“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.
Showing posts with label the borgias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the borgias. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Borgias Premiere Review
“God will forgive us son. But I will not forgive failure from you.” -Rodrigo Borgias
At the risk of sounding sophomoric, I think I’ll rename The Borgias, “The Bore-gias” until further notice. There’s nothing too special going on in this period drama. The Borgias is the story of Rodrigo Borgias, played by Jeremy Irons, and his criminal family taking hold of the papacy. This story was apparently the inspiration for Mario Puzo when he wrote The Godfather so we all kind of know what’s happening from the beginning. Rodrigo buys the papacy and gets his position by any means necessary. This includes murder, bribery and seduction. As with any drama the most important element in storytelling is human change. I do not think we will get much change out Rodrigo. He is the constant force. This leaves our young hero Cesare. Cesare Borgia is Rodrigo’s son, played by Francois Arnaud, who has eyes to be leader of the papal army. However, Rodrigo has plans for him to join the cloth.
Cesare’s journey is what is going to carry the show. He appears to have convictions about what is happening in his life, but still chooses to honor his family. Because he is held in a higher standard by the audience his fall from grace will be more tragic. His decision whether to stay in this life of crime or leave it will provide our main source of conflict. Cesare has goals and objectives that are not completely clear to the viewer so we still have an interest in what he does.
I fear that the Rodrigo story line will grow tiresome. We get it. He’s a lecherous pope and the cardinals all want to overthrow him. What can we possibly find interesting about this? The big problem is that Rodrigo is not a sympathetic character. We aren’t rooting for him to keep the papacy because he deserves it, but instead are rooting for him to keep it so the show stays interesting. There will be a constant battle to make each attempt on his reign seem new and believable. He just seems to have such absolute power as Pope, that I’m not sure just how much I can believe he’s ever in any real danger of losing his position.
One of the main problems with the show is that the supporting characters, other than Cesare, aren’t interesting. I still have hopes for Juan Borgia, but we didn’t really get to see him do much in these first two episodes. I certainly have seen enough of Holliday Grainger and her portrayal of Lucrezia Borgia. For having as much screen time as she did, she never really gripped me. I do see that there is potential for her turn the crazy on when the incestuous relationship between her and Cesare is exposed. She’s playing very dull and dim, but maybe it’s a choice that will pay off later when she comes out of her shell. I don’t know how long he’ll be around, but I do think there is a lot of potential in the assassin, Micheletto. He is a total wild card as we’ve seen him play both sides already and we know he’s not afraid to kill. His cold delivery of the line, “I have smothered infants in their bed. But only when the parents paid me,” was pretty haunting.
As a whole, I’m not too enthused about this show. I’m not sure if it’s porn with costumes or porn for costumes. Either way, it just seems like Showtime’s attempt at the next great period drama. I think they’re really going to need to dig down and surprise us. So far we can see all the plot lines developing before they happen. We need to not be bored, and I fear that we are at this point.
At the risk of sounding sophomoric, I think I’ll rename The Borgias, “The Bore-gias” until further notice. There’s nothing too special going on in this period drama. The Borgias is the story of Rodrigo Borgias, played by Jeremy Irons, and his criminal family taking hold of the papacy. This story was apparently the inspiration for Mario Puzo when he wrote The Godfather so we all kind of know what’s happening from the beginning. Rodrigo buys the papacy and gets his position by any means necessary. This includes murder, bribery and seduction. As with any drama the most important element in storytelling is human change. I do not think we will get much change out Rodrigo. He is the constant force. This leaves our young hero Cesare. Cesare Borgia is Rodrigo’s son, played by Francois Arnaud, who has eyes to be leader of the papal army. However, Rodrigo has plans for him to join the cloth.
Cesare’s journey is what is going to carry the show. He appears to have convictions about what is happening in his life, but still chooses to honor his family. Because he is held in a higher standard by the audience his fall from grace will be more tragic. His decision whether to stay in this life of crime or leave it will provide our main source of conflict. Cesare has goals and objectives that are not completely clear to the viewer so we still have an interest in what he does.
I fear that the Rodrigo story line will grow tiresome. We get it. He’s a lecherous pope and the cardinals all want to overthrow him. What can we possibly find interesting about this? The big problem is that Rodrigo is not a sympathetic character. We aren’t rooting for him to keep the papacy because he deserves it, but instead are rooting for him to keep it so the show stays interesting. There will be a constant battle to make each attempt on his reign seem new and believable. He just seems to have such absolute power as Pope, that I’m not sure just how much I can believe he’s ever in any real danger of losing his position.
One of the main problems with the show is that the supporting characters, other than Cesare, aren’t interesting. I still have hopes for Juan Borgia, but we didn’t really get to see him do much in these first two episodes. I certainly have seen enough of Holliday Grainger and her portrayal of Lucrezia Borgia. For having as much screen time as she did, she never really gripped me. I do see that there is potential for her turn the crazy on when the incestuous relationship between her and Cesare is exposed. She’s playing very dull and dim, but maybe it’s a choice that will pay off later when she comes out of her shell. I don’t know how long he’ll be around, but I do think there is a lot of potential in the assassin, Micheletto. He is a total wild card as we’ve seen him play both sides already and we know he’s not afraid to kill. His cold delivery of the line, “I have smothered infants in their bed. But only when the parents paid me,” was pretty haunting.
As a whole, I’m not too enthused about this show. I’m not sure if it’s porn with costumes or porn for costumes. Either way, it just seems like Showtime’s attempt at the next great period drama. I think they’re really going to need to dig down and surprise us. So far we can see all the plot lines developing before they happen. We need to not be bored, and I fear that we are at this point.
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