*Just incase anyone asks I'm not religious, but do know the story of Christ. If some things I say are inaccurate, please correct me.
Premiering April 5th at 9pm comes the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed series The Bible, A.D., Unlike The Bible this particular show doesn't have a narrator guiding you along, well in the version I saw at least. This will be especially hard for a viewer who is not familiar with the story of Christ to be able to understand what is going on in the episode, but if you really focus it's not too hard to grasp the general idea.
A Quick Summary: The episode starts with Peter, one of Jesus's disciples betraying him by denying to a mob that he is a follower of Jesus. This is what Jesus had foreseen previously. Jesus at the time of Peter's betrayal is standing on trial, with Pontius, the governor deciding his fate. Caiaphas who is threatened by Jesus and his growing of followers wants him crucified, even though he had yet to commit a crime. Since Caiaphas has control of a lot of people he orders a mob to make noise, loud enough so Pontinus cannot refuse his request. It worked and Jesus is sentenced to a crucifixion. Caiaphas, by the way, is the high priest, and Pontius is the fifth prefect of the Roman province of Judaea. Both hold a lot of power, in other words.
Another actor who stood out to me was Richard Coyle who plays Caiaphas. Although, his character isn't meant to be liked, Richard does a terrific job throughout the episode portraying the fear and vulnerability of his character as well as portraying the hatred he had for Jesus.
On top of the acting the visual effects were stunning, the locations were also extremely detailed, and were made to look like the town of Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified, which is exactly what they did. I don't think I've ever seen a more detailed production that this one, even the smallest details were made to perfection. Also, seeing the story develop on screen really touched my heart, it was a great piece of storytelling from a wonderful chapter of The Bible, and an important one. And I personally think the show does that chapter in Jesus's life justice.
That's all I'm able to share with you without spoiling too much, but below are a few dialogue teasers.
"He does not behave like a king in my dreams."
"The gods find us in our sleep, the message was clear. The Nazarene is a good man."
"Advice from men who fear his popularity may eclipse their own."
"I've done the most terrible thing, for which there can be no forgiveness."
"I think she truly believes he will rise from death."
Summary
Even though I wouldn't class myself as a religious person I still know the story of Christ, and A.D represented it perfectly. I dare say I enjoyed the first episode of this much more than I did "The Bible Series". The acting was fantastic, although a few of the supporting cast could work on their delivery, but mostly everyone's acting was top notch. The set design was unbelievable good, and the story developing on screen was phenomenal. One of the only criticisms I have is that some of the characters weren't properly introduced when they arrived, so I had no idea who they were. Overall, it was an exciting first episode that really touched my heart. 8/10
As always, thank you for reading. You can catch A.D "The Tomb is Open" April 5th at 9pm on NBC.
