Mrs. Davis: Allison Treasures: A Southern California Story

May 4, 2023 7:15 AM - Season 1, Episode 6

After learning the whereabouts of the Holy Grail, Simone partners with Wiley and the Resistance to heist a special suit needed for its extraction. The only problem - the suit is currently in the possession of Simone's mother, Celeste.
posted by ellieBOA (13 comments total)

No spoilers, but this episode provided one of my favorite surprises so far. And there have been some doozies in this opening season.
posted by vverse23 at 7:46 AM on May 5, 2023 [2 favorites]

It's FanFare, spoilers are OK. And I have no idea what you're referring to, please share!

Probably my least fav ep so far. Not nearly bonkers enough! Did LOL at the Ayn Rand joke, however.
posted by Frayed Knot at 8:40 AM on May 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

Spoil away!

The Vulture recapper agrees: It can be said without fear of contradiction that this is the least zany episode of Mrs. Davis yet. [Archive link]
posted by ellieBOA at 9:14 AM on May 5, 2023

to me it felt that after last week's info dump this episode is gradually leading us back into full-zany again. We needed to catch our breath, and i think slamming back into the crazy would have been jarring. Hopefully they put the pedal down next week when they go after the whale and the grail.
posted by jazon at 9:28 AM on May 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have desperately been trying to get my movie club to watch this. I didn't know what to expect going in.

It started bonkers.
Then it got weirder.

jazon, I agree about giving us a breather. This whole thing is just glorious. And, weirdly, kind of fully-fleshed out characters - much due to some fine, fine, non-verbal acting.

This episode fills in some colors in the corner of a very complicated canvas. The use of the black-and-white motif for the mom is nice - reflects her way of seeing every situation.

The shrine room was a little over the top, but the whole show has inured me to over the top, so - I just rolled with it at this point. JQ's squeal at seeing Mom's set-up ("Game recognizes game!") was delightful.
posted by Silvery Fish at 4:32 PM on May 5, 2023

Raymond Teller, of Penn and Teller was the magician advisor!

How Mrs. Davis'Resident Magician Taught A Nun New Tricks [Inverse]
posted by ellieBOA at 12:40 PM on May 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Least zany, but so informative. Mrs. Davis tells people what they want to hear to increase engagement, it seems obvious, but as this episode's proxy says, "Bummer.", Simone's mother read Atlas Shrugged to her as as child, and really great sex lets you actually see Christ (I assume believers only) is just excellent. The hall pass from J is just so on brand, and off dogma, that it brings a smile to my face. But Simone's father, he is a true, and epic POS.

I just want to see Mom's reaction to the actual grail. Also, I am curious, how did the whale have the Grail in its belly this long without its head going boom?
posted by Ignorantsavage at 4:55 PM on May 7, 2023

"You're a big, strong boy. Everybody loves you. You're never going to die!"

I want all future episodes of Black Mirror to be done in the style of this show, please.
posted by Acari at 11:33 AM on May 9, 2023

The Mrs. Davis Writers’ Room Was Built With New Voices and New Values [Vulture / Archive]
posted by ellieBOA at 5:33 AM on May 10, 2023

Raymond Teller

He's been just Teller for going on 50 years. He is/was just Teller to his parents. He legally changed his name and everything.

Edit: huh, that article uses "Raymond". Wonder if that's just a puff piece writer doing their research by scanning the top of his Wikipedia page, or if he is bringing the Raymond back.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 8:31 AM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

That’s why I added Raymond even though I’d never heard him use that name!
posted by ellieBOA at 8:55 AM on May 12, 2023

So much of what they know hinges on information that Clara's father told them, and since we've found that everyone on this show is an unreliable narrator, I'm anticipating finding out that (a) the Grail was actually double-swapped in an attempt to get the Sisters of the Coin to destroy their "fake" Grail, which is actually real, and/or that (b) Clara is still alive. The arc of the story points more toward (a), because it would make Simone the parakeet for her own father as well as for Clara's father and there are so many parallels between the two women and their parents. BUT, that also seems maybe too straightforward and telegraphed for this show, so maybe (a) is a red herring and (b) is the way to go, since faking death is another theme of the show. I'm really eager to see the final two episodes but I'll be sad to finish too.
posted by rikschell at 5:59 AM on May 22, 2023

I also think Clara is alive because every instance of over-the-top violence has been faked.
posted by tofu_crouton at 3:16 PM on June 24, 2023