As the finale of Leonardo begins, the guards begin preparing for Leonardo’s upcoming execution. Stefano (Freddie Highmore) approaches Rinaldo (Massimo De Santis) to ask about the scaffolding in the courtyard. Stefano insists his investigation isn’t over, but Rinaldo says it is over when he says it is over. Then, Stefano visits Leonardo (Aidan Turner) who is watching his last sunrise. He warns Leonardo that they’re running out of time because he is going to be hanged soon. Stefano believes he destroyed what he loved to protect someone he loved even more, his son. He says it is the boy of Niccolini who is still safely hidden with Father Luca at the convent. Stefano worries he is in some kind of danger. Leonardo confesses the boy isn’t his son despite what he was told to say. He tells Stefano that it is the boy he must save and not him. Six months earlier in Florence, Leonardo watches from a distance as Caterina da Cremona (Matilda De Angelis) meets with her son.

Leonardo approaches her to ask who the boy is even though she tells him it isn’t his problem. Although they told her she couldn’t have children, the boy is her child. Caterina insists the father doesn’t matter because he is gone. She doesn’t want him to suffer the same hardships she did. Leonardo wonders how that boy must feel having a mother who chooses to give him away. When she says he doesn’t know poverty like she does, Leonardo yells that he knows abandonment and betrayal. Caterina argues she didn’t betray her child because Ginevra can give him a better life. Leonardo doesn’t want to see another boy lose his mother. Caterina doesn’t think anything is more important to Leonardo than his work. After Leonardo admits that is true, Caterina says he has to admit that he can never be a father to anyone. He believes they can raise the boy together and make sure he wants nothing. Later, Ginevra (Poppy Gilbert) meets with Leonardo. He admits he has been avoiding her.

He promised her a portrait that would show the truth, but he was worried her father would destroy it. Ginevra argues he did no such things and it is more beautiful because of its scars. When she has been sad or lonely, she has looked at the way he saw her then. Each time, it gives her the encouragement to go on. Caterina walks in with Francesco (Alfie Rigby) who is introduced to Leonardo. She asks her son about moving in with Leonardo. Ginevra tells him they’d like him to live wherever he wants. They move into Leonardo’s studio right away. When Francesco breaks something, Salai (Carlos Cuevas) goes to check on him. Later, Leonard asks him if he likes his room before admitting he didn’t like shadows at that age. He offers to give the boy a candle and a drawing of his mother so he can look at them when he feels alone. Leonardo shows him the human heart he has been drawing. Leonardo explains that a professor in Pavia gives him bodies to dissect so he’ll know what it looks like.

Although they smell, he has managed to learn their secret that people are like trees. Leonardo tells Francesco why that is the case. Caterina watches them. Later, Caterina tells Leonardo that she was afraid of trusting someone or needing someone because she didn’t want to get hurt again. That is why she wanted to keep her distance from him. Salai answers the door to Sanseverino (Antonio De Matteo) who asks if he can come in. Leonardo joins them to find out what he wants. Sanseverino tells Leonardo that Il Moro counted on his support so he disappoints him. Caterina comes in and tells him he should be in prison with his master for the murder of Gian Galezacco. Sanseverino asks if that is why she left Milan so abruptly all those years ago. If she was in Milan, she would have charges sworn out against him. Sanseverino says they’re not and she has no proof so she should watch her mouth. Francesco enters to tell his mother he can’t sleep because his window blew open.

Sanseverino learns the boy’s name and the fact that he is ten now. Leonardo surprises him since he never saw him as a family man. Leonardo wants him to tell the Duke that he has had his fill of war and politics. Sanseverino warns him that the Duke will not be pleased. Once he leaves, Salai takes the boy back to his room while Caterina stays to talk to Leonardo. She believes she should leave with Francesco first thing in the morning. While she said his father was gone, she didn’t say who he is. Sanseverino visits Ludovico Sforza (James D’Arcy) to tell him that Florence offers no assistance. He believes they can return to power without them. Sanseverino admits Leonardo refused to come to his aid too. They begin discussing Francesco and the fact that he is ten. He would’ve been conceived when she was in Milan so there is no way Leonardo is the boy’s father. Sanseverino suggests he could be Bernardo’s boy, but Ludovico says he could be the dad. Ludovico thinks the French could use the boy to make a claim against his throne.

