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Scenario 1

A series of unfortunate events has led Makoto "Edamame" Edamura to adopt the life of crime—pickpocketing and scamming others for a living. However, after swindling a seemingly clueless tourist, Makoto discovers that he was the one tricked and, to make matters worse, the police are now after him.

Scenario 2

A series of unfortunate events has led Makoto "Edamame" Edamura to adopt the life of crime—pickpocketing and scamming others for a living. However, after swindling a seemingly clueless tourist, Makoto discovers that he was the one tricked , and to make matters worse, the police are now after him.

I beleive it is Scenario 2 because "and" is always a coordinating conjunction.

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    He discovers that (a) he has been tricked and (b) the police are after him. To make matters worse is just a parenthetical comment and, as such, is separated by commas from the main sentence.
    – Kate Bunting
    Oct 12, 2020 at 18:55
  • @KateBunting I can understand that. However, surely that should not overpower "and"'s nature as a coordinating conjunction. "Makoto discovers that he was the one tricked" is a sentence in itself, the "and" serves as an extension and should follow normal grammar rules.
    – Matthew Trip
    Oct 12, 2020 at 18:57
  • The comma before and after are separate issues.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Oct 12, 2020 at 19:07
  • Do these answer your question? Comma before 'and' in compound sentences and Comma placement for a parenthetical after 'and'. One comma or two may not be incorrect, but it would be better to remove some comma-clutter here – perhaps by the use of dashes. It might also be felt necessary to disambiguate.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Oct 12, 2020 at 19:08
  • Why is this tagged "grammar"? I see no question about English syntax or English morphology.
    – tchrist ♦
    Oct 12, 2020 at 19:50

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