The Final Episode of Inspector Montalbano
This Italian crime series started in 1999, and ended in 2021 with episode number 37. Unfortunately, it went out with a whimper rather than a bang.
I used to quite enjoy Inspector Montalbano. Even though the titular figure could be a bit of a jerk, the setting in Sicily was interesting, and of course there is the beautiful seaside apartment he enjoys. Yes, the office clown character was annoying, and his sidekicks never changed over the years, but the stories were generally engaging, and I appreciated the insights into Sicilian society. And it was always fun to see the detectives drive around in tiny cars instead of SUVs.
For the first or15 years or so, I continued to look forward to watching the episodes when they arrived, generally two a year.. But then the series started to decline, probably no coincidence when Luca Zingaretti, who plays Montalbano, also took over as Executive Producer. Maybe he wasn’t as good at raising money, because the budgets obviously got lower and lower. The guest stars got less accomplished, and more and more of each episode seemed like filler. During one of the latter episodes I started paying attention to how much of the air time was spent showing them driving around and getting in and out of those tiny cars, and it was a lot.
This brings us to the final episode. Near the beginning we meet an attractive young lady, who I guessed would turn out to be an unknown granddaughter. But no, the two of them for some reason began a rather disgusting romance, presented in the most cliched manner possible. It threw me off so much I don’t remember much about the rest of the story, though one aspect stands out. Montalbano’s long-suffering on/off girlfriend Livia finally gave him the (well-deserved) boot once and for all.
I can still recommend the first 30 or so episodes of Inspector Montalbano, but it becomes increasingly tough sledding after that.
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