There are three main plotlines in Reporting for Duty, and all of them revolve around its new acting Chief of Police, Suzano, who has been transferred from a small town called Campo Manso to the notorious Tijuca after the accidental capture of a criminal called Serrote. First and foremost, he has to prove that he is fit for the job and that his nonviolent approach can actually work in Tijuca. Secondly, he has to express his love for his colleague, Mantovani, before she is scooped up by his predecessor and Mantovani’s ex-flame, Azevedo. And thirdly, he has to stand up to the Mafia that is out to kill him because he accidentally upended their business of smuggling hardware via arcade slot machines and teddy bears. All of these elements slowly take shape over the course of seven episodes, and then, in the eighth episode, they collide in spectacular fashion. So, let’s go through them one by one and see how the show handles its subplots and central plot.

Spoilers Alert

Suzano Proved That His Nonviolent Law Enforcement Approach Works

Suzano starts the final episode of Reporting for Duty on the back foot as he is imprisoned for allegedly conspiring with Serrote. But when the Mafia attacks the police station, he is ignored by the villains because they think that he won’t be able to stop them from getting the hardware that the police have confiscated. Suzano’s own team thinks that he won’t be of any help because he is afraid of confrontations, gunfights, and physical altercations in general. So, Mantovani, Estevão, Guerra, Rabecão, Wi-Fi, Pardal, and Zuleide take matters into their own hands and try to tackle the Mafia, which is made up of four and a half individuals. The “half” is a kid who is apparently the leader of this particular gang. Most of the heroes fail because they aren’t any good, either. It seems like Rabecão is going to use his physical prowess to take down at least some of the villains. However, he brings an ax to a gunfight and gets captured.

Mantovani is left with no other option but to take Suzano’s help, even though he hates holding a gun. Since Suzano refuses to align with her approach, Mantovani gets captured as well. That said, just when it looks like the villains are going to get away with everything, Suzano goes into Home Alone-mode and essentially sets up elaborate traps and takes out the mafia members one by one. When the kid tries to stab Suzano with a knife, he simply opens the door behind him, thereby imprisoning the gremlin. He doesn’t throw a punch. He doesn’t gravely injure anyone. He understands that the kid has to go through a lot of reformation, but he ensures that she starts on the right foot. Well, at least that’s what he hopes he has done. It’s a nice thought, though, because it is antithetical to what shows and movies about the police usually do. Yes, it’s a light-hearted comedy show, but nevertheless, the intent underneath its jokes is worth appreciating.

Suzano Almost Expressed His Love For Mantovani

The fact that Suzano is in love with Mantovani is obvious from the get-go. But Mantovani doesn’t show any interest initially. That phase is worsened by the arrival of Azevedo, who is physically attractive and has a raunchy history with Mantovani. Some of the things they do to turn each other on are hilariously weird. I don’t want to spoil it by describing it, but when you hear Mantovani giving out the details, you’ll do a double take to make sure that you are hearing what you are hearing. Anyway, Azevedo keeps undermining Suzano’s efforts to control the police station and interferes with Suzano’s romantic swings at Mantovani.

However, when Suzano is forced to resign due to the debacle with Ivone Cruz and her dog, and Mantovani gets to spend a lot of time with Suzano in his hometown, her love and respect for him grows tenfold. She realizes where his sense of innocence comes from and how Suzano’s need to be nice to people isn’t an act but something that he unironically believes in. That said, all of this emotional development is damaged by the revelation that Suzano has been secretly conspiring with Serrote. Suzano gets one chance to show that not only is he innocent, but that he loves Mantovani as well. The mafia clarifies the first doubt by admitting that Suzano has nothing to do with them. And when Suzano is done defeating the mafia, he gets the chance to speak from his heart. Sadly, his trusty scooter goes up in flames, and he fails to say that he loves Mantovani, and Mantovani doesn’t get the chance to say what she feels about Suzano. To be honest, I think this is always going to be a “will they, won’t they” kind of situation. They are never going to say it out loud, but I’m sure the lovebirds know what they feel for each other. But they’ve got to stick together, or else Azevedo or Emilinha (Suzano’s childhood love interest) will try to break them apart.

How Did Suzano And The 8th Precinct Defeat The Mafia?

Apparently, the version of the mafia that is terrorizing the people of Tijuca and moving around data and hardware via arcade consoles and teddy bears isn’t just one unit. They are broken into several teams and gangs that function under the leadership of some of the most powerful members of the mafia. The one that we get to see throughout Reporting for Duty is the Cherry Gang. I am saying that because their logo is a pair of cherries. They put it on the threat letters, and they wear them as badges. Now, this cherry gang has four adults and one kid, and that kid is the leader. I don’t think we get to see the faces of the little girl’s henchmen, but they clearly fear the kid and listen to everything that she has to say. How has she gained this notoriety? My best guess is that she is the daughter of a mafia leader, and that’s why no one dares to be in her bad books. Well, Suzano is the exception because he has done the impossible and gotten the leader of the Cherry gang arrested.

During Reporting for Duty‘s ending, we see a threat letter that arrives along with Suzano’s burning scooter, which states that the entire might of the Mafia is going to descend upon the 8th Precinct because they are angry about the little girl’s arrest. This spells doom for Suzano and his team. The only thing that they’ve got going for them is their ability to unite under Suzano’s name. Even though he started off as an untrustworthy individual, Suzano has displayed his nonviolent leadership skills, and his team undoubtedly believes in him. That said, there’s a big question mark on that nonviolent aspect of Suzano’s approach because if he has to fight every facet of the mafia, it’s quite possible that he has to pick up a gun or throw a punch. If he manages to defeat the mafia again without resorting to physical altercations, it’ll be one for the history books. I’m not sure if Reporting for Duty is going to get a second season. If it does, I’ll be watching it for sure.