As the fifth episode of Hotel Portofino begins, Bella Ainsworth (Natascha McElhone) catches Pelham Wingfield (Dominic Tighe) trying to leave the hotel early in the morning. She asks if he would mind mailing a letter for her once he reaches Milan and pays for the postage. She wishes him the best. As Pelham leaves, Vincenzo Danioni (Pasquale Esposito) arrives with Ricci from the inspectorate of Industry and Labour. Bella is given a letter that authorizes Ricci to inspect the hotel. Cecil Ainsworth (Mark Umbers) wakes up and grabs a cigarette lighter out of his jacket pocket. He also finds a letter that he decides to read. The letter is from Bella to Henry detailing her desires for Hotel Portofino and how she wishes he were by her side. Betty Scanlon (Elizabeth Carling) argues with Ricci and refuses to let him open the oven door while warning him there will be hell to pay if her buns don’t rise. As Cecil gets dressed, Vincenzo gives Bella the results of the inspection saying there were unhygienic conditions at the hotel.

She is threatened that she’ll have to make good or face closure in 14 days. She has to rush out of the room when she hears a commotion nearby. Cecil prepares to confront Bella until Jack Turner (Adam James) interrupts asking where the painting has gone. Jack screams for them to get the cops. Cecil puts the letter in his coat pocket while Bella leaves to get the authorities. Vincenzo questions a belligerent Jack before Cecil reminds him he was the guy who was supposed to be keeping the painting safe. Count Carlo Albani (Daniele Pecci) joins them, asks them to stay calm, and recommends doing what Mr. Turner requested. When Anish Sengupta (Assad Zaman) tries to climb the stairs, Vincenzo says nobody will be allowed to go back to their rooms now. Cecil agrees since it’ll ensure no one is up to any shenanigans. They realize the Wingfields are missing so Bella explains Pelham left to play in the tennis tournament early this morning.

Bella says Pelham will be back within the end of the week, but Jack doesn’t believe that. Claudine (Lily Frazer) believes Lizzie (Bethan Cullinane) is still there because she just saw her last night. Bella asks Alice Mays-Smith (Olivia Morris) to check on Lizzie and Constance (Louisa Binder) to bring Billy upstairs. Constance March goes downstairs where she tells Betty to prepare dinner for everyone and instructs Billy that Bella wants him to go to the police station. Constance and Betty tell him not to worry because he is only fetching the police and not turning himself in. Once Billy goes upstairs, he is introduced to Vincenzo who accuses him of stealing the bicycle although he says he only meant to borrow it. Vincenzo says he is a known associate of criminal elements and he can’t go anywhere. Billy tries to run, but Jack grabs him while Cecil says they can lock him up in the outhouse. Betty rushes outside to see them forcing Billy toward the outhouse.

Bella tries to calm her and asks her to let her deal with this. Once they lock him up, Bella asks if Anish can have a look at him. Cecil eventually relents and urges her to be quick about it. Once Anish checks him over, he agrees to give him a sedative to relax him, but Billy doesn’t want it. Instead, they decide to give him Aspirin for the pain. While they’re alone, Billy warns Anish that the pamphlets are hidden under Lady Latchmere’s bed. The keys are in his room because he never got a chance to put them back. They realize they’re going to have to do something before the police find the pamphlets. Bella tries to talk to Cecil who is obviously mad at her. He realizes that she doesn’t have a clue what is going on so he gives her the keys and leaves. Vincenzo talks to a man and asks if he talked to Ottonello. He is on his way and something is under her bed. Jack approaches Claudine to find out what she knows about Lizzie. He reminds her that he told her to stay put, but she doesn’t like being told.

