Jeremy Irons is the head of the clan, Rodrigo, who buys his way to the papal spot amid corruption and dissension with the help of his eldest son, Cesare, who's a bishop, albeit reluctantly. We also meet headstrong Juan, a soldier who looks to be on his way of becoming a psychopath. We also meet Rodrigo's daughter, Lucrezia, who flirts with her own brother and acts coy and darling around her father, although I sense a wise and cunning interior to her shallow facade. Like all historical dramas, it seems that she maybe in an incestuous relationship with her bishop brother, who is fond of getting his rocks off frequently.
When we see Isaacs in the first episode, he always seems to be scheming and plotting with the help of Cesare against the bureaucratic and backstabbing College of Cardinals, including Orsini, played by Derek Jacobi. After he is crowned Pope, Rodrigo is the target of an assassination at a banquet at Orsini's, but for the intervention of Cesare, who buys the assassin so Orsini is poisoned. The episode ends with Rodrigo vowing vengeance.
The highlights are great: Jeremy Irons portrays power, cunning, guilt, insanity and fear in Rodrigo, and is a reason in itself to continue watching. Secondly, the lavishness of fifteen century Rome and Rodrigo's coronation is sublime. I'll be watching the second episode tomorrow, watch this space.
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