Does Lino Die in Netflix’s ‘From Scratch’?

Warning: Spoilers for Netflix’s From Scratch are ahead.

The first episode of From Scratch, Netflix‘s limited series based on Tembi Locke’s memoir of the same name, is a joyous Italian rom-com. Amy (Zoe Saldana), an American studying abroad, immerses herself in Italian culture and meets the love of her life, a sexy Sicilian chef named Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea). As the eight-episode series progresses, the two move to the United States to build their lives together and pursue their dream careers, but when Lino is diagnosed with a rare cancer, the series turns into a tearjerker.

If you’ve sped through the Hello Sunshine-produced drama, then you know Lino’s fate. But if you’re desperate to know if Lino dies in From Scratch earlier in your watch, we’ve got the answer below, along with information about the real-life chef who inspired his character.

As a reminder, major From Scratch spoilers lie ahead, so this is your last chance to stop reading.

Does Lino Die in From Scratch?

Lino, the thoughtful, sexy, Sicilian chef who has an adorable meet-cute with Amy in From Scratch‘s first episode, does die before the end of the series. For those who don’t know, the Netflix series is based on the real life of  mother, actor, author, screenwriter, and producer Tembi Locke. Specifically, the show is an adaptation of Locke’s 2019 memoir, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home. Locke inspired the character Amy in the series, and her late husband, Sicilian chef Saro Gullo, inspired the character Lino. After Gullo was diagnosed with a rare soft-tissue cancer in 2002, Locke spent 10 years caring for him until he died from his illness in 2012.

In the series, Lino learns he has a rare, aggressive soft-tissue cancer that requires aggressive treatment. He begins chemotherapy to shrink the tumor in his knee before surgery, and after a successful operation he and his family think he’s in the clear. When they meet with the doctor, he informs them that although the successful surgery is great news, the type of cancer Lino has almost always recurs, so he needs “maintenance chemo.” After Lino and Amy learn the cancer can travel anywhere in his body, they decide to enroll him in a clinical trial for a new drug that could help send him into remission — the major risk is that the trial features a placebo, which means there’s a chance Lino might not get the life-saving drug.

After starting the trial, Lino fears he received the placebo pills, but he starts experiencing the side-effects of the medicine and 18 months later he learns he’s cancer-free. The doctor tells him he needs to build up his immune system and carefully monitor his body with scans every three to six months, and Lino and Amy start living their lives again. The two adopt a newborn baby girl, and the series jumps years in the future to Fall 2011, where a healthy Lino is crushing it as a stay-at-home dad.

At dinner one night, Lino starts coughing and becomes visibly worried. After years of healthy scans, he goes for an emergency visit and learns the cancer is back and moved to his lungs. The doctor seems hopeful, explaining that the cancer is small and slow-growing, so he starts chemotherapy again. Treatment seems to be going well until Lino spikes a fever during a chemotherapy session and is rushed to the hospital.

Doctors think Lino has an infection and pause chemo to put him on an antibiotic while they attempt to pinpoint the issues. After a stay in the hospital, doctors learn Lino’s liver is failing and his cancer is incurable. He goes back home and receives palliative care while spending his final days surrounded by family and friends. At the end of Episode 7, Lino dies in bed, in Amy’s arms. Episode 8 shows Amy honoring Lino’s last wishes and taking his ashes home to Sicily.