The Young Pope Season 1 Episodes 2-3 Review

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel, and today we'll be reviewing The Young Pope episodes 2 and 3. Uh, so last week, um, HBO threw a curveball at me. I think they released episode 2 early on a Monday, kind of threw off my review schedule a bit, but that's all right, it's all good. Uh, we're gonna do both episodes into one review and we'll start with episode 2. So as we open up, um, in the first scene we get this couple and they're having sex, and I'm thinking, whoa, is that the Pope? Uh, but no, it's not the Pope. Uh, it's actually the wife of a Swiss Guard member. You know, the Swiss Guard are the, you know, this is the, um you know, basically the guard for the Vatican, you know, who protects the Pope. And it's a long history about the Swiss Guard, but, uh, you know, this particular woman, she seems to be a very devout Catholic. And, um, her husband, who's the Swiss Guard member, seems concerned to some degree about her feelings for him. And she just seems, you know, focused on her faith, you know, more so than anything. So as we cut to the Pope The Pope is actually planning for his homily and concerned about what he's going to say to the people in his address. So we move on to the papal office and the Pope is meeting with Sophia, and we get to learn that Sophia is the marketing director. You know, as we learned from the previous episode, she's greatly concerned about the revenues being lost from the Pope not appearing or his image not being used, because they can use the Pope's image on coins, plates, T-shirts, and this is how they generate a lot of money back to the Vatican. So she expresses her concern to the Pope, and she's telling the Pope, hey, you're a very young and handsome guy. And basically, as a marketing director, she can just see dollar signs. So the Pope stops her and goes, where did you get your education? And she's like, well, I attended Harvard. You know, with pride and, you know, that response you get from a lot of Harvard graduates and these Ivy League types. You know, so the Pope really starts to slam academia and the entire institution, you know, saying it's all in decline. You know, he just has this, you know, this attitude like, you know, you're not, you know, towards Sophia, like, hey, you're not as smart as you think you are. You know, he's very, you know, insulting, you know, in a sense, you know. So he starts to go on to help her understand the advantages of being mysterious and inaccessible. And he mentions the success of music groups like Daft Punk, who you never see what they look like. J.D. Salinger, Stanley Kubrick, all these mysterious, successful people who didn't let their images be seen, or you can hardly see them. So he's kind of getting through to the marketing director, and she's starting to eat it up. She seems kind of like, she's on board, you know, with the Pope. So we kind of— it kind of cuts to this next scene, and the scene kind of looks out of place, you know. Uh, you start to see things you're probably, you know, not accustomed to thinking about when you think about the clergy and the priests and the nuns. And you, you basically see these nuns playing soccer in their nun robes, and, you know, you, you see this one cardinal And he was in the first episode, you know, uh, older, uh, Cardinal. He's, you know, he's smoking and, you know, he looks like he shouldn't be smoking at all. But as he's smoking, uh, in between taking puffs of his cigarette, they're actually, you know, placing oxygen masks on him so he can breathe, you know. So it's just these very, you know, odd scenes, I think, for us, you know, looking in. Because, you know, I think sometimes we forget that the the clergy and the priests are, you know, human beings and they do all these things. We kind of just think of them as pious. So we move on to the Pope getting a gift from the ambassador of Australia, and it's a kangaroo. And it can, you know, and kangaroos can be a bit unpredictable and scary at times. And, you know, so the Pope, you know, as he opens this cage to where this kangaroo is. He seems quite comfortable, you know, almost like he has some type of dominion or control over the kangaroo. And he tells the kangaroo to come out, and everyone is just kind of looking out in amazement. And, you know, later from that scene, we get, uh, you know, we get Sister Mary rather later, you know, reflecting on that particular event and some that happened in the, you know, in the past. Um, You know, which she seemingly thought what the Pope was doing were miracles. And, you know, as she's getting ready to explain one particular incident, the Pope stops her. You know, he doesn't want to speak about it. You know, so it was very interesting. You know, um, you know, and it's quite clear that Sister Mary believes, despite all the contradictions we've seen with this Pope, that he's actually a saint. And, um, you know, in an early episode, she literally refers to him as a saint. And you know, when I say saint, I don't mean saint as in the careless use of the word saint. I'm thinking of the literal term for saint as used in the Catholic faith. And to be considered a saint, you have to be able to perform miracles. And you know, so that kind of makes me think that either she's seen him performing something like a miracle, or she believes he can. So we finally get the homily from the Pope, you know, the first address. And the Pope is standing in the balcony, but they can only see his silhouette. And he begins his speech, you know, it's not the one that Carlo Voiello wrote for him. You know, it's inspired from this child's letter about where to find God. And so the Pope starts his speech and it's going quite well. And, you know, all of a sudden someone from the, you know, the crowd down at the square Says, let us see you, you know, we want to see our Pope, and you know, all