Medici: The Magnificent Season 3 recap: Episode 6, A Man of No Importance

Netflix’s Medici: The Magnificent Episode 306 has yet more treachery afoot, including theft coverup and murder!

Previously on Medici: The Magnificent, we saw the holy disputes over electing a new Pope, which featured plenty of behind-the-scenes blackmail, jealousy, paranoia, and even murder. Episode 306 begins more modestly with Lucrezia Donati (Alessandra Mastronardi) offers jewelry for the poor, inspired by anti-corruption Friar Girolamo Savonarola (Francesco Montanari). Fittingly, Nicolò Ardinghelli (Pietro Ragusa) warns Lorenzo (Daniel Sharman) of the burden of heavy taxes. In fact, it’s soon announced there will be a Catasto to take proper account of where Florence’s taxpayers stood.

Unfortunately, the Catasto could be a catastrophe for the Medici family. Lorenzo’s under immediate pressure to hide that his mother, Lucrezia Tornabuoni (Sarah Parish), was skimming money from the city. In a scramble for money, Carlo de’ Medici (Callum Blake) is tasked with pressuring the newly anointed Pope Innocent VIII (Neri Marcorè) to repay his debt. Also, even though it looks corrupt, Medici ally Tommaso Peruzzi (Toby Regbo) is put in charge of the Catasto, with seemingly convenient assistance from Piero de’ Medici (Louis Partridge).

Medici: The Magnificent, the politics of corruption

In an interesting moment, Savonarola tells Lorenzo he has no interest in politics, and he’s just trying to look out for the people. In contrast, Lorenzo’s doing everything in his power to cover his family’s tracks, including using Bruno Bernardi (Johnny Harris) to collect a debt from Sarzana. So Bernardi visits his brother, Guido Battista (Emmett J Scanlan), for the 100,000 florins he owes the Medici, being assured that he’ll have Florence’s protection in the exchange.

During Bernardi’s stay, there are flashbacks about his banishment from Sarzana. There’s also a possibility that Milan’s Galeazzo Sforza (Tam Mutu) could forge an alliance with Guido Battista. With that in mind, Lorenzo has legendary artist Leonardo da Vinci (Stephen Hagan) design a new catapult. Meanwhile, at the Catasto, Ardinghelli suspects that Tommaso is slowing the procedure down deliberately.

Of debts and catapults

Medici: The Magnificent has never been afraid to depict violence, but Lorenzo has also (apparently) avoided violence on many occasions. In this case, Lorenzo promises da Vinci that no man will die from his catapult designs. Time is short, too, as Tomasso eventually acquires the
actual accounts of the Medici, which were under guard. Interestingly, Bernardi is blamed for stealing from the city, while Tomasso learns that the dowry accounts were altered.

Knowing he’s in turmoil, Bernardi strategically spreads rumors of a plague to further distract from the accountability crisis. Next, Lorenzo shows up with reinforcements to collect Guido’s debt, demonstrating his power by using the catapult against the castle (with no fatalities). This allows Bernardi to return money to the city. They’re not entirely out of hot water, however, as Tommaso Peruzzi tore out pages from the Medici bank ledger proving they took city money and tried to cover it up!

The murderous Medici?!

Here’s where things get dark again, although this time no one can blame the behavior on the Pazzi family, or on Girolamo Riario (Jack Roth). After Tomasso is confronted by Bernardi, Bernardi says that honesty is a weakness of character and pushes Tomasso to his death! For those viewers convinced the Medici side were simply bullied by circumstance into acting violently, this moment in the series might give one pause. At this time, Pope Innocent VIII also agrees to relent, signaling a possible pause (or even cessation) of conflict with the Medici family.

As all these events unfold, it’s important to remember that Medici: The Magnificent is fictionalized. In fact, as noted in many relevant recaps, Bruno Bernardi is a composite character (HBO’s Chernobyl did the same thing with one of its main characters, as did the uproarious film The People vs. Larry Flynt). While this show is entertaining and thought-provoking, it should not be regarded as the absolute, gospel truth.

What are your thoughts on Medici: The Magnificent? Let us know in the comments!