ruined on his watch, he apologizes to the boy survivor for failing to protect his family and vows to pursue justice.
Jonathan’s passionate concern for others stands in sharp contrast to Eshbaal’s fear of discomfort. He completely rejects his royal responsibilities, disingenuously claiming that he’s too young and “cultured” to fight, while showing absolutely no concern for the fact that others probably died as a result of his own cowardice. To make matters worse, out of his eagerness for even more comfort and luxury, he then persuades Saul to keep the cursed objects, not considering for a moment how this might put others at risk.
That was a lot! Hope you enjoyed this deep dive into Episode 1 of House of David. Be sure to check out my recap, review, and analysis for Episode 2 and Episode 3 as well – and keep an eye out for future installments in the coming weeks. And also feel free to jump in the comments below to leave your questions and thoughts.
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