Testament (2025): One Accord [s1e03]

This post is part of a series looking at Testament. Spoilers throughout

It's hard to think of another episode of a TV show that introduces quite so many new characters as "One Accord" -- the third episode of Testament. Of course, some of the characters are not so much new as re-imagined. Most people watching the show will know about (Pontius) Pilate and (Herod) Agrippa who appear in the early scenes. Both deviate slightly from the norm, and in a good way. 

Pilate is certainly tougher in many Jesus films (looking at you The Chosen) and there's a sense of everyone around him, including his "high minister" Caiaphas, being slightly in fear of how he will react to any given scenario and a nervousness about his mere return to the capital hangs over the entire episode. He may have seen military action, he may not, but people jump to attention when he orders them to do something.

For his part, Agrippa is physically quite slight, and much less camp, than most of his previous on-screen counterparts. This modern reincarnation has significantly cut down on jewellery and silks. There's still a sense of irresponsibility, privilege and a love of the high life. He's an essentially non-serious character. He has the air of someone who went to a leading British public school and appears on their alumni page even though he's not really done much with his life.

Then there are the characters who have been in the background up to this point in the series, but really come into their own in this episode. Susanna who is starting to get her voice heard among the followers as well as giving support to Mary; Matthew taking over the accounts following Judas' demise; Thomas, who gets to give his side of the story for a change, to Stephen (pictured above) who is a little wary following last episode's conversation with Caleb; and Mara whose motives are seeming decidedly mixed. Mara's there to spy for Saul, but there's a sense in which she is starting to get drawn in. 

Finally there are the characters from around the peripheries of the Gospels who make their first, but no doubt their last appearances in today's episode. The two most obvious ones are Joanna, who in the Bible is married to Chuza, one of Herod's servants. Having provided Jesus with financial support in the Gospels (Luke 8:3), we learnt in episode two that her ability to support the rapidly expanding Jesus movement is faltering. Now we actually meet the women herself as a servant around Herod's table. Whether we will see her with the apostles at any point remains to be seen.

And then there is Barnabas, who makes a memorable appearance in the closing moments of the episode following a brief scene early on. He first crops up in Acts 4:36-7 and goes on to play a fairly key role in Acts and we get the same elements here -- he makes a sizeable financial contribution and is renamed by the apostles (here just Peter) for being an encourager. It was all the more memorable for me because Barnabas bears some physical resemblance to a bouncer / fixer in the previous scene .

I find these scenes, exploring the practicalities behind Jesus' followers pooling their money, fascinating. This is rarely explored much in other productions. For one thing that's a tendency which goes back to Luke himself. He introduces passages such as Acts 2:42-47 and  Acts 4:32-37 which talk about the disciples selling their possessions and sharing the proceeds, but really just uses them as summary section breaks before moving on to the next act in the story.

Here, though, the series really gets into what that might mean in practical terms. We see them selling their belongings from smaller items at the markets and car-boot sales through to the sons of Zebedee selling their entire business. We even see Andrew's failed attempt to raise a few pounds (?) by flogging his rundown fishing boat. And then there's Barnabas using his wealth more strategically to meet their growing needs.

There are a few other moments that really grabbed my attention. In particular a momentary encounter (pictured above) between Saul and Peter (unable to hold off preaching even for a few days). Both men are being held in check by others in their wider communities. Jesus' other disciples (championed by an increasingly cautious and unyielding Simon Z) seem to want to lay low while Pilate is in town, but Peter insists they should continue. "It is literally what Jesus told us to do". Saul is soon to be told by Gamaliel "your recklessness will be your undoing" who pressures him into taking a more clerical role for a short while to allow things to blow over.

While Peter has sort of agreed not to continue preaching, he continues with low level preaching to small crowds in alley ways. And it's there that he and Saul make eye contact for the first time. Saul commands him to stop. Peter sprints off. A chase ensues. It's not how either man is typically portrayed, but again it underlines in a way that so few Acts films have done, the urgency of what's a stake, and the passion and compulsion that is felt on both sides. Saul's other scene which is heavy on the dramatic licence is a scene where he visits Jesus' now empty tomb. He meets one of the "sentinels" who had been assigned to guard it, still processing some kind of shock and apparently seeking to do so with alcohol. I like the way Paul flashes his Imperium citizenship card at this point, not least because he has the sentinels spear mere centimetres from his face when he does so.

And then there's Mary, putting herself at risk in a quite different way from her male counterparts. For Peter and the others, it's the risks of preaching with words. For her it's preaching with actions. There's a suggestion that she has been involved in sex work in the past (which in some ways is a little disappointing), but here for once, that world is portrayed as exploitative, where women are often vulnerable, at risk from violent men and frequently short on options. Mary rescues an addict called Dana, not a name from the New Testament as far as I'm aware, but it will be interesting to see if it's some kind of twist on a biblical character nevertheless.