The Young Pope Season Finale Review

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel, and today we will review the finale of The Young Pope season 1. And this has been an awesome show, guys. I think television has quite seen anything as of yet like The Young Pope. Um, there were some episodes that I thought kind of got off some of the storylines I wanted to see. But, uh, in these final episodes, I think everything kind of came full circle, you know, pretty much closed everything up. Uh, uh, pretty good closure on the end of the season. And again, just very impressed with the show. Sorry to see it end. Um, I think that there's been a reason why I've kind of held off on doing this review, and that has to do a lot with some news I heard that The Young Pope season 2 may not even start shooting until mid-2018. So that's a long time from now. So I wanted to basically kind of hold off a little bit because I know it's gonna be a long time before we get to hear anything about The Young Pope or talk about— or get to talk about The Young Pope again. So, uh, kind of saved this review, guys, a little bit, kind of let it marinate a bit. And so we're gonna go ahead and conclude what has been just a, a fantastic show, well-done show, uh, definitely one of my favorite TV shows ever made. So Let's, let's talk about what we got in this final episode. We open up with a visit from the Patriarch of Moscow, and it's just this really quiet, kind of funny scene. There's not any conversation going on, um, but the Patriarch of Moscow, he's starting to— his attention is starting to veer off, and, uh, interesting enough, is veering off into the same problem that Cardinal Voitillo had. And that's looking at the statue of, uh, what looks like some type of fertility goddess. I'm not sure what that statue is supposed to, you know, supposed to be, but, um, my understanding of the history of the Vatican is that they've just collected, uh, artwork and treasures from antiquity. And, uh, I'm guessing that the way this statue looks is some type of fertility goddess that they probably— things they probably collected, uh, during the, you know, the Roman Empire and things like that. But, uh, seems like the patriarch of Moscow's falling under some type of temptation. And, uh, you know, pretty soon, uh, Lenny's, uh, you know, Pope Pius here, he's ringing that, ringing that bell to, uh, you know, have his, uh, servants come out and make that excuse that it's time for him to go, he has an appointment waiting. But, uh, you know, oddly enough, in this case, he really does have appointment, uh, waiting. Uh, so I think it's kind of a dual situation where he, he wants to end that meeting, but at the same time he does have to deal with the, uh, Archbishop Kurtzwell. And we know from the last episode, you know, the Archbishop who had been pretty much, um, enough evidence had been gathered on him to, um you know, to answer for the charges of pedophilia back in New York, in America. And so just this very emotional, uh, very, uh, disturbing at the same time scene where, you know, the Archbishop does admit to the crimes. He tells the story about he was abused, you know, as a you know, as a boy by this, uh, Lord. And that this started this, uh, uh, you know, this, uh, cycle, you know, of the, uh, the abused becoming the abuser. And, um, so the Pope, you know, as Kurzweil's breaking down about his problems, you know, the The Pope wants him to finish the story. And just a powerful scene, you know, because it's seeming like although the Archbishop Kurtzweil, he's trying to get everybody to feel sorry for him and what he, you know, and what happened to him, you know, the Pope's still interested in him answering for his charges and being responsible for his actions. And it's just this powerful scene where he goes, what do you care about the abuse of a child years ago. And the Pope answers, we care about all children. And that all is signifying not only the abuse as a child that he was subject to, but abuse later as an adult that he subjected all these children to. So the Pope basically has him finish the story And then he decides to make his decision, and we see the Pope head to that famous globe he always goes to in the papal office, uh, right before he sentences, uh, you know, uh, you know, makes his final decision. And, uh, so he decides that he's gonna let Archbishop Kurtzweil go back to America. You know, the thing is too, within the Catholic Church, you know, as we can clearly see. And I've heard things like this before, but I never really quite, uh, you know, seen it played out in any way, as I'm, you know, I don't really do a lot of studying of the Catholic Church. But apparently when these, um, priests commit these crimes and these such acts, they're not turned over to the authorities. It seems like they're treated as almost like subjects of the of the Vatican State. And the Vatican State is pretty much