That screencap takes me back. My parents had that same bullfighting poster hanging in the dining room, also. Between that bloodied, dying bull, and the Picasso and Bosch prints surrounding me while I ate, I didn't have much of an appetite as a child.

"Dick" is correct. That was such a hand-on-the-head, "suck my—" move that I was simultaneously aghast and delighted.

I don't think of him as a villain. I think he is more complex than that.

Ron Howard VO: "Hey, that's the name of the show!"

That was incredible. Then when the music stopped like a record scratch for the awe and reverence of the papal tiara, and it smash cut to Lenny smoking in the hallway like a teen at a high school dance, I let out a bark of laughter.

That was amazing. The real deal weighs 10 lbs. I have no idea how much the prop version weighs, but even half would be soooo heavy.

I did not get that impression at all. I think Gutierrez may be gay, which raises an interesting question about Lenny's affection for him and his supposed determination to expel gay priests. Or I could simply be projecting my wish that Lenny is not truly serious about his gay priest witch hunt.

Why, thank you!

That needed Ron Howard's narrator interjecting: "Iris did not find that reassuring because both of Barry's parents are dead."

I read it as a quick and blunt way to contrast Voiello and Lenny in superficial terms of outer beauty.

I agree. I thought Sorrentino was careful to not sexualize that imagery by maintaining a long shot instead of what filmmakers usually do, which is to move in and around the dancer's body. If Lenny was imagining her dancing, he was keeping a careful, respectful distance.

La Dolce Vita opened with a helicopter transporting a statue of Christ over the aqueduct outside Rome, so there may be an homage to that.

That took me out of the show because I thought they didn't have the budget for a prop soda gun, so they were like, "Eh, just use a pitcher of water." Glad it turned out be intentional.

S2 aired last year in the UK. Hopefully, PBS will air it over here this year.

Yes, that ending felt very Lynchian to me, also. A little Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, and Blue Velvet. So beautiful, weird, and what a catchy song.

Cherry Coke Zero. To settle for things (like Diet Coke) would be death. I suspect he feels the same about vaping. It would also be submitting to Voiello, and he can't have that. I think Pius enjoys smoking around people because it makes them uncomfortable.

I thought that Gutierrez was having a vision of Mary, who appeared to him when he was a child, IIRC (that was how he received his calling).

For me, the combination of surreality, gorgeous visuals, uncomfortable and hilarious blending of the sacred and the profane, and surprising bursts of tender emotion make it Hannibal for lapsed Catholics.

I think he does. Although he certainly has some issues that he needs to work through. I don't know about using the papacy to do it, but it's more entertaining to watch than therapy.

I've watched that intro many times on youtube since the European broadcast, so I was excited to see it in an episode. I don't know what Lenny is up to, but I find him fascinating. Is he playing Esther also, or is he being sincere with her?