The New Pope: First Episode

January 13, 2020 10:13 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

Series premiere. With Pope Pius XIII in a coma, Cardinal Voiello makes an unpredictable move during the deadlocked papal conclave.

Featuring: CONCLAVE TIME, coma drama, realizations of power, the return of Voiello (and other familiar faces), and pontifical machinations in abundance.

(And in case you missed the old theme song, don't forget to stick around for the end credits!)

Episode recaps:
- Vulture: The New Pope Premiere Recap: Keep Pope Alive
- AV Club: Jude Law's absence haunts the anxious, hilarious beginning of The New Pope

Bonus:
- Vulture Roundtable: How 'The Young Pope' Became 'The New Pope'

Previously, on FanFare: The Young Pope

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posted by Anonymous (8 comments total)

The first season was so good that I'm almost afraid to watch since so many of these new era TV shows have been disappointing in the long run. But I guess I'll have to rely on the promise made by the first season and give this new one a chance. Now I just have to figure out how to see it without the long wait for it to come out on DVD.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:26 AM on January 14, 2020

The New Pope airs and streams via HBO in the U.S., Sky Atlantic in the U.K., and Canal+ in France.
posted by Etrigan at 7:33 AM on January 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

Hey, you elect a Franciscan, you run the risk of apostolic poverty and partying like it's 1289.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:06 AM on January 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

That sort of points to one of the things I really dug about the first season. The show sort of played with the idea of what it is one wants from God and what the consequences might be if you actually got what you wanted and God followed through on the implicit rationale behind that desire. I gotta love a show that takes that kind of idea seriously and lets it play out as its dramatic arc. I'm gonna have to see about borrowing a friend's HBO, since he did offer it. I just don't want to cause him any problems using it across country from where he lives.
posted by gusottertrout at 5:42 AM on January 15, 2020 [3 favorites]

And for anyone who liked the Papal Bull podcast from the Young Pope days:

Papal Bull: Resurrection 1 – Back in the Cassock


YESSSSSS!!! This is the best news I have had all week. I haven't watched this yet (I'm finishing up a rewatch of The Young Pope and of course listening to old episodes of Papal Bull) but I am basically clearly my calendar, turning off my phone, shutting all the blinds and preparing myself.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:39 AM on January 15, 2020

> gusottertrout: I just don't want to cause him any problems using it across country from where he lives.

"Someone I know" has been doing this with their parents' HBO for years now with 0 issues.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:17 AM on January 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

THANKS I LOVE IT
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:54 PM on January 17, 2020

I'm sorry there's not more comments about the actual episode. I'm probably contributing to the problem by not offering much of substance. But, sweet Jesu, that was absolutely wonderful. And a great tone shift from the first series. Jude Law's in a coma, so of course everything becomes far more surreal and comic. Just finished a first time binge of The Young Pope, so the tonal shift is especially clear.

Got goosebumps during Tommaso's / Francis II's speech about "I know everything." Seeing Voiello actually afraid in that moment. I'm not sure he was ever afraid of Pius XIII in the same way, even in Pius's more unhinged moments. And I'm certain he never in his life thought he would ever ever be afraid of Tommaso.

Seeing that moment when he finally realized he was pope was also lovely. When the homily went off the rails and everyone begins to panic. And the Conclave... especially when the voice overs revealed what each cardinal was looking for in a pope. Especially the one, face hidden from the camera, who wants a pope who will forgive him for destroying all those innocents. And who will tell him he can have a new start. That was devastating.

Watching the burly young Franciscans take the jewelry from the cardinals was also sublime. I'd like to think Pius XIII, watching everything on his astral trips away from the coma, would have appreciated the revolutionary spirit of that move. Even if Pius loved the finery & pomp more than anyone.

Anyways, I've only watched the one episode so far and have avoided all spoilers. I'm hoping the conceit of this season is a new pope every episode. Each one a lunatic in their own way. Each one bumped off. With Jude Law / God getting increasingly amused with each turn. I'm probably wrong, but what a great comic concept if that's the show's arc.

I'm probably the only one who thinks this, but Voiello, in Silvio Orlando's acting style, sometimes reminds me of a slightly more restrained Londo Mollari (Peter Jurasik) from Babylon 5.
posted by Teegeeack AV Club Secretary at 7:51 PM on February 12, 2020 [1 favorite]