Review: Da Vinci's Demons s3e03
Nov. 28th, 2015 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseI'm going to follow the plot rather than grouping by characters this time. Plus there are some gifs and pics and my crack fanart. This is a recap/review with my side comments and fangirling.
SPOILERS abound.
In the "previously" we see Lorenzo get stabbed. I'm not sure if he's alive – I'm pretty sure he got dragged away to be held hostage but maybe I'm wrong. It also seems odd to highlight this particular scene/death since the only bearing it has is that without him the council won't back Leo.
To begin with, Clarice is torturing the man sent to kill her, although he won't talk. She writes a letter to Lorenzo, confessing her own sins. She's interrupted from chopping her hostage up and is confronted by someone we don't see...
Zo has found a raving Leo and tied him to a horse. Leo comes to, still distraught over all the deaths he blames himself for. I wonder if he was also experiencing time elsewhere again, as in the episode where they met Dracula in the first season. Leo thinks their best hope is to ask Sixtus for help, as only Rome has the resources to fight the Turks. Zo thinks that's a bloody stupid idea. Leo asks if Zo has faith in him and Zo says there's a limit. Leo gallops off and Zo follows, wondering why he even untied Leo.
I think the Leo/Zo relationship is exactly like this scene. Zo will do almost anything for Leo, but there are limits to his devotion.
Meanwhile Sixtus is whining that he feels safer in his cell, which explains to me why he was hiding out there for so long. Riario however has something he and Laura want to show him.
Laura is a badass who wants to display "Skeletons of the faithful adorned and displayed to stir hearts and souls to battle." It's not quite as horrifying as Prince Alfonso's father's Last Supper diorama in The Borgias, where the stuffed bodies of enemies sit awaiting only a Judas to complete the grisly display, but still.
Sixtus calls her a "bloodthirsty witch". I'm not sure that's the insult he thinks it is.
They also have a prisoner, a Turk who is praying. Sixtus asks about it, Riario explains and gets a stern "There's only one holy city" for his trouble. Sixtus becomes enraged, stabbing at the man to get a rise and finally killing him. Like a brat who has just broken a toy, he whines that it wasn't very hearty to begin with. Laura can barely control her fury. Riario is doing his best meek and mild act again. Sixtus wanders off, throwing a half-hearted blessing on their endeavours at them.
Sixtus really ought to leave the crusade to Riario and Laura who have it well in hand.
Leo and Zo arrive in Rome. Someone must have sent word ahead because Riario comes out to meethis boyfriend Leo.
The exchange between Leo and Riario is somewhat odd. Leo says "You're back" but last he saw of Riario, to return to Rome was Riario's plan despite Leo pointing out the foolishness of it.
source: http://blackryan53.tumblr.com/post/132038783166/mametupa-happy-reuniond
"You're alive," Riario returns,carefully keeping his glee in check. He thinks Leo is the worst for wear of them after Otranto, but he doesn't tell Leo anything of the horrors he's endured.
Zojealous wants no part of it and rides off to get into mischief elsewhere.
Leo and Riario stride into the Vatican side by side and it's glorious.
Leo gains an audience with Sixtus, and discovers the true pope has absconded.
Laura is curious about Leo because Riario has been singing his praises abouthis boyfriend Leo to her.
(My edit)
If she's helping with the crusade then she needs to stay and hear Leo's plans. Sixtus however is not impressed, having heard of Leo's failure.
Riario tries to defend Leo – and it's not the last time this episode. In fact, Sixtus aside, Everyone Loves Leo. All that gets Riario is another dressing down from Sixtus who points out Riario's failure to catch Rodrigo's killer; if Leo can do this, Sixtus will reconsider helping. All that fatherly affection is long gone. If Riario weren't the submissive pawn of the Enemies of Man, he'd be seething.
Leo actually kisses the papal ring before he and Riario go to investigate the crime scene. Riario looks, IDK, stunned, aroused – jealous?
source
Outside, Riario comments on Leo submitting to Sixtus; Leo brushes it off as "things change." Also they look adorable here.
Gah, this is like a romance novel cover/poster for a m/m romance where the heartbroken Riario is glad Leo's back but doesn't want to get hurt again while Leo is sorry he ever left but he won't say so until two thirds of the way through the story or there'd be no plot, just fucking.
I blame the way Blake is looking at Tom here as much as Riario is looking at Leo. (I also blame Tom Riley for encouraging the rl shipping!) I'm not usually much interested in rpf but sometimes it's hard not to. There's precisely one DvD rpf fic at AO3 and I've never had the gumption to prompt/request more at a fic fest or exchange.
Anyway, Leo does his best s1 CSI Gil Grissom impression, imagining the crime scene as it was when the body was found.
Way back when enterprising fans were already touting CSI: Florence:
http://vinicitrice.tumblr.com/post/104606190145/csi-florence
EDIT: there's also a CSI: Rome version
http://vinicitrice.tumblr.com/post/138744170405
With Riario adding the scriptural details Leo lacks, Leo find Rodrigo's missing heart, and comes to the conclusion that the murderer is sorry for his actions.
