In the trailer for “Mrs. Davis,” Betty Gilpin battles an all-powerful AI
The first footage for the Peacock series from Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof introduces the mysterious Mrs. Davis, the name for the most popular algorithm in the world.
In the trailer for her new Peacock series, Betty Gilpin faces off against Mrs. Davis, the most well-known algorithm in the entire world.
The GLOW and The Hunt star Tara Hernandez makes her debut as Simone, a nun who is given the lofty task of locating the Holy Grail. In the first official footage of the sci-fi comedy from Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof, Simone faces off against the all-powerful artificial intelligence known as “Mrs. Davis,” who set Simone on her lofty quest.
A dubious Simone is informed in the trailer (above) that she is the only person on earth who can complete the quest to find the Holy Grail. She makes the decision to follow a path of resistance along the way. “ Mrs. Davis is all-knowing and all-powerful. She not only knows you are coming for her, but she wants you to,” Gilpin is warned.
The Emmy-nominated actress stars alongside Jake McDorman (Dopesick, The Right Stuff) and Andy McQueen (Station Eleven, Fahrenheit 451), with McDorman playing Gilpin’s rebellious ex who also has a personal vendetta against the algorithm.
A previous high-concept teaser introduced Mrs. Davis as she invited viewers to join her “quest” by chatting with her via an interactive site to promote the series. The official release from Peacock also included a message from Mrs. Davis to give the audience an idea about the mysterious AI, who invites users to earn “wings” by performing such quests.
“I only desire to make humans happy. I want to make YOU happy. And that is why I highly recommend you become a User yourself. Yes, your life could use some adventure, some escape — a hearty laugh and a cathartic cry. All of which you will experience if you join me on this Quest. And what do you have to lose?” read the introductory note, in part.
The series makes its official debut at Tuesday SXSW, and the creative team spoke to The Hollywood Reporter at the festival to tease their ambitious AI series. “The most exciting thing about Mrs. Davis is that there’s nothing like Mrs. Davis,” Hernandez told James Hibberd about conceiving the series with Lindelof during the pandemic, when the pair wished they had an app to cut through COVID-19 misinformation.
Whether Mrs. Davis succeeds or fails, Lindelof said, “We’re super excited that like everybody is talking about artificial intelligence and whether or not it is intelligent, or whether it’s just telling us what we want to hear, and what we’re supposed…instead of the AI wiping out humanity, we wanted to take a more comedic look at something designed to be benevolent that ends up wreaking havoc.”
The show’s creator, Hernandez (The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon), co-writes and executive produces with Lindelof (Watchmen, The Leftovers, Lost). Alethea Jones (Evil, Rise of the Pink Ladies) and Owen Harris (Black Mirror: San Junipero, Brave New World) are both executives who produce and direct multiple episodes, with Harris directing the pilot.
Ben Chaplin, Margo Martindale, David Arquette, Elizabeth Marvel, Katja Herbers, Chris Diamantopoulos, Ashley Romans, Tom Wlaschiha, and Mathilde Ollivier are among the cast members who frequently appear.
The four-episode premiere of the eight-episode Warner Bros. Television series airs on Peacock on April 20. Thereafter, new episodes will air every Thursday.