recognized as his own sovereign land and country. And it's kind of, it's kind of strange. It kind of makes you think about, um, similar to what would happen to a person coming from another country, a diplomatic official who's committed a crime within the boundaries of the United States but can't be, uh, uh, you know, brought up on criminal charges by the United States. He has to be returned from his country to be dealt with by them. And this seems to be what plays out with the Catholic Church or the Vatican. And so Archbishop Kurzweil, you know, he's praising the Pope for his forgiveness and his mercy and things like that because he's like, I want to go back to New York. He's like, where do you— it's just this very interesting, clever thing the Pope does where he asks Kurzweil, he goes Where do you, where do you want to go back to, you know, in the United States? He's like, I want to go back to New York. And the Pope's like, okay, that's fine. I just want to be clear, you know where you're going. I want you to point to it on the map and, um, on the globe. And so, you know, we've seen from the previous episodes and it greatly focuses on in this episode that Kurzweil, he has some type of, uh, debilitative, uh, um, condition where he can't hold his hand steady. He just shakes and shakes and shakes. I mean, he has this tremor or this shake. It's, you know, it's almost like as soon as I said Kurzweil understands that he is nowhere in the world he can hold his hand steady enough to point on that globe. New York, you know, New York and going back to New York. So Kurzweil is just shaking and just shaking, and he touches the globe. And kind of know that— I'm thinking it looks like he's touching California to me. And, and it's, uh, and it's just, you know, his hands just shaking and shaking. And then the Pope goes, Ketchikan, Alaska. You know, Ketchikan, Alaska is this— is the place where he banishes all of these, uh, pope's— and I mean these cardinals and clerics who have not served, you know, his, you know, the Vatican properly. And, uh, you know, it's where he sent the other cardinal who complains a lot about his, uh, the cold weather in his hands, uh, in this episode. And the pope goes catch a can of Alaska and It's just so crazy. And I'm, you know, this is another thing I love about this show, the teasing of him being a saint. And, you know, the suggestion that he's a saint and that mystery behind it. You know, like I said, if it would have just stayed on that the entire season, I would have been fine, perfectly fine with that, without much filler. But he touches Ketchikan, Alaska. He actually touches it, Kurzweil. And you just, that just can't be a coincidence. It's like the Pope knows, or by some power, he's gonna touch Ketchikan, Alaska. So Kurzweil gets sent off to Ketchikan, Alaska. You know, we get this garden scene. Where the Pope here, he's being considered for sainthood, and they're going over all his accomplishments that make him eligible for sainthood. Uh, you know, they talk about when he was a boy, how he healed his friend's mom. They talk about how Esther, the wife of the Swiss guard who was infertile, uh, through his prayers became fertile. Talk about how, um, the sister in Africa, um, you know, was struck down by her evils, uh, seemingly through his prayers. And they want to, you know, they want him to, uh, you know, be a candidate for sainthood. And so we just get this, um, you know, young girl from Guatemala who healed all of these children at this— I believe it was like a children's hospital or something like that. And that the children, uh, I think some of them are still alive, or there's one remaining. And, uh, um, they, they want him to go to Guatemala because the Pope really loves this story. He loves hearing about people, saints who could do these miraculous things. And so they're basically planning this trip to Guatemala you know, in order for, um, the last remaining person, uh, who was, uh, healed by this, you know, this, uh, young woman who died when she was 18 years old. Um, you know, we also get this, uh, funny scene where, um, uh, the marketing director wants him to basically teach or give the third grade class, I believe, a tour of the Vatican Museum. And so the Pope, you know, not really his thing. The Pope's, you know, not really good with children, as we find out. You know, he's ice raining, and, uh, you know, as he's, uh, you know, getting ready to do this tour, um, The children are basically, he tells the children, hey, it's raining, and so that can only mean one thing, you know, rain tears of God, and you've upset God, and because you've been very bad, you're very bad kids. And so the children just start crying and things like that. And, you know, the marketing director has to take over, and it just, you know, just very much shows that how, uh, horrible the Pope is with children. And kind of reminds me back to the earlier scenes with