Jack tells her to drop the Queen of Sheba act because they both know she came from nothing. She tries to get up and leave, but he stops her and demands she back him up. As Claudine leaves, she smiles at Lizzie and walks away. Cecil asks if it is a lover’s tiff since they’re trying to keep their story straight. Lizzie isn’t sure. He begins questioning her about seeing Claudine last night before they went to bed. Cecil says the coincidence between her husband’s departure and the missing painting has already been commented upon. He tells her it’d be wise to share any information she has that can help them figure out the sequence of events leading to the theft of the painting. Cecil goes on to say he’d hate to see a celebrated sportsman like Pelham get dragged into something like that. Bella interrupts to tell them breakfast is ready. She still can’t figure out what is going on with Cecil. Julia (Lucy Akhurst) tells Cecil he looks calm before questioning whether they think the painting was actually stolen.

Lucian (Oliver Dench) enters as Jack begins arguing with Cecil who seems to think he did something with the painting. Jack explains he left the painting in the room with Claudine who had the means to defend it. He believes either he or Claudine was with the painting the whole time until he got up this morning and discovered it missing. When Julia asks what they think happened to it, Cecil admits he doesn’t think Jack has told them the whole truth. He explains he remembers Claudine saying she spoke to Mrs. Wingfield right before she went to bed. Claudine confesses to leaving the room for a short while. Lizzie collaborates her story while saying they met in the bathroom for about 20 minutes to help her get ready for bed. Cecil reminds everyone that Claudine was away from the painting while Izzy was away from her husband. Claudine can’t deny that although she says the door was locked when she left it so someone somehow got the key. Lucian goes outside and joins Anish to get away from the poison in there.

He quickly realizes that something is up and offers to help Anish who saved his life. Two cars full of guards arrive as the men shut the gate behind them. Once the police go inside, Count Albani translates for Inspector Ottonello (Aleksandar Cvjetkovic). He explains he is there to search their rooms and would appreciate their total cooperation. Before the searches begin, Vincenzo tells Cecil they’ll have to talk later. Lucian comes in with Anish to tell Bella that they have a problem. In private, Alice scolds them for getting involved in a Socialist meeting. Anish takes the blame while explaining Lucian knew nothing about the pamphlets. They decide to focus on dealing with the papers. Anish wonders if they’ll stop searching once they’ve found the painting. Lucian doesn’t think that’ll happen since he suspects the culprit has already run away. He tells them he saw Wingfield walking around suspiciously last night.

Alice suggests telling the truth, but Bella says they can’t because Vincenzo is looking for any reason to shut down the hotel. Anish offers to take the fall before Alice says Billy should take the fall since he put the pamphlets there. Bella says she is going to warn Lady Latchmere (Anna Chancellor) who won’t want her name dragged into this mess. Alice follows her mother and tries to convince her to let Billy take the fall for the pamphlets. If they have to do that, Bella would like to get him a lawyer. Then, the conversation turns to Cecil and his odd behavior today. Bella takes Lady Latchmere outside to tell her about the political materials under her bed. When she learns they’re against Mussolini, she says it is splendid and asks who the subversive is. Since Bella won’t tell her, Latchmere insists she’ll claim ownership herself. She believes Mussolini is a bully like Lord Herbert Latchmere who bullied her Ernest terribly. He pushed Ernest to sign up for the military like Cecil did Lucian.

She tells Bella to run along because she must have so many important things to do. Constance leaves with a basket full of clothes. Vincenzo catches up with Ottonello who tells him they haven’t found anything under the bed. Once Cecil joins them, he is shown the keys that were found in Billy’s room, but there is no sign of the painting. Cecil scolds them while arguing this would never happen in England. Constance carries the basket over to the clothesline. Betty enters the outhouse to give Billy something to eat and drink. Billy learns that they found the spare keys hidden in his room although he insists he had nothing to do with the painting. He swears on his brothers’ graves so she believes him. As for the keys, he claims he just forgot to put them back after doing a favor for someone, but he won’t say who.

