What do the Black Death, witty one-liners and steamy sex have in common? They are all important components of Netflix’s “The Decameron.” This summer series is full of many laugh out loud moments as well as intriguing storylines that will have you hooked. This show has an ensemble cast, but each character’s arc is full of a lot of intrigue and entertainment. “The Decameron” is inspired by the collection of short stories of the same name that came out over five hundred years ago. However, don’t take the historic nature of the inspiration to mean that this show is dry and dull. In fact, this program has quite a modern feel to it, such that you would think some of the conversations and stories were taking place in modern times, which was the writers’ intentions. I feel that this series really flew under the radar this summer, which is a true shame as “The Decameron” was quite original and enthralling. I will do whatever I can to spread the good word so that other people will understand what makes it so great. Released on Netflix on July 25, “The Decameron” will convey a retro way to have fun (and boy do I mean retro).
Set in the 1300s, the plague is ravaging village after village, and those who don’t have it are worried that they will be next. Fortunately, a group of noble people, and some of their servants have found a way to escape this disease. These people have been invited to Visconte Leonardo’s countryside villa, which will be isolated from the disease ridden towns. Quickly at the villa, everyone gets acquainted with each other, for better or for worse. Dominating attention is Pampinea (Zosia Mamet), a spoiled and vain noblewoman who is set to be married to Leonardo, and wants everyone to be aware of this fact. She also brought her dutiful servant Misia (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), who needs to learn to get out of Pampinea’s shadow. There is also the happily married Nefile (Lou Gala) and Panfilo (Karan Gill). Except these two are not so happily married due to Nefile’s piousness and Panfilo’s wandering eye. There’s Tindaro (Douggie McMeekin), a rich hypochondriac who annoys people quickly due to his personality, but people are not as annoyed by his handsome doctor Dioneo (Amar Chahda-Patel). Finally, there is noblewoman Filomena (Jessica Plummer). However, the person that people think is Filomena is her servant Licisca (Tanya Reynolds), who began impersonating her boss after kicking her to the curb on their journey. The group join villa’s steward Sirisco (Tony Hale) for what is sure to be a relaxing time away from the disaster of the plague. Nevertheless, that may not be the case. From torrid love affairs to shocking secrets, everyone has something that they want to hide during their stay, including the location of the party’s host, Leonardo. In addition, the group may have to face some violent enemies during their stay, meaning this group has to band together and the nobles will have to learn to get their hands dirty every once in a while. One thing’s for sure, a stay at this villa is like no vacation you have ever been on.
While I could go on about how talented the whole cast was, I feel that it is best that I highlight some standouts. Specifically, my favorite performance was probably Reynolds’. She played a character that started off with frustration in her life to someone who became bolder and was able to fight for herself, both figuratively and literally. She would speak her mind, put on a brave face in the signs of danger, and also gave into sexual desire. Reynolds made that growth feel natural and gave energy to the character that made you root for her no matter what. Plus, her time spent pretending to be a noblewoman created some big laughs. Another performance that stood out to me was Mamet’s, but for the opposite reasons as to why I liked Reynolds’. Spoiler alert, but Mamet’s character did not really go through much growth in this series, but she was still fun to watch the whole way through. Every line that came out of her mouth was hilarious, likely because of her delivery, and she played the narcissism of her character perfectly. Her character is someone you love to hate, yet Mamet plays the character so that you want to see more of her despite her attitude, which is why I applaud her portrayal. In terms of more subtle performances, I liked Gill’s portrayal of the polite yet cunning Panfilo. As the story goes on, more of his character’s wants and hopes get revealed, and Gill is able to make those wants and hopes believable. There is a sense of earnestness with his character that is enjoyable to see, yet Gill is also able to combine that characteristic with his more mischievous side, showing his complexities. Even though he was not a morally good character, the way Gill played Panfilo kind of made me want to root for him, which demonstrates how likable he is as an actor. Finally, I also want to highlight Hale’s as Sirisco. Hale’s character was quite goofy and he really knew how to ham it up in the right way. In addition, he may have just been seen as a quirky side character in the beginning, but later on, Hale is able to showcase the character’s emotional range, portraying feelings of rage and sadness. Sirisco was a well-rounded character and Hale fully embodied his lively spirit. To be clear again, all of the actors were great, but these were the performances that caught my eye the most.
