The Chosen Season 4 Episodes 1–3 Review

The Chosen by show runner Dallas Jenkins, is the first ever multi-season series covering the life of Jesus and his disciples, and if the first ever fully crowdfunded tv. Its 4th season sets a new record as the it will fully premiere in several episode increments across the month of February, starting with the first three episodes which premiered on the 1st of the month.

First episode are rarely my favorite, as they have the unfortunate job of needing to introduce each character and their story for the coming season along with giving the audience some reason to stick around for the rest of the season. First episodes are often slow, and The Chosen is already a relatively slow paced show, a combination that causes me to spend the first episode adjusting to the given direction for the current series. While season four is not an exception, it really does feel like the various story arch’s and character moments from previous seasons are beginning to converge here, as even small moments from several season prior are starting to pay off. It truly feels like the past three seasons are the foundation from which the series will launch off of, starting with season 4.

There is an underlying tension throughout the first three episodes present right off the bat in the first episode. Between the jewish religious leaders, the occupying Roman forces, and Jesus and his followers disrupting it up, the breaking point its imminent. This is no surprise for anyone who’s familiar with The Bible, to which, we all know where this is headed. Speaking of heads, (spoiler alert… I guess? The Bible has been around for a little while now, I would recommend reading it) the first episode centers around the death of John the Baptist. Despite my earlier remarks of a slow start, theres some exceptional set pieces in just the first episode that really show how far the show has come since its first season, complete with a fairly unique dance that has you wondering the behind-the-scenes story for how it all came together. The Chosen seems to finally have the adequate budget to tell the story at the scale it deserves to be told.

But for me, this premiere really excelled in its second episode, which kicks off with a long, silent shot of Jesus alone in the wilderness. It’s one of those shots that perfectly defines the character and where he’s at in the current point in the show. You can truly feel the weight Jesus (played as good as ever by Jonathan Roumie) carries in his role as social tensions begin to boil in these first three episodes. While the prior seasons had Jesus meeting people in their emotional and physical distress, here we see that it is Jesus who is taking the emotional toll.

The episode is the perfect example of what makes The Chosen so enjoyable to watch, as we get to see how the characters closest to John the Baptist deal with his death. While its always a treat to see how the show handles the big moments in scripture, its the in-between moments that makes The Chosen worth watching. While we don’t get much in scripture in regard to how Jesus and his disciples dealt with the baptizer’s death, The Chosen is able to explore what that could have looked like. You get to see the conversations that could have happened but were never recorded. Make no mistake, the show is not a replacement for The Bible, nor does it claim to add or take away from it, but rather artistic look at humanity of characters and the possible circumstances that could surround the moments described in The Bible.

While The Chosen is at its best when its story mingles with scripture, it does come at a cost; the further the show strays from scripture, the further I felt myself stray from the story. While these moments are fewer and far between in the fourth season, they are still present, particularly in the first and third episodes.

The third episode begins with a warning of violence within the episode, and when it finally hits the screen it felt rather tame in comparison to most other shows. On one hand, I understand that The Chosen is not most other shows and is aiming to be as applicable to a broad audience as possible. On the other, I cant help but feel slightly worried for how it will handle the crucifixion, which arguably demands an R-rated treatment.

The premiere ends with the building tension between all the opposing factions finally bursting through the surface, leaving us with some of the biggest consequences we’ve seen on the show yet. On one hand, I’m eager to find out how each of the characters is affected by the somber ending in episode three. That being said, the concluding event is one of the shows own making. It’s distance from recorded scriptural events had me thinking more on the implications made by it rather than focusing on the emotions it should have made me feel.

I will pre-phase my concluding thoughts with this: it’s hard to judge episodes apart from the completed season. It’s always felt unjust to me to be too critical when we are only looking at one part of an in-completed story. How each story thread is woven throughout the season, and the conclusion that they create will ultimately determine how good each episode is for me. So, take this with a grain of salt. I really wasn’t a big fan of the prior season’s two episode premiere (save for its emotional final scene) yet by the season’a conclusion, the show had become my favorite religious story to ever grace our screens. My review of the show’s finale will include my concluding thoughts for the season as a whole.

The Message: The first three episodes have a lot to say, but it was Matthew (Paras Patel) and Peter’s (Shahar Isaac) moments of both realizing they needed to forgive each other and then doing so that stood out above the rest for me. Forgiveness might as well be synonymous with Christianity because they’re so closely tied together. Matthew struggles with the concept of apologizing to someone who may not forgive him in the first place, to which Jesus replies that it is the repentance on his part that matters and forgiveness is the gift the other person can choose to give. Meanwhile Peter struggles with giving that forgiveness so someone who had willingly wronged him so much. Each has their own lesson to learn from it, and it’s quite beautiful to see them get there. Forgiveness can be a two-fold message. Some of us need to repent. We need to realize that it’s our job to proactively do it regardless of the response. While others need to learn to offer forgiveness, because we’ve also all fallen short.

Conclusion: the first three episodes of The Chosen Season 4 are a solid beginning to the direction the show is heading in, cleverly pulling in from its prior seasons in satisfying ways leaving you hungry for more. The show is at its best when it builds around well-known moments from scripture, but can at times get lost in its own made up narrative, leaving you eager to get back to that next big moment.

Episode One — 7/10

Episode Two — 9/10

Episode Three — 7.5/10

“Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. ‘Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.’“ Matthew 18:21–35