Streaming series review - Vanina: Season Two

Vanina: Season Two *** (out of 5) It’s been just over a year since I covered Season One of this pleasant Italian police procedural, so here’s the link to that review. I had to re-read it to remember why I liked the adventures of our Sicilian sleuths. Presumably, after this much time, you may need to refresh your memory, as well. Or, for any newbies, this background is important for understanding the players and the numerous carryover plotlines. Although the first episode opens with a brief recap, it won’t be enough to set the table for this new quartet of crimes. Ergo:

https://patch.com/missouri/clayton-richmondheights/streaming-series-review-vanina

Ready to proceed? As before, each episode runs just shy of two hours, dealing with a new case or set of cases. All the regulars from Season One return, and their assortment of personal subplots progress; most important is the continuing threat to Vanina and Paolo from their Mafioso nemesis, Salvatore Fratta (Cosimo Coltralto), who isn’t on camera much, but his malevolence looms large throughout.

As to the crimes facing our squad of Catanian cops, the first begins with the body of a professor/activist face-down in the underground river that runs through a bar/restaurant. Interestingly, that setting is not made up; Catania really has one. In the next, the discovered body of a murdered woman vanishes before cops can get to the scene, only to re-emerge elsewhere, elaborately posed beside a second stiff. In the third, a rich wastrel is found murdered in a carriage during one of the city’s colorful festivals. In the last, a young ex-druggie who has devoted himself to helping overcome their addictions is killed – raising questions as to whether it was due to romantic conflicts, or payback from the big-time dealers for his interference with their customer base and revenues.

Besides the characters listed in the earlier review, we see more of Vanina’s lifelong pal Giuli (Dajana Roncione); a gay couple- Adriano (Alessandro Lui) the medical examiner, and his partner Luca (Stefano Gianino); and the nice-guy doctor who is smitten with Vanina, Manfredi (Corrado Fortuna). All of them play important roles not only in the episodic crimes, but the tangled web of sidebars.

Compared to Season One, I can offer two items of good news and one on the downside. The first is that Leonardo Marini and his handful of credited co-writers continue delivering cases that are complex and suspenseful enough to satisfy our intellectual expectations. They even tossed in more adrenaline-boosting action in a couple of the episodes. The other is that several of the subplots provide welcome, heartfelt comic relief that was lacking in the previous foursome. The downside – at least for me – is that the romantic ups and downs of Vanina and others grew rather tedious. She’s back and forth between Manfredi and Paolo; Giuli’s surprise pregnancy burns up a lot of emotional tolerance with histrionics.

The season ends in a way that leaves all matters sufficiently settled, though it dangles a hook to invite a third season. Despite my last negative comment, I’d welcome another visit to sun-drenched Sicily with these characters.

(Vanina: Season Two, in Italian with subtitles, streams on MHz Choice as of 10/20/26)