Brest Friends

Les Trois Brestoises, “The Three Women From Brest,” runtime 1:30:09
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Recently widowed Léanne Vallauri (Deborah Krey) is back in her hometown of Brest to take command of the local La Crim, the crime squad. Luckily, for support she can count on her two best friends: Vanéssa Fabre (Charlotte Gaccio), a criminologist, and Elodie Quille (Garance Thenault), a doctor/pathologist. The case is the unusual and gruesome murder of Corentine Le Dantec, a perfect grandma loved by all. Except Léanne uncovers an abusive neighbor, a gang of con artists who scam and steal from the elderly, and their fence– leads which all turn out to be going in completely the wrong direction.

L-R: Léanne (Krey), Elodie (Thenault), and Vanéssa (Gaccio)

MISC

Krey is in Les Invisibles, and lately appeared in Piste Noire and Meurtres a Montauban. Gaccio recurs as Delphine on Astrid et Raphaelle. And Thenault appears everywhere, including Meurtres Sur La Côte Bleue.

Brest is a port city located at the northwest tip of France, and is the third-largest city in Brittany. Like Le Havre, Brest was extensively rebuilt following heavy bombardment in World War II.

Vincent Heneine (Lionel) appeared in 2024’s Follow, with Marie Colombe.

Yvan Le Bolloc’h (Cmsr. Pierre Pouchet) is a well-known TV host and radio performer.

Happy Hallydays

This will be my last project for 2025, may you all enjoy the holidays. Let's hope 2026 brings an improvement in the state of the world.


Ardennes, “Secrets,” runtime 1:30:32
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Ardennes is a new treat from director Josée Dayan (Capitaine Marleau) and her Passion Films production house. Subtitled “Secrets,” it is clearly a pilot.

Who are Dr. Olivier Rimbaud (David Hallyday from Capitaine Marleau, “À contre courant”) and his ‘housekeeper’ Olga (Bénédicte Cerutti)? Where do they really come from, what are they hiding (other than their matching tattoos), and whom or what are they hiding from? What are they up to in their Batcave beneath Olivier’s sumptuous chateau?

(L-R) Bénédicte Cerutti, Luba Azabal, Ben Attal, David Hallyday

Why does everything teen Zoé (Aminthe Audiard) sees turn hot pink when she's under stress, and why does she think she's actually a ghost? Just how badass but vulnerable is Cmdr. Anna Charrou (Luba Azabal)? Will she and Olivier be able to find and stop a serial kidnapper/murderer? What is causing the strange malady interfering with Anna’s— social life, let’s say. Is Olivier keeping fit, or combat-ready? And why is that almost-albino guy watching the chateau?

“Secrets” does a good job switching between the plotlines, and manages to fit in a couple of unexpected twists. It's fun when Rimbaud uses some of his psychiatrist skills to change the course of the investigation (or cover something up). It's all a very entertaining setup for what will hopefully become a long-running series.

Falco S03E05, “Sans pitié,” and S03E06, “Sacrifices”

Falco S03E05, “Sans pitié” (Merciless), runtime 48:15
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Alex and Romain respond to the scene of a widow attacked and tortured in a cemetery. If that wasn’t enough, the MO is the same as a homicide of a doctor ten days earlier. The link between the victims is the city of Versailles, where she once lived and the doctor once worked– at the city’s women’s prison.

The jour-J for Carole and Philippe’s wedding approaches. Eleonore’s man problems get worse. We learn a little about Alex’s origins. Joy prepares to meet Romain's mother.

It doesn’t get more uncomfortable: Joy and Romain (Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux, L, and Clement Manuel) dine with his mother Marilise (Sophie Mounicot).

MISC

I’ve been working on and off on this and the following episode for a number of months, apologies to anyone waiting for them.


NOTES

1’20”: Aumônière au ravioles are very tiny cheese raviolis in a ‘purse’ of thin crepe-like pastry.

