The Borgias 1.05
Apr. 25th, 2011 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which the slashers are made happy while Lucrezia figures out the benefits of making alliances with your servants.
Least importantly but still, I think I'm amused by the way Guiliano della Rovere serves as an excuse to give the audience a guided tour through Renaissance Italy and its most colourful (read: ghastly) characters. Not only is it great for putting the Borgias in context but it gives della Rovere genuine stuff to do which, considering the show positions him as Rodrigo's main rival (and eventual nemesis) from the get go is important. So this week we meet that charming fellow, Lodocico Il Moro. (Well, you know, he was Leonardo's patron for a while. But then, so was Cesare.) I do love della Rovere taking it all in stride and ultra wry reaction shots.
What (positively) surprised me was how the show let Lucrezia respond to her marriage. I know a lot of people wanted Cesare to find out how Giovanni Sforza treats her and avenge her immediately, but that would have kept Lucrezia at damsel/victim level. (Not to mention the history factor, but never mind facts for now.) What Lucrezia does instead is not only very smart but both period accurate and far more ruthless. Between their scene in the last episode and their scenes in this one, I've the impression she'd have befriended Francesca the serving girl anyway, even if the marriage had been better, but Paolo (I'm assuming he's meant to be Perotto, and guess they renamed him to avoid too much sound similarities to Michelotto) is another question. In their first scene together I thought, wait, this is far too quick, because I was expecting along the lines of distressed!Lucrezia, in her sadness, befriends sweet page and falls in love, but then I realized what she actually did and the second scene confirmed it. Evidently when Guilia Farnese told her in the pilot that her beauty can be a weapon, even a deadly one, Lucrezia listened. So instead of Lucrezia comforting herself withPerotto Paolo, we get Lucrezia choosing Paolo as a weapon to rid herself of her husband (and his nightly rapes) in a permanent fashion. The way she won Paolo over and got him to arrange for an "accident" for Giovanni Sforza was brilliant. No, not nice, but you know, Lucrezia is in a position of zero power here, married to a brute, and she'd evidently not waiting to be rescued but acting on her own to get herself out of this situation. It doesn't work the way she wants (the forces of history protecting Giovanni from more than a broken leg), but you know, good for her anyway. It shows she didn't just inherit Rodrigo's intelligence but also his manipulative streak. As befits the family's future survivor.
Speaking of Rodrigo, that was an eerie and effective dream sequence at the start, both showing the viewers that he feels guilty for the way he's using his children (though of course he goes on doing just that in daylight) and that despite his determined upbeat behaviour in the wedding episode, he does have anxiety about how this marriage actually works out for Lucrezia (not just for himself). In terms of imagery, it's interesting that Rodrigo dreams of Lucrezia drowned beneath water (dead; a victim; transforming into an angel), whereas the real very much alive Lucrezia is also shown in watery surroundings but it's the bathtub where her bonding with Francesca and plotting to strike back at Giovanni takes place; in a way her rebirth as an adult woman.
This week's swordsplay scenes surpassed the pilot scenes between Cesare and Michelotto in terms of homoerotic tension. (I can only conclude it was love at first sight for Michelotto.) Now with bonding over stabbing. "You never forget your first" indeed. Cesare's encounter with Machiavelli is also great fun, even if it's years too early and Machiavelli is in the wrong position, but hey - the recognizing each other's intelligence and skills comes across very well, and that's hot. Meanwhile, poor Ursula presumably, judging by the way fandom works, becomes the most hated woman of the show for being perceived as coming between both Cesare and Lucrezia and Cesare and Michelotto. (I'm guessing, I haven't read any reviews yet, but I do remember the hate at first sight reactions last week.) I did wonder for a while why Neil Jordan invented a new character instead of using one of Cesare's various actual liasons but concluded it's because with a completely fictional character like Ursula he can both mirror and contrast Lucrezia's situation more closely. Also, she triggers another great scene between Cesare and his mother, and I highly approve of the way the show continues to make Vannozza's existence important instead of treating her as a footnote.
Lastly: err, wasn't Sancia legitimate? Will have to look that up. Anyway, the karma Juan conjures up for himself here by palming the marriage to her off to Joffre is just beautiful, I say with historical glee.
Least importantly but still, I think I'm amused by the way Guiliano della Rovere serves as an excuse to give the audience a guided tour through Renaissance Italy and its most colourful (read: ghastly) characters. Not only is it great for putting the Borgias in context but it gives della Rovere genuine stuff to do which, considering the show positions him as Rodrigo's main rival (and eventual nemesis) from the get go is important. So this week we meet that charming fellow, Lodocico Il Moro. (Well, you know, he was Leonardo's patron for a while. But then, so was Cesare.) I do love della Rovere taking it all in stride and ultra wry reaction shots.
What (positively) surprised me was how the show let Lucrezia respond to her marriage. I know a lot of people wanted Cesare to find out how Giovanni Sforza treats her and avenge her immediately, but that would have kept Lucrezia at damsel/victim level. (Not to mention the history factor, but never mind facts for now.) What Lucrezia does instead is not only very smart but both period accurate and far more ruthless. Between their scene in the last episode and their scenes in this one, I've the impression she'd have befriended Francesca the serving girl anyway, even if the marriage had been better, but Paolo (I'm assuming he's meant to be Perotto, and guess they renamed him to avoid too much sound similarities to Michelotto) is another question. In their first scene together I thought, wait, this is far too quick, because I was expecting along the lines of distressed!Lucrezia, in her sadness, befriends sweet page and falls in love, but then I realized what she actually did and the second scene confirmed it. Evidently when Guilia Farnese told her in the pilot that her beauty can be a weapon, even a deadly one, Lucrezia listened. So instead of Lucrezia comforting herself with
Speaking of Rodrigo, that was an eerie and effective dream sequence at the start, both showing the viewers that he feels guilty for the way he's using his children (though of course he goes on doing just that in daylight) and that despite his determined upbeat behaviour in the wedding episode, he does have anxiety about how this marriage actually works out for Lucrezia (not just for himself). In terms of imagery, it's interesting that Rodrigo dreams of Lucrezia drowned beneath water (dead; a victim; transforming into an angel), whereas the real very much alive Lucrezia is also shown in watery surroundings but it's the bathtub where her bonding with Francesca and plotting to strike back at Giovanni takes place; in a way her rebirth as an adult woman.
This week's swordsplay scenes surpassed the pilot scenes between Cesare and Michelotto in terms of homoerotic tension. (I can only conclude it was love at first sight for Michelotto.) Now with bonding over stabbing. "You never forget your first" indeed. Cesare's encounter with Machiavelli is also great fun, even if it's years too early and Machiavelli is in the wrong position, but hey - the recognizing each other's intelligence and skills comes across very well, and that's hot. Meanwhile, poor Ursula presumably, judging by the way fandom works, becomes the most hated woman of the show for being perceived as coming between both Cesare and Lucrezia and Cesare and Michelotto. (I'm guessing, I haven't read any reviews yet, but I do remember the hate at first sight reactions last week.) I did wonder for a while why Neil Jordan invented a new character instead of using one of Cesare's various actual liasons but concluded it's because with a completely fictional character like Ursula he can both mirror and contrast Lucrezia's situation more closely. Also, she triggers another great scene between Cesare and his mother, and I highly approve of the way the show continues to make Vannozza's existence important instead of treating her as a footnote.
Lastly: err, wasn't Sancia legitimate? Will have to look that up. Anyway, the karma Juan conjures up for himself here by palming the marriage to her off to Joffre is just beautiful, I say with historical glee.
