The Chosen season 5: Prelude to the Passion begins with sombre Last Supper

As viewers left The Chosen’s fourth season with the image of Christ and his disciples walking towards an elated Jerusalem, one would expect that Season 5 would open with his joyful entry into the city among shouts of “Hosanna.”

For director Dallas Jenkins, it was crucial for the progression of the season and characters that it instead begins with the Last Supper, establishing a sombre tone early on and directing the audience’s focus towards Christ’s crucifixion.

Even though all the major players we expect to see at the Passion have arrived in Jerusalem, Jenkins still needs to bring each character to the emotional point where their choices that follow Jesus’ arrest will be authentic and justified.

With four seasons of character development coming to a cross road, Jenkins’ greatest achievement in these first two episodes is his brilliant writing that seamlessly intertwines multiple storylines while building upon each character without contradicting past or compromising future decisions.

Following Christ’s rockstar entry into Jerusalem, the disciples are given the mandate by the Messiah to continue spreading the Good News throughout the city.

Some try their hand at preaching to the large crowds but most either get swept up in the festivities or in their own business, choosing to focus on the temporal present rather than the eternal future.

Their lack of urgency with carrying out Christ’s work, and the ease in which they fall into reopening old wounds, lays the groundwork for their lack of faith at the beginning of the Passion.

Although many of the disciples struggle to understand Jesus’ preaching and seemingly erratic behaviour in the temple, Christ’s fate is clear to Mary Magdalene and John the Beloved.

The two fear that Jesus’ words on his leaving them are coming to pass and lament over the number of signs that point to his ultimate sacrifice.

It’s clear that Jenkins is preparing the way for the disciples and key figures to take their respective positions in Christ’s Passion.

This is no more evident than in Christ himself, who struggles with the sorrow of what he must do and rebukes those in opposition to his Father’s will with directness and urgency.

Beginning each episode with a segment of Christ’s discourse at the last supper, Jenkins keeps the Passion in the forefront of the viewer as they watch the events and decisions unravel on screen.

Seeing the disciples anxiously question Jesus’ state of mind and concern themselves with temporal issues has greater meaning when viewers have already seen Christ tell them “you will all fall away … for it is written ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’.”

What is also shown well in these episodes is the subtle change of attitude towards Christ by the people who have poured into Jerusalem for the Passover. We have all, at some point, questioned how Jesus could have been welcomed by thousands as their Messiah, to then be condemned by those same people as a criminal just four days later.

Dallas’ answer is to build tensions slowly, with the rise of negative voices towards the proclaimed Messiah, until the situation is exacerbated when Jesus chases the money changers, animals and vendors out of the temple with whip in hand.

This explosive event not only displays a reason for the change in attitude towards Jesus, but it also makes it more plausible for the Pharisees to call for his death as they looked on from the steps of the temple.

The acting, writing, sound and cinematography are at the series’ best, although one criticism that must be made is that long scenes of exposition in episode two make it seem like it was made for a faith resource rather than a series.

The fact that everything else in these episodes is of high quality makes those scenes stick out and distracts the audience from the story.

The Chosen Season 5 will receive a theatrical launch in select theatres from 10 April before making its streaming debut later in 2025.