Brigands: The Quest for Gold is an Italian period action drama which is set in the mid-1800s just after the Risorgimento of the country.
It follows a woman named Filomena who flees her village to join a crew of bandits, which she quickly becomes the leader of, eventually leading them to steal some gold which causes them to square up against outlaws, gangs and other enemies along the way.
The first episode explores Filomena's unhappy marriage to a wealthy man, who she decides to flee from and take matters into her own hands, especially when she discovers he's protecting a map that reveals the routes of gold stolen from Palermo.
So, Filomena steals the map and encounters a group of bandits, with episode one exploring how she manages to get them on her side.
Here's what went down in Brigands: The Quest for Gold episode 1...
Filomena joins the bandits
The episode opens with a voiceover explaining that the Bank of Palermo was emptied to pay for a war. They left a note which read: "War loan, it will be returned", but the narrator explains the gold disappeared along with a map to find it.
We flash to two years later, 1862 Southern Italy, after the unification of the country, Here we meet Filomena who lives in a modest peasant village. Hoping to change the unhappy course of her life, she agrees to marry Don Clemente, a rich local man.
While this is going on, the narrator introduces themselves as Sparrowhawk and reveals the map has been found, and they intend to find it and lead themselves to the gold. Finally, we meet Sparrowhawk, whose identity is hidden behind a cloth mask. He brings a criminal in to be arrested, where the chief says he's always been the "best brigand hunter".
It is revealed that Sparrowhawk is looking for Don Clemente, believing that he has the map and that he wants to bring him to justice. The chief directs him to the property, where the scene cuts and we see Filomena arriving home. Sure enough, Clemente does have the map, and has invited someone over to discuss the nature of it. He argues that the map is indeed authentic, and they should attempt to follow it.
Clemente dismisses concerns that there are brigands in the area, but is presented with a poster declaring "Freedom!" which depicts Michelina De Cesare, who he describes as a "gang leader" who is spreading a superstition that a woman will liberate Southern Italy. Filomena stops by to drop off tea, and takes a moment to look at the poster.
Filomena cuts in during a discussion about strategy, saying that local workers should be trained and not existing soldiers, because entire families rely on the income of the young men already. Clemente tells her to stop, and the visitor tells him his wife is "truly lovely", but makes no effort to address what she just said. She is dismissed from the room.
Outside, Filomena helps locals in poverty by providing medicine and clean water, but Clemente catches her sneaking people inside their home to offer supplies. He accuses her of bringing poverty back into their home after he took her out of it, and retaliates by shooting the peasant she brought home, before beating Filomena.
Later that evening, Sparrowhawk sneaks into their home and snoops around while Filomena is bathing. Afterwards, Clemente berates her and says she can't "wash away the peasant smell", and she snaps and stabs him to death, before fleeing into the woods.
She is found by two bandits who point a gun at her, while a search party is out looking for Filomena. The locals are also intimidated into giving up her whereabouts, but they refuse to cooperate with the elite even if they knew anything about it, but they are threatened with death if they continue withholding information. In an attempt to entice them, a reward is offered to anyone who can locate Filomena.
Filomena is blindfolded by the bandits who make fun of her and try to decide what to do with her. She begs them to let her live, where she notices the two men are joined by a woman, who asks if she's injured. Filomena says she's not, so the woman asks why she is covered in blood but she doesn't answer.
When pressed about her martial status she says her husband was murdered, and a member of the group is ordered to head into town and see if there's a ransom for her capture. He does as instructed and takes Filomenia's ring, asking in town if anyone recognises it, where he learns the whole village is looking for her.
Meanwhile, Sparrowhawk is kidnapped and unmasked. Threatened with revealing his identity to everyone, he offers to bring Filomena to the authorities but only if the photograph of him is destroyed. The bandit returns to camp and informs the others about Filomena's dead husband, and the fact her brother is in poverty and can't provide them with any money.
A child had followed the bandit back to camp and when he spots Filomena, he is distressed, saying that she was responsible for the death of his mother (the woman who was shot by Clemente). He's handed a gun by the female bandit and is told to shoot her if he wants to become a brigand, but Filomena blurts out that she murdered her husband and didn't want Clemente to do this.
Filomena tells the bandits she knows a place where they can find treasure. She leads them back to the house where they break in and steal the map from Clemente's safe. Back at camp, she declares her intentions to be a woman brigand and assist them with the retrieval of the treasure.
The episode ends with her being welcomed to the group, who identify themselves as The Monaco, and they take a closer look at the map.
