In the aftermath of the 2001 political elections, Matteo quarrels violently with his wife Livia, a passionate left-wing militant, who accuses him of having voted for Berlusconi. Livia is unable to accept the situation but, just as she leaves the marital home, she is hit and injured by a fragment of a plane that crashed in their garden. Matteo, distraught over the loss of his wife, drives in the middle of a storm and hits a man.

An American journalist works for a French newspaper. He is writing an article about the reaction against people with AIDS, without knowing he is infected too. Once he finds out, he decides to cut off himself leaving his wife and daughter.

With her father on trial, 15-year-old Mignon leaves Paris to stay with her Italian relatives. The rather prim, snooty teen at first struggles to fit in with the more earthy Forbicioni family, each with their own problems. Eventually she bonds with her lovestruck little cousin Giorgio—who'll learn important life lessons over the course of his summer with Mignon.

Young Franco is imprisoned for murder and rises to become the feared and powerful 'Professor', taking control of Naples' underworld from behind bars.