Testament Episodes 5-8: Recap & Review

Episodes 5-8 of Testament, Angel Studios’ contemporary adaptation of the Book of Acts, follow the increasing tension between the “early” church, Jewish fundamentalists, and the Temple establishment, leading up to the climactic confrontation between Stephen and the Sanhedrin. Below I’ll offer a brief summary of the events of Testament Episode 5-8 and my thoughts on the conclusion of its first season. Also be sure to check out my reviews of Testament Episode 1 and Episodes 2-4.

The Twelve Apostles in Episode 8 of Testament

What Happens in Testament Season 1 Episodes 5-8? (Summary)

Having begun to suspect his master of being a secret Jesus-sympathizer in Episode 4, Saul begins Episode 5 by circumventing Gamaliel and urging the Sadducees on the Sanhedrin to take the threat of the Jesus followers more seriously. Although he’s successful at getting the Sanhedrin to arrest the Apostles (Acts 5:17-18), he himself is kept out of the deliberations – and the other disciples are not arrested. While arresting the Apostles, Captain Rosh passes Mary Magdalene a message for Dana – it turns out that she is his adopted daughter and he wants to take her back in now that she is clean. With the Apostles under arrest, Stephen and other leaders have to take the reins, as it becomes known that the “Hellenist” widows have not been receiving as much food (Acts 6:1). Meanwhile, an angel frees the apostles from prison, but urges them to return back to the Temple to preach, so that they are once again arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin (Acts 5:19-26). Although the ministers are enraged at the Apostles’ refusal to stop preaching, Gamaliel advises that they be punished but not killed, insisting that if God is not with them, they will die out (Acts 5:27-42). Confronting Gamaliel over his word, Saul accuses him of being a sympathizer and Gamaliel responds by stripping him of his position and sending him away. Back at Base, the Apostles realize they need to raise up more leaders and hold an election for seven deacons to help with practical matters, among whom are Stephen and Philip (Acts 6:2-6).

Empowered by his new calling, Stephen begins Episode 6 preaching the Gospel boldly at the Libertine synagogue, where his words convert the local minister (Acts 6:7-8) as well as the daughter of an elder. Word of his actions even reach his mother, who has secretly been meeting with James and is beginning to be interested in the faith and willing to take him back in. Languishing after having his position removed, Saul is given the opportunity to take over the Libertine synagogue in place of its newly converted minister but decides instead to help the fundamentalist members of the synagogue entrap Stephen and drag him off to Sanhedrin to face charges of blasphemy (Acts 6:9-12). 

In Episode 7, Stephen arrives at the council, where Saul and the crowd accuse him of blaspheming the Temple and Moses (Acts 6:13-14). When Gamaliel tries to intervene for Stephen, Saul publicly exposes his encounters with the Jesus followers and Caiaphas has him removed. Strengthened by the Spirit, Stephen responds to the accusations with a sermon highlighting the stubbornness of the Israelites throughout history and the limitations of the Temple, sending the ministers into a fury (Acts 7:1-54). Meanwhile, at Gamaliel’s instruction, Stephen’s mom brings the Apostles in the hope that they can stir up a disturbance and get Stephen released. Back at the Sanhedrin, Stephen beholds the Son of Man standing in heaven, while the leaders stop their ears and rush upon him (Acts 7:55-57). Stephen is dragged out of the city, where he offers final words of faith and mercy, just before he is stoned – while Saul looks on with approval (Acts 7:58-60). The Apostles, Esther, and Gamaliel arrive too late and find Stephen dead.

Episode 8 opens with the disciples burying and mourning Stephen (Acts 8:2). After giving Esther Stephen’s sermons, Philip is inspired to go out and preach the Gospel outside of Salem (Acts 8:4-5). Under pressure from Pilate, who is angry at having been kept in the dark about the Jesus movement, Caiaphas lets Saul lead a task force in hunting down the remaining disciples. After capturing and torturing the ministers who converted, Mara is able to uncover the location of the Base. Fortunately, Dana learns of the impending raid from Rosh and is able to warn the disciples to flee before Saul burns the Base to the ground. Unfortunately, as the disciples flee the city, Mara is abducted by her former pimp and Mary Magdalene and Rosh are forced to go to Magdala to find her. Not satisfied with having driven the disciples from Salem, Saul and his task force decide to pursue them beyond into the outlying provinces. Undeterred by their suffering, the disciples resolve to bring the news of the Gospel to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 8:1, 3).

