House of David Season 2 Episode 2: Review
- Kevin Keating
- 8 hours ago
- 9 min read
After the action-packed opening to House of David Season 2, Episode 2 ("A Journey Home") slows things down a bit in order to hammer home the cost of Israel’s victory and the ramifications it will have for David, the House of Saul, and other key figures. If you’re following along in Scripture, Season 2 Episode 2 is basically covering the start of David’s ascent through the Israelite military (1 Samuel 18:5) as well as the resulting drama in the House of Saul. I’ll offer my initial review of Episode 2 below, but check back on October 5 for a detailed summary and an analysis of Episode 1’s key themes and ideas. You can also check out my review of House of David Episodes 1-2 on YouTube.
How to watch House of David Season 2
To watch Season 2 of House of David, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial of the new Wonder Project subscription (affiliate link). After the trial, the subscription costs an additional $8.99/month on top of Prime Video.
More House of David Resources
What Happened in House of David Season 2 Episode 2 (A Journey Home)?
Detailed summaries Episodes 1-2 of House of David Season 2 are under embargo until Sunday. Check back then for more information about what happened.
Review of House of David Season 2 Episode 2
Episode 1 started Season 2 off with an epic homerun. Episode 2 isn’t trying to knock the ball out of the park, but what it does, it does well:
Production Value, Costumes, Cinematography, Choreography: House of David continues to maintain the quality of a mainstream historical/fantasy epic. Pretty much* everything looks top notch.
Mychal’s Narration, Dune, & Dramatic Irony: The Lord of the Rings isn’t the only epic fantasy franchise that House of David has a pattern of interacting with. Since the opening of Season 1, I’ve been drawing attention to how House of David also seems to be influenced by Dune. In particular, I’ve been wondering whether the opening narration from (future) Mychal should remind us of the role of Princess Irulan’s frame-commentary in Dune. Like Irulan, Mychal will end up as a wife to her royal father’s successor (i.e. David) and yet she will be spitefully denied the opportunity to have any of his children (2 Samuel 6:23). Just as (future) Irulan’s commentary in Dune offers readers an ironic vantage point from which to interpret the primary action in the novel, (future) Mychal’s narration is meant to influence our perspective on the events depicted in House of David. So far, David has been depicted as fairly blameless, particularly in the adoring eyes of (present-timeline) Mychal. But in her opening narration, Future-Mychal describes David as the “one I loved” (past tense) – a hint that a major rupture in the relationship is on the horizon. This changes our perspective on events and characters in the present timeline. Instead of taking the current state of affairs for granted, we’re primed to look for cracks in their relationship and signs of corruption in David. Instead of reinforcing the common misperception that David was pretty much sinless until he slipped up with Bathsheba, House of David is helping us see how the seeds of David’s downfall were present with him from the beginning.
Flashforward: Although I complained about the use of a flashforward in Season 1 to broadcast the upcoming fight between David and Goliath, I don’t have any issues with the use of a flashforward in Season 2 Episode 2 because it creates a sense of dramatic irony. I was expecting King Saul to become jealous of David much earlier in the season. Instead, Saul genuinely seems to be trying to bless David throughout the episode and he’s even trying to take a more respectful tack with Samuel. By telegraphing to viewers that the relationship between Saul and David (just like the relationship between David and Mychal) is doomed to fail, House of David imbues the events of David’s rise with a sense of dread and foreboding.
Palm Sunday Foreshadowing: The triumphal procession into Gibeah, greeted by cheering crowds, armed with palm branches, is clearly designed to foreshadow Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. But careful Bible readers will note that David rides into Jerusalem on a horse and not a donkey. Though David is praised for being a simple shepherd and a musician, he is a pale reflection of his far humbler (and more mighty) descendent, Jesus.
Saul’s Complexity: Like I said, I expected Saul to turn against David much sooner, but I’m glad the writers avoided turning him into a simplistic villain so soon in the season. Instead, there’s a lot about Saul in Episode 2 that is praiseworthy – he’s eager to praise David, eager to reward him, quick to forgive his son, eager to make up with Mirab by giving her what she wants. That’s not to say that Saul has clean hands – he continues to be self-aggrandizing (David is his champion and a sign that the Lord is on his side) and insistent on his own vision of things, even when it goes against what the Lord’s prophet reveals. But we can still see the nobility in Saul – and that makes his future trajectory feel all the more tragic.
Complex Political Scheming: in both the narrative of Samuel and in the psalms, David often refers to false witnesses who are scheming against him (e.g. 1 Samuel 24:9, Psalm 27, Psalm 35), but the Bible itself doesn’t give us much information about who these schemers were and what they were after. I appreciate how Episode 2 of Season 2 begins to set up a complex web of competing schemes (Adriel and Jordan, Eshbaal and Ahinoam, Mirab, Doeg)that ultimately come together to turn Saul against David.
