Show’s crass humour tests faith of audience
The show: What Would Sal Do? Season 1, Episode 2 The moment: Repainting Jesus
The crucifix statue at Father Luke’s (Scott Thompson) Sudbury church fell and cracked. The timing is auspicious, since Luke just helped his parishioner Maria (Jennifer Dale) tell her slacker son Sal (Dylan Taylor) that he’s the second coming of Christ.
Father Luke’s assistant Rajani (Priya Rajaratnam) returns from the hardware store with paint to repair the statue. “Dark tan paint?” Luke asks. “Since we’re repainting him, why not use a shade that’s more reflective of the truth?” she counters.
He launches into a discourse about how people prefer to remember Elvis Presley as handsome rather than fat.
“So a historically accurate darkskinned Jesus is offensive and hard to look at, whereas the manufactured white version is more palat- able and pleasing to the eye?” Rajani asks.
“Exactly,” Luke says. “Now please go back to the store and get me some flesh-toned paint. My flesh tone.”
It’s a Sudbury Sunday morning here, as hoser Sal struggles to do good works. His idea of that may be taking a homeless man to a massage parlour, but as Luke admits in Episode 1, if Christ came today he might be an ass who tests our faith.
So far, Sal is testing mine. The show’s mix of crass humour and swipes at the corruption of organized religion (“Facts are for cowards,” Luke says) feels a bit uneasy, as is Sal’s quest to atone for bullying a boy who ended up killing himself. The show feels freshest when Sal’s at his least repentant and his good works are accidental. What Would Sal Do? streams on Crave TV. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.