I spent most of season one saying "Poor Nico". That changed in season two, when he levelled up and started taking charge of himself and others. He's currently bemoaning that he's stuck with the Florence accounts, something he never wanted, having left home specifically to avoid this mundane fate.
Vanessa comes to help. She was a business woman after all, and her talk of taxes gives Nico an idea for a Cunning Plan. He kisses her and dashes off to try and fill the coffers for the coming war.
Meanwhile Zo is getting drunk and whining – rightfully so – about Leo, who demands so much of his friends and, certainly in season one, rarely gave them the credit or respect they deserved for their help. However when someone criticises Leo he gets into a bar brawl in which he's outnumbered.
source
Riario and Zo have now both talked about Leo's genius.Because they love him
A barely recognisable Lucrezia shows up to save Zo. She looks like she's been living on the streets. Zo calls her Lucretia to my ears, rather than Lucrezia. Anyway they think Leo's an idiot for going to Sixtus for help.
Back at the Vatican Leo tosses the heart onto Sixtus's dinner table. Credit where credit's due he doesn't even blink. He doesn't want a heart he wants the killer found. He doesn't care about Leo's theory that the killer must be an artist, an educated man, a Christian man. Someone with access to the Vatican.
Riario says he's reviewing the staff but Sixtus is again unimpressed that he's listening to Leo's "ramblings". But Riario has faith in Leo, perhaps even more than Zo does. If he'd shown this devotion earlier and stayed with Leo instead of returning to Rome things would have gone differently.
Leo nearly weeps telling Sixtus of all he's suffered and how he is desperate to defeat the Turks. Sixtus is adamant that unless the killer is found he will not help.
Sixtus wanders off to take a bath (and kudos for Faulkner for again being the only male regular cast member to get naked). Seriously these baths are a crime scene in themselves. Riario murdered someone here for Sixtus, Leo broke in here once, Sixtus beat Riario over practically nothing in this room. And now, as Sixtus wades deep into the water it's to find the baths bloody once again.
Sixtus shrieks for the guards and it's Riario and Leo who come barrelling in, Riario doing an impressive sword draw.
source
They investigate and lift out a cross bearing the body of Clarice Orsini.
source
Again I knew the death was coming. People will post things like "The real Clarice Orsini wasn't murdered by a serial killer!" without tagging for spoilers. But the manner of it was still surprising and shocking. I wasn't fond of Clarice in season one but I liked her in season two and it was an ignominious end.
Meanwhile Nico has found his way to the most bizarre and lucrative brothel in Florence. He tries to bargain with the owner, Madam Singh. She loses significant profits to bribery, including to the Council Members man of whom are her best customers (as we discovered last week, they're a bunch of corrupt hypocrites). But if there were a way to make her business legal her tax would go to the coffers and at less cost than the bribes, and her money could be safely stored in the Florentine banks – good for her, better for Florence. Nico bluffs that he's already got her competitors on board with the idea. Singh sees through him and has him thrown out.
He gets a beating and is pissed on before being abandoned.
Poor Nico.
I imagine Vanessa will want retribution if she finds out, but Nico will want to be clever about it. Singh has not seen the last of him.
Zo is talking with Lucrezia and she's been at the opium. She shotguns some into Zo's mouth and he has a moment of delirium. He thinks he can see/think the way Leo does. Remember Zo, Leo isn't averse to helping himself along either.
Lucrezia is upset by the mention of Leo, and Zo feels guilty for it, and they're both high and sad and both so in love with and angry with Leo. And if they can't have him, maybe they can have each other? It's not the first time Zo's flirted with her (eg when Riario threw them both overboard in season two).
And if it keeps Lucrezia away from Leo I'm all for it. I only write Leo/Lucrezia as in the past, canonical but fucked up, or in one modern au that they should both be with other people as they all deserve better.
Leo is sad that Clarice is dead. He calls her "the mother and the soul of Florence." He's not convinced though that this is the work of the Sons of Mithras.
"Give me your hand," Leo says.
WHY HAVE I NOT SEEN GIFS OF THAT FFS? GIVE ME YOUR HAND? Loads of the eye-fucking gifs, understandably and I adore them but that needed a gif. Send them my way please & thank you.
Edit: many, many thanks to blake-ritson-love for the gif:
Cough, so Leo asks for Riario's handin marriage and Riario reluctantly lets Leo hold his hand and Leo notices the scar on his wrist and they have a heartfelt conversation which breaks the brainwashing.
Actually what happens is that Leo shows Riario that Clarice was pregnant, probably from sleeping with Carlos. Riario calls that "unfair" as if he's shocked that Leo would listen to palace gossip, but Leo is certain because he has a witness (Vanessa, I presume, who was practically imprisoned in the palace last season and saw more than she ever wanted to of the hot mess that is the Medici family).
