The Borgias – Season 2 Review

28th Oct 2012

When us Filmwerk writers were asked who wanted to review The Borgias season 2 I had never heard of this show. It was one of those opportunities to have a look at something unfamiliar and new. I did not have high expectations and I’m not a huge fan of the period drama and considered the fact I was not familiar with this show, despite being a bit of American produced TV show junky, a sign that I wouldn’t particularly enjoy it. Well I was proved wrong and totally won over. My first sign that this would be an impressive show is that Neil Jordon (The Company of Wolves, The Crying Game, Interview with a Vampire) is writer and director. With a director who has such an eye for sumptuous visuals and unconventional plots how could The Borgias be dull.

The Borgias is set around the turn of the 16^th century and follows the Borgias family and their rule of power as their patriarch, Rodrigo (Jeremy Irons) is Pope Alexander VI. The central characters are Rodrigo’s illegitimate children, Lucrezia (Holliday Granger), Cesare (Francois Arnald) and Juan (David Oakes), their mother Vannozza (Joanne Whalley) and his new mistress Giulia (Lotte Verbeek). As the sub-line of this show states the Borgias are the original crime family and supposedly where Mario Puzzo was inspired for The Godfather.

Being new to the show I did have to whizz through season 1 and I think it is fair to say that whilst season 1 is great it did garner the less favorable critical reception than season 2 did. I found coming into season 1 there was a lot of information, family lines, variations of names and facial hair to get to grips with. I’ll admit it took me a while not to be confused. However coming into season 2 all this is established so the watcher can just enjoy the ride. And a pretty impressive ride it is.

Season 2 will not disappoint for treachery, rampant sex, violence and cunning plots. Jeremy Irons does a wonderful job portraying what could be an outright villain in the form of Rodrigo. He is ruthless at the same time as having a boy like vulnerability whilst shagging a collection of beautiful women. Lucrezia is developing further as a 16^th century femme fatal. Cesare wins you over despite being a deeply flawed character. And Juan spirals into the world of an opium den as decision after decision leads his character into an irretrievable mess. Two particular stand out characters for me were Caterina Sfoza (Gina Mckee), truly a woman battling to have independence in a man’s world, and the ever wonderful Sean Harris as Micheletto. There are plenty of events in this season with a healthy dose of twists that made this show unpredictable. Historical accuracy be damned when things are this entertaining! Fans will not be disappointed with the end of the season. As of two weeks ago this wasn’t on my radar but now I can’t wait for season 3 to start.

The 10 episode season is accompanied with a smattering of features about the show including poison and torture. There is an attempt to ground these featurettes in historical information but to be honest are really not needed for anyone but history buffs. Keep an eye out for the academic expert brought in for the torture feature. A rather creepy man.