that. And then after a while, someone shines a light on him, and you know, the Pope just freaks out. You know, he's like, how dare you disrespect your Pope? And you know, he just goes on and on, you all don't deserve me, and he just storms out, you know, without finishing the speech. So, you know, it was a clear sky, then all of a sudden it starts to cloud up and rain. And it's kind of weird because if we remember back to the first episode, it's the direct opposite. You know, he's in this dream where he gives this— it's a very liberal speech. It's not a conservative like the one he actually gives, where he basically loses the crowd with all his, you know, just being so liberal in his, you know, in the speech. And, you know, in the sun, actually, the clouds open up and the sun shines down. And you know, of course, you know, in the actual homily it actually rained. So I just thought it was kind of interesting how it— the, the— in the, in the opening episodes, the scene we get with him giving his first speech, it goes opposite. You know, everything goes like totally opposite when he actually gives it. So of course after this everyone is devastated. Cardinal Voyello goes, you know, to this handicapped child. He takes care And, you know, we're not sure what exactly he's doing. You know, at first I think he's going out to meet like an escort or some mistress, you know, because that's kind of how they set the scene up. But the Cardinal was praying and asking God forgiveness for about what he needs to do about this new young Pope, you know, as he's making plans to stop, you know, the ruin of what he believes will ultimately be the church under Pope Pius. 13. So, uh, you know, that pretty much concludes episode 2, you know, uh, and, uh, we'll move on now to episode 3, and I'll, you know, I'll wrap, you know, wrap this, you know, all the way up in my final thoughts. And so in episode 3, we finally get the HBO introduction for the young Pope. And HBO, when it comes to introductions for their TV series, they have to be the masters of show intros. I don't think anyone can compete with what HBO puts onto an introduction, and this intro for The Young Pope is no exception. He's kind of doing this slow-motion walk with these priceless works of art at the Vatican, and there's this comet or meteor, you know, uh, and it's, uh, I'm thinking it's possibly a religious symbol because I see them painted a lot in a lot of the artwork that you see at the Vatican. And basically they're playing the rock song All Along the Watchtower, I think, which was originally performed by Bob Dylan. And the Pope is doing this slow-mo walk, and it's just a real cool, interesting scene. And then he turns to us and he kind of winks at us. You know, almost to suggest, hey, I know something you all don't know, you know. So it was a pretty cool intro. We finally got it, looks like, at episode 3. So it opens up with the Pope explaining to Don Tommaso how he got elected Pope, and it's just this very narcissistic, selfish explanation to how he didn't want anyone to be Pope but him. And he was saying he doesn't care about what anybody thinks as long as it was him and nobody else. He doesn't care if people think he's a scoundrel. He just doesn't care about anything but being Pope. And Don Tommaso, this poor guy, just looks like he could have a heart attack at any moment. And he's basically saying God didn't illuminate him, but he illuminated himself. So he's basically saying he's an instrument of his own creation, that all the power hails from him. So again, we get this very contradictory speech. And so you're like, okay, once again we're confused about what this Pope is exactly out to get done. Exactly, you know. And a few minutes later, he's praying the most sincere prayer to God, saying he didn't mean any of it, you know, that he really needs God more than anything. He can't do anything without God. So it's clear he's trying to mislead the Cardinals or the priests But you're still like, is he crazy or is he battling some conflict within himself? You just don't really know where the show is going with this. They keep you guessing, you know, at this point. So the issue of the Pope's speech from the last episode and the damage it's done to the Catholics around the world as far as the perception of the church is now being addressed. And so they are trying to figure out what to do. So the Pope decides that Sister Mary should hold a conference explaining what happened. So Sister Mary reluctantly agrees, but at the conference, the Pope gives her the words that she's to say. And these words are even more confusing than the words spoken at his family. He's basically having her start off giving these dozens of titles— the Prince of this, the Bishop of Rome, the blah blah blah— and he just— it just makes him appear even more severely narcissistic, you know. And then he's saying in the, in the words he's given this Sister Mary, that he's infallible unlike the rest of us. And, you know, it's just got the press going crazy, you know. So after that, Sister Mary seeks out Cardinal Spencer, who mentioned or I'm sorry, who mentored the Pope for him to come and try to work with the, you know, um, he mentored him and, you know, uh, basically, uh, but, but Cardinal Michael Spencer is unable to get over not being elected Pope because Sister Mary basically wants him to come in and work with the Pope, try to get everything back in order, and she feels that the Pope really needs him. But Cardinal, uh, Spencer is still stuck on the betrayal that he felt was, um, uh, you know, basically, uh, done at the, um, you know, at the election. I forget what it's called. It's another word when they elect popes. But, uh, he's still stuck on that, so he just can't seem to, you know, you know, forgive, uh, you know, uh, Pope Pius. So in the next scene, the woman we got from episode 2 who was married to the Swiss guard