They’ll steal it from them before they have a chance to retake it. The French don’t know Francesco is his son yet and there is only one way to make sure they never do. Leonardo takes the boy to his old studio. Caterina thanks Salai for being such a good friend to her son. Salai says he is a good boy and he can see how much he means to Leonardo. He is glad they’re here too. Leonardo thinks they’ll be safe here because Ludovico is in custody and will not come back to Milan. He insists he won’t let anyone harm the boy, but Caterina isn’t sure he can guarantee that. Leonardo is adamant that they cannot live in fear. Later, Leonardo stares at the portrait that he has been unable to finish. He decides to take Francesco flying since he has been left in the studio for so long. Leonardo watches as the boy plays with the airplane he made before they return to Caterina and Salai. Caterina and Leonardo talk about the boy being out. She says she felt like she had no choice when she laid with Ludovico.

She felt like she was nothing and no one. When she found out she was carrying a child, she prayed that it would not be born. He brings her a joy that she could have never imagined now so she doesn’t want to lose him. Caterina asks if he’ll lie with her tonight like they used to when they first met. Leonardo says yes before they lay down together. She asks him to paint this. That night, Leonardo thinks about Caterina growing wings and Lisa Del Giocondo telling him there is only one truth mortals can ever hope to know. She says that is love. Leonardo wakes Caterina in the morning to tell her he wanted her to model for him. He gives her something to wear. As they go downstairs, Leonardo tells her about the myth, Leda and the Swan. They talk about how Zeus seduced her. She gave birth to twins and in turn gave birth to civilization. When Caterina asks how he wants her, Leonardo says as you are. She is okay with Leonardo painting her scar because she wants him to paint all of her. Stefano asks Leonardo about Leda and the Swan which is the painting Caterina would burn. Leonardo admits it was his most personal painting and maybe his greatest.

He had a home and a family of sorts. For a moment, it was like the darkness lifted and he could see love clearly for the first time in his life. Stefano wants to know how killing Caterina saves the body. In the past, Francesco steals one of Leonardo’s sketches before they hear a horse outside. Once Salai says it is trouble, Leonardo makes sure Francesco is hidden. Rinaldo Rossi arrives to speak to Leonardo because they’ve received a report he is harboring a fugitive child. They search the studio but do not find Francesco. Salai tells Leonardo that there is someone else here. It looks like someone is watching them from the carriage out front. As they leave, Caterina admits she believes the Captain is working for Sanseverino. Caterina tells her son that those men were sent by a man who wants to take him away from her. When she says he thinks he is the father, Francesco says Leonardo is his father. Leonardo asks him if he’d like to go to the convent in the morning to see his friend Father Luca who has all kinds of mathematical puzzles and tricks to show him.

The boy realizes he is in danger so he agrees to go. While Salai helps him pack, Leonardo writes to Luca. Leonardo and Caterina argue about living in fear. She doesn’t believe she should’ve listened to him and should’ve left the boy with Ginevra. Francesco is introduced to Father Luca Pacioli (Giovanni Scifoni) the next day. Leonardo admits it might be some time before they see each other again. Francesco tells him he loves him before hugging him. Leonardo says it back. Caterina eats and combs her hair at home. Leonardo burns the painting with Salai next to him. Bernardo (Flavio Parenti) approaches Leonardo and sees that he is burning paintings. Leonardo says Caterina put them in the fire. As Caterina messes around with something in her hand, she begins coughing. Bernardo asks to speak to Caterina since he received a letter from her this afternoon. She comes outside and is in obvious distress. Once she collapses, Bernardo and Salai run over to help her, but Leonardo stays put.

