Shepherd Tonino Pettola (Franco Pinelli) appears in the opening scene of the episode, shouting at rural people about his miracle-making ability. He requests that the Vatican recognizes his stigmata, saying he's having recurrent visions of Madonna. He addresses a statement to the pope: "But if you in Rome continue to call me a fraud, then I'll be forced to find the church of my own," he announces, failing to impress Lenny.
The pope (Jude Law) is consulting a nun, Suree (Nadee Kammellaweera), devastated by her sister's health. He tells her she should pray as much as possible, while Lenny is having doubts about God's existence. He'd better to figure it out, as Voiello (Silvio Orlando) proceeds with his blackmailing, now threatening Esther (Ludivine Sagnier) to reveal her fling with the pope's assistant Valente (Ignazio Oliva). He'll keep her secret if she promises him something, and the viewers know Voiello is eager to use Esther as a tool to seduce the young pope who's sympathetic toward her.
Poor Esther wavers between cruel intentions and her sincere loyalty to the pope. During her confession to Lenny, she hesitates to speak, allowing him to describe her contemplations. His advice is to pray to Mary, as Lenny knows that Esther is a childless wife unable to resist her yearning to become mother. He makes her believe in the power of prayer, telling her that beauty can't be punished.
Later the pope has an appointment with the Prime Minister of Greenland (Carolina Carlsson) whom he calls "stunning feminine beauty." Tension raises when the pope reminds her that Catholics were first to discover Greenland, so that the predominant faith, Evangelical Lutheran, remains secondary in terms of history. To strengthen his position, Lenny ironically brings up an issue of ice that never thaws in Greenland: "Under all that ice…could be God," he says to the baffled woman.
Esther asks the pope to teach her how to pray, confiding that she's willing to "donate" her beauty to someone else. The allusion faces Lenny's categorical objection, as he tells Esther: "You will never receive a beauty of new life, but only sorrow and unbearable burden of guilt." And when she is ready to continue sharing her feelings, the pope interrupts her: "There are certain secrets you must share only with God."
The pope is determined to eliminate homosexuality within the church, no matter how many cardinals and priests he'd have to get rid of. These measures make Voiello anxious, as he fears such a policy could lead to the extinction of the church. He visits Esther with a reminder about her task to lure the pope, insisting on the pope's wicked nature. "We seriously doubt that Pious XIII even respects God," says Voiello, while the woman remains convinced of Lenny's exceptional respectability. For now, Esther is right with her faith in the pope, as Lenny prays for her. The pope devotes all his energy and perseverance to this only moment of prayer for Esther, while she's having sex with her husband.
Esther tells the cardinal she doesn't want to sin anymore, while Voiello prophetically mocks her naivety, saying: "She doesn't know that up to the very last day that we are able to think, we are condemned to go on sinning." He calls it a "wrong life" the laws of which will never be accessible to disabled child, Voiello's only salvation. Meanwhile, Lenny sends Cardinal Gutierrez (Javier Cámara) to investigate the Kurtwell case regarding child sexual abuse in New York, as Lenny trusts him. While the cardinal hesitates to leave the walls of the church, afraid of facing the world, the audience believes in the power of his mythical protector and Lenny's guidance.
“The Young Pope” airs on HBO, Sundays and Mondays at 9 p.m.
Reach Staff Reporter Mariia Kovaleva here.
Annenberg Media