The Young Pope Episode 1 Review

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel, and today we'll be reviewing the new HBO series The Young Pope. Uh, this is about the first American Pope. He's 47 years old, and as the former Lenny Bellardo takes the name of Pope Pius XIII. So The way HBO seems to market this is as a type of new Game of Thrones series in that time slot. So, um, I don't know about all that, but the show does seem to feature a lot of plotting and scheming. So we'll just jump right into it. So we open up with this very odd dream sequence, um, and it's Lenny Bellardo or Pope Pius XIII, and he's crawling over this river of, um, or, or a bed of, of— it appears to be dead babies. I, or I don't know if they're dead or alive. My guess is that they are dead babies. So in this dream, he's talking about abortion should be viewed as okay, sexual immorality should be fine, uh, same-sex marriages should be okay. So, you know, during this speech that he's having in this dream, uh, we're led to believe that he's a very liberal Pope, you know, to say the least. You know, however, um, he, uh, he's basically, um, you know, as he awakens from the dream, we, you know, we discover he's not exactly liberal. Uh, in fact, he seems to be more conservative, or, you know, one of the most conservative popes. So it does seem a bit confusing at this point, as you know how he's presented in the trailers, he seems to be quite liberal. So in the next scene, we get him at breakfast. You know, this seems to be the first, uh, you know, his— or his first day as pope. Um, and, uh, you know, they have this large breakfast banquet, you know, as he arrives. And, uh, he's basically telling them that, you know, hey, I don't eat breakfast. Only thing I, I have is a zero Pepsi for breakfast, you know. And, and it's strange because, uh, how he functions, you know, it's just, uh, he's— it's very robotic, and his speech is very emotionless. And how he maneuvers, you know, it's all very calculating and optimal and efficient. So an elderly cook, you know, who served a few popes before him, is introduced, and she's treating him, you know, almost like a child. She's like, tell me what you'd like me to serve you, and this and that, and, you know, pulling on his cheeks. And, and so she's, uh, very familiar with him, um, you know. So in this very interesting scene, he really just slams her and puts her in her place. And, you know, uh, you know, about how much, you know, about how she's too familiar and that she needs to stop it. So she's very embarrassed. And, you know, as I said, he operates almost like a machine. You know, there's no heartfelt emotional responses from his character. You know, very contradictory, you know, being a pope and all. So, uh, it moves on, and he, as he's expecting a you know, he's expecting a guest. And, um, you know, basically he's, uh, waiting outside near a helipad, you know, for this guest to arrive. So we find out that the guest is a character played by Diane Keaton named Sister Mary. So we get this flashback sequence and we find out that As a small boy, he's arriving at an orphanage and he greets Sister Mary as mom. However, she tells him, "Don't ever call me that again." And that from now on, he should call her Sister Mary. So right there, we find out Sister Mary is not only his mother, but she at some point had to break her vows as a nun and is now keeping it hid, you know, as she is actually his mother. So they go on to a staff meeting involving his Secretary of State because the Vatican is actually a sovereign country, basically. So they are totally independent and have, you know, their own guard called the Swiss Guard. And so the Pope has his own Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State is known by the name of Cardinal Vojello. So, um, you know, as this is his first day as Pope, uh, basically no one has actually seen him yet. Uh, so the meeting is about his first address to the world. So Cardinal Voello is concerned about appointments and the address and wants to take care of everything. So what you get right away is that Cardinal Voello is basically trying to run the Vatican and push the Pope to the side as more of a puppet-type ruler. And he's using these subtle statements as to suggest the type of issues he will encounter if he does not comply with that. However, he basically checks him, or the Pope basically checks him, by making him go get him coffee. Yeah, so the Secretary of State, he first tries to get somebody else to get it, but the Pope stops him and goes, no, You, you get it. So this is part of politics to show strength and power, and, you know, basically I'm in charge. So the Cardinal gets the message quite fast, and he appoints his mother, or Sister Mary, as a special assistant to the Pope, which is not standard procedure. So he breaks that rule, but he also breaks the rule of smoking in the papal residence. And checks again, checks Cardinal Boiello on, you know, hey, I'm the new Pope, basically I can do whatever I want, you know. So, um, we get this interesting scene, um, where, um, he even as the Pope has to confess his sins at confessional, you know. However, he tells the priest who's known as, uh, Don Tommaso that he has no sins to confess. So at this point, you know, in the series you really are having trouble figuring out the, uh, you know, the