Riario wonders if Leo's judgment is clouded because Carlo killed Andrea but Leo is adamant that he's still right, and Clarice is their witness. Riario protests the dead tell no tales but Leonardo is intent on conducting an autopsy, continuing his CSI skills.
"I'll leave you to your butchery," Riario says as if he didn't tear out a vulgar vein with his teeth last season and heads out to go and tell tales to the Enemies of Man.
Riario tells Carlo that Leo suspects him of murdering Clarice. Carlo thinks he should have killed Leo. Riario says there were many things he should and should not have done. Pretty sure that brainwashed or not, Riario means killing Leo was on the not list or Carlo would be dead by now. Also that Carlo shouldn't have been screwing Clarice and causing all this extra drama.
Riario as always has a plan. He thinks it's time they talked to the Architect, the leader of the group. Carlos says it's dangerous to contact him.
source
"You're being hunted by Italy's most ingenious mind," Riario points out, which is yet another time Leo is being praised. I think he means it, even if he is also trying to get to the leader of the group.
Carlos says you don't contact the Architect; he finds you. For now that has to suffice.
Leo is conducting the autopsy but he's also hallucinating again. As usual, death is no barrier for a character reappearing as Clarice's corpse confronts him. She accuses him of being alone, abandoned.
Leo says that Zo has lost faith but he doesn't need anyone else. In contrast to the first season where he says he sees the world as it is, he now says "I see the world like no-one else" and that "I don't accept the old, I create the new." He's truly accepting his gifts and responsibilities but when he says he sees beauty and truth (not betrayal) she accuses him of bathing in gore and calls him a warmonger.
In season one we see the Icarus motif as Leo, obsessed with flight, flies Poor Nico on a kite. Clarice now likens Leo to Icarus, yet his pride led to the deaths of others rather than himself.
Source :http://johnwgrey.tumblr.com/post/132814124584/you-bathe-in-blood-revel-in-gore-you-are-no
Of course since Clarice isn't really here, Leo is actually accusing himself. And we're about to butt up against that myth again. Interestingly a Tumblr post reminded me that we misinterpret that myth; Icarus was told not to fly too high near the sun, but also not to fly too low near the waves. We use it though to teach not moderation as was intended but as abstinence. Do not fly above the limits or your pride will be fatal; it's probably better not to fly at all. Yet without some attempts to fly, without men like Leo who insists that progress is only made by overreaching, by doing what was once thought impossible, we would be stuck in the Stone Age.
And of course Icarus was the son of Daedalus, who was the creator of the labyrinth. The mythological motifs are strong in this season.
Riario is praying/attempting to pray but he is interrupted by a man who turns out to be the Architect. Riario suggests they should work with the Church but the Architect, with some justification, says the Church is corrupt and more about power than piety. He'd have a fit if he saw what goes on later when Rodrigo Borgia comes to power.
Anyway, the Architect is also obsessed with the Icarus myth. He says that the Sons of Mithras named them the Enemies of Man but the Mithrans "preach progress at the expense of faith. Like Icarus, they seek a short cut to enlightenment. Instead of walking the righteous path, they wish to fly."
Leo's obsession with flight, with finding knowledge for himself is, then, unholy, ungodly.
Like all fundamentalists the Architect has his own version of the One True Way; the Labyrinth. It's not a maze but a path.
This is correct. While we often use the terms interchangeably a maze is a maze but a labyrinth has only one path that leads to the centre and back out. Many faiths use the labyrinth as a walking meditation. They're found in gardens, in church yards, at sacred pagan sites.
The labyrinth at Chartes.
The labyrinth is a path that changes you. You walk to the centre, face yourself or your problems and/or bask in the calm, and then you walk back again, retracing the same path and yet everything is different now.
Next episode we shall see what happens as Leo walks the labyrinth.
I'm disappointed we didn't get to see Riario's descent into the labyrinth.
Or did we? Are we?
The Icarus motif occurs during Leo's hallucination and immediately after from Riario's POV. Could it be that this entire season is Riario in purgatory/perdition after his suicide attempt? Or maybe this entire season is Riario's vision of the labyrinth after being pulled from the water. At first he gains his father's favour but that's too unbelievable even in the afterlife so that soon fades; he finds a female ally to replace Zita; and now he's reunited with Leo, the man who irrevocably changed his lifeand became his beloved. He's torn between duty to the Church, loyalty to the Enemies of Man, his own desires.
I constantly say that everything in this show could be a hallucination by Leo, ever since he got high in episode one, but there's evidence here enough for me say season three could be all in Riario's head.
Back to the plot but again we have mirroring which makes me think the Architect could be read as a symbol of Riario's subconscious; the Architect bears the same scar on his wrist. He says he too once walked the wrong path.
Riario tells him Leo thinks Carlo is responsible for the murder and, when the Architect asks if Riario believes this, he doesn't jump to Leo's defence lest it call his own loyalty into question, but says he's "torn" and reminds the Architect that Carlo's father was devoted to the Book of Leaves.
