His expression here kills me. This man came so close to avenging his fallen comrades. He was right there and you can see that he thinks he’s got victory in the bag and that he wants it so bad. Risotto isn’t one to smile. But he wants to win for his Squad. And thought of winning for them…he’s smiling because he thinks someone will finally pay for their deaths. All of the people who killed his Squad have gotten away with their lives. And he thinks that at long last that’s about to change…and so he smiles.

It’s hard, also, to see your heroes messing up and not realizing it...and just knowing how steep the price of this mistake will be... Risotto could have defeated the Boss right here. It could have been over right here and now...but the real bad guy is gonna get away and there’s gonna be hell to pay for it next week...brace yourselves and stay strong, fam!

A somewhat graphic reminder that, for La Squadra, going after Trish and the boss was never just about money. It was about this. As little as we see of Sorbet and Gelato, there is one thing that I personally am sure of. La Squadra wasn’t just a team. They were a family. Maybe they didn’t always get along. Maybe some of them were motivated by the money when they first joined up and there’s a lot of evidence suggesting that’s why Sorbet and Gelato (who the manga suggest were actually acting under Risotto’s direction or approval at least) were out there looking into the Boss’ identity. But this group became so much more than just a hitman squad who killed people. Yeah, we had Formaggio bragging to Narancia about how lucrative it would be for them to overthrow the organization. But look at his face here. Consider that he was the one who first found Gelato’s corpse. You really think this is just about the money for him? You think any of them every forgot about this? It’s one thing to be threatened, but this is something else entirely. Why do you think the Boss had Sorbet and Gelato killed in the manner he did? Just killing them wasn’t enough for him. He knew they were lovers and that they cared deeply about one another. He knows too that this Squad, for all its bickering and teasing, cares about one another and so he’s making a statement here. His statement is that he knows that they’re more than just a team and if they cross him he will strike out at their little squad family in the most horrific way imaginable. He’s got their number and he’s not afraid to use their closeness against them. As the anime has progressed, we’ve seen just how much this group cared for one another through the way the ever-dwindling surviving group mourn their fallen comrades as they lost them one by one. This was never just about the money. This was about avenging the family they lost and continued to lose. It’s two years later, but Risotto has not forgotten for a single moment. And now he’s fueled by the rage and pain of losing the other six members of his team and being the last man standing. Despite the fact that he is technically an antagonist, I wish he could have gotten the closure he fought so long for…