The WORST episodes of Inspector Montalbano
Every episode of Inspector Montalbano ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Inspector Montalbano!
A look at the life of the police commissioner, Salvo Montalbano, of the Sicilian town of Vigata and the criminal cases solved by him.
#1 - The Other End of the Thread
Season 13 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/11/2019
While the incessant landings of migrants continue on the coast of Sicily and the humanitarian emergency has the Vigàta police station at full stretch, Salvo and his men also find themselves grappling with a brutal case: the body of a beautiful young girl, a friend of Livia's, is found in her dressmaker's shop. The injuries found on the woman's body denote a particular ferocity, suggesting a murder with unknown ramifications.
#2 - The Game of Three Cards
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/13/2006
The death of a local construction tycoon Girolamo Cascio leads Montalbano back to the murder of Cascio's leading competitor, Giacomo Alletto, who was shot and killed two decades earlier, a crime pinned on the man's business partner, Rocco Pennisi who was sent to jail. Lead as ever by his infallible gut feeling, Montalbano unearths a twenty year-old conspiracy.
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#3 - The Safety Net
Season 14 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/16/2020
A Swedish film troupe arrives to shoot a period drama in Vigata. Augello immediately takes a shine to the production's female lead. When Montalbano intervenes in a case of bullying at a local school, a town resident asks the inspector to unearth the story behind a collection of mysterious home movies found in his dead father's attic.
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#4 - Beloved Salvo, My Livia
Season 14 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/9/2020
It's high summer in Vigata and the murdered body of a young woman, Agata Cosentino, is found in the municipal archives where she worked. But the building was supposed to be closed for the holidays, so what was Agata doing there? Meanwhile, Adelina's wayward son Pasquale is engaged in a stand-off with a local security guard, Romildo Bufardeci, a former classmate from elementary school who is now intent on putting a stop to Pasquale’s petty criminality. As chief law enforcer, Montalbano must investigate any wrongdoings while also navigating the rivalry between the two men.
#5 - Excursion to Tindari
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/9/2001
A young Don Juan is found murdered in front of his apartment building and an elderly couple are reported missing after an excursion to the ancient site of Tindari. Inspector Montalbano tries to solve these two seemingly unrelated cases amid the daily complications of life at Vigata police station. But when he discovers that the couple and the murdered young man lived in the same building, his investigation stumbles onto Sicily's brutal 'New Mafia' and leads him down a path more twisted and far-reaching than any he has ever been down before.
#6 - Paper Moon
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/17/2008
Wealthy womanizer Angelo Pardo is killed in what seems to be a crime of passion. But Montalbano, as usual, refuses to trust appearances and carries out the investigation his way, delving into the victim's past and talking with anyone who may be involved in the case, including a number of politicians who start dying one after the other, victims of a bad batch of cocaine. In the end Montalbano faces the toughest challenge of his career: to try to comprehend the female psyche to solve this crime.
#7 - The Wings of the Sphinx
Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/3/2008
The naked body of a young woman that has been shot in the face is found at a dumpsite. On her shoulder is the same tattooed butterfly as had all the other eastern European girls that have found shelter at the local church. When Montalbano starts his investigation, the bishop has a strange reaction. The police chief pressures him into leaving the bishop alone and Livia pressures him into taking her someplace nice, to sort things out. As usual, Montalbano solves the case. But his personal life is in a pretty bad shape...
#8 - August Flame
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/2/2008
While a guest at the rented beach house of a fellow officer and his family, Montalbano discovers the body of Rina, a young woman who had disappeared six years earlier, in a trunk. As he begins his investigation, Montalbano falls prey to a burning passion for the dead woman's twin sister Adriana. She helps him search for the murderer, but, at the same time, she drives him wild, to the point where he unwittingly starts carrying out her plans for vengeance.
#9 - The Track of Sand
Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/10/2008
A badly injured horse dies on the beach in front of Montalbano's house. The investigation opened by the Chief detective brings him into contact with elegant races organized by local nobles, as well as the secret contests held by the mafia for illegal betting. Montalbano even meets a beautiful horsewoman who is a friend of Ingrid's. Avoiding the distractions placed in his way, Montalbano solves the case with a crafty strategy, even clearing the faithful Galluzzo of a murder charge.
#11 - The Catalanotti Method
Season 15 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/8/2021
Commissioner Montalbano investigates the murder of Carmelo Catalanotti usurer and fervent and original theater artist, soul and founder of Trinacriarte, a very active amateur theater company from Vigàta, of which he was the guru. A guru who knew how to be brilliant, but also cruel and sadistic, so much so that Montalbano realizes that it is precisely in his conception of tragic art and his very personal and disturbing method that the solution of the mystery of his death must be sought. But it is above all in his private sphere that the Commissioner must clarify and that he sees him overwhelmed by the passion for a young colleague
#12 - Treasure Hunt
Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/28/2011
An elderly couple, both religious fanatics, barricade themselves in their home and begin shooting from the windows and balconies apparently with no reason. Montalbano’s men finally succeed in disarming them: there seems to be no reason for this insane action but inside the home they find a strangely disfigured inflatable doll. A few days later, when an identical doll is discovered in a garbage bin, Montalbano has a bad premonition.
