"The bastards of Pizzofalcone 4": plot, cast and characters

Alessandro Gassmann and the team are back in action in four new episodes, from 23 October on Rai1

Alessandro Gassmann in the fourth season of “The Bastards of Pizzofalcone” Credit: © Rai

Cecilia Uzzo
October 23, 2023 at 10:20 am

They’re finally coming back”The bastards of Pizzofalcone”, with the fourth season airing from Monday 23 October in prime time on Rai1. The series co-produced by Rai Fiction and Clemart srl and based on the novels by Maurizio de Giovanni (published by Einaudi) returns with four new episodes, which pick up the story from the adrenaline-filled conclusion of the third season, which ended with Inspector Lojacono played by Alessandro Gassmann tied up and bloodied.

Plot

The story picks up where it left off, with Lojacono tortured and locked in a deserted hangar. Rocco Squillace, a mysterious enemy from the past, has decided to take revenge and his revenge is crueler than death. The inspector is condemned to be alone and an outcast, accused of corruption, without the possibility of contacting the people closest to him. Squillace threatens him to kill her daughter Marinella if he even approaches her or Pizzofalcone’s colleagues. Filled with drugs and abandoned to his fate, Lojacono will be forced to live on the margins, while everyone mourns his death. In the throes of delirium and the pain of withdrawal, he will do anything to get back on his feet on a journey to the edge of the law. But he will realize that the only people in the world who can give him a hand are his trusted colleagues from Pizzofalcone. Marinella and her beloved Piras will remain in the dark about everything. If only they were to realize that he is still alive, Squillace, who always keeps an eye on her, would follow through on her threats. From the most hidden heart of the Pizzofalcone police station, Lojacono and all the Bastards will conduct a secret investigation to discover the enemy’s next moves. Be careful not to make false steps, because any mistake could be fatal.
Meanwhile, the activity of the police station will continue as usual, in a picturesque and complex neighborhood that offers a cross-section of all Neapolitan culture and tradition. Four murders, one per episode, complex investigations that the Bastards will have to carry out to bring the culprit to justice.

Alessandro Gassmann arrives on Rai1 with "The bastards of Pizzofalcone 4" and with "A professor 2"

In the new season the Bastards are dealing with a new phase of their lives: Palma and Ottavia will discover that their love story entails many responsibilities; Romano, obsessed by the loss of the daughter he wanted so much, after a last moment of furious anger will finally be able to come to terms with himself; Pisanelli and Aragona, forced into an absurd coexistence and in search of their own spaces and their own loves; Alex and Martone, dealing with an unexpected visit that will call into question their balance.

Cast and characters

Alessandro Gassmann is Giuseppe Lojacono

Police inspector, it was thanks to his tenacity and strong investigative intuition that the Pizzofalcone police station was saved from closure. Due to the same qualities, Lojacono finds himself grappling with a past that comes to ask him to account and has the features of an enemy seeking revenge. The inspector has always been able to distinguish with determination what is right from what is wrong, but he cannot rest at the idea of endangering what is most precious to him: the life of his daughter Marinella, with whom over the years he has managed to painstakingly rebuild a relationship and his team from Pizzofalcone. From afar and secretly he observes his friends, he watches Marinella and Laura Piras cry for missing her. And from his looks it is clear that the love story with PM is not at all over as it seemed.

Carolina Crescentini is Laura Piras

Public Prosecutor of the Naples Prosecutor’s Office. She has a strong character that she knows how to temper with her fascinating femininity. Prepared in her work and esteemed by her colleagues, Piras had put aside her love life for years and started to believe in her love again thanks to Inspector Lojacono. The two experienced a passionate relationship and a brief cohabitation which ended in the third season, when she asked for and obtained a transfer to Rome. But now that he has disappeared it’s time to look the truest feelings in the face. Especially since in Naples there is also Marinella, Lojacono’s very young daughter, to take care of.

Antonio Folletto is Marco Aragona

Selected agent, the youngest on the team. Crazy, daddy’s boy, recommended, vaguely classist and racist, he poses as Serpico, but only manages to irritate his colleagues. His friendliness, kindness and naivety, however, make him irresistible to the affection of the team, in particular Pisanelli. Over time, the two have established an almost filial relationship and a fun familiarity.