Saul of Tarsus in Testament

Testament Season 1 Episodes 5-8 Review

Episodes 5-8 of Testament are just a bit stronger than the early episodes, but I doubt that they will do much to change the opinion of most viewers. If you like the early episodes, you’ll like these. If you weren’t impressed by Episodes 1-4, I doubt the final half of the season is going to win you over.

Let me begin by highlighting a few strengths of the final episodes:

• Action: In general, the second half of Testament is more exciting and engaging than the first, with more conflict and intrigue and less throw-away plots.

• Saul’s Agency: In the first half of the season, Saul sometimes felt a little too passive. I appreciate that he takes more initiative in the second half of the season and is given the opportunity to overcome obstacles.

• Gamaliel: Stewart Scudamore, who portrays Gamaliel, probably delivers the strongest and most consistent performance over the course of the season. I appreciate the complex position that he’s placed in and the nuance of his response.

• Philip: Although I think it was underdeveloped, I do like the friendship between Philip and Stephen and how it propels Philip at the end of the season. Aadar Malik is another strong performance.

• Mary Magdalene: Mary’s storyline wasn’t perfect, but I appreciate that she had a clear sense of motivation and direction. Mogali Masuku also gives a strong performance.

• Themes: The episodes in the second half of the season also struck me as more interesting thematically. I appreciate the ways in which Saul often serves as a foil to Stephen/the disciples, often experiencing the opposite or inversion of what they are learning/working through (e.g. the disciples realize they need to empower reliable men like Stephen, while Gamaliel realizes he needs to disempower the unreliable Saul). Also, I appreciate that they finally began exploring more theology of the Temple (i.e. Temple building versus the people as the Temple).

• Concepts: Again, I think the show throws out a lot of intriguing and imaginative ideas. Having Saul suspect Gamaliel and working against him was a great idea. I also like the idea of Stephen getting entrapped – and the leader of the synagogue using his daughter as bait. Even though I still don’t like the “Base” idea, it was put to good use in Episode 8 to show the lengths that Saul was willing to go – and having a nighttime Exodus of the disciples was kind of cool.

• Biblical Fidelity: As always, the show is generally follows Scripture fairly closely. I only have a handful of issues with what it is doing from an interpretative/theological point of view.

Caiaphas in Testament

The weaknesses of the final episodes are very similar to those present earlier in the season:

• Worldbuilding: I only grew more frustrated by the lack of effort put forward to engage in real worldbuilding. The show is strangely slavish to details of the Book of Acts and the first century, while making little effort to reimagine these details in light of the changes that the show is making to the time, culture, etc. For example, the division between the Hebrew widows and the Hellenist widows from the biblical text is mapped onto a division between widows from the city and widows from the suburbs in a cursory and confusing manner. We know Greek is a language in the world of the show, but the widows who are called “Hellenists” (i.e. Greek-speakers) actually speak “Ladino” and are Latin American. Why do the city dwellers look down on them? We’re giving very little explanation. The lack of attention here also damages the story in a significant way. Most commentators recognize that the selection of the seven deacons (including Stephen) is significant because they all have Greek (Hellenist) names. The disciples are sharing power with the underprivileged group and ensuring that their concerns will be heard. But in Testament, Stephen is not a “Hellenist” – he is a citizen of Salem – and so the significance of his selection is minimized. The erasure of the Jews as a distinct ethne also continues to create confusion. How does Stephen’s retelling of the story of Abraham’s family fit with the non-ethnic nature of God’s people in the show? Perhaps more importantly, if there’s already no distinction between Jew and Gentile, why have the disciples been so slow to bring the Gospel out of Salem? More importantly, I just can’t see how the show is going to faithfully render the remaining story of Acts, given how many of the conflicts revolve around the distinctions between Jews and Gentiles.

• Too Much Breadth, Too Little Depth: Ultimately, I’m convinced that the show is trying to juggle too many stories and as a result isn’t able to provide enough depth to its characters. Perhaps more controversially, I think the show also suffers because it follows the events of the biblical text too closely. At its heart, Testament wants to be about two main stories: Stephen’s growth as a disciple, which climaxes in his martyrdom, and Saul’s efforts to oppose the church, which also climax in Stephen’s martyrdom. But the show is too anchored to the biblical text to let these two stories have the prominence that they should. Because the biblical text follows the Apostles, we spend a lot of time following them, even though they aren’t really relevant to the core plot. The show also could have potentially jettisoned Mary and Dana’s story – but it clearly wants a female-centered story and Mary is one of the more interesting characters.

