After a successful first season, it’s no surprise that The Law According to Lidia Poet was renewed for a second installment. Lidia Poet was an exceptional lawyer and a prominent feminist figure. During the 19th century, when women were expected to abide by their gender roles, Poet dared to question the societal framework. Even though she had the opportunity to move to a country where women could practice law, Lidia chose to stay in Turin, Italy, and fight for the change she envisioned. The second season continues from where it had left off when it comes to Lidia’s personal life; there is one overarching case that unfolds through the course of the six episodes, though in every episode, separate cases are also solved.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Lidia help Andrea?
Lidia did not expect to cross paths with Andrea after she decided to continue living in Turin instead of accompanying him to New York. Andrea had changed significantly; from a free spirited lover, he now intended to become a family man. He was in love with Letizia, and their wedding was held in Turin. It was not easy for Lidia to watch the man she once loved get married. Things took a turn when a man’s body was found at the wedding venue, and Letizia was suspected of murdering Alfredo Giordano. Andrea refused to believe that his wife was the murderer, and he begged Lidia to help him prove her innocent. The fact that Letizia’s wedding dress was covered with the deceased man’s blood made Lidia question her innocence. After conducting a thorough investigation, Lidia concluded that the murder victim was a henchman of loan shark Emilio Zonta. But why was he at the wedding?
After speaking to Zonta, Lidia learned that the victim was searching for his son. Lidia deduced that there was indeed a connection between Letizia and Alfredo. They used to be in love, and they had a child together, Romeo. Soon after conception, she’d moved to New York with her sister. When Letizia was questioned, she explained that she’d met Alfredo three years ago. Even though she knew he was bad company, she felt tempted to be with him. She initially enjoyed the thrill of it, but soon he started to become violent and possessive. Just when she thought she was ready to start a new life with Andrea, Alfredo showed up at her wedding. He threatened to kidnap her son if she did not get back with him. Letizia felt helpless, and when Alfredo grabbed her by the neck, as an act of self-defense, she stabbed him with a letter opener. Even though Letizia was not at fault, Lidia knew it would be difficult to prove her innocence in court because there were no witnesses to support her statement. If the truth surfaced, people would label Letizia as a ‘bad’ woman who dared to take her son away from his legitimate father. So, Lidia came up with an alternate plan.
Instead of Letizia admitting to the crime, she suggested Andrea take the blame upon himself. Among Alfredo’s belongings, Lidia left a loan slip in Andrea’s name so that by the time the prosecutor found it, he would conclude that Andrea killed Alfredo because he could not afford to pay him back. By the time the prosecutor gathered the evidence, Andrea had already left the country. Letizia was released since the evidence proved that she was innocent, and soon she too left the country to reunite with Andrea. Lidia later received a call from Andrea. He was thankful because, without Lidia, none of it would have been possible. Lidia planted evidence and risked her life, because somewhere deep down she continued to adore Andrea. She could not see him unhappy, and even though she knew that maybe he would not have done the same for her, she admired his courage for giving it all away for the person he loved. While Lidia’s love life was all messed up, she felt happy seeing Andrea’s love for Letizia.
How did Lorenzo help Lidia?
In season 2 of The Law According to Lidia Poet, Lorenzo, the gardener Lidia’s niece, Marianna, used to be in love with, makes a return. After he accepted money from Marianna’s mother, Lorenzo’d disappeared, only to return when he learned that Marianna was about to marry the duke’s son. But Marianna showed no interest in him, and we soon discover that Lorenzo started working as a prison guard at the Nuove prison. Lidia and Lorenzo crossed paths again after a prisoner, Bruno Corsi, attempted to escape from prison. Prosecutor Fournau suspected that Corsi had killed a prison guard, Francesco Macelli, during his escape. After inspecting the crime scene, the prosecutor deduced that Macelli and Corsi had been struggling for hours, and he thought it was strange that Macelli did not raise the alarm. Also, ink marks were found on the victim’s wrist, and his arm was dislocated, suggesting that someone had held him down. So he wanted Lidia to study the case, and he suggested Enrico defend Bruno Corsi. Given that Enrico was contesting the election to become a counselor, the public did not take his decision to defend Corsi well, and Lidia was under pressure to prove that Corsi was innocent and there was something bigger at play.
Lorenzo helped Lidia solve the case. He spied on his colleagues and discovered that they often visited the abandoned section of the prison together at night with prisoner Amilcare Rolli. Rolli was serving a five-year sentence for counterfeiting money and government bonds. According to Lidia’s hypothesis, Rolli, along with prison guards Salvemini and Ambrosio, was counterfeiting money at the abandoned section of the prison. While speaking to Rolli was not useful, he did slip a gold molar tooth into Enrico’s coat pocket. Lidia realized that Rolli could not speak freely in prison, and he left the gold tooth as a hint. The prison commander, Talarico, had a few gold teeth, suggesting that he was involved in the death of Macelli. Lidia theorized that when Macelli found out about their secret operation and threatened to expose them, the commander murdered him. Rolli had picked up the golden molar that fell on the floor during the struggle. But she needed concrete evidence to prove that Commander Talarico was the murderer.
When Lidia told Lorenzo her theory, he believed she was mistaken, and he decided to confront the commander. Lorenzo told Talarico that he had found his gold molar at the abandoned sector of the prison, and he hoped there would be an explanation for it. The commander pretended to not know what Lorenzo was insinuating, and he suggested they hand over the evidence to the prosecutor. Soon, Lorenzo realized that Lidia was right. Instead of driving to the prosecutor’s office, Talarico attempted to murder Lorenzo, but thankfully Lidia and Enrico intervened. The commander had no choice but to surrender, and once again Lidia saved the day.