The EMT says he’ll give them more info sur place, ‘on-site’ (3’58”). But they’re already on-site, so he must mean ‘in/at house,’ as in ‘at base.’

Emergency surgery

Return To Paradise S02E01, “Apex Predator,” runtime 56:26
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I’m one of those who have been sucked in (lured in?) by the light & comfy, easygoing exposition festival that is the Paradise franchise: first Death in, then Beyond, and now Return to. In Return, instead of a fish out of water away from home or returning to spawn, it’s a detective who is a fish out of water in her own home town.

Anna Samson (Mackenzie) and Lloyd Griffith (Colin)

Anna Samson is Australian detective Mackenzie Clarke, who some years prior fled her wedding in Dolphin Cove to become a DI in London. In Season 1 she has vague Internal Affairs trouble, and goes to wait out the deliberations back home down under. Only everyone remembers how she stood up local boy Glenn at the altar and left her job with the town police outpost, so they all hate her to some degree. Her old police boss– Glenn’s mom– nonetheless ropes Mack in to help out on a homicide, then hires her back short term as a DS. Is that the equivalent of British DI? I know from Brokenwood that a Detective Senior Sergeant is like a DCI… And then there’s Colin, the teddy bearish detective who was slated to become the DS. But I digress.

So that’s the premise. From episode to episode Mack works a fresh case while trying to sort out her feelings, especially toward Glenn (oops, complication: Glenn is now the medical examiner) and his mom. Mack’s only healthy emotional relationship is with her dog— which she had left with Glenn.

The show is now in its second season, coming soon to— I assume— Britbox.


MISC

I wasn’t planning on Return being a subtitling project, but I have trouble understanding some Australian accents, and I couldn’t watch the first episode of season 2 because the subtitles weren't good— sub-par, I mean. Boo, ABC.
      First, they seemed totally out of sync. The 1’8” recap was not subtitled, which is fine, but a subsequent 2’13” passes before the subtitles finally start. And I just can’t have that.
      1) I synced-up the titles that did exist, then 2) filled in the missing opening. As I worked though, I continued finding subtitle gaps, so I decided to keep going with the entire 56:26.

A standout in the cast is Celia Ireland as Reggie the civilian police helper, who is absolutely hilarious.

I encountered the same Subtitle Edit bug users have been reporting since 4.11, crashing when the spacebar is used for pause/play. I've reverted to 4.10– and it still happens! Only not as often.


NOTES

3’31”: This is the first line in the original subtitles, and it was originally coded as 00:05.982. All the subtitles before this were missing.

Here’s a strange pattern: subtitles for Colin were all missing. Even in the end credits Next Time reel. Even in conversations, Colin’s lines are missing but not those of who he’s talking to.
      I can only guess that whoever captured those subtitles used OCR on multicolored subs, and it ignored Colin's color.  

34’30”: Reggie is very bi this season.

There will be swordplay

One of the gems on the PBS Masterpiece streaming channel is the Walter Presents row, and one of the gems on that row is the lone season of Heer & Meester (2014). Heer is similar to the German herr, and means lord/mister/sir etc. Meester is like the French maitre, ‘master,’ as in ‘lawyer.’ So WP’s English translation of HM is Lord & Master.

Oddly, heer sometimes means ‘master’ too.

HM is a Dutch action-mystery, and lovingly pays homage to an earlier era, in which a suave gentleman sleuth drives fast cars, beds beautiful women, and solves mysteries with the help of 1) his faithful butler and 2) a female deputy prosecutor.

Schuurmans (R) and Fermin

It starred Daan Schuurmans as sleuth Valentijn Bentinck, Hubert Fermin as the butler Leo, and Sytske van der Ster as prosecutor Suze (pronounced soo-je) Geleijnse (pronounced he-line-sa). Ferdi Stofmeel played Frensdorf, Suze’s unlikeable workplace nemesis.

