King Silas Benjamin
Kings is the latest burnt offering from NBC television. A TV series written by Michael Green, it premiered Sunday, March 15, 2008.
Trying to take advantage of the nebulous religious market, it follows a long line of stories from NBC loosely based on the Bible.
Who can even remember Noah’s Ark (1999), In the Beginning (2000) and the Book of Daniel (2006). Three miserable TV series failures.
Kings attempts to drag the Biblical story of King Saul and David, the heroic shepherd boy, kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. It is not a sword and sandals period piece but a story set in the 21st Century country of Gilboa which is perennially at war with its neighbor Gath.
Will this series tank like the others?
Probably.
Why? Where does one start?
First the good parts.
Well directed by Francis Laurence, the visuals and actors are superb. Ian McShane (“Deadwood”) as King Silas Benjamin (King Saul’s new name), Susanna Thompson (NCIS) as Queen Rose Benjamin, Chris Egan (“Eragon”) as David Shepherd, Sebastian Stan (Gossip Girl) as Jack (Jonathan) Benjamin, and Allison Miller (“Lucy’s Piano”) as the princess Michelle.
The supporting cast is also superb. Rev. Samuels (Eamonn Walker of OZ and ER), representing the prophet Samuel and Dylan Baker (Spiderman) as Silas’ financier and brother-in-law.
All of them acquit themselves well in spite of the melodramatic political correctness.
And the not-so-good.
Sadly, any resemblance between Kings and the Bible story of Saul and David, the first two kings of Israel is nonexistent.
A TV show is only as good as the writer.
Alas, Michael Green, who also produced and whose writing has been featured on Heroes, Everwood and Smallville is no Aaron Sorkin. The dialogue alternates between King James English and current political pandering. To the point that even support for evolution finds its way into the dialogue of “Godly” King Saul.
Lamentably, Green is also tone deaf when it comes to religious language and its meanings. He strings religious words together so they sound good in the mouth of King Silas (Ian McShane). However, it is clear they have no basis in the religious thought of the Old Testament and betray the paucity of Green’s religious knowledge.
Suspension of belief is often required and even welcomed when one watches a TV drama, however I had to snort and laugh out loud on several occasions.
The battle scenes are ridiculously bad. A line of Goliath tanks face off against David and his band hunkered down in a World War I type trench behind a barbed wire fence only yards away.
Has Green never seen a contemporary war film? Armor always triumphs over infantry! Where is the Air Force and the artillery?
Some of Gilboa’s captured soldiers are held in an unguarded tent only yards from the battle lines. Why? So David can sneak in under cover of darkness, rescue the King’s son and then become a hero.
And here’s my biggest beef with Green. He turns the heroic, young David, who is portrayed in the Bible as a man of faith into a cowardly, accidental hero with no understanding of his destiny.
Should you watch the show?
Only if you are not easily offended!
Any viewers with a modicum of military understanding will likely scoff at Green’s military ignorance.
If your Biblical knowledge is limited, you won’t be aware how far the story strays from the source documents.
You may not want to use this show as a basis for understanding what caused Saul to fail as a king, what caused David to succeed and how the Prophet Samuel interacted and influenced both men.
Persons of faith will once again see how NBC and the various production companies involved in this show are using the Bait and Switch tactic to induce or seduce viewers into tuning in.
Have I been too harsh? I think not. Anyone who produces a TV show or film must be prepared for analysis and possible reproof.
How long before can we expect a TV show or film of excellence to show the Bible and its dramatic personae as accurately and as flawed as the Bible itself does?
