House of David (2025) s1e05

This post is part of a series looking at Amazon Prime's show House of David (2025). I'm trying to post them as soon as possible after the show airs, so keep checking back. There are a few spoilers in in what follows.

I spent quite a bit of time in my write up of the previous episode talking about how Saul's kingdom fractured (initially) after his death, with David becoming King of Judah and Saul's son Ishboseth/Ishbaal taking over the rest of the Kingdom ("Israel") until his murder seven years into his reign. So it's notable that the writers made this episode (The Wolf and the Lion) the one where they develop that theme a little further.

Saul's mental health is still a matter of some concern, and while Queen Ahinoam, Avner and other court officials are trying to keep it under wraps, or spin the story where it comes out, it's also making Saul paranoid. He finds himself worried about the threat from Judah: he's heard rumours of an anointing and is unsure how involved Adriel (Stewart Scudamore, pictured above left), the head of the tribe of Judah, is in what may or may not have happened.

The relationship between the two men is awkward, even without Saul's mental health deteriorating. Despite his humble origins, Saul is keen to distance himself from them, playing an ancient version of the self-made man fallacy. Now he is king he sees himself as above everyone else, and perhaps the security of his position (the first king in not only a new dynasty, but a new form of government for the nation) requires this: after all if he is no different than anyone else then why should his family get to be the ruling party? Saul actively looks down on Adriel, perhaps never more than when Adriel seeks to ingratiate himself to Saul.

But Adriel is hardly an overly compliant doormat. Yes he cannot risk losing favour with his monarch, but he's also proud of being the leader of the largest Hebrew tribe, and realises this gives him a certain amount of clout. He tries to ingratiate himself to Saul, but only so far and often he offers flattery as a way to get what he wants, which might be something like a scroll from Saul's extensive precious library which demonstrates that he holds some share of the power too. Plus he's aware that as the leader of the largest tribe, Saul needs him.

So there's plenty of tension, but Saul, in one of his more lucid moments, decides to adopt the Michael Corleone position "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer". He welcomes Adriel into his palace and seeks to marry one of Adriel's sons to one of his own daughters. So they hold a big speed dating event after which the most promising combination gets a special prize of getting married, like some kind of reality TV show, Married at First Sight: Ancient Israel. 

This bothers David, who properly yearns for Mychal. She is heartbroken too, but everything seems to point towards her being the one who is going to get married knows her fate. Meanwhile her elder sister actually seems to hit it off with one of Adriel's son and somehow in the midst of this Saul realises a chance to both make her happy and to forge the political alliance he needs to firm up his kingdom.

And then the demon strikes. The calm, rational Saul goes and suddenly he becomes erratic. But in case you thought I used the word "demon" metaphorically I should clarify that I didn't. Because suddenly a diabolical figure in vaguely human form appears, seemingly seen only by Saul and starts to taunt him and draw his focus (see above image).

I think the visual depiction of this demon might be the show's first major misstep. So far the series has been a mix of epic, peplum, historical drama and family intrigue. This sudden use of horror tropes feels a little unwelcome. I get that it might be intended to be jarring: there are, after all, other flourishes in these scenes to help us identify with Saul's disorientation, such as the camera losing focus or reverb effects when people talk. But it doesn't feel terribly well executed. The character is hamily acted. The whitened-out eye, white blotches of face-paint and generally tatty appearance make him seem somewhat ridiculous. It's a big jump to leap from epic/family drama to horror. Even Mel Gibson, who used a variety of horror effects in The Passion of the Christ (2004), did so by starting with the conventions of the horror genre and gradually slipping into something more realistic. This is neither scary, or unnerving and it doesn't really help us identify with Saul's suffering. It's just a bit, well, silly.

On the plus side, though, most of this episode takes place in Saul's palace and it looks fantastic. I don't suspect it's particularly historical, but in this episode they do, at least, explain that before Saul it had been a Philistine palace, so that explains a little about how such an impressive structure could be built by a relatively new nomadic nation. But given that you have to admire the set design. Credit to Dimitris Ziakis and his team.

Not only is the design and the detail fantastic, but it's been created in such a way to give dramatic contrasts of light and shade. Furthermore, the design and the light is put to great effect by Simos Sarketzis's cinematography. I guess the obvious point of comparison is the kind of Baroque/Tenebrist art that is most associated with Caravaggio, and one of Caravaggio's most famous painting is his "David with the Head of Goliath". But another reference might be Rembrandt, who did a number of paintings related to David including " David Playing the Harp in front of Saul" (1630-31), "(Farewell of) David and Jonathan" (1642), "Saul and David" (1650s).

The final point I want to make on this episode is about its speed. Having covered a number of key stories in episode 3, the pace has slowed right down again. In terms of the pacing of the story, I don't mind it so much. However if, as I suspect, the series is only going to get to the battle between David and Goliath, then that leaves an awful lot of David life story still to be told. I hope that Amazon will stick with it long enough to allow it to come to a natural end, but longer-term David stories tend to get cancelled after a bit. Given the similar fates of Kings (2009) and Of Kings and Prophets (2016) then it will do well even to get commissioned for a second series, and those shows both had established actors in the cast (Ian McShane and Ray Winstone, respectfully).

That said there is hope. According to Forbes, the show has reached number 2 in Amazon Prime Video's ranking, and even in the UK when  checked my account it was at number 8. Hopefully this will justify a second season and perhaps a bit more publicity.