TV Show Review

TV Review: THE BORGIAS: Season 2, Episode 1: The Borgia Bull

Jeremy Irons Holliday Grainger David Oakes François Arnaud The Borgias

The Borgias Season 2 Episode 1 The Borgia Bull Review. The Borgias: Season 2, Episode 1: The Borgia Bull starts off right where last season left off at. All the story lines resume as if they had not been interrupted. What has been augmented this season is Pope Alexander/Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons)’s sexual appetite and the animosity between Cesare Borgia (François Arnaud) and Juan Borgia (David Oakes).

Once seen as someone who simply took an additional lover into his bed, now Pope Alexander is shown as having an almost insatiable desire for new and untasted fruit, fruits unavailable when he was a mere cardinal of the Roman Catholic church.

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Cesare and Juan quarreling is one of the highlights of the episode as is its resolution involving a quick moving Micheletto (Sean Harris), saving Cesare from himself.

Rodrigo Borgia made the wrong son captain of the army and the wrong son cardinal. Because of that decision, there is constant drama and tension between Cesare and Juan. Cesare continually needles Juan about his ineptitude for the position he holds while working clandestinely for the good of the church and his family. This tension almost culminated in something during The Borgia Bull which Rodrigio would never have forgiven Cesare for.

The introduction of Vittoria (Jemima West) brings into The Borgias not only a new character but social issues of that time period as well.

The role of women in this season of The Borgias has been escalated and will continue to escalate it seems. It begins with Vittoria in this episode, though she is initially hard to spot because of her disguise. With everything going on with women and their right in American politics, seeing the lengths this one goes to in order to hide what she is to get what she desires are easily comprehensible. The Borgias do what it takes to succeed (or what they believe they have to do) and so does Vittoria underneath her pseudonym.

Prince Alfonso (Augustus Prew)’s particular way of speaking, an archaic, yuppie drool, is always entertaining to hear and in this episode it is no different. Augustus Prew wanted to make his character sound as patrician as possible and he has achieved it.

Former Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere (Colm Feore) grows luckier and wilier by the day, no longer waiting for death to visit. He is more cautious now, striking first.

For more The Borgias reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our The Borgias Page.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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