S01.E05: Episode 5

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Quote

A brutal act of terrorism in France leads to an uncomfortable response from the Pope that strikes a chord with the public. Feeling disconnected from her husband, Sofia reaches out to Brannox, who shares more of his personal history. Pius XIII's followers flock to Venice when there's a sudden change in his condition.

Original air date 2020.02.10

[peridot]

Are the next few episodes going to be celebrities challenging the new pope and him responding to it?

The "no" and breathing scenes felt like they were 20 minutes long.

Esther's boyfriend is such a scumbag. I had hope that she would be able to leave, but the preview proved me wrong.

[cpcathy]

I must not have been paying attention, because I have no clue what the act of terrorism was.

Wow, lots of standing around in this episode.

[scrb]

3 hours ago, cpcathy said:

I must not have been paying attention, because I have no clue what the act of terrorism was.

Wow, lots of standing around in this episode.

They killed old people who were shown in wheelchairs by the river.

There are only 3 episodes left.  Is Jude Law only going to be a potted plant, albeit a heavy breathing and sighing one.

 

I guess they’re not going to do too much more about the nuns protest, though it looks like one nun may get pregnant from the Arab refugee.

Also, whatever Vioello is up to, they’re not going to pursue it too much.  Sofia tells Brannon to drop it when it comes to suspicions of foul play behind Francis’ demise.

Whatever may be going on under his nose the new pope is suppose to play along.  That includes following Spaletta’s advice to appoint Sofia’s husband in charge of Vatican finances.  This is the guy who gets coked up and steps out on her.

Brannox’s plans to support marriage of priests, including gay marriage, would be a big deal.  But that was waylaid by the heavy breathing and sighing broadcasts.

 

 

 

[TexasGal]

11 hours ago, peridot said:

Are the next few episodes going to be celebrities challenging the new pope and him responding to it?

The "no" and breathing scenes felt like they were 20 minutes long.

 

It took me way too long to be sure that was Sharon Stone.  I think I wasn’t actually really sure until I saw her name in the credits after this week’s nun to be dance party.

I agree this episode dragged.  I’ve only made it halfway so far and didn’t have it in me to watch the rest yet.

[Athena5217]

12 hours ago, cpcathy said:

 

I must not have been paying attention, because I have no clue what the act of terrorism was.

 

 

It was not explicit, but somehow several people in wheelchairs seem to have been killed in Lourdes. All I remember is one scene with several dead people outdoors in wheelchairs. I wish more time had been spent developing this story and less time devoted to Pius XIII breathing.

I can’t believe the Pope would actually accept Sharon Stone’s shoes as a gift. That was ridiculous even among his many eccentricities. Sharon made a good point about the Vatican supporting living artists.

[izabella]

Ok, I gave this 5 episodes.  The best part is always the opening credits.  I think I'm out.

[DoctorAtomic]

The nun on the right was really working that ass for the theme in this one. 

[DoctorAtomic]

On 2/11/2020 at 12:41 PM, scrb said:

Whatever may be going on under his nose the new pope is suppose to play along

I think that was the point. Sir John was supposed to be the compromise candidate. 

The phone ringing a million times was annoying af. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by DoctorAtomic

[scrb]

20 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I think that was the point. Sir John was supposed to be the compromise candidate. 

I'm not so sure.

Voiello and his rival decided neither would win the conclave vote so they chose a compromise after Francis went off the reservations.  He was the first compromise but he had his own ideas about how to lead the Church.

Publicly promising to take away the wealth and benefits enjoyed by Vatican insiders meant he signed his death warrant.

They chose Brannox but they didn't know him.  That is why Voiello went and courted him.

Voiello probably thought that he could control Brannox or just do a lot of things without him being aware.

For the most part, Brannox is going along with what Voiello and Sofia tells him.  But the wrinkle is that he likes Bentleys and Spaletta got his foot in the door with his "welcome gift."

 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

On 2/11/2020 at 8:31 AM, peridot said:

The "no" and breathing scenes felt like they were 20 minutes long.

I actually thought they were quite effective. I liked the concept that Brannox was just speaking in symbols and it was up to the faithful to determine what it meant.

I'm unspoiled but I'm guessing Lenny wakes up in the last scene of the season.

[pasdetrois]

Are the sleeping pope's sighs a countdown to him waking up?

[DoctorAtomic]

I think that's what his cult followers believe. 

[scrb]

I wonder if there's an analog to those Lenny idolaters in real life.

Popes are no doubt popular, at least somewhere.  They get a big audience whenever they appear in public.

But as this show makes clear, they're just flawed men who are in many ways just the face of the Church, more like a spokesman for the other Cardinals and Bishops, not the spokesman for God as they would have you believe.

 

It's ironic too, Pope Francis just said the other day rejected the idea of allowing married men to be ordained.  This is just after this episode aired, in which Brannox said he would formally announce that priests should be allowed to marry, as a way to have love because they were expressing love in unsupportable ways, i.e. pedophilia.