'The Borgias' recap: The death of Djem

Tom De Poto By Tom De Poto The Star-Ledger
on April 11, 2011 at 7:04 AM, updated April 11, 2011 at 10:16 AM
the-borgias-recap-episode-3-the-moor.jpgLotte Verbeek as Guilia Farnese and Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia in "The Borgias."

'THE BORGIAS' RECAP EPISODE THREE: The first ecumenical pope? If his intentions were right, Alexander VI (Jeremy Irons) would be a good candidate. On last night's episode of "The Borgias," he welcomed Jews exiled from Spain and Portugal to Rome, and even hosted a Turkish Muslim who grew to be a family member. For the betterment of mankind? Nah, for money.

The series changed directors last night and passing the baton was a little rough. The first two episodes, shown back-to-back last week, were directed by Neil Jordan, who did big-screen flicks like "The Crying Game," "Company of Wolves," "Breakfast on Pluto" and a dozen others. His style for Showtime was a little herky-jerky, playing scene against scene. For example, when Pope Innocent said the church must end lechery in its ranks, the next scene was of a cleric in bed with a mistress; Cardinal Della Rovere's (Colm Feore) efforts to organize a plot to expose Alexander's lustfulness were interspersed with the pope planning a seduction from the confessional booth. Such a style stops story arcs from getting airborne.

Jordan is still the chief writer and executive producer, but last night's entry, Simon Cellan Jones directed (he did several episodes of "Boardwalk Empire" for HBO). He started with Jordan's back-and-forth-and-back-and-forth template: Della Rovere is in Naples seeking an ally to dethrone Alexander, while Alexander is suggesting to his son Cesare (Francois Arnaud) that a good garrote man could remove Dello Rovere from his clerical collar; While Cesare is in church being elevated to cardinal, the assassin Micheletto is trying kill Della Rovere. We felt like we were crossing over hot stones: left foot, right foot, left foot . . .

Both Alexander and Della Rovere agree that "what the holy church needs is someone who can assure its survival, by whatever means necessary," as Alexander tells his son. The problem is they disagree on who's standing in the way. Eventually, both men are stalemated trying to get rid of the other, but the opening scenes showcased a great performance by Augustus Prew as Prince Alfonso -- over-the-top, but perfectly done. (Also over the top, but less satisfactory, was the Last Supper scene. Did it serve any other purpose than to shock?)

Jones abandons that approach of pitting scene against scene, thankfully, to start two story arcs that come together as the hour winds up and will carry the drama into the next few weeks.

In order to shore up foreign support and build his coffers, Alexander agrees to host a Turkish prince, Djem (Elyes Gabel). Djem's half-brother, the sultan, wants him out of Constantinople because he poses a threat to the Ottoman line of succession. In exchange, Alexander gets 40,000 ducats a year. "Lord knows, we could use the money," he tells his mistress, Giulia.

Djem is a charmer and becomes Juan Borgia's best friend and Lucrezia Borgia's confidante. There's a chemistry between them, but he knows he can never be more than a brother to her. He likes the family so much, he wants to convert to Catholicism. "Because of the kindness you Christians have shown to me," he says. Little does he know the family has already agreed to knock him off.

Alexander wants to marry off Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) into a powerful Italian family. The Sforza family of Milan offers the best prospects, but there is, um, the matter of a dowry.

As Alexander informs Cesare, though, Djem is worth more dead than alive. Forty-thousand a year if he's living, 400,000 (plus expenses) if he's not. Problem solved! The only hitch is that the task falls to Juan, who bungles it, painfully.

In telling Cesare he wants to convert, Djem quotes Matthew, "See how these Christians love one another." He must have been referring to some others, not these particular ones.