The one and only thing I don't like about television series is that you have to wait a whole week to see the continuation of the story.
And, although I already know how the narratives in The Bible end (because I've read the Book), I have still been anxiously awaiting episode two. But, it was worth the wait.
Episode 2 covers everything from Jericho to David and Bathsheba in two hours, which - like Episode 1 before it - means that a lot of theatrical squashing and cutting took place. Certain events are condensed into "bite size" packages of 30 minutes, while other events (such as how Jonathan helped David escape King Saul) were brushed over. But, the events which are depicted are pretty much spot on to the original text (aka The Bible by God and Various).
For all of you LOTR and Hobbit enthusiasts, they basically told three different Bible stories in about the same time as two thirds of a standard edition Lord of the Rings movie. It would be like squashing The Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and The Children of Hurin into a 2 hour movie. For you Narnia fans, it would be like squashing The Horse and His Boy, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Last Battle into one 2 hour film.
For all of you who think I'm hopelessly obsessed with Hobbits and Lions, don't worry about me. I'm getting back on topic now.
Episode 2 of The Bible was notably more brutal than Episode 1, which I guess makes some sense since they were covering several of the most brutal events of the Old Testament (Samson, the Battles with the Philistines, etc.). If you have trouble reading the Book of Judges, this episode might be a little bit too much for you. If, on the other hand, you watch Passion of the Christ every year or have a secret addiction to horror films, this episode will seem like nothing to you.
I forced myself to desensitize to certain amounts of violence because I was determined to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in the theatre, but I had no idea what to expect. Therefore, I had very little trouble watching The Bible, episode 2. But, as I said in my previous Bible post, know your limits and know your kids' limits.
I don't think there has been a film adaptation of Samson since the 1949 film, and the only other Joshua film I've seen is a Veggie Tale. Besides that, the only other film about the life of David was notably so poorly made that I'm surprised the editor even let it leave the editing room. It went beyond my highly rigorous, almost unattainable quality standards. The cinematography was terrible, and there were way too many jarring cuts between sequences. It was really hard to follow, let alone enjoy. My Final Cut Pro teacher would have failed the project.
Episode 2 took all three stories, squashed them together, and did so cohesively and with what appears to be meticulous attention to detail. I was highly impressed, which (I'm hoping by now you've guessed) is saying something coming from me. The production was beautiful and the transitions were seamless. I don't think I've ever seen such an excellent film portrayal of the stories of Joshua, Samson, or David. In fact, I haven't seen such a good film adaption of a Bible event since The Passion of the Christ. The Bible television series has, thus far, exceeded my expectations.
Once again, some of the sequences may be a little too intense or gory for young children, but you know your children better than I do. If your kids can sit through The Return of the King without burying their faces in pillows, go for it. If your kids got scared of the Polly the Parrot or Scooby Doo, you might want to save Episode 2 for when the kids are in bed.
As for content, we're dealing with David, and with David comes tons of people dying or killing themselves. We see a field of dead bodies with various weapons sticking out of them. We get to see Jonathan get impaled by an arrow. And, last but not least, we get to see King Saul stab himself with a sword. Well, okay, we don't actually see him do it. He holds the sword to his stomach, and we only see his shoulders and head when he drives the swords through himself. We hear the sword slicing, then Saul spits out some blood, and topples over, and we're left staring at the point of a sword sticking out of his back for several seconds.
A younger version of David is shown beheading the already dead Goliath, after we see the stone go whizzing from his sling and pounding Goliath in the forehead. Once again, we don't actually see the beheading happening. We just see David raise the sword, strike what we're assuming is Goliath's neck (with maybe a squirt of blood from off camera), and then we see a silhouette of David holding up Goliath's severed head. About as bad as Thror's beheading sequence from The Hobbit.
King Saul throws a spear at David, which misses him by a long shot.
Throughout the whole episode, various people are fought and killed by a number of different characters. Other people have their throats sliced (a few actually on camera). We see the Philistines set fire to a woman's house (while she's still inside), and it is implied that she burns to death, even though we do not see this happening.
During the Samson narrative, Samson kills people in various fashions. He snaps one guy's neck, then attacks a bunch of people with a jaw bone. We see a Philistine placing his thumbs over Samson's eyes to poke them out, but the camera conveniently cuts to Delilah while Samson's eyes are being poked out (we hear him screaming in the background). Later, Samson's eyes are covered by a cloth to hide his eye sockets, but we do see blood staining the cloth and running down his face from his eyes. Or, where his eyes used to be. When Samson brings down the pagan temple on the Philistines, we see a few not-too-gory clips of people being crushed by parts of the building. Afterwards, we see several dead bodies, including Samson, Delilah, and the Philistine leader.
It should be noted that Rahab is a prostitute, but she really doesn't dress inappropriately during her screen time. She is referred to as a whore and manhandled a bit by one guy (nothing inappropriate). Later, she is held at knife point by one of the Israelite spies.
Samson and Delilah are shown snuggling in bed together, but both are fully clothed (with the exception of Samson's shirt, which is mysteriously missing.
King Saul is shown literally relieving himself in a cave (everyone remembers that event, right?). Once again, nothing inappropriate is shown.
We see Bathsheba's bare back and shoulders while she bathes, and wraps herself in a towel. Later, she and David share a kiss or two, before the narrator explains that she became pregnant from their one night stand. As prophesied, their son dies, but we do not see this happen.
Yup, I think that's about all you really need to know content wise about The Bible, episode 2.
I still highly recommend this television series, especially to Christians who have been anxiously waiting for a well produced film adaption of the Bible.
Be sure to try to catch Episode 3 on Sunday evening, on the History Channel. The Bible's official Facebook page claims Jesus will make His first History Channel appearance in Episode 3!
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