‘The Promised Land’ Shows Lots Of Promise — But Still Has A Ways To Go
(REVIEW) There’s a meme that goes around saying, “We have X at home.” It started out as poking fun at the common experience of being a kid asking to eat out and your parents saying, “We have food at home,” but of course, the “food at home” wasn’t as good as the food out.
The meme takes something like “Mom, can we watch Spider-Man?” and then mom saying, “We have Spider-Man at home.” Then the meme would show what the “Spider-Man at home” was like, which would be a much worse version of that thing, like a children’s drawing.
Christians jumped on that meme with plenty of their own examples. After all, a big part of Christian subculture for millennials was that Christians would have their own version of something. You like rock? There’s Christian rock. You like superheroes? Here’s Bibleman. You like “High School Musical”? Here’s “Sunday School Musical.”
READ: Tyler Perry’s ‘Ruth & Boaz’ A Bold, But Flawed Faith-Based Romance
I bring that up because there’s definitely an element of that when one hears the premise of “The Promised Land” as a Christian. “The Promised Land” is described by the team as “Michael Scott meets Moses in the Book of Exodus wilderness workplace comedy.” It’s about Moses and the Israelites in the desert, but with a documentary crew following them around and talking to the camera.
When a millennial Christian hears this, there’s a part of them where their eyes start to roll. There’s nothing more '90s Christian-coded than coming out with the “Christian version” of a TV show that was popular. But are they right? Is the show just an example of Christian cringe? Or does “The Promised Land” end up becoming something more?
The answer is yes and no. The show never quite transcends its concept. But it does that concept pretty well. So for those who think that is enough, there are plenty of chuckles and heart to be found.
In “The Promised Land,” Moses and the Hebrews are fresh out of Egypt and adjusting to their new freedom — with all the chaos of a fledgling start-up. With Red Sea miracles behind them and 40 years of wandering ahead, the people grapple with doubt, bickering and bizarre wilderness problems — from complaints about manna to doing laundry in a dirty river. Alongside Miriam, Aaron and Joshua, Moses tries to keep the group moving forward while questioning his own ability to lead.
Written and directed by Mitch Hudson, assistant director of “The Chosen,” “The Promised Land” reimagines the Hebrews’ desert journey with a fresh comedic and human lens. Neither “The Chosen” nor Dallas Jenkins is involved with this series, but they are very supportive of Hudson and his team. Several of “The Chosen” actors also star in “The Promised Land.” The pilot episode, which premiered on YouTube last year, amassed nearly 2 million views, prompting a full six-episode first season. Episode two premiered Oct. 1 on YouTube for free, with each new episode due to be released weekly.
“This is not a show about the Bible, it’s a show about some people who were in the Bible,” said Hudson. “At our core, we are all humans, being humans. At their core, Moses and the Hebrews were, too. Viewers of our pilot episode have commented on how refreshing and relatable the portrayal is.”
The show does a solid job of translating the biblical story and characters into a sitcom workplace comedy format. Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Joshua and more are reimagined to emphasize their very lovable and silly human foibles. Moses is a well-meaning but flawed boss (like Michael Scott).
Aaron is popular but insecure. Joshua is desperate to please Moses. Miriam is ambitious and often schemes to get the recognition she deserves. These characters feel recognizably like the people we know, yet work as sitcom characters we affectionately laugh at. One of my favorite relationships — one that never quite gets the development it deserves — is between Moses and his wife Zipporah. They’re so different but so affectionate that I would look forward to seeing more of them in future seasons.
It’s refreshing to see the faith-based world embrace comedy, since comedy is so redemptive. The Bible and the Christian life have such comedic potential. Plenty of internet content creators have been making jokes from the Bible for a while, and “The Babylon Bee” first got its start poking fun at Christian subculture. But faith-based content has largely made its money by leaning into melodrama. A big part of that is because, as others have theorized, Christians take their faith seriously and want to show the seriousness of their faith.
What makes Hudson’s “The Promised Land” work as a faith-based comedy is that it’s always the people being made fun of, not God. Likewise, in good sit-com fashion, the series does a solid job of balancing humor and heart as well. The shows often start off with characters doing something silly in an effort to avoid doing what God requires. Then they end with them getting good advice and turning things around, or apologizing.
“Something is happening in the connection people feel with this project,” said series producer Richie Johns. “They are laughing, but they are also seeing themselves in these characters. That is what we hoped would translate from screen to heart. Turns out, the wilderness looks a lot like the workplace. George Bernard Shaw once said, ‘My way of joking is to tell the truth. It's the funniest joke in the world.’ That is what we set out to do with ‘The Promised Land.’”
The main flaw in the series is that it’s only kind of funny. Its laughs are largely half-smiles, punctuated by some chuckles, interrupted by a few laugh-out-loud moments. It’s more amusing than hilarious. Many of the jokes are pretty basic, “looks at the camera like Jim from ‘The Office,’” or will start out with a solid idea but not go anywhere with it. Such as the inherent humor of Moses saying he has the hardest job of anyone in the battle because he has to raise his hands over his head. Or the idea that Seth is a creepy dude everyone’s scared of because he deals with the dead. But those jokes largely just end without a payoff.
Likewise, most of the characters — besides Miriam — are pretty flat archetypes and only slowly develop, becoming slightly more well-rounded as the series goes on. Moses is Michael Scott. Korah is a self-righteous and prideful rule follower. Chisisi is a charming Egyptian pretending to be a Jew (seemingly every scene is about him trying to find different ways to hide his identity). Joshua is desperate to please Moses. Zipporah is enthusiastic and ditzy but also wise, yet they rarely integrate the two sides of her. The result is that since the characters are basic, the jokes they inspire are basic.
Miriam is an exception. She is established as a smart leader and musical talent who is not taken as seriously as she should be because she’s a woman. Yet, she’s also not as smart or as talented as she thinks she is — even though she is smart and talented. So her scenes always have layers. She’s constantly both sympathetic and silly because she deserves better than she has, but not as much as she thinks she does. They’re clearly trying to do a similar thing with Moses, but it doesn’t come together as well with him.
While the show does a really good job balancing humor and heart, it doesn’t quite do the same with drama. At the moments where they’re forced to deal with something very serious — that the Bible takes very seriously — they sometimes struggle to make it work.
The moment when Aaron gives in to the people and they make the golden calf is a mixed bag. The show hadn’t really made you feel that disobedience to God could come with weighty consequences rather than silly ones that could invoke destruction rather than jokes. So Moses’ reaction — and the reaction to his reaction — feels unearned.
Of course, some of this might simply be due to the limitations of the show’s episode count. “The Promised Land,” like the first season of “The Office,” only has six episodes. And it’s often said that “The Office” didn’t gel — particularly Michael Scott — until its second season. So there’s every possibility that “The Promised Land” and its characters will develop more depth, and the laughs will get bigger as it goes on. And hey, for free on YouTube, it’s hardly a bad deal.
“The Promised Land” successfully translates biblical figures and narratives into sitcom archetypes and plots. If it continues developing its characters and improves its humor, it could eventually become something really special. But, like the Israelites looking for the promised land, it has a long way to go before it gets there.
“The Promised Land” Season One is on YouTube now with episodes releasing weekly.
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.