After everything they all went through trying to find the damn book it's nice someone remembers it. He doesn't even get the whole title out before the Architect hushes him for mentioning that "cursed tome". If Leo can find the book he can probably repel the Enemies of Man with it like a cross to a vampire.
The Architect says that if Leo gets too close Riario needs to "help him", ie brainwash him into their cult.
Leo is hot on the trail again now with Riario at his side. He found the seed of a flower in Clarice's body, an exotic flower that leads him to search the bathhouses. Riario is less convinced but he'll follow Leo anywhere.
source
Leo bangs on the door of the bathhouse we know Clarice was at. It's locked.
In a modern cop AU, Riario is the sensible "let's call for backup" cop and Leo is the "help, help, did you hear someone calling help, PROBABLE CAUSE" and breaking the door down partner. I love them together in this episode.
Leo in fact wrenches open a panel, sees blood, and without so much as a "probable cause" they break the door down. Inside they find the dead proprietor and Leo determines he wasn't the main target. They find Clarice's victim next, the dead Enemy of Man. Riario probably isn't sorry to see the man dead; he was not forthcoming enough for Riario's liking, after all, but as one of the cult he ought to worry about them being murdered offhand.
Leo says this was personal and guesses Clarice murdered him. He (rightfully) says the man was probably in league with Carlo.
"I told you," Leo chants because Leo loves being right. He finds the letter she was writing which confirms his suspicions. At which point Riario, duty bound at this point to the Enemies of Man (or needing to appear so) knocks him out. And the Leario was coming along so nicely :/
Leo wakes up strapped to the torture rack that Riario suffered last year. Carlo begins torturing him, whining about own daddy issues. Cosimo was a follower of the Sons of Mithras but he betrayed Carlo so now Carlos has run off to join the opposition. He asks Leo how many men are in the chamber, the question they ask until the answer is "one" to show the subject has been indoctrinated into the cult.
Leo says three and a hooded, bearded figure, tackles Carlo. Unfortunately it's Zo, not Riario, and he frees Leo. Leo beats Carlo to death but, even more unfortunately, it wasn’t even Zo. Just another hallucination, this one thanks to the Enemies of Man. Leo is still being tortured and chanted at. He's going to have to walk the labyrinth.
Honestly though, how does Leo survive even one day when he can't ever be sure what is real?
Also I'm not sure about next episode because, ugh, can we stop with the Leo/Lucrezia OTP and the idea that marriage and babies are some sort of perfect idyllic goal. Of course it might be that this perfect vision is shown to be fucked up and undesirable though so I'll hold off on judgement.
SPOILERS abound.
In the "previously" we see Lorenzo get stabbed. I'm not sure if he's alive – I'm pretty sure he got dragged away to be held hostage but maybe I'm wrong. It also seems odd to highlight this particular scene/death since the only bearing it has is that without him the council won't back Leo.
To begin with, Clarice is torturing the man sent to kill her, although he won't talk. She writes a letter to Lorenzo, confessing her own sins. She's interrupted from chopping her hostage up and is confronted by someone we don't see...
Zo has found a raving Leo and tied him to a horse. Leo comes to, still distraught over all the deaths he blames himself for. I wonder if he was also experiencing time elsewhere again, as in the episode where they met Dracula in the first season. Leo thinks their best hope is to ask Sixtus for help, as only Rome has the resources to fight the Turks. Zo thinks that's a bloody stupid idea. Leo asks if Zo has faith in him and Zo says there's a limit. Leo gallops off and Zo follows, wondering why he even untied Leo.
I think the Leo/Zo relationship is exactly like this scene. Zo will do almost anything for Leo, but there are limits to his devotion.
Meanwhile Sixtus is whining that he feels safer in his cell, which explains to me why he was hiding out there for so long. Riario however has something he and Laura want to show him.
Laura is a badass who wants to display "Skeletons of the faithful adorned and displayed to stir hearts and souls to battle." It's not quite as horrifying as Prince Alfonso's father's Last Supper diorama in The Borgias, where the stuffed bodies of enemies sit awaiting only a Judas to complete the grisly display, but still.
Sixtus calls her a "bloodthirsty witch". I'm not sure that's the insult he thinks it is.
They also have a prisoner, a Turk who is praying. Sixtus asks about it, Riario explains and gets a stern "There's only one holy city" for his trouble. Sixtus becomes enraged, stabbing at the man to get a rise and finally killing him. Like a brat who has just broken a toy, he whines that it wasn't very hearty to begin with. Laura can barely control her fury. Riario is doing his best meek and mild act again. Sixtus wanders off, throwing a half-hearted blessing on their endeavours at them.
Sixtus really ought to leave the crusade to Riario and Laura who have it well in hand.
