Netflix viewers sob over ‘top-class’ ending to series with perfect Rotten Tomatoes score

Netflix viewers are heaping praise on a ‘top-class’ crime drama after the final series left them in tears.

The Law According to Lidia Poet premiered in February 2023 to a roaring reception, boasting a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

A second season followed in 2024 with another seriously impressive audience rating of 91% and reviews that declared it was able to ‘defy the sophomore slump’.

So, when the third season dropped this week, it’s fair to say expectations were high – thankfully, it appears to have delivered.

With each season comprising six episodes, the plot is based on a true story and chronicles Italy’s first qualified female lawyer, who is banned from practising because of her sex.

Set in the 19th century and battling misogyny, she investigates homicides.

Lidia Poet is played by Matilda De Angelis, a 30-year-old Italian actress and singer whose past credits include the films Italian Race and Rose Island.

She also starred in the smash hit TV series The Undoing alongside Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman.

Her performance as Lidia Poet has been lauded since the show first landed, as social media users have repeatedly urged one another to get on board.

Previously, it’s been hailed as a ‘little gem’, with audiences saying they were ‘gripped’.

Others described the show as ‘smart’ and ‘feisty’, while TV writer Lacy Baugher Milas called it her ‘favourite TV find’ of recent months.

‘As heroines go, Lidia is utterly delightful: smart, confident, funny, and charmingly modern, she’s a woman who knows what she wants and is unwilling to settle for anything less,’ she penned in a review for Paste Magazine.

‘The utterly compelling Lidia — and the standout performance from De Angelis— makes the show such tremendous fun to watch, that it’s impossible not to want to watch this story’s familiar beats play out in another language,’ she added.

Elsewhere on the internet, Reddit users have been eating up season 3, although they are admittedly gutted that there won’t be any more.

‘Loved season 3! The production, acting and script all top class’, wrote @Affectionate_Bake_63.

@DanyeelsAnulmint said they are ‘sad it’s the final season’, while @iamvocaloid revealed the closing scene in particular made them ‘cry’

While bittersweet, @Fitzfuzzington praised how the story ‘wrapped up nicely’, and, after binge-watching, @Warm_Trash_7826 already plans to ‘watch again in a couple of months’.

It was confirmed last month that season 3 would be the final chapter of The Law According to Lidia Poet, but Netflix vowed to bring a conclusive end to ‘her fight for justice and equality’.

So far, fans have watched Lidia solve various types of murders, including that of a ballerina, who turns up dead before her alleged stalker is accused of killing her.

She also investigates the death of a wealthy businessman who mysteriously dies following a séance at a wild party.

Season 3 picks up in April 1887, at which point her brother, Enrico (Pier Luigi Pasino), has become a member of parliament, campaigning to pass a law that would officially allow his sister to practise.

In her own work, the season’s main legal battle turns personal as Lidia’s best friend, Grazia Fontana (Liliana Bottone), is accused of murdering her husband.

Fighting her corner, Lidia must win over an all-male jury, arguing self-defence in what seems an impossible task.

As for her own love life, Lidia continues her relationship with Pierluigi Fourneau (Gianmarco Saurino), who is also prosecuting in the murder trial.

The court case attracts journalist Jacopo Barberis (Eduardo Scarpetta) back to Turin, too, stirring up old feelings and reigniting romantic tension between him and Lidia – but which man will she choose?

Watch The Law According to Lidia Poet on Netflix.

A version of this article was first published on February 12, 2024.

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