Mrs. Davis' Andy McQueen on That Jay Reveal and Unique Love Triangle: 'I Was Scared' — Plus, Grade the Premiere
The following contains spoilers from the first four episodes of Mrs. Davis. Proceed accordingly.
In Peacock’s Mrs. Davis, which released its first four episodes on Thursday, Simone (played by Betty Gilpin) is a nun on a mission to bring down the titular algorithm, once and for all. She embarks on a wacky journey with plenty of Looney Tunes-like antics, including cartoonish villains, dynamite explosions, and a motorcycle leap through the Randy’s Donuts sign.
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In Episodes 3 and 4, we learned exactly what led to Simone becoming a nun and why. The backstory in Episode 3 revealed that Wiley (Dopesick’s Jake McDorman), who realized that he’d been coddled by his family his whole life, tried to prove himself by riding a bull without their help. But when it came time to for him to actually do it, he froze at the last second and let the bull take off without him.
He looked over at Simone and thought she was ashamed of him. As it turned out, she was praying for his safety. That prayer took her to the mysterious falafel restaurant where she met Jay, aka Jesus Christ. Simone described it as love at first sight, and in Episode 4, we saw that they eventually married (as she joined the convent).
Andy McQueen (Outer Banks), who plays Jay, says he was nervous at first to take on the ethereal role. “I was scared,” he tells TVLine. “But, ultimately, I had to remember that I am an actor and that I serve the story. The best that I could do is be as prepared as possible to find the humanity, to find the love, find the thoughtfulness and to approach it that way. I hope that everybody comes together to watch it and finds the love that Jay and Simone have for one another.”
For Betty Gilpin, the challenge was to treat Jay like a man and not the all-powerful being he’s known to be. “I think that Simone’s relationship with Jay, in order for the show to work, has to be real and intimate and specific, and feel grounded and not like it’s Jesus Christ,” she explains.
It’s a complicated situation for Simone, who has strong ties to both men. Wiley is someone she’s known since childhood and was previously engaged to before exchanging vows with Jay. Jay, meanwhile, acts as her confidante and even advises her on the current mission to find the Holy Grail. If you’re a guy like Wiley, who spent a decade thinking Simone viewed him as a coward, being in a love triangle with Jesus is not fun.
“I feel bad for Wiley,” Jake McDorman shares. “You get the backstory between Simone and Wiley, and how long he’s carried that pain of, ‘Oh my God, I was a coward in front of the woman I love and she left me because she saw me for being a coward.’ It’s motivated all his decisions for 10 years, building an underground resistance and getting the wings.”
Then he bore his soul to her in the rain, only for Simone to reveal that she married Jesus. “I think for a long time after she says that he’s not quite sure if that’s real, or if she’s out of her mind,” McDorman adds. “Both scenarios suck for someone who’s in love with a nun: Whether Jesus exists, and she’s married to him, or she thinks she is and she’s a Looney Tune.”
“It is a total love triangle,” Gilpin notes. “We all have an ex that brings out our former dark side of ourselves, [and] it’s totally Wiley for Simone. I think, probably, she’s somewhere in the middle.”
What did you think of Mrs. Davis’ four-episode premiere? Grade the episodes below, and then share your thoughts in the comments.
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