Elective Diversity

In the wine shop, people are discussing the timid Arduino Mandelli's candidacy, when Barilon enters triumphantly, announcing his upcoming election as mayor of the town. Faced with his attack on "Romanity," Giulio rises to the challenge and immediately takes to the field to defend his people and Garbatella from the barbarian invasion from the North. Lucia disagrees; politics isn't something you can improvise. Only when Germana provokes her does she become convinced: her husband will win, and she will help him in any way she can! Meanwhile, Marco has been selected for an important competition, but Simona and Franco tremble when they discover that the missing juror is their old enemy Criscuolo, who must cast the decisive vote to get Marco through. Walter makes matters worse by beating up the record executive for daring to insult his wife. In the end, Franco resolves matters by giving Criscuolo 50% of the producer's profits from Marco's album.