The Last Don II

"He thought he was the last Don."

The Last Don II is a 1998 television miniseries. It is a sequel to the 1997 television miniseries The Last Don, which was adapted from the Mario Puzo novel of the same name.^[1]

Plot

After the death of Don Domenico Clericuzio and the murder of his girlfriend Athena Aquitane, the Don's young heir Croccifixio "Cross" De Lena receives the position of Don. Cross quickly proves to be as ruthless as the old Don as he tries to discover has begun a plot to overthrow his rule and may be infiltrating the families. After his wife and children are murdered, top assassin Lia Vazzi returns from exile to assist Cross, and, following prompting from capo Billy De Angelo, targets Don Borgetto. After the further death of family ally Don Rossario, Lia Vazzi kills Paulie, the Don's civilian son. The old Don sadly informs Cross of his innocence before dissolving his crime family.

Cross' aunt, Rose Marie Clericuzio discovers that Cross had her son Dante Clericuzio murdered, setting her off in a plot to kill him. She is stopped when she is driven into the arms of a conflicted priest, Father Luca Tonarini, who eventually rejects her following pressure from the family via his superior, Bishop Enzo. Father Luca goes to minister in Belfast, but he is killed during a protest. His final letter encourages her to leave the family home at last and go travelling abroad.

Meanwhile, an undercover FBI agent, Josie Cirolia, moves into the family home as a nanny for Cross's handicapped stepdaughter, Bethany Aquitane. The two become close, but when Cross discovers Josie's identity he has her executed by Lia Vazzi.

Eventually the murders are discovered to have been orchestrated by Billy De Angelo, who sought to take over the running of the family from Cross, and who has also been working with disgraced Hollywood producer Bobby Bantz to humiliate the family by revealing the infidelity of Claudia De Lena's husband Dirk Von Schelburg (and later framing him for double murder) and ultimately attempting to kill Claudia in a faked gas explosion. The family discovers this in time and has Bantz thrown from his apartment balcony. De Angelo is brutally murdered by Vazzi, in revenge for the killing of his family.

At the close of the film, Cross and Giorgio Clericuzio (who has been newly wed to Della Fortunato) reflect on their successes, and the fact that the family has finally secured its place.