The Young Pope Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Defamation of the Soul
Lisa Babick
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Is God listening to Lenny?
On The Young Pope Season 1 Episode 8, it seems that God is indeed listening to Lenny as his prayers about Sister Antonia leads to her untimely death.
Lenny wasn't necessarily praying for Sister Antonia's death, but isn't it a little strange that she died right after drinking some of the water she selfishly keeps from the villagers?
We couldn't hear what Lenny was saying when he was on his knees in the parking lot of the gas station, but I can only imagine it wasn't very nice things.
Who could blame him. After all, the pious Sister Antonia thinks she's a saint because she's creating "villages of goodness," yet how she manages them leaves a lot to be desired.
He asks the question of what makes a good person, and it's not always what we think. Goodness sometimes might be a facade for evil. I wouldn't necessarily say Sister Antonia was evil, but she wasn't a good person.
Maybe her initial intentions were good, but along the way she somehow lost her way.
Still, she was the catalyst for getting Lenny off his ass to do something positive for the Church. Her village was his first official visit anywhere as Pope.
Pity, compassion, forgiveness. All these Christian virtues the world no longer attributes to me. Can they be right? Am I cruel? All I know is everything I do I do for the love of God. That's all.
Lenny
But Andrew's death also had something to do with his deciding to actually think about something other than himself. He blamed himself for what happened to Andrew. Had he had "pity" like Andrew suggested, maybe he'd still be alive.
We know better though. Andrew died of his own hand. He had the affair. He paid the price.
There was nothing Lenny could have done to have prevented that. I would imagine that the drug lord would have sent someone to kill Andrew even if he didn't go back to Honduras.
You just don't mess with a drug lord's wife.
Ester taking off was probably another reason for Lenny deciding to do something for the Church.
What a shocker that she just left without saying anything to him. He at least deserved an explanation. He covered up his hurt pretty well when he saw they left behind the painting he gave them. Still, it was like a slap in the face to him.
But it was something he definitely needed even if was cruel of them to do. Lenny needed to wake up.
Spencer called Lenny out for not believing in God, but he wasn't his condemning self. I liked that he was understanding about it. That he told Lenny it's normal to have a crisis of faith. That everyone does. Even priests.
It was even more surprising especially considering that Lenny changed his mind about resigning. But I don't think that Lenny had any intention of resigning in the first place, and Spencer knew this.
Of course Spencer could have just been more compassionate, because he found out he's sick. So despite all his desires to be Pope, it was never meant to be.
God really wanted Lenny and it could be this was how He let Spencer know it.
After all, God does work in mysterious ways.
Spencer also told Lenny to go to Venice and bury two empty coffins. That might have been the best advice Lenny ever received from Spencer.
Spencer was being honest about it. As hard as it was for Lenny to hear, he knew it was the truth. He needs to put his parents behind him, because they are holding him back from doing what he needs to do which is run the church.
The kangaroo dying also pushed Lenny along as well. It was sad to see, but no explanation was given for what exactly happened to Lenny's pet.
Did it just fall over and die? Did someone kill it? Was it the abortion women who did it? An angry priest?
A good person is somebody who puts himself last. Who renounces his temptations and needs, working only for the interests of others.
Lenny
Whatever the reason, it's just one more thing moved out of the way so that Lenny can do what he needs to do.
All of Lenny's distractions are being removed.
Do you remember at the beginning of The Young Pope how Lenny had nothing to confess? This hour he had a lot to confess even if the priest didn't understand anything he said.
Lenny's conscience is not clear and that's a good thing. It's not that he's a bad person. But he's not a good person, yet either. At least not the way he described what a good person is.
Oh, and what is the deal with Kurtwell? Does Lenny have something to hide? We'll have to wait and see.
What did you think about "Eighth Episode"? There are only two episodes left. How do you think the season will end? Hit the comments and share your thoughts!
