The Borgias

It's the most wonderful time of the year... For watching TV. Because Showtime OnDemand is free for this weekend courtesy of Comcast. Basically, it is a "let's watch what we can in one weekend" in my house. So my younger brother and I have decided to try out The Borgias. I really want to watch this because I have been watching two people on YouTube playing Assassin's Creed games and Borgias is thrown about quite a bit.

I also love historical fiction[ish?] type shows. I call it historical fiction if only for the fact that the show does take some liberties with history. The writers add their own flair to the story that is already there and fill in any gaps that need to be fillled. If you've seen The Tudors, it is very similar to that show... Well, the guys could be better looking, but the story is interesting enough. I wasn't too familiar with the history of the Borgias family. I recall hearing of them in history class but it was in passing.

Either way, I would say this is certainly a worthwhile show to check out.


Basically, you follow the lives of the Borgias, a family that must learn to live with having the Pope as a patriarch.

We have Rodrigo Borgia, father of the Borgias turned Pope Alexander VI. He has essentially bought the title of Pope through bribes. Seeing him played by Jeremy Irons, he comes to live. Initially, you feel very cold towards this man and it stays that way. But with many cold characters, they usually do not show depth immediately. However, right from the get-go, you see how almost scared the new Pope has of his title. While it is something he has worked towards his whole life, being in front of so many people as such a solitary figure makes Rodrigo feel so alone. His little speech gives you insight into this loneliness and I imagine it will appear more as the series goes on.

From the Pope, we move on to his eldest son, another focal point of the show. Cesare Borgias has no interest in following the path of the Church but does so under his father's command. He is more of a fighter and lover than a religious leader. However, he has no other choice. So to get his violent tendencies out, he protects his family from those who wish harm. While he doesn't get to kill anyone directly, he manages to get rid of people against his father through his relationships, particularly with Michelotto Corella [a condottieri/hired mercenary]. It is also implied that he has an incestuous relationship with his sister. He is also far from being chaste. As a man of God, he cannot marry but that doesn't mean he must remain sexually celibate.

Lucrezia Borgia is the only daughter of Rodrigo Borgia and Vannozza dei Cattanei [I'll get to her next]. In the show, whenever you see Cesare and Lucrezia together, it certainly comes off as very romantic relationship. She declares that she can love no one as much as Cesare. So far through the series, I have yet to see them perform any romantic actions [kissing/sexual encounters]. Either way, she becomes a pawn to her father, being used for potential marriages. She doesn't really get interesting until she is married off to Giovanni Sforza. Really, her potentially incestuous relationship with Cesare is of little to no interest to me. What I do find curious is that in the show, she is a blonde... While Pope Alexander VI has grey hair, I cannot imagine he was blonde before... And the mother is most certainly brunette... Hm... Just sayin'...

And so we go to the mother of the family. Vannozza dei Cattanei is first and foremost, to the public, a courtesan. Mother to Cesare, Lucrezia, Juan, and Joffre Borgia, she is considered somewhat of an outcast being a courtesan. When the father of her children becomes Pope, she is essentially shunned to the side by him. Pope Alexander VI essentially tells Vannozza that he cannot continue relations with her, despite the fact that everyone knows that they have children together. In fact, she is even barred from attending her own daughter's wedding.

And while the Pope has shunned the mother of his children, he has taken upon himself to have a mistress. And so he takes in the lovely Guilia Farnese as a lover. Needless to say, Vannozza is furious but seems to learn to deal with it. And surprisingly, Guilia becomes close with Lucrezia. But so far, she does not seem to be of much importance.

And of course there are two other Borgias children, Juan and Joffre. They are the least interesting. Juan spends all of his time trying to be interesting. He is the official warrior on paper but in reality, he is a coward. He fakes much ego and pretends to be much greater than he is. He is way too annoying for me to actually care about him.

And Joffre... Is pretty much missing from the first few episodes. Didn't even know he existed until he is suddenly there. Either way, he's going to be married off... Oh, and he is 12 years old... And his bride is

Finally, there is Giuliano della Rovere, a powerful cardinal. He is incredibly bitter, having lost the title of Pope to Rodrigo Borgia and works towards getting rid of his enemy.

And that is kind of it for the show in general.

Like many premium channels, there is a lot of explicit scenes in this show [a nice way of saying a lot of sex and some kind of gross scenes]. Honestly, the most interesting stage in the show is actually in Naples, where we only get a few glimpses in the scope of the show. Basically, there is a scene of dead, decay bodies set up in DaVinci's The Last Supper sans Judas. It's certainly all sorts of gross but to Alfonso II of Naples, it is amusing.

So, while it is not a family show, I'd recommend this for a mature audience. Also, any interest in the Renaissance also makes The Borgias more enjoyable.

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On a side note, I did get Alice [SyFy mini series] for Christmas and have a post-in-progress for that.