Season one of “Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery” began and ended most dramatically. “Framed” began with Salvo and Val being held at gunpoint by a strange man on a cliffside right outside their van, which was carrying an unconscious body. The show ends with Salvo and Val being held at gunpoint by Tonino, the henchman of the Holy Father known as Padre Santissimo. Padre Santissimo, looking all rugged and tired, happens to jump in front of the duo’s van and iswas joined by Tonino, the most loyal man of the Holy Father. Before this unexpected scenario, Salvo and Val were responsible for the entire raid that happened on Padre Santissimo’s establishment, which led to Primo Sale and his other men getting arrested. To take revenge for the same, Tonino takes it upon himself to protect the physically distressed Padre, and kill Salvo and Val.
Season one was all about how Salvo and Val got intertwined in the mess of a murder investigation of Alberto Gambino. Salvo, being a fan of a long-running American crime investigative thriller, takes it upon himself to get them out of the situation, only for it to blow up in his face when he learns Gambino and his wife Ester were having an affair. Val, the meek and shy best friend of Salvo, then takes up the responsibility of getting them out of the mess. Padre was not caught in the first raid led by Agata and the public prosecutor Nicolosi. The second season is an extension of the first, where the plot takes off from where it ended and leads the viewers through a rollercoaster ride of lies, rigorous investigation, love, and family attachment.
Spoilers Ahead
Trouble Follows Salvatore And Valentino
Salvo and Val are having the time of their lives since the big breakthrough of the raid. Agata and Val confess their love for each other, and Salvo is separated from his wife of many years, Ester. Salvo lives in a small bungalow he inherited from his grandfather, away from the town, and plans to recuperate from the fall of his marriage. Salvo thought they were happily married, but it turns out that Ester hadn’t been happy in the marriage, and thus she pursued an affair with the mafia accountant Gambino, who was killed. Though Salvo claims to be happy being alone since the separation, internally, he is alone and feels extremely lonely. He spends his time watching the prequel to the show he was obsessed with. But Salvo never reveals his loneliness to anyone, including his best friend, Val. Salvo keeps insisting to his now-separated wife Ester and to Val that he is having the time of his life since the separation and he cannot be happier. Salvo goes ahead and requests that Val not seek a long-term commitment with Agata because he will eventually miss being single. On that fateful day, they encounter Tonino and the Holy Father, aka Padre Santissimo. Tonino is in no mood to let Salvo and Val go alive when the vehicle carrying the unconscious body of Padre starts drifting towards the cliff. Val saves the van and the man in it, making Tonino indebted to Val for saving his boss.
Taking advantage of their vulnerability, Tonino takes the unconscious and slightly unhealthy Padre to Salvo’s home, something Salvo does not want. Both Salvo and Val had hoped to have gotten the mafia off their backs, but they have now returned, bringing in more trouble, with Val dating Agata and him considering moving in with her. Salvo and Val are in no mood to entertain the Holy Father and his henchmen, but the fully loaded gun in their hands gives Salvo and Val no choice but to shelter them. Moreover, Tonino starts ordering Salvo to get a specific doctor for Padre by putting another gun on Val’s head. The duo has no choice but to follow the orders. To make sure they keep following their orders, Tonino orders the remaining of his men to kidnap Val’s mother and bring her to Salvo’s home, which has now become the safe house where all of them reside and from where Tonino and Padre are carrying out their work.
Agata is keen on introducing Robertino, her son to Val as she and Val are considering moving in with each other as a step forward in their relationship. Val now has second thoughts about moving in because of the return of Padre in his life and the fact that he is not sure how much he can hide from Agata again. Agata was once upset to see Val break her trust, but she somehow regained the trust she had in him by the end of season one. Val does not intend to hurt her again and lose her in the process. Plus, letting him meet her son is a big step for Agata and Val, which would mean they are serious about each other. Val’s other concern is his overbearing mother, who can’t seem to let go of her adult son and keeps emotionally blackmailing him into staying with her and not pursuing Agata. Agata, understanding Val’s and his mother’s dynamics, stops responding to him and slowly starts cutting personal ties with him while maintaining a professional relationship.
Salvo, on the other hand, is putting on a face of contentment and happiness while he is struggling without Ester in his life and is feeling pangs of loneliness that hit him in the form of various nightmares. He is having a tough time figuring out if he should give his wife another chance or go ahead with the divorce, even though he comes to know of the details of the affair from a tape gathered by Agata, which further intensifies the loss of trust in Ester. Ester, though, is missing her husband, and to cope with her separation from him, she joins painting classes, starts watching the show that Salvo talks about, and starts spending more time with her mother. Ester is remorseful for the act she committed while married to Salvo, and she is trying to make amends with him. Salvo does not respond to her actions. He ends up going on a date, which turns into a disaster as well. Both Ester and Salvo are at a juncture where they can’t seem to decide whether to go ahead with the divorce or try working on their marriage. Salvo admits to wanting Ester in his life, but with the advent of Padre and his men in his and Val’s lives, he does not want to endanger Ester. Salvo’s ego gets the worst of him, which helps him keep his emotions at bay and Ester far away from him out of fear of infidelity.
Season 2: Ending Explained – Is Padre Santissimo Finally Caught? What Is The Role Of La Russo?