Something guaranteed is that it will get you to at least chuckle. There is always something amusing about people that are portrayed as living in medieval times talking like modern folk. That style of humor may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I believe it worked really well. It led to some hilarious jokes that were able to both connect with history and a contemporary audience. There would be some common references to aspects of history, which will make people feel smart for catching, and that will combine with the language we use today so it sounds like a joke that a viewer would make. Whether it is comedy related to sexual desires or comedy dealing with a deadly disease, it all worked. Even in the serious moments, like in times of peril, characters were able to slip in a few cracks and the scenes still worked without losing their heart. As mentioned before, Paminea and Sirisco were the source of a lot of the terrific jokes, especially in the scenes that they shared with each other. In general, the different relationships between the servants and the nobles were quite humorous. Each servant was treated differently, such as Misia worshiping Pampina or Dineo hiding secrets from Tindaro, every connection had something to offer. People could see there is too much focus on comedy and that nothere does not need to be a joke every two sentences, which is a complaint I get. However, when most of the jokes are winners, you don’t notice the problems as much. Plus, there were still plenty of serious moments that were able to work as well as the funny ones, like Filomena and Licisca finally connecting or Nefile and Pandiro working through their relationships. The balance of comedy and drama, with an emphasis on comedy helped set a terrific tone so that you will be able to experience the perfect amount of laughter.
While the humor is something that I have focused on for a lot of the review, I feel that I should also highlight the show’s plot as well. There are a lot of exciting storylines and they each add something different to the overall excitement. Whether those storylines be about someone’s pasts or their dreams for their future, I was invested. I will say that it can be hard to keep track of some of the plotlines at certain points, as there are so many characters. However, by the end, you will be able to figure out how every story ends up. In addition, I also believe there are some effective twists that should be able to surprise you. I can’t say too much more about the twists, as that kind of takes the fun out of them. However, I will say that you will learn something new about most of the characters, as a lot of them have something to hide. Also, while it may seem contradictory to what I have been saying before, I believe the first half of the series is actually better than the second half. I was pulled in the most when we first meet the characters and we get the first discoveries of some plot points, as that is when the intrigue is built up. While I did not dislike the back half of the episodes, I feel that some stories went a little all over the place and the curiosity was a bit more fun. In addition, I believe the best stories came from within the villa. The points where the characters have to leave for one reason or another were just not as interesting for me. However, I would say that there is a fun direction overall. The slow descent into chaos at the villa was quite exciting. There was a lot of creativity in terms of all of the stories and that is what led me to binge-watching the whole series in a day.
“The Decameron” is meant to be a mini-series, meaning that the entire program is now available to watch. Now while some mini-series end up having a second season, without saying too much, that would not be able to happen here. However, that can sometimes be for the best. We often take several seasons as a sign of success, but most programs end up petering out as they go on with weak final seasons. With “The Decameron” we all have one season made up of eight fantastic episodes, and that’s enough. It was certainly one of a kind and I am glad that I watched it. It helped teach me about a new side of history, one that has excellent humor. While there were a lot of characters to keep track of, which made some moments confusing, there was a lot to enjoy about each character’s journey, which made all of their plot lines worth it in my book. The story is not flawless, but it is an excellent one with top-notch humor. I hope I can find another series like this one, which may be difficult because of the novelty of it all. However, that will not stop me from trying. So if you like historical fiction with wonderful dark humor or you want to learn the story of an unlikely group of strangers becoming fond of, or sometimes furious, with each other, watch “The Decameron” today.
