The Chosen, Season 2 (Spring 2021)

Filming Fall 2020 and Winter 2021; releasing Spring 2021

Writer(s): Ryan Swanson, Tyler Thompson, Dallas Jenkins, Kurt Gebhards

Director(s): Dallas Jenkins, Adam Drake, Mitch Hudson

Producer(s): Chad Gunderson, Justin Tolley, Derral Eves, Ricky Ray Butler, Earl Seals, Matthew Faraci, Dallas Jenkins, Ryan Swanson

Starring: Jonathan Roumie, Shahar Issac, Paras Patel, Noah James, Elizabeth Tabish, George Xanthis, Abe Martell, Giavani Cairo, Jordan Walker Ross, Joey Vahedi, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Vanessa Benavente, Brandon Potter, Kirk B. R. Woller, Lara Silva, Kenneisha Thompson, Vanessa DeSilvio, Maz Siam, Shaan Sharma, Ivan Jasso, Amber Shana Williams, Noé de la Garza, Yoshi Barrigas, Austin Alleman, Joseph Campbell, Alaa Safi, Nene Nwoko, Elijah Alexander, David Amito, Josh Zagoren, Luke Dimyan, Charan Prabhakar, Aalok Mehta, Anne Beyer

Plot Synopsis: Season 2 of the groundbreaking new series follows Jesus and His disciples during his earthly ministry outside of Capernaum.  The season overall focuses on group dynamics between the disciples and introduces at least two more key characters.  Jesus and His followers encounter both love and hatred as a result of their newfound popularity.

***CONFIRMED SPOILERS BELOW***

Overarching Season Themes: People finding their place in Jesus’ earthly ministry and the group dynamics of the disciples

Returning Characters: Jesus, Simon, Andrew, Mary Magdalene, Matthew, John son of Zebedee, Big James, Little James, Thaddeus, Mary the mother of Jesus, Thomas, Ramah, Eden, Photina, Neriah, Shmuel, Yussif, Tamar, The First Paralytic, Quintus, Gaius, Rivka, John the Baptizer, Barnaby, Shula

New Characters: Philip, Nathanael, Simon the Zealot, Melech, Rebecca, Chedva, Gershon, Nedim, Kaphni, Yanni, Atticus

Episode 1, Thunder: Jesus and His current disciples enter Samaria and meet up with Thomas and Ramah. Jesus preaches to the people about the parable of the lost sheep, and many believe in Him. Rama’s father Kaphni, after talking to Jesus, gives his daughter permission to travel with the group. After introducing them to everyone in town, Photina invites the whole group over for dinner, but her husband, Neriah, doesn’t know what to think about this. Jesus and His disciples stay at an inn for the night, and they spend several days in Samaria. The Sons of Thunder (John and Big James), after tilling some soil for a disabled farmer, are mistreated by some of the townspeople, who throw rocks at them for being Jews. After being spit on, John and Big James demand that Jesus let them call down fire on the Samaritans, but Jesus tells them that their work is for future generations. Elsewhere, Thomas takes issue with Matthew being in the group due to Matthew’s former tax collection work. Simon and Matthew continue to feud with each other.

Episode 2, I Saw You: Matthew begins to find his place among the disciples, despite the fact that some of them don’t like him. Philip and Nathanael are introduced as characters since John the Baptist refers Philip to Jesus, which prompts Philip to talk to Nathanael about the new Rabbi. Nathanael, an architect, has just gone through a career failure and is skeptical of Jesus. This career failure is related to a building collapsing, and Nathanael believes it’s due to his overconfidence. By the episode’s conclusion, Philip brings Nathanael to Jesus, Who invites them to follow Him.

Episode 3, Matthew 4:24: Based on its titular verse, this bottle episode depicts the current disciples taking turns helping Jesus with the many who are coming for healing. Many of the disciples are tired from their journey and previous work, so as they rest, they discuss what has been happening in the past few weeks. Mary the mother of Jesus joins the group at the beginning of the episode. Mary the mother offers unique insights of her perspective on the situation.

