The Betrothal Ball

After last week's defeat of Piero's Evil Scheme surely Leo and Company will settle down to a nice quiet life? Wrong! Piero is not yet subdued and has multiple Evil Schemes up his Florentine sleeve. This week he has decided to expand his horizons and forge an alliance with the wealthy Visconti family from Pisa. The forging will be accomplished through an arranged marriage between the unwitting Lorenzo and the beautiful, but oh-so-haughty Angelica Visconti. Florence is abuzz as it's Carnevale and the Medicis are throwing a lavish masqued ball. Lorenzo is flabbergasted when his father suggests he invite Tom, Mac and Leo to the ball. This leads to a very awkward moment when Lorenzo hands out invites to his friends who still haven't quite forgiven him for siding with Piero. At first they don't want to go, but the lure of an exclusive shindig is too much to resist and Tom has her eye on a fancy ball gown. Leo find himself agreeing to both attend and accompany Lorenzo on his new invention, the viola organista. Excited to be back in Leo's good graces, Lorenzo presents him with a fancy new doublet for the ball; and he has the matching version!

Music hath charms

Coincidentally, when Tom gets to the ball she discovers that her fabulous new gown is a copy of Angelica's designer original. Angelica is not pleased and gives Tom the cold shoulder. Mac spends the ball in a jealous stew as Tom is feted by the eligible young men at the party. He trips up when Leo switches masques with Lorenzo. Thinking he is Lorenzo, Mac complains that Tom is so obsessed with Leo that she doesn't notice that he loves her. Leo is astonished to hear this and Mac quickly covers up by pretending he knew it was Leo the whole time and was joking. Leo then mistakenly confides in Angelica (who he thinks is Tom) that Mac has just claimed that she likes him. Leo then blabs to Tom that Mac likes her, which she doesn't believe. Before Leo can muck up everything, Lorenzo drags Leo away to play for him while he sings.

Comedy of errors: Tom and Angelica realize they are wearing the same dress

Lorenzo's mother takes the opportunity to announce Lorenzo's betrothal to Angelica, mistakenly pulling Tom in from the crowd. Suddenly, smoke fills the ballroom and when it clears Tom and Lorenzo are gone. Piero can't disguise the shock on his face when Angelica announces she has not been kidnapped as that was his plan all along. Meanwhile, Tom and Lorenzo are escorted at gunpoint by a masqued man through the back alleys of Florence.

Tom is no slouch and has left feathers from her costume along the way as clues, allowing Mac and Leo to follow her. She also manages to distract the kidnapper long enough for Lorenzo to get away. He runs for help to some nearby cut purses, who decide to kidnap him for ransom instead. Leo, Tom and Mac follow him and rescue him from the cut purses. The masqued kidnapper is waylaid by Piero who is furious that he allowed Lorenzo to be kidnapped. He warns the kidnapper not to forget their deal and when Lorenzo returns safely the kidnapper falsely testifies that the Duke of Milan hired him to kidnap Lorenzo and Angelica. Piero's cousin The Duke of Florence decides he must hasten to Milan to prevent a war.

"I'm sure there will be absolutely zero plotting while I'm gone!"

The episode's tensions are left unresolved when Leo appears to have forgotten the whole "Mac likes Tom and she likes Leo" incident. Or has he?

Third wheel

In this episode we get to see Colin Ryan show off his vocal training as he sings the English version of a medieval frottola by Renaissance composer Bartolomeo Tromboncino. Piero is given a bit more dimension in this episode when his son is kidnapped and he seems to genuinely be upset (The only legitimately non-evil emotion he has shown this season).

Medicis stick together

On a historical note, Leo's invention of the viola organista was a real-life creation of Lenardo Da Vinci, although his design was somewhat different.

Drawing of viola organista from Leonardo Da Vinci's notebook