Regardless of how the show jumps back and forth between purpose or between if the lead character is a hero or villain, one thing is for certain — this show is entertaining as hell. It’s well-written, visually stunning and certainly not for the faint of heart or hardcore religious types. The first season of The Young Pope creates a bevy of questions, which one could hope will be answered in the second season that has been confirmed. For now, enjoy the methodical rollercoaster ride that Paolo Sorrentino has put together for you. It will certainly give you goosebumps and make you question religion as a whole.
A show about a young, conservative pope that is riddled with doubts, flaws and mystery? I’m sure this isn’t going to be controversial at all.
Official synopsis
The Young Pope tells the fictional story of Lenny Belardo, a.k.a. Pius XIII, the first-ever American Pope and the youngest elected by the College of Cardinals. At first glance, Lenny’s selection over older and more experienced clerics – in particular Cardinal Spencer, a fellow American and Lenny’s mentor – seems part of a simple media strategy by Vatican elders, who no doubt expect the new Pope to toe the line and follow their lead. Instead, Pius XIII eschews the counsel of the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Voiello, and enlists the woman who raised him, Sister Mary, to be his chief confidante. To the chagrin of Voiello and the PR reps who would market the handsome and charming young Pope, Lenny refuses to allow himself to be photographed, and he announces a series of severe, hardline initiatives that confound the Vatican status quo. The Young Pope paints a portrait of a mysterious, complicated man fully aware of the contradictions and consequences of being the conservative leader of a billion followers in a changing world – but unwilling to bend in the execution of his duties.
From the opening speech from Lenny (Jude Law), or Pius XIII, where you see the pope climb out a pile of dead babies and begin to make a controversial speech about masturbation, and everything that goes against catholicism, you know that the show has no intention of pulling any punches in terms of its content. Its uncomfortable, brilliant and woven meticulously to serve a purpose, yet that purpose really doesn’t rear its head in the first ten episodes.
What you get with this opening season of The Young Pope is a bevy of viciousness that is led by a healthy dose of controversy. The season, as stated above, begins rough. Once Lenny begins to get settled into his role as one of the most powerful figures in human history, and technically THE voice to God, his perceived naiveness by his peers, whom believe he’ll fall in line and keep their lifestyles going, suddenly switches into methodical dismantling of the catholic church’s progressive efforts over the last decade or so. Lenny’s intention of going back to the ‘old ways’ is his motivation in the show and reminding his peers and servants every chance he can get that their religion isn’t a business is enough to light a fire on a house built of flammable wood. Rather than continue the status quo, the show takes Lenny and makes him into a voice of the how catholicism began, where people conforming to it instead of vice-versa was a requirement or those people would have to ‘go’ (think Spanish inquisition). The subjects it touches upon aren’t made up, but how the subjects are approached and underlying questions of the power of catholicism beyond its religious connotations is brought into the sunlight without being gentle.It’s quite honest, which makes it quite uncomfortable.
Now, the brilliance of this show, and the main route for its controversial story, is the back and forth between the old and new ways. Every move that Lenny makes in it is a power play that sends ripples though older cardinals that have lived a good life through their position in the catholic church. For example, he has a back and forth play with one of his close cardinals Voiello, whom he doesn’t trust and the feeling is mutual. Voiello tries to keep Lenny on the same path as previous popes, but finds himself butting heads on nearly every subject as Lenny gets settled. Every time Voiello pushes old ways onto Lenny, Lenny pushes back with the exact opposite. After a few episodes, you can just see Lenny purposely disrupting Voiello’s job and decision-making. From getting rid of homosexuals within the church to deciding NOT to have his image on plates for the Vatican to sell for 45 euros, Lenny pushes and pushes the ideals that Voiello, and the rest of the cardinals, have spent years building towards. The tense relationship between the two characters begins to spiral out of control when Voiello blackmails a young woman to tug at the heartstrings of the pope, as well as his young sexual desires. The beauty of these two characters is that you never can figure out which one is the protagonist and which one is the antagonist because the story dances back and forth with those labels on each character. It’s brilliant.
In addition to Voiello helping the story to magnify more controversy, the inclusion of Diane Keaton’s Sister Mary as chief confidante for Lenny adds more fuel to the fire on how much worse things can get for the church under the rule of Pius XIII. Sister Mary is a person that Lenny trusts, but the first season really doesn’t lay it out there on why he trusts her so much. We get a shallow speculation that he trusts her because she raised him as on orphan, but nothing beyond that, at least yet. Her mere inclusion in the pope’s top brass is enough to send ripples through the cardinals, but her impending undertone of purpose draws more interest into why she is an important character, though that hand is never revealed in the story. Again, nothing is really revealed of her in the first season, but I’m sure there is more coming, and more than likely, as the show has gone so far, it’s probably not going to be a pretty reason.
Anyway, The Young Pope is one of those shows steeped in symbolism and confused intention, as it tries to tell its simple, yet complicated storyline. Much like its main character, it’s tough to get a grasp on what it is and what it is trying to do. Is Lenny’s character about American ideals infecting an ancient religion, sending it into unpredictable confusion and contradiction where no one can guess the next move? Or is it about the power and corruption that exists within a giant corporation masked by a religion that holds power and money, yet is shaken when they intrust this power to a young man that is out to break it apart? Again, much like its main character, the purpose of the story and what creator/director Paolo Sorrentino is trying to do is unclear and almost changing every episode. It’s like watching a religious Twin Peaks, where just as you believe you have figured things out, the things shift to another direction.