Episode 4, The Perfect Opportunity: This episode includes some type of mid-season cliffhanger where success is within the grasp of the characters yet also far away. It presents a well-known Bible story in a fresh way and somehow involves a wedding and the Healing at the Pool of Bethesda. The episode begins with a montage of scenes depicting a character’s early life, possibly that of the paralytic by the pool. The paralytic is friends with Simon the Zealot. At some point, Simon the Zealot is tasked with assassinating Atticus but is distracted by his friend’s sudden ability to walk. Sometime during this episode, some of the characters enter Jerusalem. Either in this episode or after it, Jesus heals a man with a shriveled hand in a synagogue, which draws the ire of Yanni and other Pharisees, who plan what they will do about Jesus.

Episode 5, Spirit: A character goes to a place of ill repute, which may have something to do with Mary Magdalene facing someone from her dark past. At some point, not necessarily in this episode, Jesus and John the Baptist have a long conversation about Jesus’ future ministry. Also, not necessarily in this episode, Shmuel and Yanni begin looking for Jesus by interviewing people in various areas. Yussif also begins looking for Jesus but does so in more covert ways and not necessarily in this episode.

Episode 6, Unlawful: Matthew and Simon son of Jonah search for Mary Magdalene in Jericho. On the Sabbath, Jesus heals a man with a shriveled hand in a synagogue. Also on the Sabbath, the disciple group picks heads of grain to eat, possibly to deal with a food shortage. John the Baptizer is taken into Roman custody.

Episode 7, Reckoning: If Jesus and His current disciples return to Capernaum by this time, He will have encounters with Quintus and Gaius. In this episode, it seems like, for some reason, that the disciples are split up into pairs of two each. Andrew and Philip try to stop Tamar and the first paralytic from preaching about Jesus. Yussif is somehow involved in this. At some point, not necessarily in this episode, Jesus gives Matthew the text of the Sermon on the Mount before Jesus delivers the sermon in person. Shmuel and Yanni go to a wailing wall in the city of Tiberias.

Episode 8, Beyond Mountains: This episode focuses on a big moment that takes Jesus’ earthly ministry to a new level. It presents a well-known Bible story in a fresh way and very likely involves the Sermon on the Mount. Also, a character wonders if there’s more to life than what he’s currently experiencing. The disciples are struggling with forgiveness and other painful events that have happened throughout the season. Nathanael and Thaddeus construct a stage for Jesus to deliver the Sermon on the Mount from. Eden and Tamar are present at the Sermon on the Mount.

39 thoughts on “The Chosen, Season 2 (Spring 2021)

  1. Pingback: The Chosen & The Shift.

  2. Pingback: The Chosen & The Shift – Famine In The Land

  3. just watched episode one of season 2. I can’t say that I’m enamored with it. The “modern wording ” has really distracted my husband and me. for example when whoever was plowing the field said to the other one “dont quit your day job!” and also in the first scene the word “freaking” was was used. I don’t think those words/phrases were used in Biblical times. Can’t you do a better job of using wording that goes better with the time and setting?
    Is it because you’re trying to gain the interest of young people? I think they can get it if you would use the wording of that era. thanks

    Like

    • Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I think that the writers purposely included the modern wording to make it more relatable for all audiences. The creators of the series want to avoid being a rigid Bible show, and they acknowledge that many of the colloquialisms that they include are not historically accurate.

      Like

    • The modern wording in the show is an understandable confusion. I believe that the writers of the show intend to portray all the characters as humans and not saints. This being said, as humans we all say dumb or inappropriate things at times. How can we expect the language of that era to be any different in meaning? It may be different words but many words can have the same meaning under certain context. This does not mean it is a good thing for characters to walk around saying whatever they please. I just believe that the creators of the show did an excellent job portraying all the characters as humans because that’s what they were.

      Like

  4. Is Gaius not returning? He is not listed in the returning characters. I get that there is no Biblical basis and the relationship is entirely made up,…but I really enjoyed the relationship between Matthew and Gaius. Again, I know not really the story of Jesus and the disciples…but I, nevertheless, always looked forward to scene changes with Matthew and Gaius and would enjoy seeing a few more…

    Like

    • Thanks for reading and asking! At this point, the actor playing Gaius (Kirk B. R. Woller) hasn’t been spotted on set during the current shoot, and the character has never been mentioned in any of the videos or social media material. However, it’s *possible* (not confirmed) that Gaius could show up again during Season 2’s second filming in January. Stay tuned!

