Mysteries abound in the latest episode of Da Vinci’s Demons, and for each puzzle solved, another forms in its place.
Fortunately, da Vinci (appearing to be more and more a composite of Robert Langdon and one of the Hardy Boys), is brilliant at solving the unsolvable. This week, the local nunnery faces an epidemic of what must be demonic possession, and it’s Leonardo versus the church in a race to save his friend Vanessa’s life.
Is there anything this man can’t do? Crime-solver, artist, inventor . . . and for some reason he’s really starting to remind me of Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare in Love, which isn’t a bad thing.
He combines his book knowledge with his knowledge of the world to discover that the nuns have been poisoned rather than possessed, and their illness is result of evil intent. Also, we learned an important safety lesson: do not go around kissing the feet of strange statues. Just don’t. Bad things will happen.
And, in an acid trip reminiscent of Walter on Fringe, Leo also falls under the spell of the statue foot disease. Vanessa kisses him in the throes of her illness, spreading the contagion. In his haze, he can almost catch a glimpse of his mother, and his mind tries to work out the myriad puzzles plaguing him.
A new riddle to solve is the identity of the prisoner that plays a game against that dastardly Count Riario. The prisoner’s face is obscured by a dark cloak, but is he someone even worse than Riario? Why is he locked away?
And poor Lorenzo de Medici. His wife knows about his mistress, and he has a spy in his midst. But he has divulged too much to the actual spy, and Lucrezia seizes the opportunity to frame one of his most trusted men. And what a system she has! Hollow books, hidden notes, codes written on public walls. Maybe next week she’ll write in invisible ink and use a decoder ring. But I love the cloak and dagger stuff. And, we’re clearly meant to feel sympathy for her when she seems to identify with a parrot that won’t fly away from its open cage. She, like the bird, cannot escape for some reason.
Hopefully the season finale will help to bring some closure to all of these hanging threads, but with a second season already announced, no doubt new plot threads are being woven as I write this.