Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3/5 Episode 5 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 6 -| Review Score – 3.5/5 Suburra: Blood On Rome is one of the more underrated foreign series currently streaming on Netflix. Taking all the hallmarks that make shows like Gangs Of London and Gomorrah so enjoyable, Suburra establishes itself as a decent prequel to its feature film of the same name. After the shocking conclusion to season 2, the pressure was on for Suburra’s third (and final) season to deliver the goods and produce a spectacular, blood-soaked finish to this bitter feud for Rome’s streets. With lots of moving parts, season 3 of Suburra closes out all the big plot points raised across the show’s run as Spadino and Aureliano team up to try and control Italy’s criminal empire. Following Gabriele’s death in the season 2 finale, both men find solace in one another and remain determined to get revenge for what happened. Locked in their cross-hairs happen to be another alliance – this one much more tenuous than their own. Politician Cinaglia and Samurai’s unlikely team-up signifies a big shift in the balance of power, as our protagonists once again find themselves on the back-foot. This conflict is only made more complicated by Spadino’s older brother Manfredi awakening from his coma and entering the fray. Across the final six episodes, everything builds up to a dramatic finale that rounds things out nicely while keeping the door open for a potential follow-up if that was to ever occur. Given the intent on making this a final season however, I can’t see that happening. For the most part, Suburra works relatively well to build everything up and round out all the key characters with a satisfying finish. There’s tensions between Spadino and Aureliano’s crews; Nadia and Angelica in particular have a fierce little rivalry that simmers across the season too. For all the emphasis on these bubbling conflicts, some of the less important characters do wind up as victims. Sara in particular is completely written out the show midway through the six-episode run while none of the antagonistic characters really get any comeuppance for their actions at the end. The Cardinal, for example, is made out to be a big player in the conflict early on but his influence eventually peters out into indifference. There’s certainly some sacrifices along the way though and a big shoot-out at the end features more than one fatality. I won’t divulge the details here but this shoot-out is worth the wait. Our main characters do get a good send-off and a final hurrah, which goes some way to ease the disappointment including a few of the under-utilized players along the way. The acting and pacing continues to be a high point through this series though and season 3 once again does well with its moving parts. While it’s not quite as tense or shocking as what we’ve seen before, the changed direction to North Rome and the Cardinal’s inclusion do offer up a slightly different flavour of Italy to what we’ve seen before. It’s not perfect and season 3 of Suburra does have a few road-bumps along the way. On the whole though, it’s an enjoyably scenic route that’s been worth the ride.
