The Saddest Part of ‘From Scratch’ is Lino Losing His Hair

Netflix‘s From Scratch is a show that does all it can to make you reach for the Kleenex. We’ve got a perfect love story shattered by death, a grieving widow learning to let go, and a little girl accepting her own beloved daddy’s passing. And yeah, I got a little verklempt at those points, but for me, the saddest part of From Scratch was the moment handsome Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea) loses all of his hair (twice) because of chemotherapy. Never before have I seen male hair loss treated with such heartache. Forget the funeral. I weep for that hot head of hair.
From Scratch is inspired by the memoirs of Tembi Locke, an actress and activist who fell in love with a Sicilian chef while living in Italy. Locke’s husband, Saro Gullo, tragically passed away in 2012 due to complications from cancer, leaving Locke alone to raise their daughter Zoela. Netflix’s series reimagines Locke as aspiring artist Amy (Zoe Saldana) and her husband as Lino, an impossibly perfect dream boat. He woos Amy with moonlight walks, thoughtful gifts, and delicious free food. Years later, when Lino is diagnosed with cancer, Amy rallies their friends and family together to help him first beat it and then to later deal with its deadly return.
From Scratch is a story of star-crossed lovers and heartbreaking tragedy. So why was I so moved by the incredibly brief scene when Lino initially loses his hair from chemo that I wrote in my notes, “hot man losing hair = sad,” when I wrote nothing about his actual death? What is going on with this specific scene?

I want to hit pause and back up for a second. I have never thought that male pattern hair loss is a bad thing, nor do I begrudge any dude (or lady) the right to shave their heads. Bald is beautiful. Many men look way hotter as baldies. It’s never been something I’ve personally really cared about! And yet, I was devastated to see Lino yank little tufts of coal black hair out after his chemotherapy session and even more sad to see the electric razor busted out. What was happening??

I think part of the reason this moment hit so hard was thanks to Eugenio Mastrandrea’s performance as Lino. The man looks so forlorn to be losing his hair, you would think this was actually his death scene. His eyes are panicked. His face pale. It’s the moment where he truly has to accept his illness.
It doesn’t help that ever so short sequence is followed up by a shot of Amy first crying alone and then massacring some dry spaghetti. (I’m sorry, but why is the wife of an Italian chef breaking up spaghetti in halves and then quarters? That’s not how you cook spaghetti! YOU HAVE A MASSIVE POT BOILING! THEY WILL FIT IN UNMOLESTED!!!) She then feeds these broken bits of pasta to her bedridden and bald husband. It’s sorrow upon sorrow. My heart simply could not take it all.

Lino beats his cancer and eventually grows back his hair. He and Amy adopt a sweet little girl named Idalia. Life goes on until it doesn’t. Because From Scratch is an unapologetic tearjerker, Lino’s cancer comes back. This time, he and Amy face his hair loss as a couple. She shaves his head in a scene that is as sad as it is romantic. Once again, I was compelled to wonder about From Scratch‘s fixation on this one man’s head of hair. From Scratch truly believes hair loss is tragic!! I mean, maybe not as tragic as Lino’s eventual death, but it’s sad.
When I think back on my time binging From Scratch, I won’t remember Amy’s insipid attempts at art or even what dishes Lino made in his pop-up restaurant. I will remember that this Netflix show made me think too hard about the tragedy of a handsome man losing his hair.