Aahana Swrup
‘Public Disorder,’ the Italian crime show, pitches a moral dilemma that proves to be more complex than assumed at first glance. Mazinga and his team of riot cops find themselves taking a vengeful detour after their leader, Pietro, gets gravely injured in a protest rally. As a result, a young protestor, Franco Cua, ends up in a coma, inciting an extensive internal affair investigation over the cops in the Rome department. However, Mazinga and his team’s efforts at hiding their most recent stint of police brutality get challenged when they get assigned a new leader, the upstanding officer Michele Nobili.
Even so, as the group of cops continues serving their duty amidst growing anti-cop sentiments, complications in the workplace and their personal lives push them toward unexpected avenues. Consequently, what begins as a simple case of crime and punishment arrives at a more complicated conclusion. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Public Disorder Recap
During the growing protest-turned-riot at Val di Susa, Pietro and his team find themselves manning the front lines of the police blockade after a 10-hour wait. Amidst the violent pushback from the civilian protestors, Pietro ends up getting gravely injured to the point where he has to be airlifted out of the scene. This leaves his team, now under the command of Mazinga, aching for revenge against the protestors. For the same reason, as the wave simmers down, they chase a group into the woods, engaging in a brutal fight by the riverbanks. In the immediate aftermath, they realize the kind of complications their actions will put them under.
Consequently, before reporting back to base, Mazinga and his team clean their batons with bleach to erase any forensics evidence and get rid of the leader’s body cam. As a result, they’re able to deny any allegations when the higher-ups question them about their involvement in the riverside attack. Nonetheless, as one of the many injured protestors ends up in a coma, it creates nationwide unrest, paving the path for an internal affairs investigation. On their part, Mazinga and his team, including loose canon Salvatore, hesitant Florence, and Marta, the only woman in the group, remain indignant over the investigation—especially in light of Pietro’s spinal injury.
Meanwhile, Michele Nobili’s transfer to Rome goes through, bringing him to join their ranks. However, the riot squad antagonizes him for his past, wherein he testified against his fellow cops in a police brutality trial. For the same reason, after he becomes Mazinga and his unit’s new leader, they refuse to cooperate with him and go against orders during missions. Everyone except Marta even signs an unsuccessful report calling for his transfer. As a result, tension grows between Nobili and the squad as they continue to undertake missions together. Still, a particular mission involving the protection of a Romani family instills some level of trust and respect between the squad and their leader.
Meanwhile, an adverse problem arises in Nobili’s personal life. His teenage daughter, Emma, gets raped at a party and gravely struggles in the aftermath. Even though she reports the assault with her father’s help, things remain complicated. As it turns out, the details surrounding the assault are muddied and can be used against Emma in a proceeding trial. Consequently, Nobili has to face the fact that the chances of conviction against her daughter’s rapist are low. Shortly after, he’s faced with another tough decision. After witnessing Pietro’s tragic battle with the aftermath of his injury, Mazinga begins to doubt his place in the police force.
For the same reason, Mazinga considers quitting the force. As a result, he digs out his body cam—which contains footage of the assault that took place at the riverbank during the Val di Susa riots—and gives it to Nobili. Despite constant pressure from the internal affairs investigation, Mazinga hasn’t handed in the vital evidence to the department. He doesn’t wish to condemn his team to the consequences of their actions that were born from an emotionally charged decision. However, in his moment of defeat, he gives the body cam up to Nobili because he wants to know what another cop—perhaps a better one—would do in his shoes.
Public Disorder Ending: Does Nobili Turn in the Body Cam? Why Does He Throw it Away?
Throughout the story, the audience receives a glimpse into the inner lives of the cops in Mazinga’s group in order to provide context behind the initial conflict that opens up the narrative. Mazinga and the other riot officers in his group are old-school cops. They are notorious for causing trouble for the department through their aggression and power exploitation. From aggravated assault to racist social media posts—everyone in the group is guilty of one thing or the other. For the same reason, they hold Nobili—a reformist cop who snitches on his fellow officers—in contempt.
Mazinga and the other cops believe in a divisive ideology wherein they are willing to abuse the power they hold over civilians and protestors under certain circumstances. This manifests in different polarizing ways. One may understand Marta’s threats over her abusive ex-husband and be less understanding of Salvatore threatening the woman who catfished him. Yet, both are instances of cops exploiting their power—represented through their state-sanctioned guns. Even though Franco Cua’s assault took place in a completely different context, Mazinga’s team believes their actions are justified because of the personal vendetta they held against the protestors.
They blame the protestors for injuring Pietro and seek revenge against them. Nevertheless, in the aftermath, they’re intent on avoiding the consequences of their actions. As such, they come up with a shared lie and hide the body cam to bury the evidence against them. By the time Mazinga passes it to Michele, he has had enough time to grow close to the squad. His new friendships have made him reluctant to condemn the team for what he considers to be the result of Mazinga’s actions. More than that, certain life experiences have also compelled him to consider a different philosophy than his own.
