The Chosen S4E2 – a quick round-up
Links to some things I've written about Caesarea Philippi's set design, whether the original followers of Jesus really stopped using the name "Simon" for Peter, and more.
The Chosen Season 4 Episode 2 starts streaming tonight, so here’s a quick round-up of some of the things I’ve already written about this episode.
In 2018, I visited Caesarea Philippi with my mother. In December 2023, when the trailer for Season 4 came out, I noted that I had taken a picture of my mother standing in the exact same spot that apparently inspired The Chosen’s production team when they replicated Caesarea Philippi for this episode.
I interviewed some of the makers of this series in January. I spoke to series creator Dallas Jenkins and actor Jonathan Roumie about how they humanized Jesus through dream sequences and the like, and I spoke to Paras Patel about the turning point that his character, Matthew, reaches with Simon Peter in this episode.
I wrote some brief notes on Episodes 1-3 in February.
This is the episode in which Jesus gives Simon the name Peter. In the series, the name “Peter” replaces the name “Simon” almost instantly. But did the historical Jesus and his followers really stop calling Simon “Simon”? I wrote a post in February—with charts!—examining this question.
And, that about covers it for now.
You can watch a new trailer for the episode here:
The episode itself will be livestreamed tonight at 5:30pm PT / 8:30pm ET, here:
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The Chosen interviews:
Season 1: Dallas Jenkins, co-writer/director (Dec 2019)
Season 2: Dallas Jenkins, co-writer/director (May 2021) | Derral Eves, producer, on Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers (Nov 2021) | Dallas Jenkins on the ‘The Chosen Is Not Good’ marketing campaign (Apr 2022)
Season 3: Jordan Walker Ross, Little James (Oct 2022) | Vanessa Benavente, Mother Mary (Nov 2022) | Kirk B.R. Woller, Gaius (Nov 2022)
Season 4: Dallas Jenkins, Jonathan Roumie, Abe Bueno-Jallad, Vanessa Benavente, Yasmine Al-Bustami, and Brandon Potter at the press junket; Reza Diako, Alaa Safi, and Elijah Alexander on the teal carpet (Feb 2024) | Paras Patel and Noah James at the press junket; producers Chad Gundersen and Chris Juen on the teal carpet (Feb 2024)
The Chosen recaps:
Season 1: review | scripture index
Episode recaps: The Shepherd | one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eightSeason 2: The Messengers review | scripture index
Episode recaps: one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | The MessengersSeason 3: Episodes 1 & 2 notes | Episodes 7 & 8 notes | scripture index
Episode recaps: one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eightSeason 4: Episodes 1-3 notes
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The Chosen can be streamed via the show’s official app (Android | Apple).
I have just been getting caught up on this series, so gonna throw some thoughts down here, starting with episode 1 of Season 4.
Judas and Simon Zea convo-
Separate the good grain from the bad
Separate the animal fat - solid and liquids
Separate old life (and preconceptions) from the new life Jesus offers.
I found this conversation some what out of place with the rest of the episode so have been wondering his this might have been the start of developing Judas’ character arc in particular, I.e. unable to leave his preconceptions behind lead to his ultimate fall (and what specifically are the preconceptions that prove fatal? Having already seen Ep 2, I think there might be a hint of this)
Joanna’s trip
To what purpose - bring the news of John’s possible death to Jesus? To Andrew? Why the rush and suspense? Seemed kind of mis-placed as it’s not as if she was expecting anyone to do something to stop Hohn’s execution, which she could only have been guessing about when she left before Herod’s party.
Salome’s dance
Yeah they downplayed the “sexual” aspect, but wondering if Herod could just as well be overtaken by the “athletic prowess” of it. Given the ancient Greek / Roman admiration for athletic ability - note Apostle Paul even appeals to this sentiment in some of his writings - perhaps it’s a credible take. ( though I suspect the choice may have more to do with not wanting to be too salacious in a PG “family” oriented TV show.)