The character-based drama of The Chosen, the Tolkienesque “fantasy” of House of David, the modern dystopia of the Book of Acts series Testament—playing with genre is a hallmark of this current wave of Bible TV shows.
Now we can add The Promised Land—a mockumentary about Moses leading the Israelites—to the mix. On paper (or parchment), this approach might seem counterintuitive, even offensive. Aren’t there supposed to be majestic pillars of cloud and fire? Don’t the Israelites hear the voice of God? Don’t a lot of people die? Is this really the sort of story we should be making jokes about?
Valid concerns, all. But when the show’s pilot came out last year, you could see what writer-director Mitch Hudson and his team were after. The Moses of the Bible spent a lot of time in the holy, no-sandals-allowed presence of God, yes. But he was also a deeply fallible man who had to deal with the petty complaints of his fellow Israelites. Within that first episode, Moses (Wasim No’mani) is overworked and worn-out until his father-in-law Jethro (Tucker Smallwood) takes him aside and advises him to get some assistants. It’s precisely the sort of workplace arrangement that lends itself to Office-style humor.
Meanwhile, Moses’ bubbly wife Zipporah (Tryphena Wade) keeps getting on the nerves of his prickly big sister Miriam (Shereen Khan). Both story lines take their cue from the Bible—Exodus 18:13–26 and Numbers 12:1, respectively. Maybe there was always latent humor there, just waiting to be staged.
The pilot was a successful-enough proof of concept that five more episodes resulted, and season 1 is now available on The Promised Land’s YouTube channel. Its results are encouraging, if a bit uneven.
Episode 2 gets off to a strong start, taking place during the days the Israelites spent at Mount Sinai before God gave them the Law (Ex. 19). Moses, following Jethro’s advice, assigns different men to lead groups of various sizes. His proud cousin Korah (Brad Culver) grumbles that he got one of the smaller, “stupider” groups.
Moses tells the Israelites to consecrate themselves and asks Joshua (Artoun Nazareth) to make sure no animal or human sets foot on the mountain. Moses then tries to enjoy some “time off.” But his wandering around the camp leaves him worrying that his people skills aren’t as good as, say, Aaron’s (Majed Sayess). (This, too, is drawn from the Bible, which says Aaron was better at public speaking than Moses; see Ex. 4:13–16.)
The show is at its best when it riffs on brief passages like the ones that inspired this episode. The fact that Moses gave different men varying levels of authority is mentioned almost in passing in Scripture. But how did those men respond to their statuses? With jealousy? Ambition? Korah gives us one answer as he tries to prove he’s the best leader of all, whipping his men into shape through nonstop exercise. Meanwhile, Joshua guards the mountain for days, fighting off sleepiness and cheeky, boundary-testing youths.
The series also introduces some extrabiblical story lines, such as Miriam’s efforts to create a meeting tent for the women. The Bible says very little about Miriam compared to her brothers, and fittingly, the Miriam of the series is frustrated that the men of the camp are constantly overlooking her. (She perks up when she thinks Moses says he’s putting “her” in charge while he’s away. It turns out he’s actually referring to a man named Hur; see Ex. 24:14.)
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Promised Land’s skillful riffing on the biblical text continues in episode 3, which takes place almost entirely during the 40 days Moses spent on Mount Sinai before receiving the tablets (Ex. 24–32). Most movies jump to the end of that period, when the Israelites gave up and started worshiping the golden calf. But the episode, lingering on those weeks from the people’s perspective, really makes you feel the passage of time as the Israelites squabble and Aaron feels his authority crumbling. When they demand that he craft a new god for them, his capitulation makes sad sense.
But then the Israelites worship the calf, and Moses shows up, horrified at what they’ve done—and the series can’t quite hide from the seriousness of their offense. It does downplay their punishment: The plague that strikes them (32:35) makes them itch, nothing more. Moses’s declaration that they should drink the golden calf (v. 20) plays more like a rhetorical outburst than a compulsory command. And there is no reference at all to the fact that Moses told the Levites to slaughter thousands of their fellow Israelites (vv. 25–29). The episode’s events open a rift between Moses and the people, especially Aaron. Over the next episode or so, the show sometimes forgets how to be funny.
Which is not to say that it stops working entirely. A subplot featuring a craftsman reluctant to build the tabernacle ends on a poignant note. There are positive lessons to learn as Moses and Aaron reconcile. But there’s often a tonal mismatch. The show starts operating like a drama—then Miriam and Zipporah put on false beards so they can sneak into an all-male covenant-study session, and things start to get wacky again. Promised Land could use more out-there moments like this. It tends to be more quietly amusing than laugh-out-loud funny and relies too much on characters looking at the camera as a visual punch line.
Bible nerds will enjoy some of the deep cuts here even as they find quibbles to nitpick. If you’re like me, your eyes lit up when Nahshon (Kamyar Jahan)—an ancestor of King David’s (Ruth 4:20–22)—was introduced as the leader of the tribe of Judah (Num. 2:3). Then you wondered why the show neglected to mention that Nahshon was Aaron’s brother-in-law (Ex. 6:23).
The Promised Land also makes some more obscure biblical details memorable, such as when Oholiab (Ash Kahn)—a specialist in yarn and linen (38:23)—asks everyone to call him “Oho.” (“Oho!”) That’s one name no one who’s seen this show will ever get wrong on Bible-trivia night again.
Season 1 ends with the completion of the tabernacle and the ordination of Aaron as high priest. In just six episodes, it takes the viewer all the way through the second half of Exodus and into the Book of Leviticus. Hudson has said he wants to shoot 40 episodes overall, but there are less than two books of the Bible to go before the Israelites finish their wandering (not counting Deuteronomy, which is basically a recap). So the show is going to have to slow the pace if it wants to make the remaining story last that long.
That could work in The Promised Land’s favor. As noted, the series is at its best when it teases out the implications of seemingly minor passages, and there is plenty of material to work with. You could easily imagine entire episodes that focus on specific laws, like the ones that distinguish between clean and unclean animals (no flying insects unless they have jointed legs, Lev. 11:20–23) or the ones that describe how to, um, go to the bathroom (Deut. 23:12–14). Good thing Season Two—to be filmed in Morocco—is already in the works.
Peter T. Chattaway is a film critic with a special interest in Bible movies.
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