So while there are a lot of things to criticize in the New Capenna story cycle, one that bothers me the most is the actions of Jetmir / Jinnie / the Cabaretti during the Crescendo. Like, the obvious reasoning behind their actions is "so the plot can happen" but it really starts to break down when you start to actually think about it.

So, to refresh, the Cabaretti's plan (and calling it a plan is a generous overstatement) is to reveal Giada as their new source of Halo and secure their place as the defacto most powerful family in the city. Pretty straightforward, but then you contextualize it in the actual world the story is in.

Capenna is on the verge of complete societal collapse. Things seem hunky-dory to everyone on the surface, but the dwindling supply of Halo is starting to be a real concern to everyone, the crime families especially. This causes a lot of them to start rationing / hoarding their Halo to try and prolong the inevitable for as long as they can and maintain a hold until another family slips and they can strike, hopefully securing more Halo to hold on for a bit more past that. Suffice to say, all the major players are hungry, dangerous animals who are starting to get desperate and nervous.

So the Cabaretti's big-brain play here is to broadcast to everyone "hey guys, we have a new secret thing that will secure Halo production for good!"

Now, even if you wanted to argue that they're all about revelry and partying, why wouldn't they just keep the party going and outlast the other families? They could just provide more consistent and abundant Halo than the other families and gain power over time as the other families struggled to keep the Halo flowing to their own devoted. Even if they wanted to just get everyone to join them right off the bat by promising more Halo than the other families, why also reveal that they are actively producing it and therefore have something that the other families could potentially also get?

And even if you wanted to ignore THAT, why then go on to publicly and directly in the faces of the other families flaunt that your source of Halo is not just a single, easily stolen source, but that it's also a person (which is ostensibly harder to protect and safeguard)?

If they had still wanted to flaunt that they not only had more Halo than the other families but could also keep producing it, they could have kept Giada under wraps and kept the other families guessing about whether it was some secret magic, an artifact, some more mechanical technique, etc.

So even if Ob-Nixilis hadn't planned the coup, all the Cabaretti would have done is paint a massive target on their and Giada's heads for the other families.

Again, I get that it's so the plot can move forward, but it honestly irks me that one of these supposed cunning mob bosses could do something so astronomically stupid and self-damaging, with no real sensible reasoning outside of "we're the party family I guess!"

If there is some 4D chess maneuver here I'm missing, I'd love to hear it, because despite the Cabaretti being my favorite family their game plan makes them seem like outright fools.