Okay, for those who might be worried about it, I didn't think it was THAT dark. Kinky, and slightly dubious (in a still sexy way), but not that dark all considered. I mean Stefano was at least... polite? when poking Silvio in fascinating ways. He wasn't trying to hurt Silvio once he was well and truly smitten with him. (It does beg the question of what Silvio was actually doing in Stefano's room, but I suspect Aleks will eventually answer that.) 
 I was happy to have figured out the reason behind Battista's decision just before it was stated. (view spoiler)[When Silvio said it was Battista's "sexual preference", that's when the comment "it was a long time in coming" clicked. =) (hide spoiler)] 
 I liked the split of the two stories into the episodes instead of trying to work them together into one. It worked well for the tone of the two stories, since they were completely different. I'm looking forward to the rest of these stories.