#13 - The Snack Thief
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/6/1999
Detective Montalbano investigates the murder of a local businessman called Lapecora. Lapecora's widow suspects that he was killed by his lover Karima, a young Tunisian woman who mysteriously disappeared on the day of the murder. After succeeding in tracking down Karima's five-year-old son Francois, Montalbano realises that the case might be linked to that of a Tunisian man, also killed in mysterious circumstances on the same day that Lapecora died. Meanwhile, Montalbano's partner Livia, who has been entrusted with looking after Francois, becomes very attached to the young orphaned boy.
#14 - Angelica's Smile
Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/15/2013
A series of burglaries takes place at the houses of wealthy Vigata residents. One of the victims is a beguiling young bank manager called Angelica, to whom Salvo finds he is soon attracted. As the investigation progresses, Montalbano starts to suspect that the burglaries might be a cover for something rather more sinister.
#15 - The Artist's Touch
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/30/2001
Goldsmith Alberto Larussa appears to have committed suicide by turning his wheelchair into an electric chair. But Inspector Montalbano discovers that the dead man's will, which leaves everything to his brother Giacomo, was forged. Giacomo is arrested, but he maintains that he did not kill Alberto. Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector Mimi' Augello is working on the case of a mysteriously-murdered electrician.
#16 - The Patience of the Spider
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/7/2006
The kidnapping of Susanna Mistretta puzzles Montalbano. Her family, once wealthy, has fallen on hard times. Only her uncle, Antonio Peruzzo, a successful local businessman hoping to enter politics, could possibly pay the large ransom. Digging deeper into the family's affairs Montalbano realizes that Peruzzo was the cause of the family's financial ruin and that Susanna is not really in danger after all...
#17 - A Diary from 1943
Season 13 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/18/2019
Montalbano investigates the murder of an elderly man in his home and the discovery of a hidden diary from 1943, theorizing they may be connected somehow.
#18 - The Mystery of the Terracotta Dog
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/9/2000
A criminal turned state witness informs Montalbano of an arms stash in a cave just outside Vigata. Also uncovered in the cave is a secret chamber where the bodies of two lovers, killed sometime in the 1940s, were buried in a bizarre ritual. An intrigued Montalbano must challenge the Mafia and deal with the arms cache before he can investigate this second find.
#19 - The Shape of Water
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/2/2000
Mr Luparello, a renowned local engineer and leading political figure, is found dead in a car at a notorious prostitution spot on the outskirts of Vigata. The coroner rules that he died of a heart attack following an amorous encounter. Fending off pressure from prominent ecclesiastical figures who wish to keep the case under wraps and navigating the intricacies of local party politics, Montalbano goes about making sense of the available evidence, including the incongruous discovery of an expensive necklace found at the site of the murder.
#20 - Hall of Mirrors
Season 9 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/22/2013
A bomb goes off outside an empty store-room in a quiet Vigata street. Montalbano commences his investigation, but is soon disorientated by a series of disparate events, including the acquaintance of an attractive and mysterious woman.
#21 - A Voice in the Night
Season 9 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/29/2013
A supermarket controlled by the Mafia is robbed, setting off a chain of events in which the Mafia's political links start to transpire.
#22 - A Nest of Vipers
Season 11 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/27/2017
Businessman Cosimo Barletta is found dead in his holiday home, with a gunshot to the head. Montalbano's investigation reveals a series of unexpected facts about the man's life and death - starting with the discovery of an archive of photographs of young women and continuing with the autopsy results, which indicate there might have been more to the man's killing than had initially met the eye. Salvo meets with Barletta's disowned son Arturo, and is helped along the investigation by Arturo's mysterious sister, Giovanna.
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#23 - The Mud Pyramid
Season 10 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/7/2016
A man's body is found inside an industrial pipe on a building site. Montalbano and Fazio manage to identify the victim and try to contact his missing wife. Meanwhile, journalist Lucia Gambardella reaches out to Montalbano with information on a local corruption ring involving fraudulent building contracts.
#24 - The Sense of Touch
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/28/2002
The seemingly accidental death of a blind man leads Montalbano to an island off the coast of Siciliy. Here the Inspector discovers that both the murder victim and a local fisherman had each deposited huge sums of money in their respective bank accounts. Following the mysterious demise of a second man, who was also blind, the investigation begins to focus on the operations of a charitable foundation which increasingly looks not so charitable after all.
#25 - As Per Procedure
Season 11 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/6/2017
A young woman is found dead and naked in the foyer of an apartment block, her body showing signs of what can only have been a brutal and sexually motivated murder. Montalbano sets out to investigate the circumstances surrounding the girl's death, but every one of the block's inhabitants claims to never have met her before. Someone must be lying.