The Borgias

The Borgia family would seem ideal for a TV series in this day and age of shows about schemers and those with ambivalent morals and ethics. In the very first episode of this show, which debuted on Showtime in 2011, we see the backroom shenanigans of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) as he maneuvers to get elected pope. He does, and becomes Alexander VI, much to the consternation of other Cardinals, who are bothered by certain things, such as that he keeps a mistress.

I think the first I ever heard of the Borgias was Lucrezia Borgia, who allegedly had a thing for poisoning people. Here she is played by Holliday Grainger as an innocent teen and daughter of the Pope (yes, this Pope openly acknowledged four children, though he never married their mother, a known courtesan).

The Borgias was created by Neil Jordan, the estimable filmmaker, and has a lot of juicy stuff, but at times it kind of felt flat. I think Jordan and his writers liked the family, despite their penchant for bribery and murder. Playing Irons' oldest son is Francois Arnaud, whom Irons appoints as a Cardinal, and his main story arc through the first season is complete loyalty to his father. Indeed, the closing moments of season one is the whole family wholesomely gathered around Lucrezia after she has her first baby.

The action is set in the 1490s. After Irons becomes Pope, Cardinal Della Rovere (Colm Fiore) hightails it out of Rome to try to find an army that will come back to depose him. At that time Italy was series of duchies, and along the way we meet many real-life characters, such as Savonarola and Machiavelli. Fiore finally strikes a deal with King Charles of France, a troll-like man who loves war and is the first to use cannons, which he likes to use to devastating effect.

The Borgias is like other shows set in different time periods about those who aren't exactly following the law, like Boardwalk Empire, but it lacks that show's snap. Occasionally it gets very good, especially when Irons is doing his thing. His Alexander is a man of God, but also of ruthless ambition, and, as it is rammed home, a family man. Irons channels some of his performance as Scar in The Lion King into the role. At the end of the first season, he makes the Cardinals who fled Rome during the French invasion come back in sackcloth and ashes, and slouches in the chair of St. Peter's and gives his line-readings a wonderfully droll tone.

The multiple accents were also a bit confusing. Everyone seems to use just their normal accents, so we get Irons' British and Arnaud's American and Michael Muller, who is wonderful as Charles, gives his vowels the French roll. But I'm not sure how accurate the show is overall. From what I read on Wikipedia, most of this is true and almost all the characters are real, but of course they get the Hollywood treatment. For example, based on portraits of Alexander VI, to have Irons play him was generous indeed.