A Deadly Net – The episode opens with a man restrained inside a dilapidated shed. Elsewhere, Zoe Hamilton (Natalie Shinnick), Hector Magrina (Pablo Scola), and Ricardo Garcia (Jose Niera) emerge from the water after a swim. Ricardo kisses Luciana Garcia (Adriana Laespada). Hector insists she gives him a kiss as well. She kisses him on the cheek to avoid getting wet. He tells her about a bet he made with Ricardo who swears he cannot swim to Isola Polvese. As the teasing continues, there appears to be some tension between Luciana and Zoe. While Sylvia Fox (Emilia Fox), who is pretending to be Kristy, is making drinks, Michael Priest/Henry Fox (Nicholas Farrell) approaches and orders a gin and tonic. Lee Hamilton (Fiona Marr) informs Zoe that she hired Kristy (Sylvia) as her new PA. Zoe is working on a piece for the Los Angeles Reporter. Sylvia says the cigar case that she requested for Hector is on Lee’s desk. Later, Sylvia determines no one has been in her room before she opens the door. She calls the MI6 Headquarters in London to tell Elijah Assan (Solomon Israel) that Hector is leaving for Rome tomorrow evening and she will put a tracker on his car. He says the Americans believe a military coup is being organized in Aroca.

Zoe asks Lee for money. Lee informs her that she has decided to sell Villa Rossa. Zoe insists she sells her DC property instead. Lee suggests Hector will acquire it. Upset, Zoe vows to stop her before leaving. Sylvia heard everything. The next day, Sylvia spots someone swimming while delivering a dish to the table. Zoe arrives with a gift for Hector. Luciana complains about Hector being late. In a boat, Piero Costa (Gianvincenzo Pugliese) can be seen retrieving something from the lake. At Villa Rossa, Luciana calls Hector only to get his voicemail. Sylvia canvasses the estate in search of him. Elsewhere, Piero discovers a man’s body in the lake. He tries to pull the body into his boat. He notifies Chiara Lombardi (Margherita Di Rauso) of the body. Frantic, she tells him to not come to the villa and ends the call. Lee calls the police to report Hector missing. A short time later, Captain Giovanni Riva (Giovanni Cirfiera) and Barzini arrive to inform them of the man’s body found in the lake near Isola Polvese. Looking at the crime scene photos, Ricardo identifies the body as belonging to Hector. Luciana breaks down sobbing and blames Ricardo for previously challenging Hector to race. Lee explains what happened to Giovanni. Barzini looks up to see Sylvia with her finger to her lips. Lee says Hector was a finance minister in Aroca.

Chiara escorts Giovanni and Barzini to Hector’s room where Sylvia is already conducting a search. She discovers what appears to be a bug and a phone hidden under the mattress. She hurriedly deletes the tracker and places the phone back under the mattress. Barzini and Giovanni enter the room to find Sylvia hiding in the closet. She writes something down on a paper and hands it to him before slipping out of the room. A short time later, they meet privately. She tells him that Lee was married to a State Department heavyweight and CIA agent, Merrit Hamilton. She says Hector has been accused of embezzlement in Aroca. She believes Ricardo overdid it when he challenged Hector to swim to Isola Polvese. He asks when they can see each other. She teasingly says she is Kristy. Later, Sylvia notifies Elijah at the M6 Headquarters in London about Hector’s death which may be a swimming accident. He suggests someone wanted to stop Hector from intervening in the military coup. He calls Felicity.

Lee tells Sylvia to cancel their dinner reservations because Zoe took Ricardo to Perugia to identify the body. Sylvia rides a bike to a local café for a drink. She asks the waiter (Luigi Ferraro) if it would be possible for Piero to give her a tour of the lake. He tells her about the drowning in Trasimeno.

Perugia –  At the morgue, Ricardo identifies the body. Giovanni watches as Ricardo and Zoe leave. Elsewhere, Sylvia finds Piero drinking. Chiara approaches to speak with her son, Piero. He believes the discovery of Hector’s body will bring him bad luck. Chiara pleads with Sylvia to not tell Lee that she is Piero’s mother. Upon returning to the villa, Sylvia discovers Zoe and Ricardo together. She offers them a drink but they refuse. Priest arrives back to the villa.

Lee shows Priest a valuable piece that she needs to sell. She believes Zoe hates her. He offers to find her a buyer for the piece. Sylvia listens via a bug. Priest suggests Lee sell the piece the other way. Lee says it is too risky and puts the piece back in the safe.  Sylvia discovers a bent match near the door of Priest’s room. After placing the match back where she found it, she searches the room. She learns he has two passports, one for Michael George Priest and the other for William Thurston Brown. Upon approaching his room, Priest discovers the bent match on the floor. Sylvia slips out on the balcony before he enters. He walks out on the balcony but doesn’t see her because she is hanging from below from a rail. He closes the balcony door. She drops to the ground below when she spots Giovanni, Barzini, and another officer approaching. Giovanni tells Chiara that Hector’s death is now a murder case. Sylvia emails photos of Priest’s passports to Elijah. She arrives as Giovanni tells Luciana that Hector was murdered. Ricardo grabs her hand. She is upset because Hector should have been safe there. Sylvia tells Giovanni that Luciana and Ricardo run a successful sports promotions company.

