Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel are set in a post-apocalyptic version of the United States. Humans live in tribes scattered across Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, and worship everything from the sun to the blue light of the technology that was held dear by their predecessors, the Old Ones. Machines roam the land, and, due to a phenomenon known as the “Derangement,” have become more aggressive toward humans, and grown larger. All of this traces back to a secretive project, Zero Dawn, and an artificial intelligence (AI) designed to execute said project.
In dystopian science fiction, storytellers constantly interrogate the nature of AI, especially when its design comes into conflict with the free will of humans. The latest sci-fi show to take up that mantle is Peacock’s Mrs. Davis. A comedic take on the topic, Mrs. Davis stars three-time Emmy nominee Betty Gilpin (GLOW) as Sister Simone, a nun who is less-than-enthused by the world’s ubiquitous artificial intelligence Mrs. Davis, a kind of Alexa stand-in taken to the extreme. Despite their differing tones and settings, both Mrs. Davis and Horizon Zero Dawn explore technology’s power — and the nature of its power over us.
What Is Horizon Zero Dawn About?
Aloy (voice of Ashly Burch), a young hunter and outcast in the matriarchal Nora tribe, leaves home to unearth more of her mysterious past, which is linked to the appearance of the Machines and the extinction of the Old Ones. On her journey, Aloy finds the ruins of the Faro corporation, which created and then lost control of its automated peacekeeping military robots. Capable of self-replicating and even consuming biomass, these robots overran the planet, stripping Earth of its resources.
At first, Aloy believes Zero Dawn is the name of a project, one that was meant to deactivate the robots and aid the Old Ones, but there’s more to it than that. Zero Dawn was an underground network of databases and factories, all controlled by the artificial intelligence known as GAIA (voice of Lesley Ewen). GAIA’s ultimate goal was to restore Earth’s biosphere, with the help of those animalistic Machines, and then clone humans who wouldn’t follow in the misguided footsteps of the Old Ones.
And then there’s HADES (voice of John Gonzalez), one of GAIA’s AI subsystems, designed to perform a “controlled extinction” if Zero Dawn ended up creating an unfavorable path for this new generation of humans. As is the case with AI, nothing goes as planned — but it does go as designed.
What Is The Plot Of Mrs. Davis?
Set in 2023, the Peacock show takes its name from the artificial intelligence Mrs. Davis, which is used by almost everyone on the planet. More than a virtual assistant like Siri or Alexa, Mrs. Davis has (allegedly) prevented war and famine. In a way, Mrs. Davis has saved humanity, and inspired everyone to have the utmost faith in her. Well, almost everyone.
Sister Simone (Gilpin) works in a convent, but spends her time debunking magicians. The nun refuses to speak with Mrs. Davis, claiming the AI killed her father. But when her convent is suddenly sold, Simone finds herself in the custody of German soldiers who are acting under Mrs. Davis’ orders. Eventually, Simone gives in and speaks with Mrs. Davis — or rather, she speaks to an elementary school teacher who’s working on behalf of Mrs. Davis. In any event, Mrs. Davis tasks Simone with finding the Holy Grail and destroying it, promising that she will delete herself if Simone succeeds.
Who Created Mrs. Davis?
Mrs. Davis was created by Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof. Hernandez is best known for her comedic chops, with a surplus of writing credits for both The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon to her name. Lindelof, meanwhile, is best known for innovative, thought-provoking dramas — often with grandiose faith versus science themes — including Lost, The Leftovers, and HBO’s Watchmen (2019).
The highly imaginative series blends science and spirituality, putting a very modern (and very self-aware) spin on a grail quest. While the co-creator team-up might seem surprising at first, both writers bring their unique strengths to a show that, against all odds, juggles its various tones and genres deftly.
Mrs. Davis: Artificial Intelligence & Religious Conspiracies
Before bringing viewers into Simone’s story, Mrs. Davis opens in the 1300s. Members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake for heresy, while a nun — also a member of the order — escapes a violent melee in her convent with the Holy Grail. In the present, Simone’s ex-boyfriend, Wiley (Jake McDorman), is part of an anti-AI resistance group. Simone learns from Wiley that Mrs. Davis’ devotees do tasks for her to earn “wings,” but they can also volunteer to be killed on a certain “expiration date” in exchange for wings, too. Understandably, Wiley and his group want to get to the bottom of Mrs. Davis’ plans.
Typically, faith is defined as a strong belief in something, despite the absence of physical proof of that existence. Here, though, the spiritual is made manifest. Simone’s husband, Jay (Andy McQueen), is quite literally Jesus, and the Holy Grail and Lazarus Shroud are objects that the characters interact with. Science, on the other hand, has machinations viewers can’t see as clearly or as literally. Mrs. Davis speaks through others and is without a corporeal form, and Wiley can’t understand why Mrs. Davis’ cultists follow her without question.
The show smartly flips the script on spirituality and science, which are often viewed as in opposition to one another. Here, elements of religion, while fantastical, are less abstract, while the AI Mrs. Davis remains something of a mystery. Of course, these two ideas aren’t opposites. Not only are they similar, but they’re interrelated — the things one can’t see but know to be true are often made manifest in science and nature.
Although increasingly outlandish and bizarre, Mrs. Davis interrogates a central question: to what “higher power” do you answer? In the same way some folks give themselves over to faith or fate, others let artificial intelligence and technology — from dating app algorithms to AI-generated content — take the wheel.
Where Can You Watch Mrs. Davis?
Developed by Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof for Warner Bros. Television, Mrs. Davis received an 8-episode order for Peacock. After its world premiere at South by Southwest in March 2023, the series’ first four episodes debuted on Peacock on April 20. The remaining four episodes have been released on the platform on a weekly basis. Outside the U.S., viewers can catch Mrs. Davis on Warner’s HBO Max (soon to be "Max") platform.