Zen- Ratking

This time, Zen may have gone too far.

His introduction to the new boss was not the customary “ave duci novo, similis duci seneci” type. A Puritan at heart, the new boss seems to loathe Zen with the entirety of his being, particularly his smoking habit. As soon as taking over, he issues a ban on all forms of office fornications, something that Tania and Aurelio cheerfully violates , breaking the boss' desk in the bargain. Way to go Aurelio!

Zen has to deal with an extremely politically sensitive kidnapping and murder case. One of the Italy's most prominent industrialist and a major donor to the party in power, Rogiero Miletti. An earlier ransom delivery had ended in the murder of the man who was carrying it. Zen is assigned the case at the behest of the powers that be.

This is the most obstacle ridden case we have seen Zen undertake yet. On one hand, the cold and calculating duo of the Minister and Amedeo Colonna, on the other hand the new boss Ernesto Heuber and Zen's new patner in the case, the scheming Vincenzo Fabri, with Nadia Pirlo in the background, still smarting after Zen's earlier rebuff of her advances. To complicate matters, the Miletti family becomes quite a handful. Cinzia Miletti seems genuinely distraught by her father's kidnapping but her brother Silvio and husband Carlo Fagioli, a rather odious specimen of reptilian nature, seem to be relish the departure of the old man. With a work environment like this, who needs a stroll in a minefield?

Colonna is particularly in his element as the cold-blooded apparatchik- forcing upon Zen a suitcase full of untraceable five million Euros. The expectation is that Zen would act as the delivery boy, taking the ransom to the kidnapper- an illegal act that would surely likely to cost him his job. If Zen fails to rescue Miletti and he turns up dead, clearly the powers that be would be miffed enough to leave him at the mercy of Heuber's wrath. Vincenzo Fabri on the other hand wants to sabotage Zen's investigation, hoping this would discredit both Zen and Heuber enough that the latter is removed from his position. Fabri then hopes to step into the position of the new boss, with the blessing of his powerful uncle, a possibility that Zen alluded to as “yet another undiscovered level of hell”. Good to see that the wind on his face has not yet robbed him of his humor.

This may yet be the funniest episode just because of the little campy incidents. The inept plotting of Fabri not withstanding, the funniest part is the broad daylight clandestine meeting between Zen and Colonna. A convalescent Moscati soon smells out the fact that Tania and Aurelio are together- an event that is slightly less hilarious than a confrontation between Heuber and Zen. After severely reprimanding Zen and putting him in his place, Heuber sits on the desk where Zen and Tania, defying the new office regulations, had made love earlier and had broken it. The ensuing slapstick would leave you in stitches, I can assure you.

Having engineered a mother of all switcheroos, Zen tries to restore his autonomy, an attempt that results in some success. But the plot twists are really worth savoring. As well as the heartbreaks. But one must never discount Zen, even when he is completely down and out. The terms “coming from the left field” was probably invented for him. One gets the feeling that the chemistry between him and Colonna is there for a reason: they are cut from the same cloth with the added fact that Zen has a conscience- even a clichéd one.

And yes, the last line of the show is definitely the icing on the cake.