The Bad Guy Season 2: 5 Reasons Why We Really Need Season 2 with Luigi Lo Cascio and Claudia Pandolfi
After its preview debut at the Turin Film Festival, the first season of The Bad Guy, an exuberant TV series created by Giancarlo Fontana and Giuseppe G. Stasi, starring Luigi Lo Cascio and Claudia Pandolfi, has just ended on Prime Video. The story is that of Nino Scotellaro, a prosecutor at the forefront of the fight against the mafia, who, after an unjust conviction for collusion with the Cosa Nostra, is believed dead and finds himself forced to assume a new identity, transforming himself into the infamous” which gives the show its title: Balduccio Remora. His, however, is not the only life that is drastically turned upside down by the story: the presumed death of Nino and the rise of Balduccio also revolutionize the existence of his wife Luvi, a prominent lawyer who fell into disgrace for not being able to get him acquitted, and that of his sister Leo, an impulsive and very determined policewoman.
Put like this, it could seem like yet another Italian crime series, between the mafia, the judiciary and police investigations. Never as in this case, however, appearances can be deceiving: in reality, as we have already explained to you in our review, The Bad Guy is a decidedly original product, which establishes a small revolution in the Italian television language. Beyond its undoubted technical qualities and the ingenious use of the soundtrack, the show has the great merit of bringing together drama and comedy, crime and satire in an explosive and irreverent mix. Now, however, after an excellent first season, the second cycle of episodes becomes more necessary than ever. In the hope that Amazon Prime will fulfill our wish as soon as possible, in this article, strictly spoilers (those who have not seen the ending of the sixth and final episode, continue reading at your own risk!), We offer you five reasons why we really need The Bad Guy Season 2.
1. How will Nino Scotellaro/Balduccio Remora Survive?
The most pressing pending question obviously concerns the fate of the protagonist: after the failure of his ambush against Mariano Suro, we finally find ourselves in the presence of the elusive villain played by Antonio Catania (ie the irresistible Diego Lopez of Boris!). Nino/Balduccio wakes up a prisoner of the mafia boss who for years has been a real obsession for him, and Suro draws his gun, preparing to execute him.
The last words of the final sequence are already memorable: “You bear the name of a dead man, and I’ll make you dead. But first you have to tell me one thing: Balduccio Remora, cousin from South America… Who the fuck are you?”.
Will the protagonist resort to some extravagant gimmick, or will he seriously reveal that he is Nino Scotellaro, as the scene from the fanta-fiction “Paolo Bray – Good Magistrate” that takes place shortly after seems to suggest? And how could this contribute to saving his life, instead of sanctioning – as would seem obvious – his definitive death sentence? We really can’t imagine how our Nino can get out of that dead end unscathed, and we’re really eager to find out what twist the authors of the series have in store.
2. Why Did Luvi Hinder The First Blitz Against Mariano Suro?
“It’s not the first time you blow up a blitz, am I right?”. The words of the mafioso Palamita and Luvi’s drastic final about-face reveal to us that it was Nino’s wife who wrecked the protagonist’s first attempt to arrest the mafia boss who had caused his father’s death. The mystery of the mobile phone found in the protagonist’s house remains in the balance, but at this point, it is very probable that the device belonged to Luvi herself, since that false evidence was not placed in the house by Suro’s henchmen.
Evidently in the villain’s archives, there is a lot of compromising for Nino’s wife, who has allowed Cosa Nostra to blackmail her for years, but what is it about? What could have pushed (or, more likely, forced) Luvi to betray Nino’s trust, and to deny the memory of his father? And how will the protagonist take it if he finds out? It also remains to be understood how the woman will manage the improvised kidnapping of poor Palamita, and how she plans to use him to get to Mariano Suro. It is undeniable: the character of Claudia Pandolfi still hides many secrets, all to be explored.
3. What will Leo do now that he has discovered that the real Balduccio is dead?
Even the fate of the unscrupulous and adorable Leonarda pushes us to rave about a new season of The Bad Guy. Currently, Nino’s sister risks losing her job and ending up under indictment for freeing a mobster, but she has finally discovered that the alleged Balduccio Remora is not who he says he is because the “South American cousin” is dead for some years. How will he use this information to his advantage, and avoid impending doom? But above all, how will he find out more now that he no longer has an informant in the ranks of Cosa Nostra?
4. At the end of the series, will Nino really be arrested by Leonarda?
It should be remembered that The Bad Guy opens to the notes of Franco Battiato’s “Bandiera Bianca”, just a few minutes from what, in all likelihood, will be the final act of the series. Leonarda and the other agents of the Ros, in heavy gear, lay siege to the super-fugitive Balduccio Remora, and his last defense is a minefield that surrounds his refuge. We invite all viewers to rewatch the first two minutes of the first episode, which now take on a whole new meaning: Leo makes Nino understand that he has discovered his identity, and leverages his humanity by announcing his intention to plunge headlong through the minefield. The Nino we know would be ready to save his beloved younger sister, even at the cost of giving himself up and ending up in handcuffs.
But Balduccio seems much “worse” than his counterpart seen in the first season: an authentic “Bad Guy” in all respects, ready to sacrifice even Leo’s life in order not to give up. What made him so cruel and tough? But above all, is the situation really as desperate as it seems, or does the protagonist still have a few tricks up his sleeve? And are we really sure it’s not a hoax? The absence of the closing of the circle makes it really necessary to continue the story up to the grand finale since at present this beautiful sequence is really incomplete and even frustrating.
5. The Bad Guy Can Mark a New Course For Italian Seriality
We conclude our review of the reasons why we really need The Bad Guy 2 with a starting point that has nothing to do with the plot of the show and the many outstanding questions on the narrative level. At present The Bad Guy is still an open construction site, but it represents the beginning of a new path that could lead to profound changes in the Italian television language. Daring to profane a “sacred subject” such as that of the fight against the mafia with the typical irreverence of black comedy, and at the same time proposing a much more serious and pressing narrative architecture than any other comedy seen on small screens in the Bel Paese, the series by Stasi and Fontana seems to have really managed to give us a sort of “Italian Fargo”.
However, it is not a simple faded copy of the “magic formula” created by Noah Hawley (as happens in the case of the TV series The Tourist ), but a genuine and authentically local product, which exploits the cameos of pop figures such as Enrico Mentana and the Colapesce-Dimartino duo, as well as a provocative soundtrack that ranges from Mina to Achille Lauro, and from Battiato to “I’m in love”, to give life to a story that stands out for its originality, freshness and completely new tones.
Hoping not to be proven wrong, for now, we can say that The Bad Guy has all the credentials to set the standard, and really revolutionize the whole genre. The fate of this dramedy-tinged “new course”, however, inevitably rests on Prime Video’s announcement of a second season of the show: only in this way will The Bad Guy be able to try to take the plunge and move from the status of ” courageous experiment” to that of the new milestone of Italian seriality.
