Starz knows exactly what it needs. “The Rope of the Dead” is that thing. It is the perfect blend of high octane action, visual spectacle (enhanced by a little bit of sexiness, of course) and powerfully emotional character beats.
“The Blood of Man” earns a bunch of credit for being a satisfyingly action-packed return to this world. Florence is on the brink of collapse, the Medicis are in death’s line of sight and Leonardo can’t catch a break.
The conceit of “The Prisoner” is that the episode is structured to parallel a game of Go played by Riario and the eponymous, mysterious prisoner. This conceit, along with the comparisons of a caged bird to Lucrezia, plays out rather heavy-handed and isn’t really necessary for us to understand what’s going on in Da Vinci’s Demons at this point. It’s a freshman mistake made by a freshman series, but the over-the-top nature of it lends itself well to how these first few episodes have been executed. Da Vinci’s Demons is still finding itself as a show in these first three scripts, much like how it took Spartacus: Blood and Sand a little while to get going on the same channel, and it’s up to us to trust the writers to pick up on where their ideas are strongest.
The second episode of Da Vinci’s Demons doubles up on explosions, but packing on the action doesn’t dust up the interest packing on a little more character development would. Leonardo continues to stand out as a dashing, charismatic lead. But so far, the show demonstrates no interest in allowing its other characters room to grow or compete for equal attention.