Episode 7
TV-MA | 48 MIN
Written by Paolo Sorrentino and Umberto Contarello
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Blaming Lenny for the young man's suicide, Voiello shows Caltanissetta the flash drive of the incriminating photos, which Caltanissetta assumed had been destroyed. Caltanissetta agrees Lenny should be taken down, but fears the Church would not recover from the negative publicity generated by the photos. He tells Voiello to stand down, but takes the flash drive.
Don Tommaso confides in Sister Mary the pope is going through a profound crisis of faith.
The pope opens a gift with no postmark – it is the missing piece of the pipe his parents gave him. He freezes and stares at the artifact he thought was lost forever. Later, he asks Sister Mary why his parents didn't provide a return address so he could find them; she advises him to cut out the fear tactics because everyone is afraid of him – including his parents.
"I've done my part, now you need to do yours." - Sister Mary
Out of sight in the woods, Sister Mary tells Voiello the pope is experiencing a moment of weakness. She suggests if he needs a document signed to get the church back on track, now would be the time to ask.
Voiello tells Spencer the church needs to take care of the poor – something it is failing to do under Pius XIII. Confident he knows how to get Lenny to resign, Voiello promises Spencer the papacy.
Confessing her sins, Sister Mary apologizes for her deception, but notes she cannot look on as the institution she loves is destroyed.
Dussolier goes to the villa where General and Countess Meraviglia are having a party. The countess corners Dussolier in the bathroom and tries to seduce him, prompting peals of uncontrollable laughter from the cardinal, who leaves the room. Dussolier drunkenly falls into the pool while attempting to retrieve his cross. Eager to be rid of her guest, the contessa asks her son Ludovico to return the cardinal to the Vatican. A disoriented Dussolier, naked under a blanket, wakes up in Ludovico's car and finds Ludovico on top of him. Dussolier fights the boy off and is thrown into the street. He walks back to the Vatican naked.
Lenny anxiously awaits his parents' arrival and distracts himself with work at Sister Mary's suggestion. He signs a number of documents for Voiello until an older couple is shown in. Lenny sniffs the pair and determines they are not who they claim to be.
"When are you going to grow up?" - Cardinal Dussolier
Dussolier and Lenny meet on the balcony of Saint Peter's – the same ledge from which the young man committed suicide. Feeling immense guilt, Dussolier tells Lenny he needs to go back to Honduras.
Lenny desperately asks Tommaso who has been deceiving him but Tommaso reveals nothing because Lenny does not believe in God.
Voiello brings up Tonino Pettola over dinner with Lenny, but Lenny is laser-focused on the masquerade with his fake parents. Aware Voiello had him sign papers while he was distracted, Lenny reproaches the cardinal, furious the documents were "completely opposed" to his philosophies.
Lenny admits his papacy has been a total failure and tells Spencer of his plan to resign; Spencer mentally prepares himself to become pope. Lenny confronts Sister Mary about setting up the meeting with the impostor parents.
Arriving in Honduras, Dussolier is greeted by his lover who whispers a warning: "He knows." She walks him to a black SUV, in which her husband Carlos, a prominent narco, waits. The group drives off. Carlos, who understands why Dussolier would deny mass to narcos, is less magnanimous about Dussolier's affair with his wife.
The SUV pulls over and Dussolier's corpse is dumped on the side of the road.
