The New Pope - Episode 9 - Podcast Discussion

Cecily

Podcast here: http://baldmove.com/the-new-pope/s02e09/

Video podcast here: 


Bonus interview with Kika Georgiou here:

cdrive

Nice! Queue Chris de Burgh. 

Michelle

That final image of Jude Law on the beach, strolling into the beautiful ocean, is so my wallpaper as soon as I can find it. 

This finale was incredible.  I'm almost speechless.

pavlovsbell

Late comment here, but I was surprised to hear that you thought that Lenny did not care about children. Lenny cared deeply about children -- that was his whole thing, his parental rejection and abandonment deepened his care about children, but he couldn't be around children because they reminded him of his own suffering. Spencer chastised him about punishing one billion Catholics for that -- that was the duality of Lenny, he put his own suffering above the micro, (which was rectified in episodes 7 & 9 of TNP). In TYP, Lenny waited until he could make Gutiérrez a cardinal because he wanted someone he trusted to investigate Kurztwell. Lenny was appalled at the children suffering under Mother Antonia's "care." When Lenny was holding newborn Pius, he drifted into a reverie about his parents, and that's why he was so startled that he dropped the baby when Valente interrupted him. In fact, the extreme emotion he displayed there is similar to the emotion he displayed when Gutiérrez read him the child's letter (TNP). Lenny became too comfortable around Pius for Peter's taste, presumably, and Lenny was disconsolate when they abandoned him. 

pavlovsbell

I think The New Pope pales in comparison to The Young Pope, which was a gorgeous fever dream elevated by Jude Law. I felt a Jude Law-shaped hole in TNP, but more than that, TNP felt more like television. I didn't care about rich boy melancholy John Brannox. I hated Esther's storyline. There were elements that I appreciated: the condemnation of idolatry and fanaticism of any kind; the nun rebellion; the humanization of Vioello (I wonder what his pope name is); and the unexpected The Shining homage with baby Pius, lol.

I did love the callback to one of my favorite scenes -- well, montage -- from TYP:

A_Ron_Hubbard

pavlovsbell said:

Late comment here, but I was surprised to hear that you thought that Lenny did not care about children. Lenny cared deeply about children -- that was his whole thing, his parental rejection and abandonment deepened his care about children, but he couldn't be around children because they reminded him of his own suffering. Spencer chastised him about punishing one billion Catholics for that -- that was the duality of Lenny, he put his own suffering above the micro, (which was rectified in episodes 7 & 9 of TNP). In TYP, Lenny waited until he could make Gutiérrez a cardinal because he wanted someone he trusted to investigate Kurztwell. Lenny was appalled at the children suffering under Mother Antonia's "care." When Lenny was holding newborn Pius, he drifted into a reverie about his parents, and that's why he was so startled that he dropped the baby when Valente interrupted him. In fact, the extreme emotion he displayed there is similar to the emotion he displayed when Gutiérrez read him the child's letter (TNP). Lenny became too comfortable around Pius for Peter's taste, presumably, and Lenny was disconsolate when they abandoned him. 

Good take!

calebthrower

What a finale. I was totally satisfied but still hope we get a third part. A question I started asking myself over the past few weeks is this, "Is the actual Pope the most powerful person in the world?" Lenny asserts that he could have an army of a billion Catholics at his side, and while I think this is a bit of embellishment, he may not be far off. It seems to me that the Pope is the most powerful person in the world and goes largely unnoticed. Maybe that's a large part of the Catholic Church has been able to cover up it's misdeeds for so long. 

I digress. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. I came for the artistic style and visual spectacle and stayed because I got that plus an intriguing story to boot. I'm bummed my Monday night's won't be filled with Jude Law anymore.

calebthrower

@A_Ron_Hubbard During the interview with Kika you mentioned wanting one of the hoodies the fanatics were wearing. I found one similar on Redbubble. It's a bit expensive, but you may be interested. There is also a zip up version

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/p/45047952.YFBT8

aki

I typically use the HBO go app via Amazon's fire tv, but last night I decided to use Comcast's contour tv...   I know, I still have cable.   Anyhow, when I started playing episode 9 it started as Lenny was giving his speech at the end and then joined the crowd.   I thought it was some odd Sorrentino editing, then I started to see the credits.   Boy did this ruin the ending for me .   I went back to using the HBO go app on my fire tv, this time from the beginning of episode 9.   Wish I had done that instead of using contour tv.

DoubleA_Ron

Well it wasn’t perfect... but just like Lenny in the Papal Speedo, it most certainly was beautiful.  I think overall I enjoyed The Young Pope more, but I was much more satisfied with the ending of The New Pope.

A_Ron_Hubbard

calebthrower said:

What a finale. I was totally satisfied but still hope we get a third part. A question I started asking myself over the past few weeks is this, "Is the actual Pope the most powerful person in the world?" Lenny asserts that he could have an army of a billion Catholics at his side, and while I think this is a bit of embellishment, he may not be far off. It seems to me that the Pope is the most powerful person in the world and goes largely unnoticed. Maybe that's a large part of the Catholic Church has been able to cover up it's misdeeds for so long. 

I digress. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. I came for the artistic style and visual spectacle and stayed because I got that plus an intriguing story to boot. I'm bummed my Monday night's won't be filled with Jude Law anymore.

I think the key is a pope that literally rises from the dead. I don't think Pope Rando IX could do it in 2020... but Hot Papa XIII with God undeniably on his side... shit, I might ride for that. 

A_Ron_Hubbard

calebthrower said:

@A_Ron_Hubbard During the interview with Kika you mentioned wanting one of the hoodies the fanatics were wearing. I found one similar on Redbubble. It's a bit expensive, but you may be interested. There is also a zip up version

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/p/45047952.YFBT8

Nice! We tried to print our own at 3 different online places and got the order canceled due to copyright each time. 

Teresa from Concord

calebthrower said:

@A_Ron_Hubbard During the interview with Kika you mentioned wanting one of the hoodies the fanatics were wearing. I found one similar on Redbubble. It's a bit expensive, but you may be interested. There is also a zip up version

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/p/45047952.YFBT8

Where is the interview? It hasn’t showed up in my firehose. 

calebthrower

Teresa from Concord said:

calebthrower said:

@A_Ron_Hubbard During the interview with Kika you mentioned wanting one of the hoodies the fanatics were wearing. I found one similar on Redbubble. It's a bit expensive, but you may be interested. There is also a zip up version

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/p/45047952.YFBT8

Where is the interview? It hasn’t showed up in my firehose. 

There are two videos linked below on the same page. One is the podcast proper, the other is the interview

http://baldmove.com/the-new-pope/s02e09/