- Director
- Paolo Sorrentino
- Writers
- Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contrarello, Stefano Bises
- Rating
- TV-MA
- Running Time
- 60 minutes
- Airs
- Mondays 9pm
- Channel
- HBO, HBO Canada
Overall Score
Rating Summary
For our review of the last episode of The New Pope, click here.
Synopsis: In Venice, a papal doctor and his wife struggle to care for their sick son and witness a miracle. Pius XIII’s devotees grow resigned and change course. An attack on Vatican soil shakes Brannox to his core and prompts him to admit a hard truth to Gutierrez. Sofia comes to Voiello for advice on how to handle the pope. (HBO)
With just three episodes of The New Pope left, episode seven is all about Jude Law’s Pius XIII as he wakes up and is told that he’s been in a coma for a year.
As he has to come to terms with the fact that he’s being told by some that they consider him a living Saint and that another pope has already been elected, this episode takes an even more deliberate pace than the others and almost entirely focuses on him. As such, we see little of Malkovich’s Sir John Brannox and the meeting of the young and the new Pope isn’t something that has yet occurred. From the beginning, there was an assumption that the series would be something of a head to head between them but that’s not how the series has unfolded at all.
If Pius XIII’s role in this episode is anything to go by, it doesn’t seem like the last three episodes are going to see him as something adversarial to Malkovich. Instead, Law gives a quiet and considered performance as he comes to terms with what might now be his role in the church. This episode sees the church hit by an attack which is claimed by the terrorist group that’s been active in the background of this series. In his limited role for the episode, it causes Brannox to question whether he’s the right person to lead the church, something which gives Malkovich more rope to show his acting chops.
But unfortunately, the great performances haven’t been enough to keep the series as interesting as it should be. Neither has the unique and beautifully-crafted filmmaking. The speed with which the story has been told up until now doesn’t make us want to spend more time with these characters, instead just makes us want the end of the series to come sooner.
It’s easy to appreciate everything that’s great about this series on a surface level but it just needs to move along a little to make it anything close to engaging.
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