is standing in the square where the pope gave his speech, and She's just standing there every day so the Pope can see her. So the Pope has a priest retrieve her, and it's weird because this priest, he goes to get her and he's asking her if she still has feelings for him. And he's basically alluding to, you know, he's basically indicating that they had a sexual relationship. And, you know, he's groping on her and he's trying to have sex with her right there, you know. So I don't know if she did this with him before her marriage to the Swiss Guard or at the same time. It's just this big, you know, mystery, like, you know, what's going on. And, um, in her audience with the Pope, she's basically saying, you know, I liked your speech. And the Pope is like, you have to do more than like it. You have to, you know, basically live it and breathe it, and something along those lines. And the Pope just for some reason he just passes out and she has to catch him. And we get the Pope, he's in this like vision or dream and he's trying to catch up with his— it looks like it's his— maybe it's his biological parents, um, to find out who they are and I guess why they left him at the orphanage. He can't catch up with them, so not exactly sure who his parents were, but it seems very much, uh, you know, on his mind at this point. And So we get this interesting scene, you know, in the end where the priest, you know, who has a really good reputation— and I believe his name is Monsignor Gutierrez, or Gutierrez— and he and the Pope, they meet in the gardens, you know, often to talk about different things about faith and life. And so he tells Monsignor Gutierrez a story he never told anyone about how he fell in love with this woman on his first trip to California or his first vacation, and it was right before seminary school. And so he seems very honest with Father Gutierrez about lack of faith and seemingly lack of faith in himself as Pope. And so it's when Sr. Gutierrez goes back to his apartment, we find that Cardinal Voyello is already there and has discovered he has an alcoholic beverage in his room, you know? And so Cardinal Voyello is basically suggesting that Monsignor Guterres, he may be a drunk, you know. So, uh, Monsignor Guterres is like, hey, one drink doesn't make me, you know, an alcoholic. So, you know, what's so very interesting about it is, as I'm, you know, as you're looking at the scene, you're going, wow, is there no one who doesn't have some type of something in the closet at the Vatican? Because, you know, the show props up Monsignor Guterres as this, as the only basically one of the only real true and faithful priests. And we find out he is basically being suggested he's an alcoholic. So Monsignor Gutierrez says, well, having one drink doesn't make me an alcoholic. But then Cardinal Voiello looks under the bed and he just pulls out crates full of alcohol. It's like a nonstop drinking party under Monsignor Gutierrez's bed. So we get the We get to see in this scene, you know, how Cardinal Voello made it to the top. You know, he has leverage over just about everyone at the Vatican, and he's trying now to get as much leverage and ammunition as he can against the Pope, you know. Um, you know, and basically Cardinal Voello had already set it up like he was going to resign, but it was seen that Cardinal Voello is really still focused on having power and control in the church to a degree, you know, onto what he feels is right. And so he lets Father Guterres, or Monsignor Guterres, basically know, hey, you're going to be found out about your problem unless you tell me everything that the Pope tells you, you know. Um, and, um, uh, you know, um So basically, Father Gutierrez is kind of in a rock and a hard place. You know, he has to basically now spy on the Pope. So in the closing scene, we get, you know, the Pope again. He's sitting in the gardens with Monsignor Gutierrez, and they're basically, you know, they're confiding in one another. And then Father Gutierrez is basically asking the Pope, you never finished the story about what happened with the girl you fell in love with. And, you know, before you went to seminary school, and, you know, and, and this, and, uh, you know, that. And, uh, so, you know, then the Pope starts to talk about, you know, how maybe he shouldn't have been the Pope, that maybe Cardinal Voitello, you know, would have been a better Pope, you know, that he seemed more devout, more right for it, and that his speech was, you know, written, you know, beautiful, you know, the one that Cardinal Voitello actually wanted the Pope to give at his homily. You know, everybody pretty much agreed that it was a really well-done speech. But then Monsignor Guterres tells the Pope, no, no, Pope, Cardinal Voello is a politician, but you are the Pope. And the scene ends, you know, in the garden. So I really enjoyed this episode. And, you know, as I said earlier, this show is very interesting. Interesting. And I do like how it goes off in so many directions and keeps you guessing. And, uh, so we're now faced with, will Monsignor Gutierrez be the spy for Cardinal Voyello, or will he be the good man they thought he was and come clean? You know, so it's a mystery. We don't know. We don't know if the Pope is still playing everyone. You know, we just never know. So anyway, guys, my only prediction is that I think the Pope is probably not telling Monsignor Guterres the truth. That's, you know, I think the Pope, uh, um, he's— how he's been operating throughout this series, that he really does feel he's alone and it's his burden alone. And so I don't think he's going to trust anyone at the Vatican, you know, at this point, you know, based on what we've seen of him so far. So anyway, guys, I hope you enjoyed these last two episodes. Uh, don't forget to like and subscribe if you like this type of content. And until our next review, take care, guys.