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While an imperfect pilot, "Da Vinci's Demons" succeeds brilliantly in its primary goal: to make you want more. It's a confident, stylish, and delightfully audacious reimagining that blends history with fantasy. If you can set aside expectations of a staid historical biography and embrace its swashbuckling spirit, you're in for a treat.
Da Vinci's Demons Season: 1 Episode: 1 Air Date: April 12, 2013
: The episode title refers to both a Tarot card and a Jewish man executed by hanging whom Leonardo tries to save. Before dying, the man recites a riddle—"I am the Son of Earth and Starry Heaven"—identifying himself as part of the fraternity Leonardo is meant to join. da vincis demons season 1 episode 1
"The Prodigal Son" - Da Vinci's Demons Season 1 Episode 1 Review
This pilot episode sets the stage for a "historical fantasy" that reimagines Leonardo da Vinci not just as a painter, but as a swashbuckling, drug-using, 25-year-old insurgent in Renaissance Florence. Key Highlight: The Birth of "Da Vinci Vision" While an imperfect pilot, "Da Vinci's Demons" succeeds
Looking to secure financial backing and protect Florence from the encroaching power of the Papal States, Leonardo positions himself as an engineer for Lorenzo de' Medici (Elliot Cowan). He wins Lorenzo’s favor by designing an innovative mechanical dove and proposing devastating military weapons.
: Leonardo uses his attraction to Lucrezia Donati—the mistress of Lorenzo de' Medici—to gain an audience. He eventually convinces Lorenzo to hire him not just for art, but as a military engineer to design war machines like automatic cannons and tanks to defend Florence. The Carnival Performance Da Vinci's Demons Season: 1 Episode: 1 Air
The plot of "The Hanged Man" is dense, weaving together several narrative threads that will define the series.
From the first frame, this is not the serene, bearded sage of popular imagination. Instead, we meet Leonardo (Tom Riley) as a manic, arrogant, and deeply flawed prodigy. He is introduced fleeing the Medici guards after a heist, not for gold, but for a mechanical bird—a prototype of his obsession with flight. This opening sequence is crucial. It immediately codes Leonardo as a rebel and a scavenger, a man who steals not for wealth but for the raw materials of his imagination.