Mrs. Daviscreators Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof map the audacious road to a nuns crusade against AI.
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I was like,This shouldnt be funny at all.
We had so many questions that all felt like hearsay and speculation, Hernandez says.
Within half an hour, it was,Thats what the nuns should be fighting against.
Because if that app existed, it would ultimately replace God.
What evolved from these conversations isMrs.
Where in the Venn diagram doThe Sound of Music,Black Mirror,andTrue Romanceoverlap?
Thats what we were gunning for.
The Sound of Music.
I love characters with passion, Hernandez says.
An elementary-school teacher named Mrs. Davis.
We wanted the opposite of exoskeletons crushing human skulls, Lindelof says.
Their AI would be friendly and engaging.
Mrs. Daviss superpower, Hernandez says, is that shes not going to turn everyone into sheep.
Theyre going to willingly surrender themselves to her influence.
The model became Hernandezs own (much-beloved) first- and second-grade teacher, a woman named Mrs. Davis.
Most memorably, she had a way of gently prodding students toward something like a personal thesis statement.
Pokemon Go.
They landed on a gamified presence, an app that incentivizes philanthropy like a Good Samaritan version ofPokemon Go.
San Junipero.
The season-threeBlack Mirrorepisode San Junipero chronicles the love story between two women who meet in a digitally constructed afterlife.
It became a key tonal touch point forMrs.
Davis, Hernandez says, because of the tender romance achieved within the high-concept sci-fi premise.
As with San Junipero, the goal forMrs.
Daviswas to never let the tech or artifice overtake the humanity and relationships, she says.
ThatBlack Mirrorinspiration morphed into direct collaboration when San Junipero director Owen Harris signed on forMrs.
He started bringing in Monty Python references, Lindelof says.
True Romance.
To define the visual language of the series, Harris looked to early Tarantino, particularlyTrue Romance.
That was where we started to get really delighted, he says.
What is the threshold for ridiculousness?
You look around and everyones waiting for someone to say, I kind of like that idea.
Should we try it?
Mrs. Daviss stars carry that energy in their performances.
That was such anahamoment, Hernandez remembers.
Simone, via Betty, is always going to find the most off-the-beaten-path way to do something.
Frodo Baggins.
At times, Lindelof admits,Mrs.
Davisdoes feel a little bit like those montages whereboxers are trying to catch a chicken.
Its ridiculous to watch and also a lot more difficult than it looks.
But my favorite thing is losing the audience purposefully and then getting them back, he continues.
The very beginning ofMrs.
Thats the fun of it, though.
You have to lean in extra hard if youre going to take a stab at subvert them.
Hopefully it will be really exciting if people get that far.
