User Reviews

This episode revolves round a presumed kidnapping of the daughter of a once-wealthy man now reduced to caring for his terminally ill wife. The man's brother does most of the talking; it turns out he that he looks after many local patients, including a farmer's wife and part-time prostitute (Clelia Rondinella). Meanwhile Montalbano (Luca Zingaretti) has to deal with another police inspector who has been assigned to the case - much against Montalbano's will - by the Chief.

Structurally speaking this episode is quite flabby; the girl's father doesn't appear in the second half (suggesting that he was either indisposed or removed from the cast), while too much time has been given over to sequences showing Montalbano walking through the deserted streets of Vigata. There are also some sequences irrelevant to the development of the story: we do not really need to see a chaste sex-scene where the kidnapped girl yields her virginity to her boyfriend, the night before she allegedly disappears.

On the other hand, as in most episodes, there are incidental pleasures, such as the sequence where Montalbano interviews the girl's university friend at the friend's house, and discovers to his horror that she wants to invite her other friends to take his photograph. He quits the house with undue haste, relieved to be able to continue his investigations.

Agent Catarella (Angelo Russo) once again provides comic relief, although perhaps he mugs rather too much for the camera to reveal his harassment. Sometimes he can get more laughs by toning down his performance somewhat.

Love detective mystery dramas, particularly those from the UK and US ('Inspector Morse', 'A Touch of Frost', 'Foyle's War', 'Inspector George Gently', 'Midsomer Murders', 'Law and Order', 'Criminal Minds', 'Monk' and 'Murder She Wrote' for examples,, and non-English/American ones (i.e. The Swedish 'Wallander' and the Danish 'The Killing') also fascinate me.

'Inspector Montalbano' is one of the best and most entertaining examples. It is not easy breathing freshness into a well-worn genre but 'Inspector Montalbano' manages to do so with aplomb. Watching 'Inspector Montalbano' is like eating a delicious Italian meal that immensely satisfies and leaves you wanting more. There may be very familiar tropes, but in a way it's inevitable and doesn't detract from the enjoyment at all.

Even when 'Inspector Montalbano' is not at its best, which is the case with "The Patience of the Spider", it is still a heck of a lot better than most shows at their worst. Again that's the case with "The Patience of the Spider". There are agreed a few scenes that are irrelevant to the story and felt like padding, particularly the sex scene. There were also a few still very intriguing elements that could have gone into more detail, the victim's father angle was still done very well and was interesting but again could have been explored more and it felt like it was introduced too late.

However, "The Patience of The Spider" has an otherwise absorbing, well-structured story that as ever challenges the viewer while not alienating them. It is a very different episode too, well a fair few 'Inspector Montalbano' episodes have done things differently and successfully such as having a different tone, giving a character more exposure or having a higher body count than usual, but "The Patience of the Spider" is a real change of pace. It has an unusually low body count and its case is an abduction, rather than complex murders, that is much more complicated than meets the eye, one doesn't see the truth coming other than suspecting that things are not what they seem (as is the case with a lot of crime/mystery dramas).

One always expects 'Inspector Montalbano' to look good. As always with 'Inspector Montalbano', "The Patience of the Spider" is beautifully shot and the scenery is stunning, making those who've never been to Italy want to book a holiday there as soon as possible and is a treat for anybody who loves all things Italian. The music is never over-bearing or low-key with a nice atmosphere and flavour, a lot of it is very cleverly used. The sound effects are remarkably authentic.

Writing is tightly structured and taut, with very funny to hilarious humour (the standout is indeed the scene with Montalbano and the victim's friend, one of the funniest scenes of the show not to contain Catarella and overall), nail-biting tension and involving and poignant human drama balanced beautifully. The subtitles are not hard to follow.

Characters may be stereotypes but well-written ones, especially one of the most fascinating foreign detective mystery dramas titular characters there is to me and the scene-stealing Catarella (hilarious comic relief but more than that). The supporting characters are well written.

Acting is terrific, especially from Luca Zingaretti who is a treasure in the title role, having a perfect balance of comedy and drama and playing it straight while always engaging with his material. Angelo Russo's comic timing is a refreshing and always perfectly timed joy. Everybody else are more than up to their level.

In summation, very good if not quite a show high-point. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Inspector Montalbano is a generally pleasing series, though its appearances in the UK are infrequent and belated.

However, this is one of the poorest Montalbano episodes I have seen. The 'storyline' is a haphazard implausible mess culminating in a denouement which is actually laughable.

The weakest parts of the Montalbano template are, however, present and correct including, worst of all the needless 'comedy' of Agent Catarella - which dissipates what little dramatic tension managed to elude the director and editor.

I generally enjoy Inspector Montalbano but this is one edition I wish I had not seen. The saving grace is Sicily itself - though the only way to ruin that would be leave the lens cap on the camera.

On reflection, it is arguably more entertaining to wonder why this episode was so weak than actually watch it. Perhaps the writers left having partially destroyed the script, key actors walked off set (maybe after a fight with the scriptwriters), and/or the budget was slashed and the story was patched together from the cutting room floor: it certainly looks like the first 15 minuted were from a different episode altogether: maybe those minutes cost too much to throw away? Ships, helicopters, extras? Not usually part of the Montalbano template.