Evil crime boss Pupetta Del Ponte
Lisette "Pupetta" Del Ponte (Alyssa Milano) is the main villainess from "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," episode 2.14 of Elsbeth (airdate March 6, 2025).
Pupetta (Italian for "little doll") Del Ponte was introduced as the owner of Pupetta's Restaurant, as well as the daughter of the head of the Del Ponte crime family. Her backstory revealed that her family had been in a war with the Nova family, which supposedly began when Eddie Nova murdered Goldie Moresco, a soldier for the Del Ponte family, in 1998, with the war leading to all of Pupetta's family members being killed throughout her life. However, the true story was that Pupetta and Goldie were a couple, and the former was pregnant at the time, as they argued about the pregnancy on the night in question. Goldie lashed out at Pupetta and questioned being the father, leading to Pupetta grabbing a corkscrew and stabbing Goldie before shooting him to death.
Eddie Nova was falsely labeled as Goldie's killer, and it was also revealed that Gene Genetti had witnessed the murder and learned about Pupetta's pregnancy. Gene agreed to cover up the truth and raise Pupetta's son, later named Gene Genetti, Jr., as his own--under the condition that Pupetta got out of the business. However, in the years that passed, Pupetta eventually ran her criminal business and looked to bring Gene Jr. into the fold, and during Elsbeth Tascioni's visit to the restaurant as part of a tour, Gene planned to meet with Elsbeth and tell the whole truth about what happened in 1998. Upon overhearing this, Pupetta ran down Gene later that evening, and she played the grieving widow at the scene, only to be told that Gene survived the hit and run. Despite her happiness over Gene surviving, Pupetta antagonized Elsbeth during the episode's progression, as she approached Elsbeth's son, Teddy, and stated that she could get to Elsbeth's family at anytime.
Elsbeth later watched a film retelling the demise of the Del Ponte family, but noticed that--in deleted footage--one of Pupetta's fingers was bandaged. This led Elsbeth to confront Pupetta with the facts, that she killed Goldie after learning about her pregnancy and that Goldie was the father. Pupetta, in response, attempted to pin the murder on Gene, claiming that he was obsessed with her, only for Elsbeth to remind the villainess that one of her broken nails was on the body, and that led to Pupetta being handcuffed and arrested for the decades-old murder of Goldie, as well as the attempt on Gene.