Through the series Maestro in Blue, streaming on Netflix, we get introduced to the very beautiful little town of Paxos. But while the town is beautiful, the people certainly are not, especially Charalambos. From the get-go, he is clearly the villain of the series. Honestly, if you ask me, I’d call him that. Throughout the whole season, we get hints that someone might murder him. Not going to lie, his death kind of saved some people’s lives, I think, but on the other hand, it ruined others’ lives as well. But what was the motive behind his murder? Was it premeditated or was it sudden? We will get to know it from this article.
Spoilers Ahead
What kind of man was Charalambos?
Charalambos’ character was the most disgusting in the series, in my opinion. Honestly, I hate the man so deeply that his death felt like a blessing in disguise. To describe what kind of man he was, he was cruel, abusive, selfish, and had massive anger issues. I hate him even more because of how cruel and abusive he was towards his own wife, Maria. She was the kindest person I have ever seen, and the way he tortured and showed aggression towards her broke my heart. She did not deserve it. I think he hated himself as a man because he was a failure. He couldn’t be a proper husband or father, and he didn’t even have a proper job. He was involved in Mayor Fanis’ money-laundering business. So, he wasn’t well-off, was a drunkard, and took out his pent-up aggression not only on his wife but also on his son. The main reason for this was because his son was gay.
Charalambos was extremely homophobic. Well, most of the men in that small town were. He didn’t have a proper education and hadn’t met many people, so he didn’t have a proper worldview of what’s right or wrong. To him, being gay was enough reason to beat his son up because he thought his son wasn’t man enough. If he were, he wouldn’t have been gay, according to Charalambos. He even forced his son to get involved with girls. He went as far as making him date a girl named Lianna. Spyros was so afraid to disappoint his father and afraid of getting beaten up and humiliated that, to please him, he had to live with Lianna, hiding his true feelings for Antonis, Fanis’ son, who was also gay. Spyros had to hide their relationship to avoid emasculating comments from his father and getting beaten up by Charalambos. And that man was so disgusting that, one day, being drunk, he even molested Lianna as well! On the other hand, Charalambos started to feel so insecure about his future in town that he threatened Fanis, telling him he would expose his money laundering schemes and reveal that his son is gay, that his daughter is in love with an older married man, and that his wife is in love with the town doctor. He knew all the town’s secrets and threatened Fanis, demanding extra money for all the shipments. He promised to expose everything before the upcoming election, knowing Fanis had a lot to lose. So, you get an idea of what kind of flawed character he was.
Why was Charalambos murdered?
From the first appearance, you would think that there would be so many people lined up to kill Charalambos. For instance, his own family members—his wife and son—might have had enough of his nonsense and couldn’t bear the torture and humiliation anymore. On the other hand, there was Fanis, who knew if Charalambos opened his mouth, it would expose him and ruin his chance of being mayor, so maybe he would kill him. Then there was Sofia, Fanis’ wife, who hated Charalambos too, seeing how he was a threat to her husband and also to Maria and Spyros’ lives. Or was it Orestis, knowing that Charalambos would expose his relationship with Klelia to the community, giving them a chance to shame them, and maybe that’s why he wanted to silence him? But you know what? None of them killed him. It was Antonis, the mayor’s son. And to answer your question, no, the murder was not premeditated, but an act of self-defense. In a town where narrow-minded people were cruel to queer people, thinking they were ruining the culture, heritage, beauty, and authenticity of the town, Antonis and Spyros had to hide their relationship from society and especially from their homophobic fathers. But the problem was that they weren’t being as discreet as they thought. One day, they went to the forest behind a ruin to get intimate, and Charalambos followed them to catch them red-handed and beat them up for committing the “despicable” act of being in love—one man with another! As he followed them and saw them, he started beating Spyros very cruelly, so much so that Charalambos thought of killing Spyros by throwing a rock at him. When Antonis saw this, he couldn’t help but take a gun and shoot Charalambos from behind. He had to. How could he let Charalambos kill Spyros like that just for being homosexual? He couldn’t stand it.
The aftermath of this crime was horrifying for all. At the end of season 1, we see Charalambos’ body being dragged to Orestis’ house and later dumped into the river by Orestis, Fanis, and Spyros. According to Fanis, this was the best way to protect the boys from being taken into police custody. To be honest, I think Fanis suggested this to avoid getting exposed and ruining his chances in the upcoming mayoral election. Being involved in this crime took an emotional toll on everyone involved. Orestis, Fanis, Orestis’ wife Alexandra—who helped clean up the blood and hide the body—and, of course, the boys, Spyros and Antonis, were all deeply affected. After this, we see Orestis and Alexandra moving from Paxos to Athens to break all ties with the town and focus on their future as soon-to-be parents. Fanis, on the other hand, remains the mayor of Paxos, trying to show that he is sympathetic towards Maria and Spyros by sending out a search warrant for Charalambos, hiding the fact that he knew everything.
As for Antonis, the fact that he murdered someone still haunts him, and he later moves to Athens with his sister to try to move on with his life. Even though Charalambos is gone, his abuse still haunts both Maria and Spyros. Spyros tries to be his own man and could have mended his relationship with Antonis, but he didn’t. He still tries to live in Paxos with Lianna, trying to live up to his late father’s expectations to be a proper “man” and not act like gay. Meanwhile, Maria feels an empty void inside her, amazed that she is no longer being beaten every day. At the end of season 2, the investigation into the murder is still ongoing, although the truth hasn’t been exposed yet. But Charalambos’ death has definitely changed people’s lives, to say the least.