Leo and Zo arrive in Rome. Someone must have sent word ahead because Riario comes out to meet
The exchange between Leo and Riario is somewhat odd. Leo says "You're back" but last he saw of Riario, to return to Rome was Riario's plan despite Leo pointing out the foolishness of it.
source: http://blackryan53.tumblr.com/post/132038783166/mametupa-happy-reuniond
"You're alive," Riario returns,
Zo
Leo and Riario stride into the Vatican side by side and it's glorious.
Leo gains an audience with Sixtus, and discovers the true pope has absconded.
Laura is curious about Leo because Riario has been singing his praises about
(My edit)
If she's helping with the crusade then she needs to stay and hear Leo's plans. Sixtus however is not impressed, having heard of Leo's failure.
Riario tries to defend Leo – and it's not the last time this episode. In fact, Sixtus aside, Everyone Loves Leo. All that gets Riario is another dressing down from Sixtus who points out Riario's failure to catch Rodrigo's killer; if Leo can do this, Sixtus will reconsider helping. All that fatherly affection is long gone. If Riario weren't the submissive pawn of the Enemies of Man, he'd be seething.
Leo actually kisses the papal ring before he and Riario go to investigate the crime scene. Riario looks, IDK, stunned, aroused – jealous?
source
Outside, Riario comments on Leo submitting to Sixtus; Leo brushes it off as "things change." Also they look adorable here.
Gah, this is like a romance novel cover/poster for a m/m romance where the heartbroken Riario is glad Leo's back but doesn't want to get hurt again while Leo is sorry he ever left but he won't say so until two thirds of the way through the story or there'd be no plot, just fucking.
I blame the way Blake is looking at Tom here as much as Riario is looking at Leo. (I also blame Tom Riley for encouraging the rl shipping!) I'm not usually much interested in rpf but sometimes it's hard not to. There's precisely one DvD rpf fic at AO3 and I've never had the gumption to prompt/request more at a fic fest or exchange.
Anyway, Leo does his best s1 CSI Gil Grissom impression, imagining the crime scene as it was when the body was found.
Way back when enterprising fans were already touting CSI: Florence:
http://vinicitrice.tumblr.com/post/104606190145/csi-florence
EDIT: there's also a CSI: Rome version
http://vinicitrice.tumblr.com/post/138744170405
With Riario adding the scriptural details Leo lacks, Leo find Rodrigo's missing heart, and comes to the conclusion that the murderer is sorry for his actions.
I spent most of season one saying "Poor Nico". That changed in season two, when he levelled up and started taking charge of himself and others. He's currently bemoaning that he's stuck with the Florence accounts, something he never wanted, having left home specifically to avoid this mundane fate.
Vanessa comes to help. She was a business woman after all, and her talk of taxes gives Nico an idea for a Cunning Plan. He kisses her and dashes off to try and fill the coffers for the coming war.
Meanwhile Zo is getting drunk and whining – rightfully so – about Leo, who demands so much of his friends and, certainly in season one, rarely gave them the credit or respect they deserved for their help. However when someone criticises Leo he gets into a bar brawl in which he's outnumbered.
sourceRiario and Zo have now both talked about Leo's genius.
A barely recognisable Lucrezia shows up to save Zo. She looks like she's been living on the streets. Zo calls her Lucretia to my ears, rather than Lucrezia. Anyway they think Leo's an idiot for going to Sixtus for help.
Back at the Vatican Leo tosses the heart onto Sixtus's dinner table. Credit where credit's due he doesn't even blink. He doesn't want a heart he wants the killer found. He doesn't care about Leo's theory that the killer must be an artist, an educated man, a Christian man. Someone with access to the Vatican.
Riario says he's reviewing the staff but Sixtus is again unimpressed that he's listening to Leo's "ramblings". But Riario has faith in Leo, perhaps even more than Zo does. If he'd shown this devotion earlier and stayed with Leo instead of returning to Rome things would have gone differently.
Leo nearly weeps telling Sixtus of all he's suffered and how he is desperate to defeat the Turks. Sixtus is adamant that unless the killer is found he will not help.
Sixtus wanders off to take a bath (and kudos for Faulkner for again being the only male regular cast member to get naked). Seriously these baths are a crime scene in themselves. Riario murdered someone here for Sixtus, Leo broke in here once, Sixtus beat Riario over practically nothing in this room. And now, as Sixtus wades deep into the water it's to find the baths bloody once again.
Sixtus shrieks for the guards and it's Riario and Leo who come barrelling in, Riario doing an impressive sword draw.
source
They investigate and lift out a cross bearing the body of Clarice Orsini.
sourceAgain I knew the death was coming. People will post things like "The real Clarice Orsini wasn't murdered by a serial killer!" without tagging for spoilers. But the manner of it was still surprising and shocking. I wasn't fond of Clarice in season one but I liked her in season two and it was an ignominious end.
Meanwhile Nico has found his way to the most bizarre and lucrative brothel in Florence. He tries to bargain with the owner, Madam Singh. She loses significant profits to bribery, including to the Council Members man of whom are her best customers (as we discovered last week, they're a bunch of corrupt hypocrites). But if there were a way to make her business legal her tax would go to the coffers and at less cost than the bribes, and her money could be safely stored in the Florentine banks – good for her, better for Florence. Nico bluffs that he's already got her competitors on board with the idea. Singh sees through him and has him thrown out.
