Set The DVR
The Young Pope Finale
I am still not positive this was a TV show
The Young Pope wraps up its first season tonight on HBO.
It is easy to forget that TV is an escape from reality. Being reminded of that during season one of The Young Pope has been a real treat. As far as I can tell, The Young Pope takes place in some sideways dimension adjacent to our own. In the Pope-verse, high-ranking priests plot against Il Papa while nuns play basketball, the College of Cardinals process through the Vatican to LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It”, and a kangaroo lives in the Pope’s garden.
It has been a fun place to visit.
It is easy to draw parallels between Lenny’s rise to power and the current state of global politics. That is more of a criticism of where the pop culture consciousness is right now and less of one about this series. The best shows are ones easy to map onto current events but leave room for escapist fantasy. The Young Pope achieved both nearly instantly and repeated them frequently.
Leading Theory: The Young Pope Season One ends on a satisfying but ambiguous note leaving room for Sorrentino to come back and explore this world again in the future. If season two never happens, it will leave its audience on the best note possible; wondering what could have happened and ready for a re-watch to contemplate the mysteries of faith.
Advice: Don’t start with the finale. Block out some time and binge responsibly. This show is as weird as Twin Peaks, as heavy as True Detective Season 1, and offers fewer answers than LOST did before we found out what the hatch was designed to do.