• Stephen: I’ll be honest, I just wasn’t very moved by Stephen’s death and I think that’s largely because of how the show failed to make him feel like a realistic, three-dimensional character. We still know so little about who Stephen was before Pentecost, what he cared about (other than Jesus and his Mom), why salvation mattered to him, what his weaknesses were, etc. He felt like a total cipher, not a real person, and so it was hard for me to feel much grief when he died.

• Saul’s Motives: I found the characterization of Saul to be a bit confusing. Early on, the show emphasized how ambitious he was, and that seemed to be the primary drive that was pushing him into conflict with the Jesus followers. In the last few episodes, however, Saul routinely chooses to pursue the disciples at the expense of his own advancement. The show emphasizes how he is driven by hate, but the source of his hatred is left fairly vague. Yeah, Saul talks about how he needs to protect the faith – but what is it specifically about the Jesus movement that he sees as threatening? The Chosen’s portrayal of Shmuel is a useful point of comparison. The Chosen established Shmuel’s rigid adherence to tradition and showed us specific ways that Jesus’ actions threatened that worldview (e.g. minimizing the Sabbath, bringing in “sinners,” etc.). But Testament hasn’t really helped me understand the specific nuances of Saul’s worldview and how the actions and words of the early disciples offend him. He just comes across as irrationally hateful. While people can eventually end up irrationally hateful of Jesus and the church, I don’t think that’s where they begin. People don’t oppose the Gospel without a reason, even if the reason is false or misguided.

• Caiaphas: Caiaphas’ characterization also feels confusing. At times he seems overbearing and domineering and at other times he seems shrewd and calculating. Often, his decisions and reactions seemed to be motivated by what the plot requires and not by a consistent set of motives and tendencies. I was particularly unimpressed by how he responds to Pilate in Episode 8. Why would he voluntarily reveal to Pilate all the information that he does? Why would he not try to tell more lies? And why would he immediately begin groveling so pitifully? 

• Idealizing the Early Church: Even though Testament depicts arguments among the members of the early church, it tends to downplay the presence of sin and the difficulty of coming to agreement. For example, when the “Hellenist” widows are overlooked in food distribution, the show waves away any responsibility on the part of the disciples and places it on a random character, who immediately sees the error of her ways after she is confronted. When asked about her reasoning, she isn’t even able to give any. As a result, the conflict is resolved easily, without any real back and forth. That makes for bad television – and it’s also not a reflection of how life in the church actually looks. 

• Public Christophany? I’m baffled by the decision to turn Stephen’s vision of Jesus standing at God’s right hand into a public Christophany, which the members of the Sanhedrin could have witnessed (if they were willing to look). I get how this was more interesting visually, but the biblical text makes it pretty clear that Stephen was having a vision and it makes no sense that the members of the Sanhedrin would just continue on their business without even discussing the blinding light that they all just clearly saw. The show could at least have provided some sort of justification (e.g. having a character accuse Stephen of sorcery).

• Cult Vibes: I was a bit troubled by how the early church in Testament looks so similar to modern cults. The members all live in a secure compound, separated from the surrounding world and cut off from direct contact with unbelieving family members. While I understand that there are aspects of the early church as it is described in Acts that might be uncomfortable for modern viewers (e.g. sharing all things in common), I don’t know why the creators of the show would introduce additional elements that make it seem even more cult-like. I think this stuck out all the more because the portrayal of Peter reminds me of manipulative/unhealthy leaders that I've encountered.

• Why? I’m left wondering why Testament exists. The premise could serve one of two purposes. It could either help viewers see how different our world would be today if Jesus hadn’t come until recently, or it could have try to make the geographically, culturally, and historically-distant events of the New Testament feel more relevant/relatable. While I don’t think the show has any interest in the former (that would require much more commitment to worldbuilding), I also don’t think it does a great job at the latter. Yeah, we see events happening in locations that are familiar and the characters look/dress like people we know. But the characters aren’t given the depth and complexity they would need to be relatable. Moreover, the show doesn’t do enough to translate/explain elements of the first century world that are unfamiliar. When it does try to translate/transpose elements of the biblical world, the effect is confusing and distracting, not clarifying.

I have no doubt that the creators of Testament have passionately sought to honor God in the work that they have done. The earnestness of their intent is evident and I respect them for that. I don't enjoy criticizing such an earnest work, but I also want to be honest about my own experience and perceptions as a viewer. There will be plenty of fans who will enjoy the show in spite of its weaknesses – and far be it from me to discourage them from doing so. For the right kind of viewer, there is a lot to enjoy. But the show failed to win me over by episode 8, and I doubt that it will have the broad appeal and staying power of The Chosen.