Brigands: The Quest for Gold – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

The Bride, The Assassin, and The Lunatic

Episode 5 of Brigands: The Quest for Gold starts with Michelina performing a funeral ceremony for the people that the Guerra gang lost during the fight at Santa Maria del Carmine. Among them are the brigands, including Filomena, Schiavone, Manzo, and Ventre. After the burial, Michelina leads them to her camp, Terra di Lavoro, where the villagers, including Michelina’s husband Francesco, greet them at the gates. Elsewhere, Cicci is mourning Pietro’s death, and she looks like a shell of her previous self. Marchetta and Jurillo are with her, and Jurillo tries his best to make Cicci feel better. 

At Terra di Lavoro, we are introduced to the brigands’ alliance, including the Paces and the Stonebreakers. Michelina and Francesco are trying to convince the Stonebreakers to join their cause, and the leader, Cosimo’s father, asks for Maria’s hand in marriage to his son in exchange for joining hands with the Guerra. Michelina agrees to the alliance just as Maria arrives, leading Filomena’s prisoners to the council meeting. 

Michelina mentions something about the gold, but the council does not believe her, saying that the stories about the hidden gold are just legends. While Schiavone wants them to keep the gold a secret, Filomena stands up and tells them it exists. Paces recognise her but still does not believe her story, saying they do not want to go against Fumel based on a rumour. At the same time, Cosimo arrives and recognises Schiavone as Sparrowhawk, the brigands’ hunter, and he is taken to jail accompanied by Manzo and Ventre.

Filomena is set free, and as she stands at the gate overlooking the vast forest below, Michelina approaches her. She tells him about the gold and that Fumel’s men are taking it to the north. She mentioned that they had little time, and Michelina promised that they would get it back. 

Cosimo plans to pin the prisoners against Schiavone and make them fight to death to prove to Sparrowhawk that they are both alike. Meanwhile, the festivities for the wedding are underway, and Filomena starts to feel at ease and enjoy herself. She notices something happening in the woods and follows it to find Cosimo forcing prisoners to fight to their deaths for money. She then follows Cosimo and sees him try to force himself on Maria, so she sets his hair on fire. 

Filomena takes Maria and runs away, but they meet with Michelina in the woods. Filomena is angry that Michelina preaches freedom while she lets the brigands torture other people by making them fight and kill each other for fun and gives Maria to a Cosimo against her will, knowing that she will be oppressed and abused. Filomena tells Michelina that she preaches freedom and makes people trust her, but she does not practice what she preaches. Michelina orders Filomena’s arrest for messing with Cosimo, saying that she does not know what it takes to fight for freedom and the sacrifices they have to make. 

Cosimo puts Filomena with the male prisoners, saying that it is his gift to them before their death. One of them tries to get up to approach her, but Schiavone warns that no one is to touch her. Filomena knows that Schiavone is the one who sold her out to Fumel, and all he needs is the gold, but she wonders why. Schiavone tries to tell her something but then decides against it.

At Fumel’s house, Marchetta goes for his reward for saving him from their ambush and telling him about the gold. It seems that Marchetta and Salvatore betrayed the Monacos so that Fumel could pay them and allow them to leave for Calabria without hunting them. Fumel pays him, but Marchetta keeps asking for more, which makes him angry. He tells Marchetta to take his additional payment and leave for Calabria, and if he ever comes back, he will kill him. 

At Terra di Lavaro, Michelina feels guilty after what Filomena told her. She shares her worries with her husband, asking if he ever feels he does not believe his words. Mignano is Michelina’s hometown, and she worries that compromises will lead them astray, and she might end up building another open prison for their people in the name of freedom. Francesco reminds her that the past does not determine her destiny; only she controls it. He promises that he has faith in her and will follow whenever the prophecy leads them and for every revolution her heart desires. 

The following morning, the village prepares for the wedding while the Stonebreakers celebrate their own. After realising that Schiavone and Filomena are in love, they pit them against each other, threatening to shoot if they do not fight. Elsewhere, Jurillo runs across the forest until he finds Cicci on top of a cliff and stops her from killing herself. At Terra di Lavoro, the wedding procession begins, but the woman wearing the veil is Michelina. She kills Cosimo at the altar while her husband shoots his father dead, and their other men ambush the rest of the Stonebreakers at the fighting ring.

Meanwhile, Cicci swears to kill Fumel to pay for the lives lost, while Marchetta leads her to believe that Filomena betrayed them for her brother. After getting rid of the stonebreakers, Michelina called for a meeting, telling the people that the Stonebreaker’s values were not in line with their mission, so they had to cut them off. Their new goal is to find Southern gold and renew their hope for freedom. Michelina urges the brigands’ alliance to prepare for battle. 

The Episode Review

The episode introduces suspense about why Schiavone is determined to find the gold against all odds. What is he hiding from the others? Filomena finds out he betrayed her, but she forgives him. The brigands prepare for the final battle against Fumel for the gold, while Cicci wants revenge. Do you think the brigands will get the gold? Who will survive between the Piedmontese and the Brigands? Will Schiavone betray everyone and run away with the gold?

The final battle will determine the fate of the Southern people, and we will figure out where their alliances lie. Will the desire for freedom transcend the selfish, individualistic, and greedy desires we have witnessed over the episodes?