The Ugly Duckling was written by Hans Christian Andersen, and published for the first time in 1843. In Italian, stories are generally recounted using two main past tenses: the passato remoto and the imperfetto, so even if you are "too old" for these kinds of things, this story, told by Arianna, is an excellent way to get some practice.

Father Mariani is not much help to Imma, but tells her to be careful. When she gets home, she gets a taste of what he meant, but is not deterred. Imma seems to be of the opinion that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."

Manzi goes to the reform school for his first day of teaching and finds out all the things he will or won't be able to do.

Camilla is able to find out why Debbie acts the way she does at school. Enzo goes to the dance school hoping to see Pamela. He does see something else interesting, however. Camilla and Gaetano give Francesca a ride home.

Marshal La Macchia reports his findings to Imma. Later, she goes to see Father Mariani to discuss an old case that has come to mind.

In Italy, at least in the past, the process of distributing teaching jobs was a real jungle, as you will see. The list, assembled by a complicated point system, involving test scores, experience, seniority, etc, was what would determine whether an aspiring teacher would have a job that year or not. Alberto Manzi knows he is qualified, but gets an unpleasant surprise at the education office.

Potti and Bibì seem happy to be home together, and Livietta is happy too. The jeweler has gone to police headquarters to talk with Torre. At school, there is tension between Debbie and Eugenia. Renzo is thinking about taking dancing lessons.

Imma interviews Manolo and learns some interesting new facts. Then she interviews the person Manolo mentioned, someone she has encountered before. This second interview is trickier, and Imma has a hard time.

People seem to think Alberto is a bit nuts. He's about to go on live TV, and people around him hope he doesn't botch it. The name of the TV show is Non è mai troppo tardi (it's never too late). What's implied in the title is that it's never to late to learn to read and write. In Italian, a person who never learned to read or write is called analfabeta.

Camilla and Renzo are looking for the dogs... Inspector Berardi goes to see Maciste at the amusement park. The next morning, Gaetano shows up at school needing a favor from Camilla.

It could be that Imma has found a solution for her mother. Pietro has prepared a delicious dinner, but whether or not his family will be able to enjoy it remains to be seen.

Berardi gets a phone call before leaving Camilla. Renzo goes to pick up Livietta and sees the dance teacher dancing. Meanwhile, on the home front, there is some drama involving Potti, Bibì, and Camilla's mother.

Imma, Milena and Calogiuri go to the woods where Nunzio had seen the porcupine. Later they have a meeting with La Macchia in Imma's office.

Berardi discovers who owned the gun that killed Lenox and goes to see his superior to take himself off the case. Meanwhile, Camilla goes to Francesca's apartment to get the dogfood for Bibì.

Milena comes to Imma's office and tells her what she knows. She also makes an effort to remember a detail that might be important to the case.