Previewing The Borgias

With the recent announcement of The Vatican starring Coach Taylor and Charlotte “Chuck” Charles, it may be easy to forget that Showtime already has series about the Catholic Church. But where The Vatican takes place in modern time, The Borgias goes back to the fifteenth century. But just like the modern time, The Borgias may be looking for a new pope soon as last season ended with Pope Alexander VI consuming a copious amount of poison, delivered to him ironically enough by his food taster.

I cannot comment on if the Pope survives the poisoning, but since this is based on historic events, I am sure spoiler fans can look up how Alexander dies on his Wikipedia page. I will say by the end of the episode, you will know his fate. And that was not the only big event that happened at the end of the last season. Cesare killed his brother Juan and that will certainly have repercussions in the upcoming season. While Lucrezia got engaged to a guy from Naples to secure an alliance with the kingdom of Naples. And Joffre remains M.I.A. I thought his marriage was supposed to tie the Pope to Naples? Even as his father lies dyeing, he barely gets mentioned and does not even show up at all. Please note I only complain because I liked looking at his wife played by Emmanuelle Chriqui. But anyway.

As the third season stars and the uncertainty of the Pope, Caterina Sforza grows stronger in his opposition to the Borgias and recruits a very deadly relative to help her. Another enemy Cardinal Della Rovere boldly shows up to the Vatican to see if his master plan succeeded or not. We also get to meet the new kings of Naples, who introduces us to the term “two bag woman,” and France who apparently is married to a two sack woman and would like to get out of the marriage. We also get to witness the weirdest consummation scene probably ever put to film (but there is precedent). And for anyone who thought the sexual tension between Cesare and Lucrezia was creepy in the first two seasons, get ready for it to get ramped up for the third. And of course being The Borgia, there will also be plenty of murder, deceit, sabotage, defrocking, and the occasional orgy this season.

The Borgias airs Sundays at 10:00 on Showtime and will be preceded by an all new season of Nurse Jackie at 9:00.