Tosca D’Aquino is Ottavia Calabrese

Deputy superintendent, a very high ability as a computer operator which makes her work fundamental for the investigations. Caring and maternal, she is also a pillar of wisdom for the team. Since she fell in love with Inspector Palma she has become more confident, after many years of marriage to Gaetano during which her passion faded. Her bond with Riccardo, her autistic son, still remains her weak point. Will she be ready for emotional interference in her role as her mother?

Massimiliano Gallo is Luigi Palma

Deputy commissioner at the head of the Pizzofalcone police station, he leads the team by authorizing the most delicate decisions. He knows how to do it with a very high sense of responsibility and the ability to be both firm like a boss and sincere like a colleague. He has a divorce behind him, but he is romantically linked to Ottavia, even though she is married and very busy as the mother of an autistic child. The commissioner has never had children, yet he bonded with the boy from the first meeting.

Gianfeliceriamoto is Giorgio Pisanelli

Recently retired deputy commissioner, he often returns to the offices to visit colleagues and help them with investigations as a historical memory of the district, having been born and raised in the neighborhood. A widower for many years, it was his friendship with Aragon that pulled him out of the solitude in which he seemed to have locked himself in after the death of his beloved wife. But perhaps the time is also ripe to fall in love again.

Simona Tabasco is Alex Di Nardo

Said Alex, assistant agent, an undisputed talent for the use of weapons cultivated over years of exercises at the range, despite his calm and introverted character. Together with Romano, she is often engaged in investigations on the street and in action. For the love of Rosaria Martone, manager of the forensics department, she managed to face her family conflicts until marrying her. Their married life, which has just begun, during this season already undergoes a small earthquake that has the features of a child.

Gennaro Silvestro is Francesco Romano

Assistant chief, a kind soul trapped inside a grumpy character and undermined by violent attacks of anger. Precisely this defect put an end to his marriage with Giorgia. With her Romano had fostered a newborn baby, Giorgina who, after a marital dispute under the watchful eye of the social worker, was taken away from him. He suddenly found himself alone and still unable to manage his excesses of anger. Will he find his way to becoming a new man?

Other characters

• Serena Iansiti is Rosaria Martone
• Paolo Sassanelli and Squillace
• Ninni Bruschetta is Caruso
• Paola Tiziana Cruciani is Teresa

The plots of the episodes

Episode 1: “Music”
What happened to Inspector Lojacono, who vanished into thin air while going to celebrate Alex and Rosaria’s wedding? While Pizzofalcone’s team is shocked by doubts, the inspector receives a terrible sentence that keeps him in check and endangers the lives of the people he loves. In the police station offices, investigations continue not only into the disappearance of the colleague, but also into the murder of the director of a local music school.
Episode 2: “Flowers”
A new brutal murder shocks the Pizzofalcone neighborhood. In his shop, on a bed of tulips, the well-known florist Savio Niola is found in a pool of blood. The investigations are activated immediately, following every possible lead and involving a team that seems to have returned as united as the one it once was. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor’s Office continues to investigate Lojacono’s disappearance, which according to some documents is linked to the Inspector’s collaboration with organized crime.
Episode 3: “Angels”
Nando Iaccarino is an institution for car enthusiasts in Pizzofalcone. When he is found murdered in his workshop, the team’s investigations lead them into the world of luxury and the man’s past. Meanwhile, an unexpected visit to the police station risks revealing the truth about Lojacono.
Episode 4: “Deceptions”
In the historic tailor’s shop of Salita Vetriera, tailor Nunzio Coppola was found dead with a scissors cut. Who could have attacked the body of such a beloved elderly man with such brutality? Once again it’s up to the Bastards to investigate to bring about justice. Meanwhile, the circle of investigations by the Prosecutor’s Office tightens around Lojacono: the Bastards team is in danger as much as the life of Marinella, the Inspector’s daughter.

The post first appeared on www.sorrisi.com