Netflix’s Ripley, written and directed by Steven Zaillian (The Night Of, Schindler’s List), stars Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, the loveable and mischievous (to put it gently) con man. Ripley is different from nearly anything else on Netflix—for one thing, it's shot in black and white. But it's also probably the single most exciting new show on the platform—and all other streamers—in 2024 thus far. And that unique sense of thrill can be distilled into one magnificent scene from Episode 3, “Sommerso.” It’s a brutal, beautiful showcase of a man with no limits, one of art’s most alluring antiheroes.

[Warning: Spoilers for Ripley below.]

At the start of “Sommerso,” Ripley is in Atrani, Italy, with Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), who’s there with his girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning). Ripley was sent there by Dickie’s parents, who have requested that he work to bring their son back to New York. But Ripley, having made a meal of his new life in Atrani, has no intention of returning to New York whatsoever. He reveals the plot to Dickie, who ends up inviting Ripley to stay with him.

While Dickie initially grows close to Ripley over the absurdity of Ripley’s presence in Dickie’s adopted homeland, both he and Marge have grown tired of his constant presence. After spending months together in Atrani, Dickie takes Ripley on a boat trip to Rome and, once they’re far out at sea, gently breaks the news that they know longer want him around—or, at least, as gently as one can deliver such harsh news.

The boat trip sequence is remarkable for several reasons. From its anxiety-inducing, climactic storytelling to its sublime cinematography, it’s the kind of scene you’d expect from a daring art-house film, not a Netflix series. That it involves Ripley’s turn from........

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