The Young Pope: Episode 1

January 15, 2017 8:57 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

After being elected Pope, Lenny Belardo must navigate the politics of Vatican City. He shocks the Vatican with his desire to reject both publicity and the philosophies of his predecessor.
posted by the man of twists and turns (22 comments total)

Oh boy, this was pretty impressive. I don't even know where to start. Probably not at the papal confession at the end of the episode. I don't know where this goes, but I want to find out.
posted by figurant at 9:57 PM on January 15, 2017

I'm not sure what the hell I just watched and I'm not sure if I liked it, but I'm super intrigued.
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:17 AM on January 16, 2017 [4 favorites]

wait, it started? when did it start oh my god i am excite
posted by poffin boffin at 11:12 AM on January 16, 2017

It's very Italian, isn't it?
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:29 PM on January 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

That was really something else.
posted by codacorolla at 4:49 PM on January 16, 2017

I'm going to recommend PAPAL BULLCAST for people following the series not cause it's run by friends but because it calls the opening dream bit "the baby yurt"
posted by The Whelk at 8:10 PM on January 16, 2017

It's hard to say how I feel about Lenny. I think he's a bad person, and his character makes me uneasy whenever he's on screen, but for some reason I can't describe I'm sort of pulling for the guy to do whatever crazy papal scheme he appears to have cooked up.
posted by codacorolla at 8:25 PM on January 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Also, the whole exchange about the cardinal being stuck in the past, and Lenny ominously intoning "The past is a big place, the present is narrow with only room for one set of eyes to peer through," was fantastic. What a great threat!
posted by codacorolla at 8:32 PM on January 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

So, is this spec fi (speculative fiction) or a 'historic' re-imagining of something? Period costumes or not so much?
posted by porpoise at 8:41 PM on January 16, 2017

I'm going to recommend PAPAL BULLCAST

I really like the recaps and commentary, but I LOVE the Pope of the Week segments.
posted by figurant at 8:42 PM on January 16, 2017

porpoise: It seems to be set in the present day. There are smartphones.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:09 PM on January 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Period costumes

It's The Vatican, so ... yes? But it's set in the modern-day.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:25 PM on January 16, 2017 [2 favorites]

That was a thing. I'm not sure if I like it or not but it's definitely not the stuffy costumer that I was expecting.
posted by octothorpe at 3:49 AM on January 17, 2017 [2 favorites]

Partial hat refresher; it looks like we'll get to see Jude Law rock the triple tiara in an episode or two.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:26 AM on January 17, 2017 [3 favorites]

This was visually and emotionally stunning. It's hard to pinpoint why, but I was super uncomfortable with Lenny. Something about how he spoke gave me the willies, which I think was intentional.

I'll keep watching, for sure. Excellent pilot episode.
posted by gemmy at 6:27 PM on January 17, 2017

Surprised folks aren't saying the most important thing: this show is BONKERS.

Seriously. It's pretty damn ridiculous, throwing us into bizarre set-pieces, weird dreams and an unbelievably awful main character right out of the gate. I think I like it after one episode but I can easily see it quickly turning into total schlock.
posted by mediareport at 8:23 PM on January 17, 2017 [3 favorites]

Labradford - by Chris Johnston, Craig Markva, Jamie Evans,

If You Liked Suicide Squad, You’ll Love The Young Pope

Young Pope, Take a Look at These Tweets, the Jokes Are All About You
Jude Law Can’t Get Enough of Your Young Pope Memes

The Young Pope is more delirious, surprising, and beautiful than your Twitter jokes

The Young Pope has been out in the world for a couple of months now after it originally aired on Sky Atlantic in Europe, but the lead-up to the American broadcast has been primarily characterized by an inundation of memes. Yes, the premise of The Young Pope is as close to a joke as you can get in two words. (What if the pope... was young?) But the real genius of the show is that any imaginative absurdity you throw at it will come back at you tenfold.

Paolo Sorrentino’s first miniseries has a delicious conceit and a more soap opera-ish narrative than previously seen, balancing outlandishness with trenchancy.

How HBO's 'The Young Pope' Is Fooling Us All

HBO's ‘The Young Pope’ Is a Holy Bore

‘The Young Pope’ Is Beautiful and Ridiculous

HBO’s The Young Pope stars Jude Law as a smirky pontiff. It’s sly, sinister, and a whole lot of fun. - "The show examines what it means to have absolute power and be extremely handsome."

'The Young Pope' Season Premiere Recap: Heat Pray Love Much more so than such recent movie-star-goes-small-screen vehicles as Taboo or the star-studded Westworld, this HBO series uses its clout to break the prestige-TV mold, instead of just gussying it up.

The camerawork is both stately (those Vatican City vistas!) and playful (that zoom!). The script is genuinely smart, jokes about “gerontophilia" and all, rather than the kind of subreddit-worthy puzzle-boxing that now passes for intelligent TV. The lighting is as sharp as the writing: Aside from making Lenny look like a mad rock god at all times, there's one shot of Keaton's character against white curtains, the sun alternately illuminating her like an angel or reducing her to a blurry silhouette, that we could pick apart for an hour. And Law is a gentleman villain in the Mads Mikkelsen/Hannibal Lecter vein – a sinful pleasure to watch at every turn.

There's a New Pope, Now

A Man Without Qualities

“The Young Pope” is, at its core, a show about the construction of faith, both on a macro-level (the historical spectacle and grandiosity of the Vatican, and Lenny’s complex relationship to it) and an individual one (how each person builds a scaffolding of belief around his or her life). This is familiar territory for Sorrentino, who wrote and directed all ten episodes, and whose Oscar-winning film “The Great Beauty” was a parable about the construction of the self: the film followed a bon-vivant Roman journalist, Jep, nearing his twilight years, who wonders whether the identity he has claimed for himself (debauched, excessive, the life of the party) is simply a means to mask his deepest pain.

posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:35 PM on January 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

The sets are incredible. According to Wikipedia,

Filming of the first season, which took seven months, started in August 2015 and took place mainly in the Cinecittà studios, where the interior of the Vatican was recreated.

The Young Pope seems to enjoy busting people's balls by giving BS confessions or chain-jerking proffered and withdrawn assignments.
posted by larrybob at 11:27 AM on January 18, 2017

Was I the only one who was distracted by the fact that Orphan Lennie was dropped off at Xavier's school?

Mr. Dinty ended this episode by asking me what the over under of the young pop fucking Diane Keaton, and I absolutely hate him for suggesting it but now think it is very very likely.
posted by dinty_moore at 8:38 AM on January 19, 2017

Because this is a question I had: How The Young Pope Got Its Batshit Soundtrack (GQ, January 15, 2017, no spoilers as far as I could tell).

And for specific songs and scenes: Tunefind for the show, episode by episode (for those who don't have Spotify, but if you do, here's a playlist from Warner Music Italy, via the GQ article).
posted by filthy light thief at 12:12 PM on January 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Has anyone read Hadrian the Seventh, the 1904 novel by Fredrick Rolfe, the self-styled Baron Corvo, which is about a chain-smoking Englishman who is unexpectedly made pope? There was a stage play based on it first produced in 1968.
posted by larrybob at 10:48 AM on February 8, 2017 [2 favorites]

Thanks for the links, y’all. This playlist is incredible and in no way batshit.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:00 PM on January 5, 2018