Synopsis
Season Eight of One Step from Heaven finds us in today’s world, which is increasingly concerned about climate change and the need to take care of our planet. It courageously addresses ecological issues and does so from a perspective of hope.
In San Vito di Cadore, among the soaring Veneto Dolomites, we find the Nappi siblings, who now comprise a police duo perfectly aligned in conducting investigations. We already know Vincenzo, who has never changed since Season One: he is astute and by-the-book. Manuela, on the other hand, we have seen grow and refine her skills through the study of proxemics, thus making herself an increasingly important resource for the team. Hers is a talent that could garner her many career opportunities, even far from San Vito, but Manuela feels tied the mountains. Her family is here, including Vincenzo who – after some initial reluctance – has finally learned to trust her and her intuition. But also found in those mountains is Nathan. We met him last season as “the bear man”, who grew up in the pristine wilds and is now always ready to help our team in their investigations by calling on his deep knowledge of the forests and heights surrounding San Vito.
We know little about Nathan’s personal history – or, that is, we know only what he remembers: as a child he was raised by a bear. For a while he tried to live in society, but then decided to return to nature, the only place he ever felt he belonged. After meeting Manuela and Vincenzo, however, he realized that human beings are not all the same. Some you can trust, with some you can collaborate, and with some… you can even fall in love.
Or at least that’s what Manuela is hoping. At the end of the last season, after that silent promise of love the two exchanged in front of the Cinque Torri, our policewoman now hopes that Nathan will urge her not to leave San Vito and to stay for him. But will “the bear man” really be ready for that?
Perhaps, before bonding with someone, he needs to clarify his past, discover who he really is, what his life is about, and how he found himself in the forest, all alone, so young… And so, this season Nathan will feel the need to find out about his origins, and to do that he will have to question his deepest convictions.
The beginning of this journey in search of himself will be triggered by the arrival of a new character: Stephen Anderssen, a charismatic and idealistic scientist who settles with his team on the slopes of a glacier near San Vito – with one goal clearly in mind: to save it from imminent melting.
Manuela, thanks to her sensitive and incisive perception, will be able to discover that the fragility of that imposing glacier involves a deep secret. Stephen, in fact, is Nathan’s father, and he’s the only one capable of shedding light on many of the shadows that obscure his son’s past.
Stephen’s stories, combined with Nathan’s few memories and Manuela’s investigation, will fit together the pieces of a puzzle that becomes increasingly clear and reveals the shocking details of Nathan’s past. First of all, Miriam, his mother, was murdered when he was just a child. It’s hard for Manuela not to suspect Stephen, this mysterious father who appeared out of nowhere… especially when his team’s work is interrupted because the authorities discover that the group is conducting an illegal and potentially dangerous scientific experiment on the glacier.
The whole truth, however, is about to re-emerge and overwhelm everything and everyone – with a fury equal to a natural disaster, clashing decisively with the present. The same hand that killed Miriam is ready to strike again, and everyone is at grave risk. Stephen will prove his innocence, but the cost of the truth will be his life. Nathan, on the other hand, will finally be able to make peace with his past and see the person guilty of his parents’ murders brought to justice.
The end of the series will be the beginning of a new life for him: a life without shadows, enigmas and nightmares. A life where love for Manuela can finally find the space to grow. That silent promise of love has now found its voice, the voice of someone no longer afraid to say, “I love you”.