him and Esther, uh, when Esther first had her baby and he's holding the baby. He turns around for an appointment that it was kind of unexpected, and he throws the baby. You know, the baby just slips out of his hands, and, uh, fortunately, uh, baby doesn't you know, uh, you know, die or anything. The third is badly injured, but it just shows that he's just horrible with, you know, with, uh, with, uh, with children. Um, you know, we also get, uh, the Pope and Sister Mary. They're, um, you know, they're basically, uh, having their goodbyes because, you know, there had been a rumor circulating that Sister Mira was going to be sent away from the Vatican, and she confronts the Pope about it. And, you know, basically saying that, uh, you know, um, orphans, you know, basically something to the effect of orphans always want to be with orphans. And, um, uh, you know, and so Sister Mira's like, well, how did you know I was an orphan? And he says this, uh, basically he talks about how it's difficult to let people know how a saint knows what they know. So what's so very interesting about that is, you know, it's seeming like the Pope is starting to embrace the idea that he is a saint, you know. And, uh, you know, he just, you know, he's— there is a, a development. I guess the final episode is showing this development to that level. You know, from the beginning of the season. Because, you know, as we recall in earlier episodes, the Pope never wanted to talk about the things that were associated with him being a saint. And now he's really embracing it, saying that, uh, it's very, uh, complicated to talk about how saints know what they know and how they have this foreknowledge of things. And so, uh, You know, I just thought that was an awesome scene, uh, and that's exactly what I'm talking about, guys. When I see, you know, when I, uh, when it kind of the middle episodes, kind of my enthusiasm kind of went down a bit. I kind of threw The Young Pope out of my top 5, but it's kind of ease— it's eased back in the top 5, uh, of my best, the best TV shows I've ever seen. And, uh, that's because of getting off that storyline. But we can see that he, he's developing because Now he's embracing the idea of being a sainthood, and we can also see he's coming full circle with this because he's sending Sister Mary off and he's saying that now he's become a man. He's no longer the boy pope, but he's the man. And, uh, he's actually sending Sister Mary to Africa to take over the sister, the evil sister in Africa who um, who was strict, who was struck down by his prayers, um, because Sister Mary, as he's saying, that she was an orphan, she is better with orphans, and that she should return to Africa. And so, you know, we get there, you know, that the, the end scene with, um, Sister Mary and the Pope finally saying goodbye. Uh, you know, We also got to see in this episode Gutierrez develop from being afraid, as we've seen in his investigation of Archbishop Kurtzweil back in New York when he first left the Vatican. He could barely put one foot in front of the other, and he's just very much afraid. And in a conversation with him and the Pope, the Pope's talking about how he turned his fear into anger, he became stronger, and he brought, uh, Kurzweil to justice. And that because of, you know, the changes, uh, in him, that he now wanted, uh, Gutierrez to become his personal secretary. And, uh, you know, Gutierrez, you know, didn't want to accept the position because of the Pope's view on homosexuality. And Gutierrez, who admits to being a homosexual, was talking about how he would feel like a hypocrite, especially with the Pope's position. You know, as well saying that the Pope shouldn't compare homosexuality to pedophilia, that homosexuality was done out of love, whereas pedophilia out of violence. And so, you know, the Pope's basically letting Gutierrez know that he's already, uh, you know, basically, uh, making many compromises to even put him in that position, and that he wants him to take the job. And Gutierrez does end up taking the job. We also, you know, have this, uh, conversation with the Pope, Cardinal Vujello, And, uh, you know, everybody loves Cardinal Vujello. He really has helped make this show a great show, and he's having a very interesting conversation with the Pope, and it's about his parents. As to a person like the Pope, who's as high-profile as the Pope, should be recognizable, uh, you know, by the parents at this point. And at some point, you know, Vujello, you know, being a very intelligent person he is and analyzing the situation, goes that You know, even the guilt of abandoning your child to an orphanage under normal circumstances wouldn't keep parents away from seeing such a high-profile figure as the Pope. You know, we've seen this happen with many famous people. We've seen their parents abandon them at early ages, and we always hear these stories about now the parents