‘The Chosen: The Last Supper Part 2’ The Best Middle Chapter Of The Series Yet
(REVIEW) “The Chosen: The Last Supper Part 1” (the title of the TV series’ fifth season, which I reviewed here) made headlines its opening weekend by hitting No. 3 at the U.S. box office, just behind “A Working Man” and “Snow White.” As Collider reported, “The Chosen” “collected $15 million at the domestic box office from only 1,644 screens, roughly half that of “A Working Man” and more than 2,000 fewer than “Snow White.”
Dallas Jenkins, in a rare moment of trolling, posted on Facebook: “I acknowledge we won't finish above ‘Snow White’ at the box office. … Unlike them, we actually love our original source material.”
The series was also reviewed by prominent YouTuber Jeremy Jahns, who gave it a thumbs up, saying he enjoyed a lot the portrayal of Jesus even though he hadn’t watched any of the previous seasons.
This is a reflection of both the popularity of the show as well as a reflection of series’ clever release strategy and the current dismal state of the film industry. “The Chosen” — a show that came of age during the pandemic. The series discovered they were far more successful when they made episodes available for free, figuring out clever ways to make money in the process. One was to release Christmas specials of the show in theaters. These were so successful, they began releasing season premieres and finales in theaters. These were so successful, they started releasing the whole seasons that way.
Because Hollywood has been struggling ever since COVID-19, this has given opportunity for other players with smaller (but growing) markets to make inroads. Which means that film critics, like Jahns, who make their living by talking about what’s happening at the box office, are setting their gaze on “The Chosen.” It does make it an interesting question how much faith-based movies are breaking into mainstream culture in a world dominated by niche audiences.
Of course, none of this would matter if the actual show wasn’t good. Fortunately for “The Chosen,” as the faith-based industry is growing in fame, it’s also growing in quality.
“The Chosen: The Last Supper Part 2” (released a week after Part 1 as part of its weekly release strategy) continues the story set up in season premiere to be the best season of “The Chosen” so far. The middle sections of the show have historically been weaker, as episodes have meandered a bit aimlessly without clear conflict to drive it. But this new season shows that the writers have figured out how to keep the pace going in these middle parts of their narrative. The constant state of confrontation between Jesus and his enemies, the closeness to His death and the Judas’ betrayal all keep the story moving at a high-energy pace even during the quiet moments.
All the best stuff from Part 1 continues in the second episode. Jesus’ grief and terror at his own death is just as well handled once again. The disciples have really come into their own as people who trust Jesus (and those who don’t) while still having doubts. And the moments where the story slows down for us to take in the characters and their relationships (like Jesus with the women in his life in some very tearful moments) largely feel earned. And filmmaking techniques like the long take for when the disciples are debating which of them will betray Jesus are utilized skillfully and seamlessly. Using the disciples’ debates about Jesus’s ministry as a reflection of Christian debates about Him (like after Jesus turned over the tables) is an excellent idea that they pull off well.
Jesus' confrontation with the Jewish leaders of his time is a really good example of “The Chosen” at its best. Here, you get a tense setup for several exchanges in scripture, packaged together with a high stakes feeling. You get Jesus' words (and actor Jonathan Roumie’s layered and passionate delivery) all executed very seamlessly. Jesus even quips to the Pharisees for them to take their time as they consider how to respond to Him. In the process, thew series has learned to balance the need to explain things to us while keeping things feeling natural.
Not everything is perfect. Part 2 does suffer from what I call “middle chapter syndrome” as well as some padding. Scene after scene with Jesus suffering grief over his coming trials or the disciples' confusion over his message sometimes feel more repetitive than contributive. Likewise, some subplots seem ancillary, as if they are just trying to give characters something to do (for example, Mary Magdalene going off on her own to get help for Jesus in a plot that goes nowhere before she gets kidnapped). All this gives the impression that the writers are often “waiting out the clock” to get to the end of an episode. While Jesus’ scene doing an “extra” last supper with the most prominent women of “The Chosen” is beautiful, it also does feel like a way of sidelining the women, who haven’t given much else to do.
Judas’ story is probably the biggest development and is also the most mixed in the success of its execution. This chapter is where Judas makes the decision to betray Jesus. It’s the chapter where all the fruits of the writers' development of Judas — both for good and ill — come to a head. Judas’ character has been easily the most ambitious character portrayal in “The Chosen” outside of Jesus. The writers wanted to make Judas a sympathetic character whom we got to know and root for as a full-fledged member of the disciples. It sets us up for eventually feeling the tragedy of Judas’ betrayal.
Unfortunately, this vision never totally came together. Part of the problem (as a friend of mine pointed out to me) is that Judas came in last, so he never totally felt like he fit in with the group. Too many of his scenes amounted to reinforcing his status as an outsider and the main disciple who just “didn’t get it.” We never quite connected with the emotional, character-driven reasons why Judas was so attached to his idea of what Jesus' ministry should be.
Despite this, this season lands Judas’ story as best it can. Judas’ reasons for betraying Jesus are well laid out. Judas makes his case to the disciples and his scene with Jesus (and Jesus giving Judas permission to go “what you must do, do quickly”) is treated with slow, poignant sensitivity and heartbreak. In that way, they’re deeply satisfying.
A few flaws aside, “The Chosen: The Last Supper Part 2” is easily the strongest middle chapter of the popular series by far. This only makes me more excited for the final episode just as Easter approaches. If they can land that, “The Chosen: The Last Supper” will truly be the best season of the show to date — and another sign that the faith-based film industry has truly come of age.
“The Chosen: The Last Supper Part Two” is in theaters now. “The Chosen: The Last Supper Part 3” concludes the season on April 11.
Joseph Holmes is an award-nominated filmmaker and culture critic living in New York. He is co-host of the podcast “The Overthinkers” and its companion website theoverthinkersjournal.world, where he discusses art, culture and faith with his fellow overthinkers. His other work and contact info can be found at josephholmesstudios.com.