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The Worst Thing About Episode 8 of The Young Pope: Thou Shalt Not Disrespect Beyoncé

The Young Pope. 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.

As the Bible says time and time again, pride is a sin. It’s one of the big sins — it led to the fall of man and it’s one of the seven deadly ones. As Proverbs 11:2 tells us, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom,” which is admittedly a clunky way of putting it, but hey, it’s the Bible, not Maya Angelou.

Now, try to remember a time when you committed the sin of pride. For example, I was proud to assume that The Young Pope was bad, when instead it is good. On Sunday, millions of Americans committed the sin of pride in assuming in the third quarter that the Falcons had the Super Bowl in the bag. Our commander-in-chief is an expert on this sin, etc., etc.

In the eighth episode of The Young Pope, a woman named Lotte Kestner sings a slowed-down cover of Beyoncé’s “Halo.” To be humble is to never disrespect Beyoncé, and to be proud is to attempt to cover one of Beyoncé’s best songs with confident and prideful abandon. Proverbs 16:5 says, “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” Write that one down, there will be a quiz later.

At the end of the cover, our pope gets on his knees in a parking lot to pray for bad things to happen to a nun, who then dies. The lesson here? I … don’t know. But one thing is certain and that is that the pope’s kangaroo is dead. May he rest in peace.

Prayer time. Photo: HBO

Until next time, this has been Young Nope.

Here’s the Worst Thing About Episode 8 of The Young Pope