Review: The Borgias, S2, Ep. 208 – “Truth and Lies”
Airdate: Sunday, June 3, 2012, 10:00PM E/P on Showtime
Rating:
“You are a Borgia. You can have both, Lucrezia Borgia.” ~ Vanozza
Lucrezia peers through the model ship to glance not at Calvino, the man who is proposing marriage, but at his brother Raffello.
When your mother uses dessert to give you a lesson in love, it can really spoil your appetite. But fortunately for Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger), her mother Vanozza (Joanne Whalley) prepares her two of her favorite dishes and offers some advice. Telling Lucrezia she can marry Calvino (David Alpay) while sleeping with his brother Raffello (Tom Austen) is terrible advice but it’s exactly what Lucrezia does. If I could advise Lucrezia, it would be to keep your eyes on the man who’s proposing and not ogle the brother like he’s a delicious dessert. Honestly, I find Calvino much more handsome than Raffello, but I guess it’s not my choice. I just hope Lucrezia learns how to be stealthier in the future. You can’t make goo-goo eyes at the guy you just slept with whilst his brother is proposing.
David Oakes (L) as Juan Borgia and Jeremy Irons (R) as Pope Alexander VI/Rodrigo Borgia
My bullshit detector went off as soon as Juan (David Oakes) opened his treacherous little mouth. He spins an elaborate tale of woe to his father, the Pope (Jeremy Irons), in an effort to gain sympathy but I believe the Pope knows all too well there is another side to the story. What makes it worse for Juan is his continued lack of taking responsibility for his own actions. He blames his brother Cesare (François Arnaud) for not warning him about Ludovico Sforza’s (Ivan Kaye) presence in Forli. Cesare was in Florence so how could he know about Ludovico’s advances toward Forli? Juan irked me; seeing him suffer from his wounds brought me some solace as it does Cesare. The smirk on Cesare’s face when he looks upon Juan’s pale complexion and obvious pain speaks volumes. That look is the look of hope – hope that Juan succumbs to his ailments sooner rather than later. But I think Juan may survive his STD and the festering puncture from the arrow, especially if the so-called physician (Richard Durden) continues to aid in his recovery. Opium for the pain; do we really need a doped-up Juan?
Don Hernando (Robert Cavanah) seems to be an honorable man, but bringing Benito Sforza (Noah Silver) to Rome may not have been a good idea. Luckily, Cesare uses Benito’s knowledge of what really transpired at Forli to his advantage and tries to sabotage Juan’s hold on the Papal forces. Is it just me, or did it seem like Micheletto (Sean Harris) was salivating at the sight of the young boy? Maybe my mind went straight to the gutter, but it sure seemed a little…intense. And I wondered if Micheletto wants so eagerly to kill Benito, not just for Cesare’s sake, but because he’s afraid of his impulse to pounce on him.
Observations/thoughts:
Absent from the show recently are Giulia Farnese (Lotte Verbeek) and Vittorio/Vittoria (Jemima West). I’d like to see Vittoria again – I really think she’s a good match for Cesare. I guess Giulia has been sent away for Lent so as to not tempt the Pope with her feminine wiles.
Della Rovere (Colm Feore) continues to condition young Antonello (Jesse Bostick) to handle the poison Cantarella. I have to say, this story arc is boring me to tears. Despite Antonello finally killing the current Vatican taster Brother Bernadino (John Arthur), I am quickly losing interest in Della Rovere’s revenge.
Will we ever get to meet Juan’s Spanish bride who’s supposedly pregnant with his child?
***
I’m ready for Juan and Cesare to have a knock-down drag-out brawl! It seems unfair with Juan being so sickly but he really needs to have his ego checked and kicked off his own self-made pedestal. He’s a coward at best.
François Arnaud as Cesare
What I loved about “Truth and Lies” were Cesare’s sinister demeanor and the fear in Juan’s eyes. The Pope seems a bit put off by Juan’s recent behavior and, for a brief moment, I hoped the Pope would push the blade into Juan’s throat but instead he just felt sorry for his son. Admittedly, without Juan, there’d be no antagonism in Cesare’s storyline. With only two episodes left, I hope the animosity between Cesare and Juan comes to a head. I’d also like to see what Calvino will do when he finds out about Lucrezia and Raffello’s affair. With all that’s on the table – things may turn sour for the Borgia family.
Tune in to The Borgias, Sundays at 10:00PM ET/PT, only on Showtime.
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Photos © 2012 Showtime Networks, a CBS Broadcasting, Inc. company. All rights reserved.
Judy Manning
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