Lidia Poet’s return to Netflix is rather disappointing: here’s why
Lidia Poet is back on Netflix with its third and final season. The Italian series he saw Matilda De Angelis in the role of Italy’s first lawyer ends with six new episodes available from April 15th.
A period procedural drama which, since its debut in 2023, had conquered for its freshness and courage, distinguishing itself from the serial standards of the moment. A story of female independence told without too many clichés. This time, however, something didn’t work and Lidia Poet’s story, in its ending, left a bad taste in our mouths.
Lidia Poet 3: the plot
We are in Turin, in 1887. Enrico, Lidia’s brother, has become a deputy while she is struggling with a secret relationship with the prosecutor Fourneau, who has had a promotion in the Court of Assizes and will find himself working on a case involving Lidia’s best friend, accused of murder.
Meanwhile, Jacopo returns to Turin with a new girlfriend: a Spanish opera singer.
Lidia Poet 3: everything that didn’t work
It should have been a powerful, original, courageous series finale, but instead Lidia Poet 3 turned out to be a missed opportunity. The last chapter of the series directed by Matteo Rovere, in fact, gets lost in a story that is too hasty, not very incisive, almost listless. As if this story had been completed more out of duty than out of real narrative necessity.
What had been one of the strongest Italian series of recent years lost much of its identity precisely in its finale. And what a shame.
The protagonist, who from the first season was presented to us as a rebellious and combative modern heroine, in these new episodes loses all her charisma, her enterprising character and that desire to fight for her greatest love: the profession of lawyer.
And this is how the series stops being what it was, transforming itself from a historical legal drama on women’s rights into yet another Bridgerton-style romantic tale. The attention, in fact, is entirely focused on a love triangle between the protagonists that is so predictable as to be truly uninvolving.
A hasty and unimpressive ending
There is too much haste in Lidia Poet’s ending, little narrative tension and too little attention to the legal component. Although there are the canonical cases to solve, these take a totally secondary place compared to the romantic aspect of the story.
The addition of new characters to the cast does not enrich the series, on the contrary, it is often an expedient to “stretch the plot”. The most interesting dynamics of past seasons, such as the relationship between Lidia and her brother Enrico, in fact, lose their centrality, impoverishing the story from the point of view of emotional involvement.
Above all, Pier Luigi Pasino and Sara Lazzaro stand out, providing the most authentic and strong moments of the season. In fact, through their characters and their acting skills, there is an interesting reflection on marriage and it is one of the few truly successful lines.
The verdict
Lidia Poët’s television memoir would have deserved a stronger, more conscious ending, more in line with its original spirit but, unfortunately, it was reduced to yet another love story. And this can only disappoint us.
Rating: 6
