Review: Prime Video’s ‘House of David’: Giants Awakened (Ep. 6)

2 weeks ago 7

13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee. – 1 Samuel: 13-14

House of David is a sprawling epic tale detailing the life of David who went on to become the second king of Israel. David was a man whom God called a man after his own heart, and it was from his lineage that the Lord promised the Messiah would come that was in the form of Jesus Christ.

Last week we reviewed episode 5, The Wolf and the Lion, which was packed with palace intrigue and politics. I strongly suggest you go back and read that review to avoid any more spoilers! The Wolf and the Lion returned the series to the level we had now come to expect, and we prayed Giants Awakened kept that momentum. Did it deliver?

Spoilers Ahead

Episode 6: Giants Awakened

Relayed by the mother of giants, Orpah, the episode begins with a very stylish montage giving the biblically accurate backstory of the giants who were born from fallen angels called the Nephilim. Giants were born from the unholy union of Angel and Man before God forced the Nephilim into the darkness. Her giant sons lament the fact that they come from angels but are forced to hide in a cave.

There are many plot points touched upon in Giants Awakened that propels the series into the final two episodes to come, which can be good and bad.

When David finishes soothing Saul again with his song, Saul says he envies his simplistic life, and they bond over both being Sheppard’s in the past. It’s interesting that Saul tells David to hold onto his destiny and to not let one man take it from him. This is Saul rebuking Samuel anointing another, but also simultaneously empowering David to accept the throne.

Mychal stares at the throne and confides in her sister Mirab that she is falling in love with David, but the queen’s poisonous words against him had some impact. Later in the episode, she sneaks David to her room again and confronts him about being a bastard. David says he didn’t tell Mychal because he was afraid to lose her and begs her to run away with him. Mychal confesses that she loves him, but there is a difference between desire and destiny.

There is a brief scene of the young boy Rueben being brought to the assassin Doeg. Rueben is coerced to tell him what he saw and heard the night Samuel visited Saul. That scene would become important later.

The Philistine King Achish arrives back in his lands with Orpah and her giant sons to use them to unite the armies against Israel. He even gifts Goliath with a sword and shield made of fine metal.

Yet, Orpah plays hardball to get them out of the caves, saying her sons will only fight for the king if he gives Goliath his throne. Of course, the king is stunned by this sudden reversal and refuses her proposal, and Orpah warns him that awakened giants seldom go back to sleep. A clear threat to King Achish and a clear blow to his plans to lead the Philistines.

Later, Doeg arrives and informs King Achish what he learned about Saul. Is he working for Abner still, King Achish or is he striking out on his own?

In Giants Awaken, Saul continues to slide into his madness from the loss of the Holy Spirit. When his top generals and his son Jonathan discuss the Philistines gathering for war, Saul angrily tells them that Israel will meet them on the battlefield because God has their backs. You hear the crack of thunder behind him as Saul remains delusional in his hunger to remain on the throne.

To make matters worse, while Saul is having another violent dream, under the Queen’s orders, the Baal sorceress Besai takes some of the King’s blood to fix a potion. While Saul dreams, Besai uses her sorcery to try to coax out the name of the new anointed as the Queen looks on.

I knew Jonathan would be one of my favorite characters in this series because of his great character and faith in the bible and the show does him justice in this episode. When Jonathan stumbles upon the scene, he tosses Besai to the ground and shouts that God rules their house! We see Saul ailing in the background as Besai warns Jonathan that he will never sit on the throne. All of this finally prompts Jonathan to defy his father and ventures to look for Samuel to find out what is happening to the king.

Jonathan surmises there is only one place Samuel could be and when he arrives at the holy Mount Sinai he has a dream, seeing the same vision Saul had in the third episode, The Anointing, of his family falling battle. Finding Samuel, Jonathan asks if he has anointed another. Samuel asked him if he serves God or the throne. People who has read the bible knows the answer to this question. Samuel then tells Jonathan that he has anointed another, a king whose reign has no end, alluding to the prophesied messiah, Jesus Christ.

Giants Awaken ends with a shocking scene that I don’t want to spoil but it leads directly into setting up the two-part season finale. Giants Awaken is probably the first episode that made me wish Amazon had gifted the show runners more time. So much plot happens that an additional episode or two would have fleshed out the story better.

Giants Awaken gives a sympathetic take on Goliath and his brother which is the embellishment a show like House of David must take for drama. This episode probably takes the most liberties with additional storylines that can’t be confirmed in the Holy Bible. We’ll see how these stories plays out in the final two episodes that I will definitely be watching.

****

Check out my superhero novel, Fiasco of Adventures here or here. And check out my new website TheMegacosm.com!