return to their lives after they're famous and they want to rekindle a relationship with their children or have, you know, this reunion. And in some cases the children don't want to, and sometimes they do. But Cardinal Voello is basically alluding to that as to say this should have occurred already in the Pope situation, unless the views of the papacy are in direct are directly opposite from their own. And they also speak— Vujello also brings up the fact that they were hippies and that the Pope's conservative values would probably scare them away. And perhaps that's why they stayed away. The Pope somehow decides to not do the trip to Guatemala to visit the town of where the saint, this young woman saint, was, and the last living survivor that she cured. And of course, everybody's greatly disappointed. This would have been a great honor for the Guatemalan people. And so, you know, they very much are disappointed with the Pope deciding not to go to Guatemala. We don't know exactly why the Pope, you know, decides that at that point, but he decides for some reason to go to Venice instead. And, um, you know what, uh, um, and whilst in Venice, um, him and Gutierrez, they're having this, um, private, um, it seems to be a coffee break or something in the shop, and there's just a crowd of people wanting the Pope to do a benediction and turn around so they can see him. And the Pope won't reveal himself because there were some earlier scenes where he talked about exhibitions not being proper things to be done of a Pope and various things like that. Um, you know, in the earlier scenes, I just wanted to quickly throw this in there. He did get this very interesting visit from just about all his major predecessors that was popes. It's like he has these visions and they're telling him, they're giving him advice, and, uh, you know, he's basically gathering all this information and knowledge from him. And, you know, they basically tell him that most important thing is to believe in yourself. So, you know, we also get Tomas, who was the priest that he told he didn't believe in God, you know, to— and he finally gets to be a cardinal, and he's just overran with joy for being, you know, for becoming a cardinal finally. And Pope keeps his promise. And, you know, we also got this very interesting scene you know, with him and Gutierrez, something that I thought might have been wrapped up in this episode, especially with, you know, him kind of coming into the idea that now he really is a saint and things like that. But, you know, in this scene he's telling Gutierrez that he doesn't believe in— he asks Gutierrez, does he believe in God? And Gutierrez is basically, yes, I do, Pope. And he says he doesn't believe in God. And I can't remember his exact quote, but it's something to the effect of that. People who believe in God aren't true believers. And, um, that's very interesting. Um, you know, as I listen to some of Alan Watts, um, uh, some of his older tapes, you know, Alan Watts made a very similar, uh, suggestion. It wasn't exactly like that, but it's something very similar. I'm gonna have to look into that further. Some of you probably kind of connect the dots and know what I'm talking about. But just kind of interesting, you know, how they're still keeping that storyline going, that he's accepting that he could be a saint, but he still doesn't seem to quite be accepting that there is a God yet. So, uh, very, very interesting there. Um, and, you know, um, another thing I missed that was, you know, quite very important and kind of funny or interesting rather is Earlier on when the Pope had a conversation with the marketing director, we remember the visit from the Prime Minister of Italy, and about his not being conservative enough, the Pope wanted him to change his position to a more conservative one, and do some other things that the Pope on a political landscape has suggested that he didn't want to do, but We know that the Pope used, uh, you know, some historical, uh, things that he can call for, uh, you know, in the Vatican Church, and, uh, where he can get Catholics not to vote and things like that. And so, uh, the marketing director, I know, how did the Pope get the Prime Minister to change his mind? And he was saying that, you know, how he used humiliation without letting the Prime Minister know that he had him humiliated him, and that that was powerful thing. And the marketing director goes on to say, you are just diabolical, Pope. And she's alluding to shrewdness and that, you know, and things like that. And the Pope goes, well, some people that know me call me a saint. And I just thought that was hilarious. But anyway, we finally get, uh, you know, uh, to Venice. You know, as I was saying earlier, him and Gutierrez, uh, you know, are still in this cafe. Gutierrez gets him this gift. Um, you know, it's this, um, uh, basically like these, uh, this, this little telescope thing where