Review: Prime Video’s House of David: ‘The Middle Path’ (S02 / E03)

2 weeks ago 25

13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee. – 1 Samuel: 13-14

House of David is a sprawling epic tale detailing the life of David who went on to become the second king of Israel. David was a man whom God called a man after his own heart, and it was from his lineage that the Lord promised the Messiah would come that was in the form of Jesus Christ.

House of David is back for season two. If you are interested in House of David season one, check out my review of every episode here.

House of David Season 2 Official Trailer | Watch only on Wonder Project on Prime Video October 5th

Spoilers

Episode 3: The Middle Path

Episode 3 begins with the long-awaited backstory of how Prince Eshbaal (Sam Otto) was able to escape from his banishment to Endor. The last we saw Eshbaal before his miraculous return, his carriage was attacked on the way to the prison city. We learn that he was captured by brigands and tortured until he was broken. But Eshbaal had tricked his captors into trusting him, and then turned the tide by slaying them and freeing his fellow prisoners. Or did he?

Eshbaal relays his harrowing tale to King Saul (Ali Suliman) but comes off entirely as an unreliable narrator that I speculate ties to events later in the episode.

To regain King Saul’s trust, Eshbaal tells him about his short coronation as King when they believe Saul was killed by the Philistines. He also promises to marry Dina (Joy Rieger) from the tribe of Dan, who he defiled, which led to his banishment in the first place. Eshbaal says he does this to honor Saul, but there is still that feeling Eshbaal is planning something.

Episode 2 ended with the explosive news that King Saul has betrothed David to Mirab (Yali Topol Margalith) and not Mychal (Indy Lewis), whom he truly loves. Later, David confronts Saul about his true feelings and tells him that he cannot marry Mirab, enraging Saul to the point his general Abner (Oded Fehr) has to escort David away and warns him not to choke on Saul’s gratitude.

Mychal herself tries to convince Saul that he had made a mistake and Saul lets it slip that it was her sister Mirab’s idea -prodded by Eshbaal in the previous episode- to marry David instead. Feeling betrayed, Mychal confronts her sister with a slap and the bond between them is sadly broken. David is later able to convince Saul to delay the marriage until he can truly earn his leadership role, but there is an underlying tension there between the two that wasn’t there before.

The majority of The Middle Path is spent with Eshbaal’s betrothal. To teach David diplomacy, Saul sends David along with Jonathan (Ethan Kai) to escort Eshbaal to the tribe of Dan and convince their leader Yahir (Justin Avoth) to allow the arrangement.

Being insulted by Eshbaal in season 1, Yahir rejects the marriage. Recognizing David as the Giant Slayer, Yahir invites David to hunt a hog, but David won’t hunt an unclean animal. Yet, he accompanies him to maybe change his mind about the marriage. This is where we first meet Dina, Yahir’s daughter, who swoops down and kills the hog that her father later takes credit for.

David is able to convince Yahir to accept the arrangement using his own life story as an underdog that keeps proving people wrong. As David smooth talks Yahir, Eshbaal talks to Dina, who agrees to marry him under several conditions: she won’t birth him an heir, she wants to hunt as much as she likes, and wants a stallion. She finishes by telling Eshbaal that she won’t pretend to love him since it’s just not in her.

Later, the marriage train is attacked by rogues who specifically appear to target Yahir who is murdered in the melee. David just barely saves Jonathan who also appears to be a target while the rogue leader strangely lets Eshbaal live.

My Thoughts:

The Middle Path is arguably the worst episode I’ve seen throughout the two seasons of House of David so far. This is the first time I’ve seen the showrunners compromise biblical narratives in a negative way. Several non-biblical characters are introduced that either make no sense or are mischaracterized.

Early in the episode, while David is being taught to fight by Jonathan, he is introduced to a man named Oaz, who happens to be black. Oaz (Reis Daniel) comes out of nowhere and seems to be just another person in the tribe of Israel even though he sticks out like a sore thumb.

Reis Daniel plays Oaz fine enough, but Oaz is not of the bible and I can guess his addition was to satisfy Hollywood’s stringent awards requirements that force shows to shoehorn minorities where they do not belong just to be considered for an award.

Dina is another character that is not biblical and the showrunners fail in making her a compelling character. With no source material to draw from, they fell back on the tired tough girl-boss trope. She talks tough, can fight far above her size, and apparently has no need of a man even though this is ancient, patriarchal, Israel. This characterization makes Dina an unlikable addition to the show.

I’m praying these odd choices are just blips as Amazon and the showrunners know they have a good show and are trying to chase awards glory. But we’ve seen that chase ruin more than one show when they try to appease Hollywood elites over their audience.

You can watch House of David on Amazon Prime exclusive Wonder Project here for 8.99. For those who do not want to pay for another subscription, it is reported that House of David season two will be available to all Prime subscribers at a later date.

****

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