This limited series tells the story of the Medici family of Florence, their ascent from simple merchants to power brokers sparking an economic and cultural revolution. Along the way, they also accrue a long list of powerful enemies.
production details
France – Germany – Italy / Netflix – Big Light Productions – Lux Vide – RAI Fiction – Wild Bunch TV / 8×60 minutes / 18 October – 8 November 2016
Creators: Frank Spotnitz, Nicholas Meyer,
cast
Richard Madden as Cosimo de’ Medici
Dustin Hoffman as Giovanni de’ Medici
Stuart Martin as Lorenzo de’ Medici
Annabel Scholey as Contessina de’ Medici
Guido Caprino as Marco Bello
Tatjana Nardone as Emilia
EPISODE LIST
Episode 1 – Original Sin | Airdate: 18 October 2016 | The Medici family suffers a great loss with the death of its patriarch Giovanni. When the designated heir Cosimo discovers that his father was poisoned, he decides to put Marco Bello on the assassin’s trail.
Episode 2 – The Dome and the Domicile | Airdate: 18 October 2016 | The war is throwing Florence into chaos. Piero, Cosimo’s only son, is eager to fight. Meanwhile, Cosimo manages to “buy” the withdrawal of Milan’s troops, thus saving the city, but in the meantime Florence has again fallen into the plague.
Episode 3 – Pestilence | Airdate: 25 October 2016 | Albizzi has managed to foment the citizenry against Cosimo, accusing him of the crime of usury. When Cosimo learns of the situation, he decides to return to Florence. Albizzi then invents a ploy to get Cosimo arrested and held for trial.
Episode 4 – Judgement Day | Airdate: 25 October 2016 | From prison, Cosimo asks Contessina to try bribing a member of the Signoria, to buy votes in his favor. Albizzi starts poisoning Cosimo’s food through his prison guard. Contessina negotiates exile rather than the death penalty.
Episode 5 – Temptation | Airdate: 1 November 2016 | While the Medici are in exile in Venice, the situation deteriorates day by day in Florence, with Albizzi imposing his rule over a city gravely depleted by the absence of the Medici.
Episode 6 – Ascendancy | Airdate: 1 November 2016 | The return of the Medici to Florence is an out-and-out triumph, with Albizzi in prison for his attempt to become the city’s “tyrant”.
Episode 7 – Purgatory | Airdate: 8 November 2016 | The Signoria now has a vacant chair, and Cosimo is asked to choose who should occupy it. Piero thinks that his moment has now come, but the banker Pazzi, too, has his eyes set on that seat.
Episode 8 – Epiphany | Airdate: 8 November 2016 | Pazzi has managed to convince the Pope to remove the Medici as Church bankers, but Cosimo is disinclined to surrender what he has worked so hard to attain.