He gets a beating and is pissed on before being abandoned.
Poor Nico.
I imagine Vanessa will want retribution if she finds out, but Nico will want to be clever about it. Singh has not seen the last of him.
Zo is talking with Lucrezia and she's been at the opium. She shotguns some into Zo's mouth and he has a moment of delirium. He thinks he can see/think the way Leo does. Remember Zo, Leo isn't averse to helping himself along either.
Lucrezia is upset by the mention of Leo, and Zo feels guilty for it, and they're both high and sad and both so in love with and angry with Leo. And if they can't have him, maybe they can have each other? It's not the first time Zo's flirted with her (eg when Riario threw them both overboard in season two).
And if it keeps Lucrezia away from Leo I'm all for it. I only write Leo/Lucrezia as in the past, canonical but fucked up, or in one modern au that they should both be with other people as they all deserve better.
Leo is sad that Clarice is dead. He calls her "the mother and the soul of Florence." He's not convinced though that this is the work of the Sons of Mithras.
"Give me your hand," Leo says.
Edit: many, many thanks to blake-ritson-love for the gif:
Cough, so Leo asks for Riario's hand
Actually what happens is that Leo shows Riario that Clarice was pregnant, probably from sleeping with Carlos. Riario calls that "unfair" as if he's shocked that Leo would listen to palace gossip, but Leo is certain because he has a witness (Vanessa, I presume, who was practically imprisoned in the palace last season and saw more than she ever wanted to of the hot mess that is the Medici family).
Riario wonders if Leo's judgment is clouded because Carlo killed Andrea but Leo is adamant that he's still right, and Clarice is their witness. Riario protests the dead tell no tales but Leonardo is intent on conducting an autopsy, continuing his CSI skills.
"I'll leave you to your butchery," Riario says as if he didn't tear out a vulgar vein with his teeth last season and heads out to go and tell tales to the Enemies of Man.
Riario tells Carlo that Leo suspects him of murdering Clarice. Carlo thinks he should have killed Leo. Riario says there were many things he should and should not have done. Pretty sure that brainwashed or not, Riario means killing Leo was on the not list or Carlo would be dead by now. Also that Carlo shouldn't have been screwing Clarice and causing all this extra drama.
Riario as always has a plan. He thinks it's time they talked to the Architect, the leader of the group. Carlos says it's dangerous to contact him.
source"You're being hunted by Italy's most ingenious mind," Riario points out, which is yet another time Leo is being praised. I think he means it, even if he is also trying to get to the leader of the group.
Carlos says you don't contact the Architect; he finds you. For now that has to suffice.
Leo is conducting the autopsy but he's also hallucinating again. As usual, death is no barrier for a character reappearing as Clarice's corpse confronts him. She accuses him of being alone, abandoned.
Leo says that Zo has lost faith but he doesn't need anyone else. In contrast to the first season where he says he sees the world as it is, he now says "I see the world like no-one else" and that "I don't accept the old, I create the new." He's truly accepting his gifts and responsibilities but when he says he sees beauty and truth (not betrayal) she accuses him of bathing in gore and calls him a warmonger.
In season one we see the Icarus motif as Leo, obsessed with flight, flies Poor Nico on a kite. Clarice now likens Leo to Icarus, yet his pride led to the deaths of others rather than himself.
Source :http://johnwgrey.tumblr.com/post/132814124584/you-bathe-in-blood-revel-in-gore-you-are-no
Of course since Clarice isn't really here, Leo is actually accusing himself. And we're about to butt up against that myth again. Interestingly a Tumblr post reminded me that we misinterpret that myth; Icarus was told not to fly too high near the sun, but also not to fly too low near the waves. We use it though to teach not moderation as was intended but as abstinence. Do not fly above the limits or your pride will be fatal; it's probably better not to fly at all. Yet without some attempts to fly, without men like Leo who insists that progress is only made by overreaching, by doing what was once thought impossible, we would be stuck in the Stone Age.
And of course Icarus was the son of Daedalus, who was the creator of the labyrinth. The mythological motifs are strong in this season.
Riario is praying/attempting to pray but he is interrupted by a man who turns out to be the Architect. Riario suggests they should work with the Church but the Architect, with some justification, says the Church is corrupt and more about power than piety. He'd have a fit if he saw what goes on later when Rodrigo Borgia comes to power.
Anyway, the Architect is also obsessed with the Icarus myth. He says that the Sons of Mithras named them the Enemies of Man but the Mithrans "preach progress at the expense of faith. Like Icarus, they seek a short cut to enlightenment. Instead of walking the righteous path, they wish to fly."
Leo's obsession with flight, with finding knowledge for himself is, then, unholy, ungodly.