      Like

  5. I love The Chosen! I bought the DVD and Devotional Book and have recommended it to everyone I know. I have one suggestion for the next DVD that is put out. In the disk menu that lists episodes, could you please have a section that includes interviews the producer has done with the actors? Some movies I’ve seen has worded it as “commentary by (name of actor). I would really like that on a DVD instead of having to go find it on the computer. Thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

    • It was very moving and captivating, I’m so grateful a friend told me about The Chosen. I liked at the end of each episode when Dallas interviews one of the actors and what they have to say on what it meant to them to be a part of it. Jonathan who played Jesus, made it so believable and moving. I’m looking forward to Season 2.
      Thank you

      Liked by 1 person

  6. I watched all episodes online then bought the DVD online to pay it forward. I am blessed to live in a country that I can choose Jesus Christ as my savior. I want to thank everyone involved in making this movie. God Bless you all. I am so excited to see what comes next and wish it was done so I can get the next seasons.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. Hello The Chosen Team,

    I just finished watching the commentary to episode 5 and was devastated to hear that you will not likely be doing a flashback to the baptism of Jesus and this show has given me such a closer relationship with Jesus that I would hate to see such an integral part of the story of Jesus missing from the show entirely. I beg you to please reconsider and will give my reason for such a request.

    The baptism of Jesus is not just important because it is a large part of many denominations theology of the process of salvation, but rather is is so much larger in scope than that. John the Baptist was a Zadokite Priest (the rightful priestly line to the ministry to God, not the Hellenized priests of the line of Eli, nor the Maccabeean priests that took power after the Maccabean revolt). That is extremely important because of the implication of priesthood as Jesus was not only of the line of Judah but also on both Mary and Joseph’s side there was intermarriage going on with the tribe of Levi making Jesus next in line after John the Baptist’s death to be the rightful high priest of the Zadokite lineage (Aaronic Priesthood). The Bible makes mention of this in a few ways, one of those ways being that when Jesus faces the High Priest in the Temple, the High Priest tears his garments, therefore making null and void his own power as High Priest. It further goes on to make mention that when Jesus was on the cross, his garments were not torn therefore proving out his rightful place in the taking up of the Aronic priesthood.

    When it speaks of the Magi coming to Jerusalem to worship the King of the Jews because they had seen a star to the east, we have to understand what was at play during that time. The Magi were primarily comprised of the lost sheep of the house of Israel which was dispersed amongst the gentiles and taken captive by the Assyrians after God’s divorce to them in Jeremiah 3. They had the job of anointing and worshiping the next king of the Parthian Empire known to the eastern part of the world as the King of Kings. The Parthian Empire was the world power that was rivaling Rome during this period and Israel, sitting directly in the middle of the two empires had just been taken over by the Romans in the generation before Jesus. This is why it says in Matthew 2:3 that Herod was disturbed and all of Jerusalem with him. They thought that the Magi were coming to reclaim Israel through battle.

    The reason this is so paramount is because if Jesus had not taken up the priest hood and kingship, then there would be no legal right for him to pass on to us the ability to be kings and priests under him as part of the Melkesidek Order (both Priest and King) which there hadn’t been one of those since before the Levitical Priesthood had been set up. The baptism of Jesus by non other than John the Baptist was the ritual purification needed to become a priest according to written Torah. This is why I urge you to please, please, please include this as a flashback on a future episode, thank you for your time and I apologize for any misspellings or grammatical mistakes. And a second thanks for all that this show is doing for myself and so many others around the world, may God continue to bless you through the work you are doing!!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. I’ve not seen anything that comes close to the quality of writing and acting in this production. May God bless and continue to inspire all involved!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. The most amazing story to show Him as a real person with real people surrounding Him instead of like a person who walked around glowing all the time.

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Pingback: New & Upcoming Christian Entertainment – Box Office Revolution

What did you think?