Roberto (Lorenzo Richelmy) sits with Count Albani and watches Constance, Paola, and Alice. When they walk by, Robert says what a beautiful woman. Alice believes he is talking about her so she decides to approach them. Count Albani apologizes for his countrymen and their rough ways. When the conversation turns to Roberto, his father calls him young and arrogant because he thinks there is nothing to learn from him. Alice offers to teach him the basics of English so he can speak for himself. Alice calls for Constance who brings over a bowl of treats. Roberto grabs one and tells Constance she is really beautiful today. That causes Alice to get angry and quickly walk away. As Vincenzo comes down the stairs, he tells Belly there is no news and will have to wait a little longer. He walks away. The Count enters and Belly tells him that Vincenzo is making threats and she loathes people who seek to take advantage of others’ misfortune. He pushes until she tells him that Vincenzo is threatening to shut down the motel.

Albani doesn’t think she should worry since there is always a solution to a problem. He suspects there is another issue between Bella and Vincenzo that she hasn’t disclosed to him. Count Albani promises to speak to him. Jack walks outside while Lizzie tells Claudine she hopes she hasn’t created friction in her relationship. They begin laughing when Lizzie confirms she smoothed over the bumps with Pelham twice. Then, Vincenzo tells Cecil and Bella that they didn’t find anything during the search and the doorknob had been wiped clean. He wants to take Billy in for questioning and make him confess. Bella says he will need a lawyer although Cecil has already sent for Bruzzone. Outside, Rose (Claude Scott-Mitchell) asks Lucian how much longer this will go on, but he doesn’t know and suspects it’ll continue until they find the painting. Bella comes outside and learns Lucian has been drawing Rose. He admits there is something about Rose that he finds difficult to capture.

When Rose steps away, Bella tells Lucian that the search has turned up nothing at all. They can’t imagine where the pamphlets were taken. Lucian apologizes for putting her through this. She apologizes if he ever felt coerced because she knows this is going to take time. Gianluca Bruzzone (Rocco Fasano) arrives with his father who is going to be Billy’s lawyer. Anish, Lucian, and Count Albani decide to go as well. As Billy is led away, Bella promises Betty that they’ll have her back in no time because this is just a dreadful mistake. Once they go back inside, Cecil tells Jack it is crazy to think little Billy is some type of criminal mastermind. Jack suggests it is the only credible explanation right now, but Cecil theorizes Jack had the painting stolen himself to cheat Cecil out of his share of the sale price. He tells Jack he shouldn’t expect any of the $50,000 back although Jack says it isn’t worth a tenth of that. After they trade insults and go in opposite directions, Jack tells Claudine to come with him.

She refuses so he follows her and grabs her arm. Claudine tells him to go back to his wife. Jack calls her a hoe and asks who is going to pay for her. She responds by saying she has her own money. He starts to say she is an “n…”, but stops himself. When Jack returns to argue more, Bella gets in his way and reminds him that Claudine’s value doesn’t decrease because he fails to notice it. Lady Latchmere insults his behavior while Cecil tells Francesco (Petar Bencic) to help Mr. Turner pack his bags. Jack tells Cecil to watch his back because this is far from over. Claudine thanks Bella before Jack leaves in his car. Meanwhile, Count Albani hangs out with Vincenzo. They talk about the English cigars Albani has and the fact that Vincenzo isn’t fond of the English. Vincenzo learned English because he once thought he’d emigrate to America. The Count tells him he should practice more because of everything going on. As they go inside, he continues pushing Vincenzo to speak English.

Vincenzo questions whether he’d like it in England. Count Albani doesn’t think so because the people and weather are too cold for a man of his sensibilities. The women may be warmer since they have few of the superstitions that hold their people. Albani eventually asks why he wants to expel the English from Portofino, but Vincenzo denies it and claims he never threatened to close the hotel. Albani says he is relieved to hear it and he has recommended Senator Cavanna stay there. Vincenzo says there has been a misunderstanding here. He wants Albani to tell Bella that the inspection paperwork has been ripped up and thrown in the garbage. Albani convinces him to come tell Bella who will be delighted to hear it. Gianluca steps out of the jail to tell Lucian and Anish that Billy is scared, but his father is going to do his best to protect him. He apologizes for putting them in danger although he couldn’t imagine the hotel being searched. Gianluca is surprised to learn they don’t know where the pamphlets are.

