Image Credit: Netflix
If you’re anticipating the second season of Netflix’s Italian coming-of-age series RIV4LI (known internationally as Riv4lries), today we have some sweet and sour news for you. Netflix has officially canceled Season 2 — but they’re not leaving fans empty-handed.
Instead of a traditional sophomore season, Netflix has opted to close out the series with a surprise, standalone finale. Topic one last adventureThe bonus episode was released today, Thursday, July 9, and is being streamed completely free on the Netflix Italy “DOPOSCUOLA” YouTube channel.
How do we know this is definitely the end? The streaming service apparently bills it as a “special final episode” that “takes fans back into the world of the beloved coming-of-age series for the last time.” Additionally, the special is set during “the last summer before high school”, effectively closing the book on the Montalcini Middle School chapter around which the show is built.
Although it’s always disappointing when a show doesn’t get a full renewal, the story of how this finale came about is great and something we really haven’t seen Netflix do in a while. One Last Adventure was inspired entirely by a letter sent to Netflix by a 13-year-old French fan named Halle from Toulouse. She wrote to the streamer expressing her deep connection with the series, its characters, and her own struggles and dreams of finding friends. Moved by his letter, Netflix and the Italian production company Stand by Me decided to dedicate the final presentation of the show to him.
What happens in One Last Adventure?
A mixture of traditional filming with “vlog” style shots at Terry (Karthik Malvasi) phone, episode Terry, Claudio (Samuel Carino), Paolo (ducio orlando) and Alessio (Joseph Figueroa) as they travel to Toulouse.
Alessio is there to present his first comic book at a prestigious festival. In a fun, meta twist, his comic is literally the story of RIV4LI. Overcome by self-doubt and feeling like an outsider, Alessio throws away his artwork, causing a rift in the group and romantic discord between Terry and Claudio.
However, everything changes when Alessio discovers Hayley’s letter. Realizing that she feels as alone as he does, the group reunites to locate her. This triggers a city-wide treasure hunt around Toulouse as the teens figure out clues from her letter – exploring skateparks, plazas, and eventually discovering that a clue about “dancing on the lake” was actually a mistranslation of a local ballet school’s production of Swan Lake (Le Lac des Cygnes).
Not only do the characters find Hailey in the episode (she makes a special cameo!), but the real-life cast actually visited her home in France to surprise her.
The episode ends with an animated sequence of Alessio’s redrawn comic, showing the show’s iconic “wall” collapsing, followed by a final, on-screen dedication: “To Hailey and all the fans of RIV4LI.”
A quick refresher on RIV4LI
For those unfamiliar, RIV4LI is an Italian teen series created by Simona Ercolani and set in the same story universe as DI4RI (another big YA hit for Netflix Italy).
The show focused on Class 3D at Montalcini Middle School in Pisa, which divided the students into two rival factions: the “Insiders”, led by the popular kid Claudio, and the “Outsiders”, led by newcomer Terry. After building a physical wall dividing their school, the series followed the children as they learned to break down both the literal and social barriers keeping them apart.
One Last Adventure is available to watch on YouTube now, and a behind-the-scenes vlog of the cast surprising Hayley will follow this Sunday, July 12.
Are you sad to see RIV4LI end without a proper Season 2? Let us know in the comments below!
