The season’s narrative engine is simple: Lenny did not want to be Pope; he was a compromise candidate engineered by the calculating Secretary of State, Cardinal Voiello (Silvio Orlando). Once elected, however, Lenny doesn’t play the puppet. He plays the tyrant. The first season follows his war against the various factions of the Curia, his manipulation of world politics, and his slow, painful unraveling of his own childhood abandonment. It is impossible to discuss The Young Pope Season 1 without acknowledging Jude Law’s tour de force. Law disappears into Lenny Belardo. He is icy, cruel, and mesmerizing. One moment he is delivering a homily so beautiful it brings nuns to tears; the next, he is humiliating a cardinal for suggesting a new marketing campaign for the Church.
Watch it for the beauty. Watch it for the blasphemy. Watch it for Jude Law looking directly into the camera and whispering, “Did you think you could get rid of me?” The Young Pope Season 1
Then watch it again to catch the prayers hidden in the silence. The season’s narrative engine is simple: Lenny did
Streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max). Available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Google Play. The first season follows his war against the