Episode
3 surprised me a little; I’m of course used to film and TV adaptations making
changes to their original source material, be it novel or historical. However, it’s always unexpected to see an
adaptation making changes to the Bible – especially the Christmas story. Here, Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem
starts before Joseph is visited by an
angel and assured that Mary is indeed carrying the Messiah. The journey instead begins with tension and
anger. Mary’s parents, fearing for her
safety as an unwed pregnant woman, beg Joseph to escort her to Bethlehem in the
hopes that she’ll be able to hide until they figure out what to do for
her. Though Joseph is furious at her
seeming betrayal, he can’t stop loving her and doesn’t want her coming to
harm. That doesn’t mean he’s happy about
the arrangement, though, and this reordering of the timeline naturally extends
the dramatic potential.
Revision
aside, the general reaction to Mary’s pregnancy is well-done. There’s an intense, almost visceral scene of
Joseph confronting Mary, as well as her parents’ crushing disappointment in
her, her village’s violence against her, and her religion’s rejection of her
(honestly, the alliteration just happened – it wasn’t a plan or anything.) You really get a sense of the impossible
position she’s in. How does one even begin to explain something like that?
And of
course, we can’t forget the magi. Our
favorite wise men enter Herod’s domain today, where they’re menaced and intimidated
for their troubles. Despite their best
attempts at subterfuge (which only Balthazar is any real good at – he really is
the most street-smart magi,) Herod and his minions start to smell out their
intent. Herod, by the way, is very suitably
creepy: diseased, paranoid, and
power-mad.
Once
again, Balthazar is the voice of practicality.
While they ultimately decide not to abandon their journey, he brings up
the very real danger of carrying on – Herod could easily punish them and the citizens of Bethlehem. It seems he’s also the one who figures out
how to escape Herod’s notice and continue.
I forgot
to mention a couple more familiar faces in this miniseries. I recognized Claudie Blakley, who plays Mary’s
mother, as Charlotte Lucas from the Knightley/Macfadyen version of Pride and Prejudice. Additionally, Ruth Negga (the wife of Thomas,
the shepherd) has appeared in several things I’ve seen: she first caught my eye in Breakfast on Pluto, she joined PC as
another W.H.O. doctor in World War Z,
and most recently, she’s had a recurring role as a baddie on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Warnings
Some of
the epithets against Mary get pretty ugly, and there’s a scene of attempted
violence.
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