Eliab & David: I found Eliab and David’s conversation about the cost of the victory to be moving. And I also could totally buy his reaction to David’s elevation. It’s one thing to want your brother to survive and to be glad that God used him to defeat an enemy. It’s another thing to see him elevated ahead of you when you’ve been faithfully serving and advancing through the ranks for years. There’s also clearly some submerged anger at David for That Death which Eliab can’t articulate publicly and can only express through hostility. I’m looking forward to seeing the relationship between the two brothers continue to evolve. Eliab’s reaction to David also contrasts with Jonathan’s and makes it all the more apparent how awesome Jonathan is. Both know that David has been anointed and have to decide how they will respond to having an upstart elevated above them. Ironically, Jonathan is the one who is quicker to support David, even though he has far more to lose than Eliab.
Samuel: The requests made to Samuel throughout the episode seem quite reasonable, but that just highlights Samuel’s wisdom and fidelity when he refuses to budge. I thought Ahinoam’s exchange with Samuel was particularly powerful. The backstory it provides to her character adds an additional layer to help us make sense of her persistent support of Saul. I also love the final moment, when she asks Samuel if God can show Saul mercy and he replies – “he can, but he has not.” This is a hard truth that Christians don’t like to contemplate – although God has the ability to step in and turn the wicked away from the path of destruction, like Saul on the road to Damascus, he doesn’t always choose to do so. Many readers of the Book of Samuel are left questioning why God has mercy on David and not Saul, even though they both fail in big ways, and so I appreciate how the show is grappling with these issues.
Eshbaal & Mirab: I’ve been waiting to see how the show would motivate and justify David’s messy romantic situation, and I was pleased to see where they went with it. Eshbaal’s message to Mirab sounds like something out of a self-help book and might initially strike some viewers as positive. But the turn of events will show the folly of focusing solely on self-worth to the exclusion of considering others.
The Sword of Goliath: In my review for Episode 1, I noted how the Sword of Goliath (and more generally, iron weaponry) appears to be functioning as a major thematic symbol in Season 2. I appreciated seeing this theme continue to show up in a prominent way.
The Ending: Even though I knew what was coming, the closing turn was brutal. There’s going to be a lot of drama happening in Episode 3.
Again, I didn't have any major issues with Episode 2. I'm still not a huge fan of the shadow-world effect that gets employed briefly at one point, but it didn't take me out of the story.
Is House of David Season 2 Worth the Cost of a Wonder Project Subscription?
Many who read this review are probably trying to figure out whether Season 2 of House of David is worth paying $8.99 a month for the Wonder Project subscription on Amazon Prime Video. Here’s how I see it:
You can always sign-up for the 7-day free trial of the Wonder Project subscription (affiliate link) and see how you like the first two episodes of Season 2.
If you’re the kind of person who goes out to movies, this is a no-brainer. Skip one movie, and for the price of your ticket, you can subscribe to Wonder Project for the two months it’ll take to get through House of David Season 2. Instead of a two hour movie, you’ll get a ~8 hour epic show and a lot of other good family-friendly/Christian content thrown in.
If you’re the kind of person who wants to support Christian art and media, it’s also a no-brainer. House of David is top-tier content full-stop, not just good compared to other Christian content. Outside of The Chosen, I haven’t seen another Christian show that comes close to rivaling it.
If you’re on a tight budget and being the first to watch the hottest new show isn’t a priority, you may want to hold off on the Wonder Project subscription, since House of David Season 2 will eventually be available to regular Prime Video subscribers (when exactly has not been announced).
Disclaimer: I participate in the Amazon Associate marketing program, so I do get a small reward each time someone clicks on one of my links and starts a new subscription. That said, I’ve tried to be as honest as I could in my evaluation.
Key Themes of House of David Season 2 Episode 2
Episode 2 of House of David Season 2 has a few key themes, which I’ll analyze in greater detail after the embargo on plot details is lifted:
A House Divided Against Itself
Giants Fall, Small Men Rise
The Shackles that Bind
Again, I’ll be updating this review on October 5 with a detailed summary of the plot of House of David Season 2 Episode 2 and my thoughts on these themes. Also be sure to check out my coverage of House of David Season 2 on YouTube.
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Further Reading
An adaptation like House of David isn't meant to replace the Bible; it's meant to drive us deeper into the Bible and spiritual reflection. Some of the biblical advisors for House of David have published a series of interactive Bible studies that are meant to explore some of the Scripture and biblical themes that inspired the show and help viewers apply them to everyday life. If you're looking for additional resources, you might want to check them out!
FYI: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Click here for my affiliation policy.
