The New Pope - Episode 3 discussion

Teresa from Concord

I want to comment before the guys record the podcast. I can't get into the general discussion (some weird giant photo thing going on), so starting an Episode 3 thread.

I really loved this episode even though it left me with lots of questions. My negatives are brief so I'll start here.  I do not like the opening. The dancing nuns are just boring. I miss Lenny's walk. Also, I didn't appreciate the "you look like John Malkovich" joke. It is an overused trope that added nothing to the scene.

On to the good stuff:

• I was excited when I thought we would see exactly what's in the box. Is it drugs? What a tease.
• Speaking of excited and tease, Ester's nipples were cold? Excited? Who the hell is this creepy new guy prostituting Ester out to have sex with a deformed 20 year old? I don't think this is the type of love John Brannox was speaking about. What happened to her husband? IMO Ester was always weird and not likeable so I'm not surprised things are not working out for her.
• The Meaghan Markel bits were hilarious!
• The nun and the refugee? Tattoos? WTF (in a good way)
• The new pope's speech to the crowd and to the Cardinals was well written and very moving. I am a catholic who does not go to church, but if that was a real speech it may inspire me to go back.
• And of course - now that we have a new pope Lenny can wake up. Right? We did see him cry. I'm so ready for a Lenny/Brannox showdown.

Michelle

JOHN. MALKOVICH. 
That's it.  That's the comment.

aki

The Goth Pope has grown on me.   Any thoughts as to the relevance of his name (Pope John Paul III)?

Also, wasn't it wild how they check to see if the Pope is dead by hitting them them on the head with a hammer/mallet?

hitmy

Michelle said:

JOHN. MALKOVICH. 
That's it.  That's the comment.

haha yup. I'm sad that we aren't seeing more of Jude Law, but they are doing so much crazy stuff it's not that big of a deal.

CALVlLlAIN

Malkovich is eating every scene, that meta shit it pulled has gotta be one of the best random throwaway left turns Sorrentino has done with this thing. 

How come the pod is on Bald Move TV? 

ThankthePasser

Jeff Fahey from Lawnmower Man pimping out Ester was indeed creepy. You’d think she’d ask for a description of the kid before she committed to it. “Is he more Elephant Man or Rocky Dennis?”

Teresa from Concord

@aki not sure if this answers your question.   From Wiki: John Paul II is recognised as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe. John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. He upheld the Church's teachings on such matters as the right to life, artificial contraception, the ordination of women, and a celibate clergy, and although he supported the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he was seen as generally conservative in their interpretation. 

Also - his entire family was dead by the time he was 20. He was the last of his line. 

And - It must be significant that Lenny is waiting for a new heart?

Michelle

ThankthePasser said:

Jeff Fahey from Lawnmower Man pimping out Ester was indeed creepy. You’d think she’d ask for a description of the kid before she committed to it. “Is he more Elephant Man or Rocky Dennis?”

Gah, I thought that character was such a sleazeball.  

Eine Frau

Michelle said:

ThankthePasser said:

Jeff Fahey from Lawnmower Man pimping out Ester was indeed creepy. You’d think she’d ask for a description of the kid before she committed to it. “Is he more Elephant Man or Rocky Dennis?”

Gah, I thought that character was such a sleazeball.  

He looked like an alien from the planet Smarm wearing a man-suit and not quite pulling it off. 

Murderbear

John Malkovich was fantastic this episode. However, I could have done without Brannox and Sofia talking about John Malkovich. One step too far in the cutesy bullshit for my taste.

ken hale

I caught up on these three episodes back to back and my thoughts are basically:

Ep 1- holy shit this show is on another level...why does anyone else even make tv?

Ep 2 -  ok, now Teresa's points about the male gaze are making me feel Catholic-level guilt about my appreciation for the title sequence, and the show's European-ness in general is starting to feel a bit off-putting

Ep 3 - this is just getting weird

ETA: And @Teresa from Concord is right, the links to the "New Pope" forums are broken for me.  Goes to some weird oversized logo and you can't even get to the forum.  I'm using firefox, maybe that's it.