The Borgias - "The Moor" Review

“Most things in life prove to be sad, sis. Again, I have been told.” -Cesare

I was not kind to The Borgias in my previous review. I found it dull, boring, and predictable. This third episode has proved to me that there is a lot of potential with this show. I found many of the elements still predictable, but I at least got the feeling that there could be some real drama present. Before, the characters were one sided and transparent, now it seems like all the characters have more of a voice and all have something to lose or gain. Each decision the characters made this past episode had consequences. The youngest son, Juan Borgia was perhaps the person who learned the most difficult lesson. His vain desire to please his father and prove useful lead to him getting in over his head. It was his botched attempt at the assassination of Prince Alfonso that lead to him having to kill him with his own hands. It was this Prince Alfonso character that I found to be most interesting.

The Borgias is largely a story of the family defending their papacy by any means necessary. This will undoubtedly lead to lots of scheming, backstabbing, and the making of decisions unfit for the pope. If the season were to just be one event after another of the pope showing us he’s villainous, then the show would fall flat and cease to be interesting. The Prince Alfonso story did a great job a weaving all of the members of the family story lines into one. The pope needed to marry off his daughter and needed a dowry. The death of Alfonso would net him a large sum from the Sultan of Constantinople. So he enlists his son Juan to do the deed for him. Juan anxious to prove his worth to his father asks Cesare to borrow his professional assassin to help him. Cesare, fresh off accepting the cardinal position he’s not exactly thrilled about, does not wish to see the moor die as he can see that his sister Lucrezia loves him. One thing that can’t be forgotten in all of this is Cesare’s love for his sister. He wishes he could be her husband, so he takes the marrying off of her very seriously. This leads to first time that Cesare calls out his father, who now is firmly in control of the papacy. Every decision each character made showed characterization and advanced the plot. It really was a beautifully told tale. I don’t think they should have a guest star each week to advance the plot consistently at this pace, but this really set up future events.

The show also proved two things to me that I was quite surprised at. The first is that it seemed it was being sold as this sexy drama where all the characters will get got up in scandalous affair after scandalous affair. However this episode did not have one scene of nudity and no sex or implied sex. It was just a drama about the moral quandaries of the papal family. I’m sure the sexiness will come back at some point, but I’m glad they’re not just solely relying sex to sell their show. The other is that it proved it could be light-hearted. The suitor scene was particularly entertaining. Every serious drama needs to show moments of levity and the bringing in of silly suitor after silly suitor proved to be a nice change of pace.

I also found the Prince of Naples to be awfully entertaining. The dining room of dead and stuffed adversaries was a chilling image. If Cardinal Sforza wants to be serious about dethroning Pope Borgia he’s going to find himself in some most unpleasant situations. Whereas Micheletto is right at home in the dining room of the deceased. My dad always taught me not to get into fights with stupid people as they will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. I feel the same can be said for the cardinal and his dealings with getting rid of the pope. He’ll be faced with many moral quandaries and it will turn into a game of chicken between he and the Borgias family as to who blinks first and feels the guilt of their decisions. My money is on the Borgias. I admired though that this was not the central focus of the episode. It will be series long struggle for people to try and dethrone the pope, so there’s no need to constantly be putting him the cross hairs of those who wish him out.

It’s hard to believe that my opinion of a show can be changed so quickly. But this episode of The Borgias really has me excited about the future of the narrative. I look forward very much to the marriage of Lucrezia and what Cesare will do. Will Juan be able to handle this new life style? How will Lucrezia feel when she learns that she’s just a pawn in her father’s game? There are so many good places to go with these stories, I just hope that I am not disappointed. If the episodes are all like this one, surely I will not be.