The Borgias S1-S3

Incompetent writing has murdered this serial. I have watched the entire first season and I'm done with it. I love period dramas, and could not imagine that I would be BORED TO TEARS with this one, but the writing is CBS mini-series level only. Plotting is simplistic, obvious and unrealistic. There are few surprises, and the viewer is never left to discover anything for themselves, as the Borgia's tedious plans and schemes are waved slowly before our eyes and carefully previewed in dialog 'info-dumps'. Dialog is pitiful, there is scarcely a line of it that sparkles, or leads to character development (which is non-existent) and much of the time it does not even advance the plot, only wastes our time until the next scene comes along. I get the impression that the writers were bored with this project, in over their heads, and just throwing words on the page to draw a paycheck. SHOWTIME is no HBO, and they never will be if they can't understand that a great show starts with a brilliant script.

Aside from the fabulous sets and setting, this show proved to be a huge disappointment. I've read and researched the Borgias history thoroughly and was looking forward to the show. On seeing 6 episodes so far, I find I'm easily bored and distracted. The characters, apart from Cesare, are weak and do not bring the gravitas that one would expect a Borgia to portray. Also the story has been twisted to a degree ... if it were to add drama, I would forgive the producer, but in this case, it tends to labour on the most boring aspects of their lives. The Borgia family is by far one of the most scandalous, interesting families in the history of the Vatican and Rome and to give it such a boring rendition is a feat in itself ! This is completely a case of 'Truth being more gripping than the drama TV series' !

This show is not a bad show from a TV show perspective but it has so many not correct information about history in it that watching it became really painful for a person who is interested and knows history. I don't expect a TV show to depict history hundred percent accurately but at many points these divergence from the facts seems purposefully made to give a message and it amounts to defamation. I noticed these for depiction of the Catholic church as well but as I know Turkish history much better it was much more painful to watch the third episode of the first season for me. In that it is said from the mouth of Cem Sultan that it is OK to kill your wife in Islam and you can practically marry as many women as you can and you can kill them by beating etc. Of course there are no such things in Islam. Then Cem goes to church and says that he found peace in Christianity and decided to convert Christianity etc. In reality it is known that Pope tried to convert him for a long time but he always refused. In fact he was the only person from the House of Ottoman who ever performed Hajj the Islamic pilgrimage even though it is obligatory for any Muslim with enough wealth. At another place he says to children of the Pope how he is happy to be among the Christian souls because the cruelty in the palace of Istanbul is beyond their imagination. Then he gives an example that the predecessor of his brother who is Mehmed II the conqueror of Istanbul, taken out the eyes of 22 of his male relatives who have claim to the throne and served the eyes to them in plates. There is no such thing again. In fact Mehmet II had only one brother who can have claim to the throne no other relative can have a claim to throne in Ottoman law. Finally even though the costumes of the Christans are very nice and accurate, the costumes of the Ottomans has nothing to do with historical Ottoman costumes and in my opinion they are very ugly. So when I watched these scenes I remembered the scenes from Turkish religious movies where Christians first insult Christianity and finally enlightened by the light of Islam, convert to Islam :). There is nothing different.

This series is without a doubt intriguing, intelligent, and phenomenal! No one can say that there is not enough story lines to fulfill another 3 more seasons of this film series. Cesare alone can fulfill several episodes by himself! Rodrigo and Lucretcia and the other characters lead to a strong and powerful story line as well without leaving any of us wondering what happened to so-in-so? This show is one of the best period piece films, shows, series, etc that has come along in many years and I HOPE and PRAY that Showtime and all its co-hearts in business understand that the Fans want the show to go on! Please do not take this away from us! The actors are absolutely some of the best and under appreciated in the business and WE the FANS want MORE BORGIAS!! BRAVO BORGIAS!

I appeared with Jeremy Irons in David Cronenberg's: Madame Butterfly. Jeremy is one of the world's greatest actors. When Cronenberg shouted ... CUT ... everyone was silent absorbing Jeremy Iron's speech! Riveted with every word! I have seen each and every one of these shows in this series ... awaiting each & another with respect ... for the production elements ... actors ... direction ... set design and cinematography. The story element is fascinating. Bravo to the cast and crew ...! François Arnaud is an awesome actor as The Pope's son. So great to see that part of this production was shot in Canada. The Borgias is a masterpiece!