The Borgias (2011)

Crime · Drama · History

Set in 15th century Italy at the height of the Renaissance, The Borgias chronicles the corrupt rise of patriarch Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy, where he proceeds to commit every sin in the book to amass and retain power, influence and enormous wealth for himself and his family.

IMDb rating: 7.9 (56,987 votes)
Episode average: 7.9 matches the IMDb rating
Seasons: 3
Streaming (US): Paramount+
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

Browse shows by rating shape → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 3 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (2011)

7.78 avg 9 episodes 7.7 → 8.0 52 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Poisoned Chalice	7.7	1,120
2	The Assassin	7.7	929
3	The Moor	7.8	845
4	Lucrezia's Wedding	7.7	780
5	The Borgias in Love	7.6	753
6	The French King	7.6	714
7	Death, on a Pale Horse	7.9	676
8	The Art of War	8.0	666
9	Nessuno (Nobody)	8.0	688

Season 2 (2012)

8.09 avg 10 episodes 7.8 → 8.7 51 min avg

Big finale

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Borgia Bull	7.8	710
2	Paolo	7.8	633
3	The Beautiful Deception	8.4	683
4	Stray Dogs	8.0	596
5	The Choice	8.0	617
6	Day of Ashes	7.8	568
7	The Siege at Forli	8.1	593
8	Truth and Lies	7.9	568
9	World of Wonders	8.4	600
10	The Confession	8.7	683

Season 3 (2013)

7.91 avg 10 episodes 8.2 → 8.2 50 min avg

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Face of Death	8.2	653
2	The Purge	7.9	564
3	Siblings	7.9	588
4	The Banquet of Chestnuts	7.9	548
5	The Wolf and the Lamb	7.8	524
6	Relics	7.7	498
7	Lucrezia's Gambit	7.7	495
8	Tears of Blood	7.9	513
9	The Gunpowder Plot	7.9	501
10	The Prince	8.2	587