he can, you know, see, uh, the crowd as he gives, you know, his speech to them. And, uh, you know, they're like little kids, and, uh, you know, the Pope loves the gift he's got, you know, got him. And, uh, so, uh, the Pope just finally gets to give his speech to the Venetian people. And, uh, it's, you know, he— they finally get to see him for the first time as well too. And he's just, you know, you know, giving this very warm speech about how God is a smile. And the people just seemingly love it. And, you know, there's— and he, he pulls out the little telescope Gutierrez gives him because he wants to see— he wants them all to smile, you know, you know, as a suggestion. This is what God is all about. And he wants to see all their smiles individually. And he's looking through this telescope, and as he's looking, he sees what appears to be his hippie parents, his aged hippie parents. And he just, he starts to fall ill, you know. He starts to fall very ill. And, um, you know, like, you know, as he did earlier in some episodes where it seems he's having a heart attack In some early episodes, his nose was bleeding. Apparently he has some type of physical ailment, and he's talking about how he's going to die. And, uh, you know, I just thought that was kind of interesting how they parallel that between a young woman saint in Guatemala who, uh, you know, died very young at 18. So I'm wondering, is that a foreshadowing that, you know, he will die as a very young pope But, uh, he falls, you know, out. The shot pans out and we kind of just get, you know, this kind of cliffhanger if they're gonna live or die. And we also— oh, it's his parents, they're very much alive, and that they did come see him. Um, and I, I thought it was a— I thought it was a pretty, uh, a, a great way to finish. You know, we, we also got everybody watching his first speech where they actually got to see him, and they cut to all these characters going through, uh, all some of the central characters to the show that the episodes were about. And as his, his speech is kind of contrasting the people they are, you know, we get to see everybody from the drug kingpin who killed his foster brother, Duchellier, I believe his name is. And we get to see, uh, Kurzweil now in Alaska, you know, uh, you know, just you know, a lot of people. We get to see Esther, and that it just come back on all the people, you know, pivotal figures, you know, from the, the, the season's episodes. Um, a great episode, you know, a great way to end the show. Um, uh, you know, um, I— when I first— when this show first came out, The Young Pope, and I didn't know if I was going to like the show or not. I didn't know how they could, you know, start or end the show exactly. I always just kind of felt like it would have made a good miniseries, you know, like a 10-episode miniseries. And I was thinking that that's what this was going to be best as, and it was. It can, and it, in a sense, it is best as that. I think this whole thing could have just ended just like it ended. What I would have liked to seen in the ending though, I would have liked to seen him come to the revelation that God is real and that it started with him believing God wasn't real, you know, to kind of do this complete turnaround. I think that would have been a good way to end and balance out the season. Now, um, you know, my guess is They're going to address a lot of that in part 2. I would have liked to— he has, he did. I've got gratification. I feel good about him accepting the fact that he is a saint because he does tell Sister Mary it's hard for a saint to say how they receive information and foreknowledge. Love that part. But the God part, I really wanted to see it be contrasted between him starting off not believing in God and through his development coming to that point. So we didn't get that. We may get that in season 2. It's going to be a long time off from season 2. But again, guys, I really love this show. Uh, one of the best shows on TV. Uh, one of the best shows I've seen in the history of TV. Um, you know, uh, um, and, uh, you know, guys, I hope you've enjoyed the Pope as well. We're going to have to just sit tight now and see what happens in the future with the young Pope. They're talking about not probably filming into mid-2018, so we're probably— we probably won't even get the Young Pope to getting close to 2019. So long way off, guys, you know, worse than Game of Thrones, you know. So anyway, guys, it's been a pleasure doing this episode of review with you all. Thanks, guys, for everybody who's watched and stood by my reviews. I know my reviews tend to be very long. I do a lot of rambling, and I like a lot of detail. But I hope you guys have appreciated the small things about the show like myself. If you liked everything, don't forget to like and subscribe, guys. And until 2018 or whenever, we'll see you for season 2 of The Young Pope. Take care, guys.