Day 11, Quasi-Quarantine: "The New Pope" Is The WTF We All Need Now

I'm late to "The New Pope," but I did watch "The Young Pope" (with Jude Law), and this is billed a continuation of that premise. More than halfway through this season, I'm experiencing a show that skirts the boundaries of the absurd, the sacrilegious, and the authentic.

John Malkovich is having a ball vamping it up as Sir John Brannox, who takes over as new pope (John Paul III) after the suspicious death of Pope Francis II and the continued coma of Pope Pius XIII (Law). There are hysterical appearances by Sharon Stone and Marilyn Manson, and the incomparable Silvio Orlando carries the day as Cardinal Angelo Voiello.

Powered by arguably the best current opening sequence on TV, "The New Pope" is cringe-worthy at times and hard to follow at others, but relies on a spine of real-world politics and irony to keep it on track. Equal parts "Twin Peaks," "The Godfather," and "Being John Malkovich," this show doesn't qualify as an easy watch, but it's been worth the effort thus far.