The New Pope (1×08) Episode 8 Review

For our review of the last episode of The New Pope, click here.

Synopsis: Sofia sets out to bring an ashamed Brannox back to the Vatican from the Dolomites. Warned by Bauer of the Church’s demise unless immediate action is taken, Voiello is called upon to make things right and, later, mourns a tragic loss. The nuns appeal to an unaccommodating Assente. (HBO)

There was a bit of momentum that built up in the last few episodes of The New Pope which saw the overall narrative of the series moving forward into something much more interesting. All of that however grinds to a halt in this week’s episode as the runtime bumps back up to one hour and the steady, purposeful pace drops back to something even slower. 

As can happen with lots of series that stretch their run to ten or more episodes, the eighth installment of The New Pope feels like a bit of a filler; something that has to happen in order to get to the end rather than a must-watch hour of television. While this episode does have a lot more emotional weight to it for a number of characters, it’s not quite enough to make this episode feel necessary. And that’s even talking about an hour of television in which Voiello returns to form as the master of puppets inside the Vatican which really is one of the most enjoyable parts of the series. 

What this episode does do however is a lot of set up for the last two episodes of the series even though it’s hard to imagine audiences members counting down the days until they can watch the climax of what’s been building up over the last eight weeks. This episode doesn’t even have the visuals that a lot of the others had to make up for the slower pace and narrative. It’s made well of course; the filmmakers involved in The New Pope operate consistently at a very high level and have set a very beautiful standard that many TV shows should be striving for. This one however just doesn’t have the visual spectacle. 

The need to complete something they’ve started will see many audience members finish up this series, having invested nearly eight hours so far. But it feels as though that’s very much to get it done rather than because the last two episodes promise something explosive. Though it would be great if we were surprised and that was indeed the case.

Find me on Twitter and Instagram as @Martin_Izzard and at TalkAboutMovies.co.uk.

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Guest Writer