"The Perfect Opportunity" is the fourth episode of season 2 of The Chosen.
As Jesus and the disciples head to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, a new enemy follows them, while a familiar enemy awaits.
This episode provides examples of:
- Assassin Outclassin': Atticus replaces the Roman magistrate on his weekly dinner reservation in order to kill Simon during the Zealots' assassination attempt.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: People walk past active crucifixions of multiple people by Roman authorities at the gates of Jerusalem, with little more than an uncomfortable glance.
- Cryptic Conversation: The episode ends with an example that the audience understands, but the disciples do not.Matthew: Waiting thirty more minutes wouldn't have mattered to that man. Why did you do this on Shabbat?
Jesus: Sometimes you gotta stir up the water. - Elites Are More Glamorous: Atticus is essentially a Roman special operator, recognized as such by both other soldiers and Roman civilians.
- Flashback: The opening montage that shows Jesse and Simon's childhood and youth.
- Gambit Roulette: Simon's calling depends on Jesse walking past the alley just as Simon's assassination plans are unfolding.
- Give Me a Sign: In the opening montage, we see Simon leave Jesse a farewell note. Later, after he says goodbye to Jesse at the Pool of Bethesda, Jesse reads that note.Jesse (reading): "Jesse, when you stand on two feet, I will know the Messiah has come."
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: The assassination attempt on the Roman magistrate is scheduled to occur during the Feast of Booths.
- Mythology Gag: Jesus seeing a crucifixion before he is crucified is lifted form The Last Temptation of Christ, The Bible (2013), The Young Messiah, Jesus (1999) and The Greatest Story Ever Told. The difference is that this episode and The Last Temptation of Christ have Jesus as an adult when he sees the crucifixion while the others have him as a child.
- So Much for Stealth: Atticus' criticism of Petronius, the Magistrate the Zealots plan to assassinate, when they meet in an alley.Atticus: Could you look any more Roman? I'd have asked you to meet me in the town square if I knew you'd show up looking like a senator.
- Related in the Adaptation: Simon the Zealot and the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda (given the name Jesse here) are brothers.
- Religion Is Wrong: The Pool of Bethsheda gets this treatment. On the way to it, Jesus and three disciples talk about it and agree that it's just a natural spring with no supernatural qualities. In a separate conversation, Simon the Zealot insists to his brother Jessie that the pool is pagan nonsense, and that God would never be so cruel as to pit disabled people against each other.
- Spanner in the Works: The assassination attempt doesn't happen due to Jesse happening to walk where Simon sees him, distracting Simon completely and negating Atticus' power play.
- Throwing Off the Disability: Jesus heals Jesse at the Pool of Bethesda. Then we see him walking slowly through the the streets of Jerusalem.
- Traumatic C-Section: Simon the Zealot was cut from his mother after she died in childbirth, the midwife holding a knife up to his mother's stomach before the scene cuts away to the baby being held by his brother.
