The Borgias
SHOWTIME | Release Date: April 3, 2011
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenApr 1, 2011
Season 1 Review: The Borgias is an adequate soap but one that's also rife with missed opportunities. Read full review
58
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardApr 1, 2011
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately, Iron's not in every scene, and the 100-minute premiere, after a promising opening, becomes bogged down in political intrigue as his rivals scheme to remove the new pope. Read full review
50
Slant MagazinePhillip MaciakApr 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: The Borgias is merely the network's most recent, shallow exploration into precisely how murderous, horny, and fabulously costumed the wealthy were at the turn of the 16th century. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian LowryApr 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: That restraint, if that's the right word for it, leaves the program feeling muddled, spending too much time with the younger Borgias--who only live up to the "bore" part--and the labyrinthine workings of Vatican politics. Read full review
50
TimeJames PoniewozikApr 1, 2011
Season 1 Review: With writing and directing by Neil Jordan and Irons in the lead, it has pedigree and promise. And yet The Borgias, besides the glaring Tudors parallels, is one of those shows that seems like it might actually be better if it were worse. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertMar 31, 2011
Season 1 Review: You will absolutely, one hundred percent love every second of Showtime's new series, The Borgias. If you are a set designer, that is. Or a costumer. Otherwise, you might be mildly entertained and yet still feel a gnawing hunger for something more--a flavor shot or two with your creme de la creme. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian LowryApr 12, 2013
Season 3 Review: The Borgias remains a serious letdown as well, so grim and joyless it’s hard to derive much satisfaction from seeing Jeremy Irons in a role he was seemingly born to play. Read full review
40
Washington PostHank StueverApr 4, 2011
Season 1 Review: In the first four episodes, there isn't anyone or anything to root for, other than history's corrective hand. Read full review
40
HitfixAlan SepinwallMar 31, 2011
Season 1 Review: It's a very straightforward, sincere, dull accounting of all the trouble caused by Rodrigo, son Cesare (Francois Arnaud, frequently nude), daughter Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) and company cause with their newfound power and station. Read full review
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