Ripley – Season 1 Episode 4 “IV La Dolce Vita” Recap & Review

IV La Dolce Vita

Episode 4 of Ripley begins with Tom feeling more cocky once he returns to Atrani. He packs up the villa while telling Marge that Dickie is in Rome and he will be staying with him for a while, Dickie won’t be going to Freddie’s for Christmas and wants to be alone. He gives her the perfume and lets her think that Dickie has a new girl. She keeps questioning him and catches his lies but he is able to keep up.

He drives a hard bargain with Carlo, the smuggler to sell Dickie’s yacht. He fails as Carlo gets 20% of the commission but Tom lets it go when the smuggler realises that something is off. Tom then tells a hotel to buy whatever they want from the villa. He fires Ermelinda and tells everyone he is handling Dickie’s affair who will be in Rome for some time. Meanwhile, Tom takes the Picasso painting for himself. He takes a train to Rome where he practises mimicking Dickie and forging his signature.

He heads to the best hotel and checks in as Dickie. The hotel clerk does not spot Dickie’s picture in the passport and Tom cannot believe he pulled it off. He unpacks only for the clerk to say Marge has called and is relieved she found Dickie. Tom hurriedly checks out and is annoyed that he has to pay for the night. 

He then checks into a dingy hotel as Dickie where the clerk again fails to notice the passport photo. He finally replaces the passport photo with his own. He is a little worried about the cops at the bank but he is successfully able to withdraw from Dickie’s trust fund account.

He then writes to Marge as Dickie, asking for space and harping on how Tom is a nice guy and how he is the one to find the perfume. She falls for the letter and also agrees to give him space. But she writes that it’s odd that Dickie suddenly likes Tom and that he found the perfume, wondering if she should just come to Rome.

Worried, Tom tells the hotel clerk that Marge is his unpleasant ex-fiancee and to pretend he isn’t there if she shows up. With the yacht’s money, Tom opens a bank account under his real name. He sees more of Caravaggio’s paintings and the Goliath one speaks to him. He also develops Dickie’s camera and finds a photo of Dickie which makes him pause.

It is Christmas Eve and Thomas writes to the Greenleafs as Dickie. He constantly compliments Tom, how he is the perfect man they sent, and how he taught him a lot. At the end of Ripley Episode 4, he shares that he will be missing Christmas with them.

The Episode Review

Ripley Episode 4 now gives us a different tone as it is still Tom who constantly looks over his shoulder, but he is more confident now that he has money. He also happens to be the luckiest man on Earth since he checks in with Dickie’s original passport twice and the hotel clerks fail to see the photo twice! 

Honestly, once he convinces Marge to let go of Dickie, he will be in the clear. Though we do wonder if he is getting a little sloppier than usual. Instead of acting like Dickie, he toots his own horn when writing to Marge and the Greenleafs, claiming that Tom is a great man. This is not how Dickie talks and if Tom continues to play with fire, he is going to get burnt soon.