Like all fundamentalists the Architect has his own version of the One True Way; the Labyrinth. It's not a maze but a path.
This is correct. While we often use the terms interchangeably a maze is a maze but a labyrinth has only one path that leads to the centre and back out. Many faiths use the labyrinth as a walking meditation. They're found in gardens, in church yards, at sacred pagan sites.
The labyrinth at Chartes.The labyrinth is a path that changes you. You walk to the centre, face yourself or your problems and/or bask in the calm, and then you walk back again, retracing the same path and yet everything is different now.
Next episode we shall see what happens as Leo walks the labyrinth.
I'm disappointed we didn't get to see Riario's descent into the labyrinth.
Or did we? Are we?
The Icarus motif occurs during Leo's hallucination and immediately after from Riario's POV. Could it be that this entire season is Riario in purgatory/perdition after his suicide attempt? Or maybe this entire season is Riario's vision of the labyrinth after being pulled from the water. At first he gains his father's favour but that's too unbelievable even in the afterlife so that soon fades; he finds a female ally to replace Zita; and now he's reunited with Leo, the man who irrevocably changed his life
I constantly say that everything in this show could be a hallucination by Leo, ever since he got high in episode one, but there's evidence here enough for me say season three could be all in Riario's head.
Back to the plot but again we have mirroring which makes me think the Architect could be read as a symbol of Riario's subconscious; the Architect bears the same scar on his wrist. He says he too once walked the wrong path.
Riario tells him Leo thinks Carlo is responsible for the murder and, when the Architect asks if Riario believes this, he doesn't jump to Leo's defence lest it call his own loyalty into question, but says he's "torn" and reminds the Architect that Carlo's father was devoted to the Book of Leaves.
After everything they all went through trying to find the damn book it's nice someone remembers it. He doesn't even get the whole title out before the Architect hushes him for mentioning that "cursed tome". If Leo can find the book he can probably repel the Enemies of Man with it like a cross to a vampire.
The Architect says that if Leo gets too close Riario needs to "help him", ie brainwash him into their cult.
Leo is hot on the trail again now with Riario at his side. He found the seed of a flower in Clarice's body, an exotic flower that leads him to search the bathhouses. Riario is less convinced but he'll follow Leo anywhere.
sourceLeo bangs on the door of the bathhouse we know Clarice was at. It's locked.
In a modern cop AU, Riario is the sensible "let's call for backup" cop and Leo is the "help, help, did you hear someone calling help, PROBABLE CAUSE" and breaking the door down partner. I love them together in this episode.
Leo in fact wrenches open a panel, sees blood, and without so much as a "probable cause" they break the door down. Inside they find the dead proprietor and Leo determines he wasn't the main target. They find Clarice's victim next, the dead Enemy of Man. Riario probably isn't sorry to see the man dead; he was not forthcoming enough for Riario's liking, after all, but as one of the cult he ought to worry about them being murdered offhand.
Leo says this was personal and guesses Clarice murdered him. He (rightfully) says the man was probably in league with Carlo.
"I told you," Leo chants because Leo loves being right. He finds the letter she was writing which confirms his suspicions. At which point Riario, duty bound at this point to the Enemies of Man (or needing to appear so) knocks him out. And the Leario was coming along so nicely :/
Leo wakes up strapped to the torture rack that Riario suffered last year. Carlo begins torturing him, whining about own daddy issues. Cosimo was a follower of the Sons of Mithras but he betrayed Carlo so now Carlos has run off to join the opposition. He asks Leo how many men are in the chamber, the question they ask until the answer is "one" to show the subject has been indoctrinated into the cult.
Leo says three and a hooded, bearded figure, tackles Carlo. Unfortunately it's Zo, not Riario, and he frees Leo. Leo beats Carlo to death but, even more unfortunately, it wasn’t even Zo. Just another hallucination, this one thanks to the Enemies of Man. Leo is still being tortured and chanted at. He's going to have to walk the labyrinth.
Honestly though, how does Leo survive even one day when he can't ever be sure what is real?
Also I'm not sure about next episode because, ugh, can we stop with the Leo/Lucrezia OTP and the idea that marriage and babies are some sort of perfect idyllic goal. Of course it might be that this perfect vision is shown to be fucked up and undesirable though so I'll hold off on judgement.
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Date: 2015-11-30 02:29 am (UTC)Isn't Laura awesome?! *dreamy sigh* She only gets better, in my opinion. I love that she has no time for Sixtus' bullshit. And it's such a real-world problem that she faces as a woman, even now. If she were a man organizing all this, Sixtus would at least have a grudging acceptance and never make a comment about Riario making his bed with her. Instead, because she's a woman threatening him with competence and not kowtowing to his every whim, she's the bloodthirsty witch and he'd rather unite his cock with an anthill. Ugh, his attitude makes me gag. Which is another point that occurred to me this season: I have such a visceral reaction to Sixtus and I think that James Faulkner is one of the best actors on the show and never gets the credit. He plays two vastly different but both eminently creepy, crazed men, and both of them make me shiver. He's excellent at that! lol
Wouldn't Laura be a master of public relations in modern times? She knows exactly what to display to stir people's reactions, and apparently, she organizes most of it all by herself. Plus, she hired Riario as the "face" of the crusade (and now I'm imagining Riario as the face of cosmetics or a fashion line omg). I really love her, and especially how she checks out Leo in that meeting scene. I don't blame her, but when he steps toward the pope, she looks him down then up then down again. lol She's my role model! And Riario walks out after Leo, not even glancing at anyone else...he just follows Leo without a word.
