Da Vinci’s Demons over the top history

Da Vinci’s Demons is just in its second week, but already the die is cast. Believers and unbelievers alike who saw last week’s premiere, The Hanged Man, know what to expect from Friday’s followup, The Serpent. Career screenwriter David S. Goyer’s noisy, frenetic, deliberately over-the-top version of history paints Leonardo da Vinci as a 16th century punk-rock musician and temperamental artist who, at age 25, shows great promise … if he’d just settle down and decide what he wants to do with his life.

In tonight’s episode, da Vinci embarks on a grand quest for the Book of Leaves, just as his designs for new war machines fail spectacularly.

The Pope is not amused; his nephew dispatches a spy to Florence who finds that da Vinci is just as wild, unpredictable and annoying as the stories make him out to be. Mayhem ensues.

Da Vinci’s Demons finished its first season earlier this month on the premium cable channel Starz, where it exceeded ratings expectations.

It’s airing in Canada now, for the first time, and a second season is already confirmed. (9 p.m., Super Channel)

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History of a more sober kind — though no less interesting — Curse of the Axe examines a present-day archeological dig on the outskirts of Toronto, and the remarkable find of a Huron First Nation village that could change much of what historians thought they knew about how early Huron people lived. (8 p.m., History)

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Oprah Winfrey sits down with new mother Drew Barrymore on Oprah’s Next Chapter and talks about the former child star’s childhood, and how Barrymore hopes to use her own experience to be a better mother. (8 p.m., OWN)

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Degrassi commemorates a special occasion in the lives of its young characters with an hour-long graduation special, The Time of My Life, in which Fiona (Annie Cark) and Bianca (Alicia Josipovic), among others, say goodbye. A new season begins July 11. (9 p.m., MuchMusic)