The Young Pope: Third Episode

January 23, 2017 9:21 AM - Season 1, Episode 3

In the wake of the Pope's controversial homily, Sister Mary is thrust into the spotlight, and Voiello is determined to discover the Pope's weaknesses.
posted by Rock Steady (14 comments total)

I'm fascinated by this series. It continues to refuse to do the things I would expect a prestige drama to be doing by this point. I'm still not sure if I like the protagonist, for example, and I feel like am just as in the dark about Lenny's plans - if he even has any - as the rest of the Vatican is.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:24 AM on January 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

I had just assumed that all the cardinals would be Italian, but they're clearly not, right? Is Voiello Argentinian? Gutierrez I don't know, except probably not Italian either.

The Vatican has gotten more diverse than I realized.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 12:53 PM on January 23, 2017

The wife and I are not sure what's going on here or whether we like the story. The art direction is fantastic, but the story itself is going in all sorts of odd places and while that's not bad, can't say that it's very compelling, other than "Where the fuck are they going with this."

The opening titles for this episode were fantastic, that alone is enough reason to keep watching.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:31 PM on January 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

I think that the story is basically this guy wants to take The Catholic Church back to the pre-modern inquisition/crusades period. As a side note to that, he may indeed have mystical powers derived from a connection to God. The show seems to be dividing its time between showing his attempts to do that, and showing how he got that way. I think that's a pretty interesting conceit, but the visuals are more than enough reason for me to stick around.

It reminds me of good Giallo cinema in many ways. Largely the lighting and staging of shots. It feels like big budget Dario Argento.

I have to say that Jude Law is really nailing this role. Lenny is very charismatic, and I find myself almost rooting for him, despite his apparently vile ideology.
posted by codacorolla at 1:36 PM on January 23, 2017 [4 favorites]

There's a comet in my favorite painting of me, Stańczyk During a Ball at the Court of Queen Bona in the Face of the Loss of Smolensk by Jan Matejko. You can see it in the upper left corner of the painting. They're portents of disaster, like the fall of Smolensk. Ask me about that sometime over drinks.

So the paintings he's walking through seem to be less than random, and the comet following him through the paintings, according to this art historian, seem to be hinting at potential plot directions. I suspect she's right.
posted by Stanczyk at 5:39 PM on January 23, 2017 [5 favorites]

I had just assumed that all the cardinals would be Italian, but they're clearly not, right? Is Voiello Argentinian? Gutierrez I don't know, except probably not Italian either.

Here's a list of living cardinals. If you scroll down, you can see the breakdown by continent, as well. Italy does dominate, but Europe has less than 50% of all cardinals, so it is a fairly diverse group, geographically speaking.
posted by Rock Steady at 5:59 AM on January 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oh, and yeah, I assume Voiello is Argentinian, as I think he was watching Messi highlights on YouTube, but maybe he is just a culé.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:02 AM on January 24, 2017

Either Argentine or a fan of Napoli, which I didn't know about. Maradona played there, as did Higuain until last season.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:33 AM on January 24, 2017

Was it Maradona? I guess I got my Argentine soccer stars mixed up. Maradona makes more sense given his age.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:25 AM on January 24, 2017

It was Maradona...it was either in the subtitles or the on screen youtube title of the video.
posted by mmascolino at 4:23 PM on January 24, 2017

In a non-spoiler from Ep 4, he says Napoli is his favorite team.

So, uh, sorry about all that.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:37 AM on January 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

codacorolla: I think that the story is basically this guy wants to take The Catholic Church back to the pre-modern inquisition/crusades period.

Interesting - I found myself on the side with Spencer, believing that Lenny is trying to force everyone into the same strained relationship with (or searching for) God that he has. I believe Lenny when he says he's not sure about God, between his constant jokes and kidding-not kidding about God's Infinite Silence and God not requesting an interview yet, to praying out loud: "Give me the words to say to the cardinals. My address regards You. My words are Your words. I keep praying for You to make something happen, so why this awful, crawling feeling that nothing ever does? I know, dictate to me Lord. Yes, dictate to me. I've always been good at taking notes, You know that. You know that." -- and still nothing.

So everyone must suffer with him, strive for the attention of God, work to get God's acceptance. "Out there, everyone must learn that it takes sacrifice and suffering to find God. It's too easy to come to terms with God as the sun is setting. They have to find Him in the cold and the dark of night. The way I did."

(Cold and dark, hmm? "Ketchikan, Alaska. It's a lovely place, I've been there.. A nice little town, population 8,000." Maybe former Cardinal Ozolins will meet the former Archbishop of Boston? How's that for a spin-off idea! Seeing Ozolins learn from the former Archbishop how to survive in Alaska, and the two of them plotting to get their revenge on Pius XIII.)

I don't like his vision for The Church, but I appreciate his cunning, and I'm interested to see how this plays out, what with worldwide media attacking Pius XIII, and people fearing to enter churches. (Then again, I'm an atheist who thinks the Catholic church holds too much sway over world politics and the actions of people, and I'm still hoping the initial dream papal address is realized in some way.)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:17 AM on January 25, 2017

The art direction is fantastic, but the story itself is going in all sorts of odd places and while that's not bad, can't say that it's very compelling, other than "Where the fuck are they going with this."

Yeah, truthfully, I am watching this because it's beautiful to look at, and Jude Law is delightfully creepy and awful, but I really have no idea where it's going (and I'm not sure that it matters). From me, this is high praise; I quit Stranger Things after two and a half episodes because I didn't care where it was going. This is different, somehow.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:21 AM on January 27, 2017

Voiello appears to be wearing a Casio G-Shock watch.

Lenny and Gutierrez are sitting in front of a Black Madonna, but that's another story for another time.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:35 PM on February 1, 2017