intentions of this Pope. You know, is he a reformist? Is he a conservative Pope? Is he a liberal Pope? You know, he basically states that he's a contradiction, and it seemingly is that he is exactly that. You know, however, you also get that he does mean to clean out the church and can't be bought from the corruption and plotting and everything going on in his papacy. So Cardinal Voello is planning to have him investigated every move, you know. So again, it's a lot of plotting and scheming and the politics, uh, you know, of what's going on in his papacy. And it's very complex, and they wish to control him at every turn if possible, you know. So basically, they make the mistake or they make this assumption that they can. However, they are finding out that he's not going to be as easy as they once thought. So after the Pope's confessional, he basically tells the priest he wants him to report to him everything that the other priests confess, because he wants to know who's plotting and scheming. And the priest is just in total shock. He's like, oh, and he's like, because he's saying, hey, God will punish me. I can't tell you other people's confessionals under God. And the Pope basically persuades him not only in a spiritual sense by saying things like, you know, hey, I'm on God's side, and by doing this you're serving the church, but he also basically bribes him with a cardinal position, you know. So, so again, the contradictions come, and, uh, you know, and the priest, he basically caves. He tells him all the confessionals and Uh, now the Pope basically knows how to maneuver against all the other Cardinals, you know. So finally the Pope tells the priest, okay, I'm ready now to confess my sins, and wants to have their— I forget what they call it, but it's when they go, you know, when they're going to, to the confessional. So he tells the priest, he says, well, I don't believe in God. So the priest is just devastated, you know, a Pope that doesn't believe in God, and he's like, this can't be, and what will happen now? So, you know, he's really breaking down. And so the Pope then goes, oh yeah, I was just kidding, you know. And, you know, he has this uncomfortable look, uh, the Pope does after he says that, and the episode comes to an end. So, um, I mean, I can already see this series, as I said in my trailer review, is it's going to be very controversial. And you know, uh, usually at this point I give some predictions, but unfortunately this series was released overseas last year and it received critical acclaim. It wasn't released in America, but unfortunately they had been posting clips of the series online, and I mistakenly thought it was one of the trailer clips, and I watched it only to discovered they have posted episodes of the actual series or future episodes. So I was very disappointed in that as I wanted to be surprised on some of the things that would happen. So I can't— some predictions I can't give because some of the information I already have, and I want to go along with the rest of you and discover things at the same rate. So when I discovered this future clip, with this important information. I did stop watching it, but I had already seen some future details and some things that made sense to me that I can't divulge at this, uh, you know, at this point until, uh, you know, uh, all the episodes here in America catch up. However, I will say this from what I saw: this is going to be a really good show. The acting and the storyline is off the scale. So if you're watching this show, keep watching, you will be impressed. So I do, uh, have some future spoilers, but again, I will make sure I don't spoil the show. But there are still many things as well I don't know. And for instance, you know, like I don't know if he really believes in God or not. And one prediction I guess I could make, or um, or, or what I want to say is I do believe he's a good— he's going to end up being a good Pope, but I, I think he's doing unorthodox things to clean out the church. And I think it's one of those situations where he feels he can only fight the level of corruption that is present with a similar offensive. You know, in this way, it does remind me of Game of Thrones, because in Game of Thrones, we noticed that everyone who tried to fight fight back honorably and noble, they were eventually, and generally fairly, they came to an end, you know, quite quickly. So this Pope, I think, knows that if he tries that way, that they will consume and destroy him, you know, as they're basically portrayed as a den of vipers in this series. So I think the idea is he's going to use similar methods to oust them out. So, controversial but interesting series, and this series won't be for everybody, and it's a bit uncomfortable in some ways to review it due to, you know, I understand it may be offensive to some Catholics that watch the series. So I've heard some Catholics say they think it's totally fine and it's just a fictitious show, you know. However, whatever your position, I understand it and I respect that. And I can only say that this series, from what I've seen and understood, is not going to be exactly what we think it is. So anyway, guys, stay tuned if you're watching and found this first episode interesting. We'll explore some more to see how the show goes. And don't forget to like and subscribe. Take care, guys.