Wow! Such a good movie.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I see why they used Dustin Hoffman as the patriarch of the Medici family. I was shocked at first, but even though he is a good actor I think he fit well with the rest of the cast, including when he deferred to his wife. Spotnitz and Netflix thought they needed a heavy weight for the patriarch of the Medici with a mostly unknown and young cast and it worked. I don't know if another actor would have been as good overall, but Dustin Hoffman worked. I especially liked Madden as Cosimo and I appreciate the producers decided not to repeat the casting of a black actor for the bastard son of Cosimo just to gain points with the leftists. Madalena was a Circassian slave and did bear Cosimo a son, but Circassians were white skinned and not black. It is the politically correct thing to fit a black actor wherever possible in order to shake up the history, and let's face it that acting is fantasy and those on the left prefer to be PC than to be accurate or portray history as it is and not as they wish it to be. Bravo! for choosing facts instead of fantasy and for writing a script that left viewers thinking and reasoning for themselves without telling them what and how to believe and view history. Bravo! No kowtowing to the politically correct cults that skew reality and history.

At first, I was not going to watch this series on Netflix. But, in a moment of sheer boredom I decided to watch it. Now, I cannot stop!! Richard Madden is breathtakingly handsome (dare I say "gorgeous"?). Yes, I am a man and men most often are not "allowed" to state openly such observations. Well, I just did no matter what we men are "allowed".Of course, there are many exquisite ladies in this series, most who play very assertive roles.The level of intrigue is spellbinding. As is so true of many of the British writings, there is an edge to "Medici". One must ponder the reality of Florence in that time compared with the Florence created for this series. No matter! Off to watch the next episode!As a footnote, I just learned that Season 2 may not be released before the end of this year, 2017. Or, it will be available for viewing on Netflix early in 2018. I become so absorbed in so many of these productions, only to be come sorely disappointed by the delays in upcoming seasons. There is a whole slew of films (mostly British, Australian or with actors from Britain or Australia -- Richard Madden is a Scot from the village of William Wallace@) So! I wait. Ho hum Grrrr.

I love the show. I think it's fantastic. However, Here is YET ANOTHER historically-based masterpiece that I can NOT watch with my family. Is it so much to ask that Hollywood make a clean show like this? A tiny bit more romance (not the kind with sex and nude bodies) would help develop the dramatic plot involving the characters' personal lives and let the historical developments do the heavy lifting! Homosexuality? I can watch a couple of guys kissing for a few seconds (THEN SKIP THE SEX - allude to it, trust me- WE'LL GET IT) with my family, but a couple of dudes going at it, (grunts, balls, asses and all) not a chance! My family (and most others) will not sit down and be OK with the characters on the show having sex. When a guy romances a girl or a girl teases a guy in a show- it can be comical, romantic, even tear-jerking... BUT WHEN SHE GRABS HIS DONG and they start doing to two-backed beast dance...that's TOO FAR.So, it would just be nice to have an amazing show WITHOUT the sex. That is all.

It seems to be fashionable nowadays to depict previous eras as drab and grungy. In this instance the milieu in question is Renaissance Italy. Upon viewing this series, one cannot help but wonder if the producers ever bothered to do any research whatsoever. Even the most superficial examination of 15th Century Italian art would reveal that Italians of that era were anything but drab, dirty and unkept, especially those possessed of any degree of wealth and power. Renaissance Italy was literally one of the most colorful periods of European history. Yet all the characters in "Medici" dress in drab garments of black, brown or dark blue, and are usually depicted as scraggly and unkempt, as if they did not have valets to make sure they were well turned out. Even Cardinals in the Vatican are depicted dressed in black, and even the Vatican itself is depicted as drab and colorless. To make matters worse, the series was filmed using a process that subdues all the colors, as if the producers deliberately intended to render 15th Century Florence even more drab.In that respect one might wish to contrast this series with the 1949 film "Prince of Foxes", which was set in roughly the same locale and era. While a Hollywood production, "Prince of Foxes" was actually filmed in Italy with the assistance of Italian film makers. Even though it was filmed in black-and-white, the costumes and settings in "Prince of Foxes" provide a far more authentic depiction of just how colorful Renaissance Italy actually was.