Luciana tells Giovanni that her mother divorced Hector because he had multiple affairs. She says her mother got everything. Barzini asks if she knows what is in Hector’s will. Luciana asks if they think she would kill him for money. Upset, she demands they find his killer and walks away. Ricardo was Luciana’s tennis coach before they married. Ricardo claims Hector was like a father to him. Hector survived two assassination attempts in Aroca. Ricardo denies knowing who Hector had planned to in Rome. Zoe tells Giovanni that she was in Sardinia before arriving at the villa. Priest is an art historian. He claims to have gone swimming at 6:30am on the day Hector was murdered. Lee says Priest arrived a month sooner than expected. Giovanni asks Lee when she hired Kristy. Lee says 10 days ago and assures him that her references are fantastic. Chiara has been working at the villa since Merrit was married to his first wife. Barzini asks Chiara if she is hiding Piero’s criminal history from Lee. Chiara argues that he stole two vehicles a long time ago.

Giovanni questions Kristy (Sylvia) like everyone else. Sylvia tells him about the military coup in Aroca that Hector may be involved in. He says if Hector’s rival is the killer, it is politically motivated. Sylvia believes someone at the villa is involved. Lee watches them from an upper balcony. Later, Sylvia is searching Lee’s office when someone grabs her from behind. She turns to see it is Priest. He escorts her to a remote room and tells her that the study in Lee’s office has an alarm system. She confronts him about William Brown’s passport. He says she was named after her grandmother, Sylvia before identifying himself as Henry Fox. He claims to be her father.

Michael Priest speaks to Sylvia about having a fake passport. He suspects she knows he’s telling the truth. Michael admits Lee doesn’t know who they actually are. He confesses he almost had a heart attack when he saw her. Michael or Henry Fox says she looks just like her mother. He knew she was living in Umbria. Sylvia asks if he was planning to come see her and Sylvia too. Henry is going to bed. He says they can talk more tomorrow. Sylvia alleges he’s been hurting her and Isabel their whole lives. Henry tells her where the safe is located although he recommends not opening it tonight. Sylvia tries to call Isabel. Then, she calls Giovanni Riva to tell him something important.

Elijah calls her in the morning to say he’s finished the background checks on Michael Priest and William Brown. Sylvia goes outside to confront Henry who says he wants to go to Spello to see the Baglioni Chapel. Ricardo listens as he invites Sylvia to come with him. He leaves. Henry tells Sylvia that the trip will give them the chance to talk properly. Sylvia knows about his past exploits. She asks about Hector Magrina and his time in the service. Sylvia asks if Felicity told him she was there. She reminds him that he’s still capable of murder even if he’s her father. Roberta Barzini (Elena Di Cioccio) interrupts to ask Sylvia to come to headquarters with her. Lee recommended that the brigadier interview her there, but Roberta says she has to go to Perugia.

Zoe sees Sylvia walk away with Roberta. In private, Roberta tells Sylvia that Capitano told her to bring her to the mortuary. Zoe goes inside and hugs Chiara. She asks Lee how well she knows the new PA. Zoe thinks there’s something about her. Sylvia is allowed to look at Hector’s body. She tells Capitano that it’s not Hector Magrina’s body. He questions whether Ricardo and Lee made a mistake or lied. He’s going to keep on letting them think they’re fools until police know more. Capitano doesn’t think Sylvia should return to the villa since it could be dangerous. She claims she hasn’t found out more about Michael. Sylvia calls Elijah to say there’s been a development. When Sylvia gets back, Lee asks her how it went. Sylvia says they just ran through her statement again. Later, Sylvia speaks to Ricardo about Senora Luciana.

Ricardo admits it’s bad and he doesn’t know what to do to help her. Sylvia says they can’t bring Hector back to life. Zoe convinces Ricardo to go for a swim in the lake. Sylvia speaks to her father in private. He asks what the police wanted with her before they’re interrupted by Lee. Sylvia takes food to Luciana in her bed. Luciana admits her papa was the most important person in her life. Lee drinks and breaks a lamp. She checks the broken pieces and finds a listening device. Sylvia speaks to Chiara about whether the police have been bothering her son. Chiara says they know he was with his girlfriend. There is something else though. Days before Magrina died her son, Piero, took Ricardo and Luciana in his boat to look at his nets and pots.

They were near Isola Polvese where Magrina was found. Chiara explains there are two sorts of crayfish in Lake Trasimeno. The Italian one tastes better, but they’re not allowed to catch them. Ricardo offered Piero a lot of money to catch some of the Italian crayfish for his party. Piero agreed so he’s worried that the carabinieri will find out. Sylvia doubts they’ll care about that. Lee interrupts and pulls Sylvia away. Lee fires her because she thinks she’s bad news. Sylvia goes home. When Riva arrives, Sylvia tells him she took his advice and quit. Then, she admits Lee fired her. They begin making out until Sylvia remembers what Chiara said. She says Piero took Ricardo and Luciana out to his pots. Riva says they needed the body to be found as soon as possible. Sylvia believes Ricardo and Luciana are involved. She asks if anyone lives on the other side of the island.

