Puck342

The Borgias is a show that, by it's placement on a subscriber network like Showtime, and it's focus on intirgue and sex and death, must be compared to the Tudors. I am safe to report 4 episodes into the first season (which, unless there are mighty changes a-coming, has seemed to have shown the gambit of what this first season intends to bring us in manner of light/dark tones and general plot delivery), The Borgias have already far outpaced even the best moments of The Tudors. I believe this is in part due to the fact that simply put, Jeremy Irons from his first moment on screen as the soon-to-be-pope Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia so totally fills the role that he looks appropriate, if perhaps a bit lean for a papal figure of the time. However, his delivery, carriage, and mannerisms all are so enveloping as to erase any doubt by the midpoint of the opening episode. While this show does take historical liberties like the Tudors, it does not go nearly as far and they are mostly to add to the show, not to simply make it more marketable. So for those who are more intimately familiar with the zeitgeist of Machiavellian Italy and Cesare Borgia in particular might at first be a bit startled by his apparent complexity and depth. This becomes obvious from the get-go as Cesare is cast (not only in an eldest brother role, one that he was not in real life) as the double-edged foil to his somewhat immature (both too cruel and yet not cruel enough) brother and his menacing (and oh how he menaces) and scheming father. What I find so enthralling is that this show, after 4 episodes, has not given any sort of Singular Answer to the question of why, when by the end of the first episode Rodrigo Borgia is made Pope Alexander VI, the most powerful man in the Christian world, that is only the very tip of the iceberg. Sure, there is simple greed and ambition, but by a few episodes in you begin to realize that Pope Alexander VI is simply a man who cannot be defined like some sort of Gargamel, constantly searching for one singular end. Rather he clearly has many motivations, not all of which are even clear to his own family or even possibly, himself. So far, the historical cameos have been magnificent. The Medici's main scene so far (hopefully they will be returning, central historical figures that they are) was wonderful, to mention one. The architecture is also given a historical amount of detail for the most recognizable vistas that is an aesthetic pleasure (for those of you who have played Assassin's Creed II, this will seem like the live version of the stages) and also serves to ground the series, making you not want to look to the corner of every moving shot to see if you can see daylight behind the sets. Luckily for the series, the 11 year papal reign of Alexander VI has no shortage of drama to draw upon, and since it began in the auspicious year of 1492, glib historical references can (and I am sure, given the first 4 episodes, will continue to be) be peppered in regularly for bit sized chunks of humor and levity, which this show is able to provide at times. Overall this series seems to have done (and left itself enough room to continue to be able to do for many seasons to come) the best job of a historical drama from definitively pre-industrial times. Yes, it is clearly a cheerier, less hairy, more attractive version of the past, with mild edits to keep the plot aerodynamic, but it is still stunning none-the-less, and deserves the highest of praise.

[Warning: There are quite mild spoilers in here, but only of a thematic nature] Here is the thing about this show: no matter who you are, unless you are Adam Reed, you need to watch this show multiple times to get every little joke, be it an oblique reference to Frisky Dingo (such as the mentioning of hydraulic fluid, delayed cessation of a car alarm via a remote clicker by a character who is high above said car when something crushes it and sets off the alarm, or just the use of bu-bup!), a surprise cameo, even if short-lived (like casting Clarke Peters, who played Lester in The Wire, for a 4th tier character who has all of like 4 lines in one episode), to simply some of the best, most subtle and most visual humor on television, with none of the dry awkwardness that has come to dominate (annoyingly) so much of comedy on television. This show manages to go from brilliant historical reference to absurd pop culture reference to smart literary reference, back to a **** joke, and then on to a new type of strange and disturbing/enticing/unorthodox humor that has, in my opinion, already catapulted Adam Reed into the absolute upper echelons of strict comedy writing. As far as laughs/minute goes, this show can go toe to toe with anything. And unlike many comedy shows, frequent re-watching lead not to stale jokes and punchlines which have lost their punch, but rather an ability to first notice all the small, silly, very subtle little jokes (often just a part of an animation in the corner of the screen for a few frames), so that by the end you are actually laughing much more on the upteenth viewing than you ever even would have been able to in an initial view. People like to look to Larry David as the master of being able to present a theme or catalyst in an episode, and then build a plot around it, without seeming to, growing and growing, bringing back the key catalytic component at crucial times, and often the ultimate scene (if not, most certainly the penultimate). Seinfeld does this, but then it was more intentionally heavy-handed, Curb Your Enthusiasm tries to be more subtle, but in my opinion flags the usual types of typical orbits that these plot devices will take around the main characters. With Archer, anyone will tell you that saying you don't see it coming doesn't even begin to grasp it. I just finished watching the finale of the 2nd season, after which I watched the entire 2nd season again. Let me tell you, down to the finale, there are references to some of the more cringe-worthy jokes in subsequent episodes with a surgeon's precision, being able to bring out the humor while excising any grossness. There is no toilet humor in archer, really (though there is some humor on/involving toilets), which just cements this as my favorite animated show on TV right now. There really isn't anything in the same league even.