Why was Attila Brusaferro murdered?
In season 2, the mystery behind journalist Attila’s murder unfolds throughout the six episodes. As a fellow journalist and friend, Jacopo refused to give up on the case, and he suspected that Attila was chasing a story that resulted in his murder. After chasing several leads, Jacopo discovered that bookstore owner Nitti had sold secret documents to Attila. The day Jacopo was finally going to meet Nitti in secrecy, he discovered that their call had been tapped and Nitti was killed before he could confess the truth. The documents that Nitti had handed to Attila were inside a 17th-century edition of “Confessions of Saint Augustine,” but even after searching Attila’s house thoroughly, Lidia and Jacopo could not find the book. While Prosecutor Fourneau focused on finding the document, Lidia and Jacopo decided to track the footsteps of the killer responsible for Nitti’s death. The suspect had hopped on a carriage after murdering Nitti, and after speaking to the driver, Lidia and Jacopo were told that he had dropped the man at a tavern. The duo rented a room there, and after striking up a friendly conversation with the tavern owner, Jacopo discovered that a killer-for-hire, Mario, often stopped by the place. He had the name and the location, and he immediately informed the police.
Meanwhile, Fourneau found the limited edition book hidden in Attila’s fireplace. He discovered that the documents Nitti had delivered were payment slips of various bank deposits of large sums of money for an operation called “15th March.” Despite the apparent corruption, they had not yet located the account holders or reached a definitive conclusion.
When the police surrounded Mario’s house, Lidia offered to help him reduce his prison sentence, and her only condition was that he had to confess the truth. Mario explained that there were many people involved in the murder plot and it was impossible to name one. He also added that “15th March” was the code name of a coup d’etat (referring to the Ides of March, the day Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated). President Depretis was invited by Senator Crevaro for dinner at his house, and according to Mario, the place would be blown up.
Fourneau reached Crevaro’s house and conducted a thorough search; meanwhile, Jacopo and Lidia waited outside the senator’s house. Jacopo was going through the payment slips, and he felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of documents involving the coup d’etat. When he mentioned a Schwarzenberg watch among the many other things mentioned in the documents, Lidia froze. She remembered Enrico saying that Senator Crevaro had sent him the rare Schwarzenberg watch as a token of appreciation. President Depretis was scheduled to meet Enrico to congratulate him, and Lidia concluded that the watch would blow up, taking out her entire family as well as the president. She ran as fast as she could to her house and grabbed the watch. Enrico and the President were confused, and Enrico tried to stop her and Jacopo from dropping the watch into the fountain pool. Lidia tried to explain that the watch had a bomb embedded in it, and while Enrico did not believe her at first, soon the bomb exploded, and it was obvious that Lidia was right. The president thanked Lidia for saving his life, but he instructed them not to speak about the incident in public since it could create a sense of panic.
During the ending of The Law According to Lidia Poet season 2, it was evident that the man responsible for Attila’s death was Senator Crevaro. While he pretended to be a progressive man with the right intentions, the truth finally surfaced. Crevaro was instigated by the Bank of Turin to conspire and plot against President Depretis, and he had worked with his opponent, Cavalier Juvara, to do so. Their plan was to take control of the country after the president’s death, and they would have blamed the anarchists for the bombing. Even though Crevaro was arrested for corruption, the larger conspiracy remained hushed up. Jacopo wanted to write all about it in his newspaper, but all his material was confiscated by the police. The ending suggests that the Senator had chosen Enrico to run for counselor not because he believed in his and Lidia’s vision but because they were a threat to him and he assumed he could get rid of them along with the President. Attila had found out about the senator’s involvement, and when Attila confronted him, the senator got rid of him.
Why did Lidia and Jacopo part ways?
In season 2’s ending, Jacopo boarded a train to Rome, and Lidia came to bid him a final goodbye. Throughout the second season, Lidia constantly felt conflicted in love. Jacopo had proposed to her, but she was not ready for marriage. Even though they were no longer together, they were still in love. Lidia missed Jacopo when he was not around, but she felt inadequate when she used to be with him. Lidia had realized that her life could never revolve around a man. She loved him, but there was so much more she had to do in life, and she was afraid that marriage would be an obstruction to the path she had chosen. Lidia had decided to dedicate her life to the women’s rights movement, and she was not ready to let romance distract her from her goal. Moreover, a married woman was expected to seek permission from her husband for almost everything, and that was not something Lidia wanted for herself. If she could, she perhaps would’ve accompanied Jacopo to Rome, but she knew she had so much more to do in Turin. Even though it broke her heart to bid goodbye to Jacopo, they both knew there was no other way. They were extremely driven by their professions and vision of a just and fair world, and marital bliss was not their goal. Lidia Poet remained unmarried all her life, but that does not mean she never loved. She admired many men, but she had a very clear purpose in life, and she stuck by it till the very end.
The Law According to Lidia Poet’s ending does not confirm a return, but then again, it is not completely unlikely. Jacopo played an important role in the investigations, and considering he will start a newspaper in Rome, it is doubtful if he’ll ever return. Enrico and Lidia will continue solving cases, but a third season might be a stretch. Season two ends on a good note, with Lidia determined, more than ever, to reach her goal, her brother as the counselor ready to support her cause, and the president impressed by her intelligence. Lidia saw a ray of hope for real change, and she was ready to turn her vision into reality.