After Emma’s assault and its ensuing complications, Nobili has found himself tracking down her daughter’s rapist, Salis, perhaps to dole out the punishment he deserves personally. He can’t rest easily, knowing that the boy will likely get off easy despite ruining Emma’s life. When compared to the squad’s actions—carried out in perceived vengeance for their leader—Nobili can understand the moral dilemma on some level. Therefore, when the time comes, he decides to hold onto the bodycam instead of turning it in.
From there, things become more complicated as Salvatore learns about Salis and his punishment-less crime. Salvatore and his friends end up abducting Salis and holding him hostage at a non-descript storage unit. Afterward, they bring Nobili to the location and allow him an opportunity to hurt the young man for what he has done to Emma. When it comes down to it, Nobili easily makes his decision and beats a tied-up Salis to a pulp. Even though he doesn’t kill the boy, the reality of his actions remains all the same.
After this incident, it becomes impossible for Nobili to try to differentiate himself from the rest of Mazinga’s squad. In his eyes, he has become the same as what he criticizes: a cop who uses his powers to carry out a personal vendetta. For the same reason, he throws the bodycam into a river, knowing that he won’t be able to condemn anyone for Franco’s assault in light of his own actions against Salis.
Who Hurt Franco? Do They Get Caught?
Even though it is evident from the get-go that Mazinga’s team is behind the attack that took place at the riverbank, the identity of the person responsible for Franco’s assault remains a mystery. Despite the whole squad’s involvement in the event, the department is looking to blame only one person directly responsible for Franco’s injury. Nonetheless, the fact persists that Franco’s condition is a result of the squad’s actions as a whole. After Pietro got hurt, Mazinga made the decision to direct his team after the fleeing protestors. He wanted to hurt the people responsible for hurting his friends, and his team agreed with his decision.
Therefore, all of them are to blame for putting Franco in the coma. As such, Mazinga and the others hide the bodycam to put the heat off of the officer who attacked the young civilian. They don’t want one of them to become a fall guy for the entire team’s actions. Furthermore, they want to avoid the consequences of their actions for a while. Yet, guilt claws at the attacker’s conscience. As it turns out, Marta is the one who engaged with Franco by the riverside and hurt him enough to put him in a coma. For the same reason, the internal affairs investigations have an adverse effect on her, especially when she reads about the victim’s mother.
Marta is a single mother herself and understands the depth of the damage that her actions have caused. She spends so much time gauging out if she can trust her daughter, Agata, in her ex-husband’s hands because she wants to know if there’s a future where her kid can grow up without her. It’s evident that she wants to own up to her actions, but the circumstances around her life make it impossible for her to willingly face punishment and condemn her daughter to a bad life. Fortunately for her, once Nobili throws away the body cam, there’s no direct evidence tying her to Franco’s assault.
Does Mazinga Confess? Does He Die?
Mazinga’s journey of witnessing Pietro’s post-cop life and serving under Nobili changes him to a certain degree. Furthermore, the impromptu chance he gets to be by his estranged son’s side allows him to see the brighter side of things. Consequently, even though he and his squad are out of the red now that the final evidence against them has been destroyed, he decides to come clean about the incidence of police brutality that injured Franco. Mazinga wants to come forward and confess that he led his team to the river banks to attack the protestors. Nonetheless, he establishes that no one will reveal that Marta is the one who attacked Franco in particular.
By doing so, Mazinga and his team will face the consequences of their actions together as a unit. Furthermore, it changes the dynamics of the situation and casts them in a more heroic light. If anyone from the squad confesses to the event, they’ll be labeled a rat for turning on their team members. However, if Mazinga accepts responsibility for it as the leader, his actions will be perceived as a noble sacrifice—at least within the department. However, a new complication arrives on New Year’s Eve while the squad is out on duty.
Franco dies while in a coma, effectively amplifying the public rage over the incident. As a result, a mob of angry citizens take to the streets, ready to attack any cop they encounter. Naturally, this puts Mazinga and the others under threat as well. After someone initially blows up their van, Mazinga, Nobili, Marta, and Salvatore find themselves running for their lives from an angry mob.
Ultimately, after escaping from an underground pathway, Mazinga seems to suffer a heart attack of some kind. The show ends before establishing the attack’s severity, leaving the cop’s demise up for audience interpretation. In some way, if the attack takes fatal effect, it can be seen as a narrative comeuppance for Mazinga, whose moral ambiguity demands some retribution. However, there is always a chance that the cop survives the attack and undertakes the initial plan of confession.
Read More: Public Disorder: Is the Netflix Show Based on a True Story?
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