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THE BORGIAS The pope has never been so unholy!

#1 User is offline   cerveza_fiesta 

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Posted 12 July 2012 - 01:48 PM

You guys been checking out this show? I have no idea how the critics received it or if it was even very popular but I really hope it got taken up for a 2nd season. I find it a very entertaining watch.

First episode - Jeremy Irons becomes pope in a very sneaky and underhanded way. Everybody is now his enemy big time.

Awesomeness ensues for the rest of the season.

I'm only at ep 5 waiting for the wife to catch up, but can't wait to finish the season. It's political costume-drama at it's best IMO.
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 01:56 PM

View Postcerveza_fiesta, on 12 July 2012 - 01:48 PM, said:

You guys been checking out this show? I have no idea how the critics received it or if it was even very popular but I really hope it got taken up for a 2nd season. I find it a very entertaining watch.

First episode - Jeremy Irons becomes pope in a very sneaky and underhanded way. Everybody is now his enemy big time.

Awesomeness ensues for the rest of the season.

I'm only at ep 5 waiting for the wife to catch up, but can't wait to finish the season. It's political costume-drama at it's best IMO.



Haven't been watching it myself, but might get around to it sometime.

You are in luck in relation to the number of seasons though, since season 2 is only recently concluded, and a 3rd season has been announced. Hopefully it'll have a strong 3rd season and maybe wrap up there so as not to drag the series on indefinitely and have the quality suffer. Who knows though.

I look forward to seeing your opinion on the complete first season CF

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Posted 12 July 2012 - 02:25 PM

I watched all of Season 1 but actually couldn't get into it as much as I wanted to. I'm actually vaguely annoyed with myself because the history of the Borgia family is so far out and messed up that I really, really wanted to love the show. Mind you, Jeremy Irons is brilliant but yeah...maybe the fact that I read a few history books about them spoiled the show for me.
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#4 User is offline   cerveza_fiesta 

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Posted 12 July 2012 - 02:32 PM

So I read a few reviews. Americans generally liked the first season, but not strongly. British critics panned it on the whole, but didn't hate it vehemently.

It's an american-made show about shit going on in europe, so it's bound to spark some ire from actual Europeans with its "dumb American-ness". What can I say though? Us N.Americans can't handle all that european sophistication.


Up to now it's been very entertaining with no horrifyingly inconsistent plot elements or outright stupid plot elements. I'm also sucker for oldey-timey costume drama of all types (tudors! yay!) so that's all good. On top of it all, Jeremy Irons is a fucking amazing actor and I basically love his performance no matter what he's in. Three strong points for me.

I read about the existence of a 3rd season too and am very stoked to check out season 2. Critic scores were much improved over Season 1, which bodes well. Usually it's the other way around with 2nd seasons being full of sucky boring character building.




The plot set-up at the start of season 1 was just really solid I thought. No dicking around for 20 episodes dramatizing the rather un-dramatic papal selection process. Within the first hour of the 2-hour premiere you get "Rodrigo Borgias is now pope, everybody hates him and wants his job. GO!!" Leaving it that open-ended made it much harder to predict where things would go afterward, and I know nothing of the history surrounding the actual Rodrigo Borgias, so it's all a surprise.
........oOOOOOo
......//| | |oO
.....|| | | | O....
BEERS!

......
\\| | | |

........'-----'

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#5 User is offline   Trull's son 

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Posted 12 July 2012 - 03:00 PM

Just started watching this. I think it's pretty good this far in (season one, episode four). A little slow at points, but anytime the assassin is involved you know the proverbial shit is about to hit the fan.
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 03:10 PM

I've watched season two, if you enjoyed the first then you will love the second.

Jeremy Irons rocks it! Looking forward to the third season which I expect to be the last!

