All the previous episodes of Season 3 of 'The Borgias', which is not perfect but really love it and find it very addictive, were great, especially the opening episode "The Face of Death" which started it off so powerfully. The season generally was just as good as the consistently great Season 2 (to me the best season of the three, except one too dragged out subplot) and even better than the less even but mostly solid (especially the second half of it, where it started to settle) first season.
"The Wolf and the Lamb" is as good as the previous four episodes though not quite as great, with the only one of the four to be a little weaker being the still very good "The Purge". It just falls shy of being an overall great episode (it very nearly was though), with one subplot being weaker than the other two, the major two anyhow, and the writing for one of the characters could have been better. It's very good and typically superbly made though with many fantastic things, with lots of intrigue and its fair share of tension and emotion.
It is a great looking episode, wouldn't expect anything less though as the production values of 'The Borgias' are equal to those of some cinematic period/historical films made in recent years and even put some to shame. At its best actually, "The Wolf and the Lamb" looks stunning and very atmospheric in the latter scenes of the Rodrigo/Bianca subplot. In Cesare's there are some sumptuous, in detail and colour, costumes and there is a death scene that is very unsettlingly shot and edited. The music is as haunting and beautiful as ever, and really cannot get enough of the opening titles sequence (one of my favourites ever) and the hair-raising main theme.
Writing is thought provoking, Rodrigo having some of the best lines and that exchange between Georges and Cesare while brief did amuse me, and has come on a lot since 'The Borgias' first started, it's theatrical but wonderfully so and not excessive in it really. The storytelling is a vast majority of the time very compelling. There is lots of political intrigue in the Naples subplot (same in the not as prominent storytelling in Forli) where Ferdinand is truly contemptible, more so then before, and genuine tension. Lucrezia has truly grown as a character, she has been quite rootable at times while also having more of a voice and her scheming shocks. Underneath that creepiness, Micheletto really does have a heart too, and the portrayal of noblemen overtime on the show became much more real.
Elsewhere, the Rome subplot has its fair share of shocks in its revelations, while Bianca undergoes a character arc that is quite harrowing and makes her much more than just another Pope mistress. When it comes to memorable moments it is the emotional impact of the consequences of the Rome storyline and a truly gruesome climactic scene, you will not look at eels in the same way again. The acting is strong, excepting for me a bland Sebastian De Souza (do not find Alfonso the most interesting of characters), with Mindy Kreilig heart-wrenching as Bianca and Matias Verela quite chilling as Ferdinand. Jeremy Irons, with a new hairstyle, is wonderful as always, especially in the more tragic moments.
Didn't think "The Wolf and the Lamb" perfect however. The Avignon storyline doesn't have the same amount of intrigue or emotional impact, Francois Arnaud's performance and some nice lines aside for me some of it was on the dull side and none of the characters stood out.
Really didn't care too for how naiive Alfonso comes over in "The Wolf and the Lamb" either, seeming to be olivious to what his uncle was really like when it was so blatant to the rest of the characters involved in the subplot and to the viewer.
In conclusion, a very good episode and very close to great. 8/10