Another thing that I noticed this season was how close the two of them get in nearly every scene. There's always some excuse or they just suddenly start edging or sidling closer to each other as they speak, no matter what they're doing. I didn't see this in any of the other character interactions, not even Leo and Zo and normally they're pretty touchy-feely. I watched the season the first time without shipping glasses, I swear, but there were so many moments that made me want to squee.
The interaction at the door was so perfectly in character with fic, wasn't it? They never greet each other properly, ever. My thought on Leo's opening comment was that he'd warned Riario that the pope may not have mercy so he was maybe surprised that Riario was back already in his regular place of power? Zo's snark about Riario's clothes and the looks on their faces when he interrupts their moment...it's beautiful. But the best is Riario's smirk of win at Zo when Leo chooses him. I think that's an important thing--Leo chose Riario over Zo in this instance and that's something he's never done before.
Lucrezia, man, I actually feel really bad for Laura because her character has been all over the place since the end of Season 1 and this doesn't even make sense to me. She seemed so strong and determined even after all her abuse at the end of Season 2, and she rode off majestically...to become an opium addict? It just didn't ring true for me, although the scene with Zo was kind of interesting. Again, though, kind of unnecessary to me. Poor Zo is completely acting like a jilted lover, particularly talking about his "lost" love Leo, pining, trying to forget him with drink, and maybe wanting a little revenge with his old girl.
I completely agree with you about the "Give me your hand" scene. I thought it was so Leo-like to want to share his knowledge with someone who could understand it, and he doesn't often (if ever?) invite his other friends to touch or get that actively involved. He's really trusting Riario here, not just showing off, in this scene and the beautiful one in the chapel where we see the Da Vinci vision. To me, it seemed like Riario can see it, or at least glimpse it for a moment, and then they move together again...
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Date: 2015-11-30 02:30 am (UTC)Riario gets a funny little look on his face when Leo grabs his hand
like not here, Artista, not over a dead body, wait until we're in my rooms, but he's smart enough to figure out what Leo is talking about.I always liked Clarice, and I was truly sad they decided to get rid of her. I mean, yeah, it advances the plot and all, but ugh, I really liked her. I especially liked her torturing the physician because it showed how truly desperate she'd become and the lengths she would go to protect Florence and her family.
I think the writers weren't always consistent with the beliefs of the various mysterious factions and even within their own mythology. I still have some questions because some things don't make sense...
The modern cop AU omg yes. That's exactly it! Is Riario a corrupt cop on the take? Who pays off medical examiner Leo to look the other way? How much money do we have to pay and to whom to get an entire season of crime-fighting Leo and Riario?! I will mortgage my house, sell my car etc.
Episode 4...yeah. I'll wait to hear what you think.
Now, I'm going back to imagining that they had some stolen time together alone in the Vatican before they searched the bath houses, you know, Leo sure could use a bath of his own. ;D
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Date: 2015-12-03 09:36 am (UTC)The Leario was amazing in this episode and Laura Cereta is fantastic.
Yes, Lucrezia (who I've been mispronouncing all this time apparently) is a bit all over the place. The backstory reveal in s2 made me finally able to sympathise with her and writing fic has let me put enough spin on her to like her as long as she's not with Leo as an endgame ship, but canonically she (and her relationship with Leo) is a hot mess. You're right that she was on Al-Rahim's side and convinced of the righteousness of her cause at the close of s2 and then IDK what happened. Maybe she feels guilty about Otranto, no longer believes the "those deaths had to happen" bs from Al-Rahim. She's realized her father and the Mithrans are just the other fucked side of the Enemies of Man? The show doesn't really want to tell us.
"Leo grabs his hand like not here, Artista, not over a dead body, wait until we're in my rooms" LOL, I love that. Shipping googgles for the win!
"I especially liked her torturing the physician because it showed how truly desperate she'd become and the lengths she would go to protect Florence and her family." Exactly. She'd gone from haughty wife to badass shrewd politician who fell for spy!Carlos the way Leo fell for spy!Lucrezia, and who was able to move past her feelings about Lucrezia and Vanessa to reconcile somewhat with the former and entrust Florence to the latter so that she could try and put things right by hunting down Carlos. Her death seemed more for shock value (killing a regular character) than for true plot reasons.
Maybe when thieves!Au is done, cop!AU? :D And/or missing scene pre-bathhouse? That would be amazing :D