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The Worst Thing About Episode 7 of The Young Pope: All of the Sunglasses

Oh, brother. The sunglasses. Photo: HBO

It’s hard to choose which part of HBO’s The Young Pope I dislike most, so in a column called Young Nope, I share the worst thing from that week’s episode.

Last week, in an unexpected twist (one even more shocking than the fact that the show has been renewed for a second season), I began to begrudgingly love The Young Pope. So arrogant I was to think I could be immune to the soft, boyish beauty and paternal cruelty of the Vatican’s first Brooklyn pope. (Which reminds me, will we ever learn which part of Brooklyn Lenny is from? What does he think about the final season of Girls?)

But love is fickle, and in the seventh episode, that heavy-handedness I so despise is back and it’s stronger than ever: Nearly every character at some point finds occasion to don a pair of sunglasses. Could it be that … they are all … hiding … something … and … that … some of … these characters … are … not … who they say … they are?

Despite this episode’s clumsy storytelling devices — and the series of tragedies that befall Lenny’s “brother,” Andrew, R.I.P. — our god is a merciful one, and he delivers a scene where the pope offers to change the diaper of a baby who shares his same name. Oh, how I love to hear Lenny say “cacca.” A lot of poop, indeed!

Photo: HBO

Until next time, this has been Young Nope.

Here’s the Worst Thing About Episode 7 of The Young Pope