The Decameron on Netflix is a dark comedy series set in 1348 following a group of misfits trying to wait out the Black Death in the Italian countryside. There, they hope to wait out the deadly pandemic by enjoying a lavish holiday but as social rules wear thin, their wine-fuelled romp descends into a fight for survival.
The second episode of The Decameron takes a slight jump back in time and we see Filomena waking up on the side of the river after being pushed in and left for dead by Licisca. We discover that the reason Filomena looks so bad when she arrived at the villa was because she had almost drowned, been attacked by bandits and robbed of all her belongings. She then dragged herself through the elements to the villa with bandaged feet and that is where we caught up with her at the end of the first episode.
No one at the villa is pleased to see Filomena, believing she is poor after Licisca stole her identity and has been posing as Filomena in the villa, but Licisca lies to everyone that she is her maid and the pair fight again. Dioneo pulls Filomena off Licisca and throws her out, however, Licisca goes after her and they make a truce. Licisca tells her former boss that she is making progress with Tindaro and that if he proposes they could cement their future. Filomena reluctantly agrees and they make a pact to switch roles.
As the women are talking, house servant Sirisco and cook Stratilia throw the cardinal's body over the garden wall after Licisca killed him earlier in the evening.
Back inside the women in the house are panicking that there is no one to protect the villa and they are all feeling shaken after the armed bandits stormed in. Later, Pampinea complains that she still hasn't met her future husband, Leonardo and that her bedroom is too small for someone who is meant to be the lady of the house.
Misia and Sirisco panic, both knowing Leonardo is dead and make a plan to take Pampinea out the following day to break the news to her.
God-fearing Neifile is becoming increasingly unhinged after her run-in with the bandits and even her husband Panfilo's words of comfort aren't enough. While he is sleeping that night, she gets up, goes to the kitchen, and steals a pig, before accidentally falling into the well in the garden. She calls out, but as it is the middle of the night, no one hears her and she thinks this is god punishing her.
The next morning Sirisco prepares to take Pampinea out with Misia and tell her Leonardo is dead. While they pack the carriage, Panfilo is looking for Neifile as he hasn't seen her since the night before. He eventually finds his wife down the well, but she won't let him rescue her, telling him it needs to be God who saves her.
Sirisco and Misia tell Pampinea that her husband-to-be is dead and she is devastated, having finally found someone to marry her. In the end, the trio stays out all day and when they return that evening they pretend that Pampinea married Leonardo in down and that she is now the lady of the villa.
Meanwhile, back at the country house, Tindaro is trying to impress Licisca with his historical knowledge and gets Dioneo to play some music to accompany his reading. But as they reenact a historical fight Dioneo takes his shirt off and Licisca finds it hard to look anywhere but at him.
Later Tindaro takes offence to something Licisca says and Dioneo defuses the situation by telling Tindaro that what Licisca meant to say was that she is falling in love with him. Later, at dinner, Tindaro is all over Licisca but really it is Dioneo she wants.
With Neifile still down a well, her husband, Panfilo, decides he needs to intervene and gets Dioneo to pretend he got word from God that she needed rescuing... paying him to save his wife and make her better. But as the doctor treats her, he takes his clothes off to warm her up and she runs away, finding him too attractive and feeling frustrated at her platonic marriage.
At the end of the episode, Dioneo is in his room and Licisca knocks at the door, throwing herself at him when he opens it. But what will Tindaro think if he finds out what they're up to?!
All episode of The Decameron are available to stream worldwide on Netflix now.