Bernardo pleads with Leonardo to help her. Salai realizes that she has been poisoned. Bernardo asks Leonardo to create the antidote. He realizes Leonardo isn’t going to help so he goes for assistance. Leonardo tells Stefano that it was all done to protect the boy. Stefano reminds him that he would orphan him with his death. Leonardo pleads with him to keep this a secret. Salai is allowed to come inside to see his friend. He begins crying as he tells Leonardo that he did what he was asked. Stefano finds Sanseverino talking to Rossi. He is asked about the signed confession. Stefano gives it to Rossi who mentions his promotion. Salai doesn’t think he is anything without Leonardo, but Leonardo says he is an artist. Stefano says there was no mention of any boy. Sanseverino decides to stick around to watch Leonardo hang. He admits he has seen Leonardo bring back the dead before. Stefano realizes something so he walks out and confronts Salai to ask for his help. He wants to find the letter written by Caterina. Luca approaches Leonardo to hear his confession.

Stefano and Salai search the studio for the letter while Leonardo is prepared for his execution. Leonardo steps up to the noose as it is put around his neck. They begin hanging him until Stefano arrives and yells that he is innocent. Stefano says he has proof of Leonardo’s innocent and Sanseverino is plotting on behalf of Ludovico Sforza. Caterina’s letter swears that Sanseverino poisoned Gian Galeazzo. He killed her to prevent her letter from being public. When they try to arrest Sanseverino, he fights them off and flees. Later, Stefano admits he didn’t have a letter so he bluffed. He says Sanseverino knew he poisoned Gian and that is all that mattered. Stefano still believes Leonardo poisoned Caterina though. He says he poisoned her and not that he killed her. Stefano says he knew to save the boy he had to disappear and Caterina had to die. Leonardo got Salai to deliver a letter to Luca who agreed to take the boy.

For Leonardo’s plan to work, nobody could remember what Caterina looked like. Stefano thinks he burned all the sketches and Luca’s letter. By the time Caterina found out what he was going to do, she was too weak to find out. Leonardo was the one who invited Bernardo over because he needed a witness to see what he had staged. Stefano believes he brought Caterina back from the dead so the funeral baffled him. He thinks Leonardo had Salai replace Caterina with one of the corpses given to him by his old friend. Leonardo didn’t mean to get caught, but couldn’t leave until he found one of the last pictures of Caterina. Stefano takes Leonardo to Caterina. She tells him she should kill him for killing her like that, but Leonardo says there was no other way. Francesco is reunited with his mother and Leonardo. Leonardo knows they won’t be safe as long as Ludovico is still alive. He says goodbye to Caterina. Salai says he’ll take care of Leonardi if he’ll left him. Once they leave, Leonardo tells Stefano he doesn’t understand why he did this.

Stefano admits Leonardo helped him change the way he sees the world. There is a painting he’d like to see Leonardo finish too. Ludovico tried to escape prison but failed. He remained in French custody until his death in 1508. The fate of Caterina remains lost to history. Only one image of her survives. Francesco has it. Leonardo struggled to perfect the Mona Lisa and her mysterious smile for the rest of his life.

 

Leonardo Review

The finale of Leonardo focused primarily on Caterina’s murder and the possible guilt of Leonardo. Not much historical relevance was provided in the episode. At the very least, the story and subsequent revelations were clever and mostly satisfying. There were some good performances and twists that helped carry the episode and make it interesting from start to finish.

The casting for the entire series was truly remarkable in this day and age. Carlos Cuevas, Aidan Turner, James D’Arcy, Matilda De Angelis, and others did exceptionally well in their respective roles. The story could’ve been a bit better at times, but Leonardo was a competent drama that blended history with fiction. It is still a bit surprising that Leonardo was renewed for another season, but there are still many stories to tell.

Hopefully, the story for the next season is a little more historically accurate. Those who manage to stick with  Leonardo may find emotional value beneath the surface. The finale scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of Leonardo can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.