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Posted 12 July 2012 - 03:24 PM

I truly enjoy the actual historical Borgia stuff that I know of, so this show has been on my radar a while, but finding the time to fit ANOTHER show into my already overflowing TV schedule is tough.
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#8 User is offline   cerveza_fiesta 

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Posted 12 July 2012 - 04:38 PM

Producers seem to be getting the hint with dramatic series lately that there is no need to run for 10 seasons. Just keep the main arc of a reasonable scope and complete your story before the bulk of fans lose interest. I'd be 100% happy to see the borgias end after 3 seasons. If the producers want to follow the story of Rodrigo's pet homing pigeon..then just do it in a spin-off series. That way the original can stand alone unmarred by the weak filler material writers tend to come up with in late seasons.
........oOOOOOo
......//| | |oO
.....|| | | | O....
BEERS!

......
\\| | | |

........'-----'

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Posted 12 July 2012 - 05:33 PM

View PostMaia Irraz, on 12 July 2012 - 02:25 PM, said:

I watched all of Season 1 but actually couldn't get into it as much as I wanted to. I'm actually vaguely annoyed with myself because the history of the Borgia family is so far out and messed up that I really, really wanted to love the show. Mind you, Jeremy Irons is brilliant but yeah...maybe the fact that I read a few history books about them spoiled the show for me.

This. The level of acting is very much OK but the script is quite cartooney at times. Not to mention they really did kind of dumbed the era down into the Borgia's vs Della Rovere (although, if they took Mario Puzo's The Family as their main source, it's inevitable), and added the assassin for no good reason (apart from "we need a kick-ass hard dude") when there were plenty of interesting angles anyway. Where they decided to work with a massive, multiple storylines entwined plot for GoT, they could have done the same here - but they didn't.

Still, a fun series for a rainy afternoon.
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 09:13 PM

I think my biggest issue with this show, at least most of the first season, was how one sided it all was.

It all went the Borgias way for much of it, with little or no serious opposition. Della Rovere was basically fleeing from city to city trying to drum up support, that was about it.

Also, surprised they didn't find a bigger part for Jacobi tbh.
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 09:36 PM

View PostCocoreturns, on 12 July 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

I think my biggest issue with this show, at least most of the first season, was how one sided it all was.

It all went the Borgias way for much of it, with little or no serious opposition. Della Rovere was basically fleeing from city to city trying to drum up support, that was about it.

Also, surprised they didn't find a bigger part for Jacobi tbh.

Well, that's part of the weakness of focusing on Della Rovere as adversary - because basically, he was trumped at every opportunity by Alexander VI. He was his main opponent, that's for sure, but he was also relegated to a fringe role within the papal court (and spending much time abroad and in exile) because he committed himself to trying to win the papacy through the French. A co-conspirator within the Papal Court with whom the pope could cross swords would have done the series much good, imho, or a seperate thread, like the Orsini and Colonna. Also, Lucretia was (necessarily) not that important - the series built her up in the last few episodes, hinting at more to come, but by and large, despite the fact that she is perhaps one of the most interesting figures of the time she hardly played a role so far apart from growing up.
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Posted 13 July 2012 - 11:11 AM

Season 1 was enjoyable if not not to be taken too seriously. Season 2 Monday after next for the UK :)
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Posted 13 May 2013 - 07:20 PM

I am 5 episodes into Season 3, and it's looking like this is gonna be a fun season! I rather enjoy this show, and agree with above posters in the hope that they end the series after this season rather than drag it out forever!
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Posted 21 May 2013 - 05:50 AM

I've watched up to episod 5 and I love this show , mostly because Cesare Borgia was my favourite historical figure when I was younger. (after Hitler of course. I had a thing for dictators)

This post has been edited by EmperorMagus: 21 May 2013 - 05:53 AM

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Posted 12 June 2013 - 07:11 AM

View PostBriar King, on 10 June 2013 - 07:57 PM, said:

Well fuck me Showtime cancelled the show in June 5th so next week is the series finale now.. I thought for sure we'd get at least 1 or 2 more.
That sucks - this was a very entertaining show with a strong cast.

Season 3 starts next week in the UK - looking forward.
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Posted 18 June 2013 - 08:39 AM

Doubleplusungood! Argh!
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