It amazes me today that those of us who have spent a life time studying history, are expected to turn off that knowledge, just so we can enjoy shows like "The Borgias" because just thinking of historical inaccuracies in series like this could actually drive one quite loopy. So this is my first point, the Borgias, much like the Tudors is NOT accurate history. Ok. Now I have got that off my chest. The good points. There is some terrific acting from Jeremy Irons & Sean Harris as Micheletto. Lotte Verbeek makes superb use of her classical renaissance looks & I enjoyed François Arnaud as Cesare. The costumes & setting are absolutely gorgeous, the pacing is good & at times it is very engaging. However much like the Borgias stable mate "The Tudors" it suffers from far too many unnecessary sex scenes & even has full frontal male nudity, which makes this very much an adult drama. I seem to say this time & time again. Soft porn sex scenes in mainstream drama adds absolutely nothing to the story, or the enjoyent of the show & when we add in the mix of such high caliber acting giants like Jeremy Irons & Derek Jacobi, I feel this cheapness just insults the efforts of their superb work. Anyway this is certianly in the "R" rated catagory.
On many levels however this show is very watchable as it is well put together & in many ways it is better than the Tudors for production value. I continue to enjoy the diligent work of method actor Sean Harris which sparkles in the Borgias, even if his character comes across as having weird sado masochist leanings, but his role here is terrific to watch. There is not much bad language, but be prepared for full frontal nudes & sex scenes, which I feel lets down the tone of the story. There is some violence, but it is not too excess, & the stories are generally good. Put it simply this is just a decent binge worthy watch for a rainy day!
For historical accuracy though, you really need to open a book.
On many levels however this show is very watchable as it is well put together & in many ways it is better than the Tudors for production value. I continue to enjoy the diligent work of method actor Sean Harris which sparkles in the Borgias, even if his character comes across as having weird sado masochist leanings, but his role here is terrific to watch. There is not much bad language, but be prepared for full frontal nudes & sex scenes, which I feel lets down the tone of the story. There is some violence, but it is not too excess, & the stories are generally good. Put it simply this is just a decent binge worthy watch for a rainy day!
For historical accuracy though, you really need to open a book.