Padre Santissimo and his team of henchmen are terrified when their colleagues are murdered in broad daylight, two of them at the scene of the crime where Gambino was found. Padre is anxious to know who the killer might be, and there is a police investigation of the murders too. Padre, on the other hand, owes a bunch of Mexican mafia lords some cash. His situation is dire; he is approached by a person who is willing to give Padre the money in return for Gambino’s laptop, which contains plenty of crucial information about Padre, his business deals, and transactions. Padre kept Gambino’s laptop close to his heart, hoping to crack it and gain intel about what exactly Gambino shared with the police. With no solution in sight, he considers selling the laptop, hoping to get the money to pay back the loan. Padre and Tonino are in a difficult situation where they seem to be feeling cornered. Padre arm-twists Salvo and Val to help him break Primo Sale, his most trustworthy henchman after Tonino, out of jail. The whole idea of busting Primo Sale is to make sure he does all the dirty work for Padre from here on, as Primo is a very handsy man and gets things done in a jiffy, unlike Tonino. Tonino’s only task is to protect Padre at any cost.
The thief who is demanding Gambino’s laptop from Padre in return for money turns out to be Agata’s colleague, LaRusso. LaRusso, during one of the tapped calls, comes to know that Gambino has been stealing money from Padre. Russo starts blackmailing Gambino for money in return for his silence. Gambino was not aware of Russo being a police officer, and Russo never thought Gambino would turn into a police informant. He politely refuses to interrogate Gambino because he is sure he will be recognized. To make sure Gambino does not reveal to the police that he is being blackmailed for the money he is stealing from Padre, Russo decides to eliminate Gambino for good and plants Salvo and Val at Gambino’s apartment to make sure they are implicated in the crime. Ester’s affair with Gambino became an added element that points to the fact that Salvo must have killed Gambino. When Agata comes across Russo as the blackmailer and learns that he is willing to trade the laptop with Padre, she instructs the prosecutor to arrest Russo. It took some time, but Agata was finally able to crack the fact that someone from her team was in touch with Padre, informing him of the police’s moves as well. Russo’s involvement comes as a shock, but she is finally able to crack Gambino’s murder. Agata, though, is kidnapped by Padre on the instructions of Russo right before his arrest. Val will now have to take a stand against the mafia to save his mother and his girlfriend.
Now, in the pursuit of Padre Santissimo, the Holy Father, Salvo, and Val will have to find a way to find out where the hostages have been kept. Salvo has his eureka moment when he realizes a particular doctor he was sent for in the beginning is the only one who can help find Padre. Padre is a highly diabetic man, and his men working with him are constantly telling him to take medicines. Salvo and Val hatch an elaborate plan to get the doctor to meet Padre, with him being arrested on the spot. Their plan works like a charm, but again Padre escapes with Tonino, only for Tonino to realize he must stop running. Agata’s team finally catches up with Padre, and his gang is arrested in full view of the public, with the town rejoicing at this event. Agata is more than happy to have Val’s involvement in catching the biggest kingpin she and the public prosecutor have been pursuing. Val and Agata again find a way to trust each other, and Robertino is accepting of his mother’s relationship with Val. Val, who was always considered an emotional person who can be easily manipulated, finally takes a stand and decides to pursue Agata because he loves her and is not falling for his mother’s constant martyr talks. Lastly, Salvo feels great to have used his knowledge from his favorite criminal investigative shows. Salvo also considers getting back together with Ester in the hope of making himself and her happy. Salvo finally admits to being in love with Ester and forgives her. He agrees to help her make amends as a married couple and live happily ever after. The show ends with the lead character of “The Touch of the Killer,” police officer Jackson, watching the show “Framed” on his television, giving way to the concept of a television show inside another television show, giving “Framed” a meta-theme.
Will There Be A Season 3?
The meta way in which the show ended leaves the viewers wanting more. Will it set the stage for the next season, where we might see a cameo of the characters from the show that Salvo diligently watches in “Framed”? Even if the show is renewed for a third season, the audience will want to know what kind of trouble Salvo and Val will fall into next, only to be saved by Agata and her team of officers. There is no news of Netflix picking up this show for another season, but if there is, we will be intrigued to know the subject matter of the next season.
Final Thoughts
Even though the second season of “Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery” is a continuation of the first season, the screenplay in this season felt very rushed, and there are many subplots that the writers wanted to pursue, but many of them did not have a proper closure. The humor, too, in this season lacked and did not land. The satirical nature of the show did not swell up this season. The writers introduced the media war between two different journalists from two different channels; that subplot did not serve much of a purpose because it did not add any value to the narrative. It only projected the fact that television news media would do anything to gain more viewership. The main plot points were rushed, and as a viewer, I couldn’t connect the dots. The show is an investigative thriller as well, so connecting the dots to the actual murder should make sense by the end of it. Sadly, this season lacked that. The humor, narrative, and pacing that we saw in the first season were not visible in this season. The humor only worked in parts that should not have happened, for at core it is a comedy show. But overall, “Framed! A Sicilian Murder Mystery” is a decent extension of the first season, and even though it takes time to reach the endpoint, a satisfying conclusion works in the show’s favor.
