Review of The Borgias

Like other recent similar series the settings of the period are captured beautifully, i.e. The Medici, but there is hardly a grain of historical truth in this show. While the names of real characters are used they bear little resemblance to the real people and most of the events here never happened or varied wildly from how they are depicted. In drama there is always some room for historical license, but there has to at least be some underlying truth and fidelity to history. This story line has none. There are some people named Borgia, but they have been made cartoon figures 100 times more evil than they actually were. This "history" is based upon there attitude prevalent in prior fiction and a historical reputation generated by enemies. The Borgias were no saints, but they were nowhere as evil as legend has it, and certainly not as depicted in this show. The screenplay is simply awful, misleading, historically inaccurate, and way off the mark. Key characters, such as the assassin, the Turk, etc. are unknown to history. The depiction of Machiavelli and the Medici is way off base, etc. etc. The other European "Borgia" series is far far better.