 

No and it’s only accessible by boat. They take Piero’s boat to that side of the island so they can look around. Piero says he last came up there a month ago. Sylvia finds a cigar and says Hector smoked them. Seconds later, they find a shack. They find a bottle which hasn’t been there long. Sylvia says it’s the same brand they drink at Villa Rossa. Sylvia finds “Serna” carved into the wood nearby. She wonders if that’s the name of the man in the morgue. She wants to know if anyone by that name was released from prison recently. They wouldn’t walk the streets looking for Hector’s replacement. It was all planned. They leave the hut and find a spot where a helicopter may have landed. Sylvia remembers that Zoe arrived at the villa by helicopter the day before Hector disappeared. She may have made an extra stop along the way.

Riva asks Roberta to find the pilot. Once they return, Roberta tells them that the pilot, Efis Mura, is on holiday. He won’t be back for a month and his phone is turned off. Sylvia believes he was paid to disappear. Later, Sylvia arrives at the villa so she can speak to Lee. Zoe and Ricardo talk about the possibility of leaving. Sylvia interrupts before Lee tells her to leave. She says Henry’s death never felt right. Sylvia never thought who’d benefit from it. She believes Luciana has been the victim of a cruel trick. As finance minister, Hector was taking money from the Arocan treasury. He would likely go to jail once he was out of government. He was also being pressured to give his support to a military coup that was likely going to fail. Sylvia suspects Hector faked his death so he could disappear.

Bruno Serna was released early from a jail in Aroca City. Sylvia says he was picked because he resembled Hector. Bruno was taken to Isola Polvese and murdered. His body was left for Peiro to find. Sylvia says the pilot, Efis, has been very helpful. Zoe begins arguing with Ricardo. Zoe and Ricardo are arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and murder when Riva arrives. Ricardo quickly tells Luciana that he was helping her father. Zoe tries to flee. Sylvia goes after her until she grabs a broom and throws it. Zoe runs toward the lake. She makes it to the boat and flees. Roberta asks what they’re going to do now. The boat’s motor stops leaving Zoe stuck. Zoe and Ricardo are more once she returns. She claims Hector arranged everything. Zoe thought everything was some type of political meeting. She wasn’t there on the night of the murder and didn’t know someone was going to be killed.

Ricardo admits Serna was drugged and Hector put his head in the water. Luciana tells Ricardo she never wants to see him again. Sylvia asks Luciana if she knows where her father might be. She tells Sylvia about his house in the Philippines which no one knows about. Luciana says she will pay for the dead man’s funeral. Lee stops Sylvia to say spies are not human. She admits she looked after Luciana because Hector had something to take care of. Riva tells Sylvia that Italy has no extradition treaty with the Philippines. She doesn’t think he’ll be a free man for long. Sylvia tells Henry she hopes he wasn’t planning a quick getaway. He offers to buy her dinner. Sylvia asks if Isabel deserves to be a part of this. Sylvia gets in touch with Elijah. They don’t think they should tell the Italian about Hector.

Instead, they believe they can get him to cooperate with them and the Americans. Then, Sylvia catches up with her father. They meet Matteo and Isabel. Sylvia didn’t know they were having a party. Isabel thought Henry would turn up sooner or later. Sylvia learns that Henry came to see their mother when Isabel was looking after her. Isabel says he stayed for a few hours and disappeared again like he always does. Henry insists there are things they don’t understand. He decides to leave since he believes coming there was a mistake. Isabel warns Sylvia to be careful. Henry briefly speaks to Matteo outside before leaving with Sylvia. Henry thinks he should be on his way. Sylvia urges him to bring his bag and come inside her house. She looks away. When she turns around, Henry is at the car contemplating leaving.

 

Signora Volpe Review

Season two lacks the same charm and homely feel as season one. The plot was initially about Sylvia’s retirement in Panicale. The series has taken a different direction by putting her back in MI6. Now, it is a typical crime drama like all the rest.

At some points, the writing was wishy-washy and that really hurt the credibility of the story. For instance, it’s baffling that the police wouldn’t check the entire island, especially the side where the body was discovered. Sylvia just used a pair of binoculars to spot it before asking the Captain about it.

Seconds later, they were on the island and found loads of evidence that ultimately helped solve the case. An hour could’ve been cut from this if the show had even the smallest functioning police force. The relationship between the Captain and Sylvia isn’t one of the show’s strong points.

There isn’t much chemistry there and it appears he got over his marriage very quickly. The addition of Henry is interesting although that was a big coincidence that may be difficult for some to swallow. Overall, this was a stronger episode. The scenery and authentic architecture sold the episode.

The episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Get more Signora Volpe recaps here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.