Lucian goes inside to tell Billy they weren’t under the bed. Once they’re alone, Gianluca confirms he has to go and will be leaving tomorrow or the day after. He shakes Anish’s hand as Anish says until they meet again. Anish asks him if they’re worth turning his back on his friends, family, and putting himself in danger. Gianluca tells him that these people intend to exploit the worst in everyone and there is no place in their world for people like him and Anish. After Vincenzo tells Bella, she says she is relieved and she’d offer him something to eat, but poor Betty is distraught and unable to carry out her duties. Although she has closed the kitchen, she suspects Cecil would be happy to share a drink with him on the terrace. Once Vincenzo leaves, Count Albani admits he was able to relieve her difficulty with Vincenzo today, but it could return tomorrow. He’ll leave sometime after summer and her husband will be here to protect her, yet she still asked for his assistance. He knows men like Vincenzo who believe they’re owed something and will take it.

He has pretended to befriend him. He will be back unless Bella breaks whatever hold Vincenzo has over her. He suspects whatever her fear is won’t be as bad as letting Danioni bite her. Cecil remembers Vincenzo giving him the letter from Bella. Outside, Vincenzo asks him where his anger is, but Cecil explains his father taught him to manage his anger. Cecil is asked who he’ll take his anger out on and whether it’ll be Jack or Pelham. Cecil asks whether Billy has said anything. Vincenzo says he is true to omerta and will not talk. They’re checking up with Pelham and Turner’s name has been given to the Guardia di Finanza. If Jack tries to sell the painting, they’ll find out about it. Later, Constance takes the clothes basket outside so she can return them to Anish. She tells Anish and Lucian that Billy told her where he hid them so she decided to hide them where no man would ever decide to look for them. Anish calls her his guardian angel and says he could kiss her but hugs her instead.

Vincenzo admits Sergeant Ottonello believes the painting will return to Cecil, but he believes he is chasing wild geese. Cecil doesn’t like that although Vincenzo is sure he is wasting his time. When Cecil tells him to spit it out, Vincenzo argues Cecil already knows what happened to the painting. Cecil goes after him and accuses him of being in on it with the police. Bella listens from the stairway. Cecil says he will report him to the British consulate in Genoa. Vincenzo blows smoke in his face and tells him about the saying they have which is “Cane non mangia cane”. It means dogs don’t eat other dogs. Vincenzo puts his cigar out on the ground. Later that night, Lucian tries to find out what is going on with Paola (Carolina Gonnelli). She argues that he will stop coming here and asks why he makes it so difficult for her.

Once he asks her way, Paola insists he is not for her. She forces him to leave. Bella reads a letter. She approaches Cecil so she can tell him about it, but he already knows since he is reading one of the letters. When she tries to stop him from walking away, Cecil slaps her across the face.

 

Hotel Portofino Review

With only one episode left, the quality of Hotel Portofino has never wavered from the beginning. The series is great in many ways since it has interesting characters, deep storylines, beautiful scenery, and some suspense. Still, it seems like something is missing and the series could be so much better. It might’ve been too ambitious with so many characters from the beginning and a long list of storylines to cover.

The series is often swiftly switching from one storyline to another while leaving the latter neglected for long periods. I think it would’ve been more effective if the episode had focused on the main storylines from the beginning such as Lucian’s relationships, Constance trying to settle into Portofino, and Bella running the hotel. It seems each episode adds a new crisis to the plot and it might be too much.

Still, viewers willing to look past the less interesting stories will likely enjoy the unique charm that Hotel Portofino has to offer. The episode scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of Hotel Portofino can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support the Reel Mockery project by following this link.