Sytske van der Ster as Suze, Season 1

HM was made in the 2010s, but its photography, production design, and jazz score gives it a 1970s sophisticated-movie-for-grownups feel.

The premise is simple: Valentijn was an orphan who was sponsored by a wealthy benefactor. He took the surname of the kindly orphanage priest, growing up there and at boarding school. Today he can live a playboy lifestyle thanks to a ginormous trust fund, but is troubled by not knowing where he comes from.

A Tale of Two Bridges

Capitaine Marleau #39, “Port d’attache” (Home Port), runtime 1:38:04
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Marleau is called to a small town to investigate an apparent homicide on a river ferry. The community was already in an uproar over a project to build a bridge, which would kill the ferry and rob local businesses of tourists. The victim is Sophie Lachaud, innkeeper and leader of the anti-bridge forces; she died after being pushed off the ferry’s bridge onto the deck below.

Marleau looks at Sophie’s sister Vickie, then at escaped convict Argann, Sophie’s ex the ferry pilot, and wealthy Manuel, the bridge contractor. Throw in a midnight graffiti poet and some sibling rivalry, and it's a mystery only Marleau can untangle.

Elodie (Speedy the Gendarme from “La 7eme Danse”) is back, again played by Aurélie Verillon.

Marple & Marple

Astrid et Raphaëlle S06E08, “Le Testament” (The Will), runtime 59:43
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The sixth season concludes. Raph tags along with Astrid on a trip to visit Edgar Three Names, a fellow puzzle enthusiast– who only lives in a massive chateau on a massive estate 60 miles from Paris. Except when they arrive… well, there’s an unexpected death to solve, an ancient document missing, a high-tech breakthrough, and a chateau-load of suspects to sift through.

The duo confronts the suspects

Beauvois’s auditors try Astrid’s patience. And Beauvois of course is a threat, as she was introduced in time to set up the cliffhanger finale. Raph gets tests for her hand problem.


MISC

Subtitles colors: a virtual person speaks in Blue; sounds in VR are Purple.


NOTES

Fonds (0’53”) normally means ‘funds,’ but here Astrid clearly uses it to mean files/documents.

An electromyogram (1’14”) measures nerve and muscle response.

The department of Eure-et-Loir (4’06”) is 30-ish miles west of Paris; its major city is Chartres.
      Nogent-le-Rotrou is a further 30 miles west of Chartres.
      The sweeping orchestral music (the manor’s theme) is like what you hear when James Bond arrives at the scene of his mission.

The job of Services funéraires, Funeral Services (8’16”), is self-explanatory, but it appears that in addition to private companies, in France such services can also provided by public agencies or companies.

Orléans (11’48”) is about 35 miles south of Chartres.

Astrid says Je peux parler? C’est quand, ‘Can I speak? When is it?’ (25’55”). This must mean something like ‘Is it my turn now?’
      It sounds like Raph exclaims accouche, ‘birth,’ which is usually slang for ‘spit it out,’ but here it’s used like ‘eureka.’

27’11”: There’s just no good translation for maitre in a context like this.

Saint-Paul-de-Vence (28’22”) is a picturesque hill town near Nice.

31’16”: It’s the Pontoise courthouse again.

33’31”: We don't ever hear back from Tetsuo.

Barça (40’02”) is the nickname of FC Barcelona.

I’m pretty sure football match prolongations, ‘extensions,’ means the ‘injury time’ added to the official clock to compensate for play being stopped by injuries and such.

41’05”: On the phone with Nico, Raph is walking past 9 Place des Victoires, a large circular junction of five streets. In the center is a statue of Louis XIV on horseback, it’s in the background when she turns the corner into Rue d’Aboukir.

46’31”: Seriously? Did the writers really think the Juliens could be mixed up?
      Yad Vashem is the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

50’35”: Do we know what a holographic will is? It’s written and signed in the person’s own handwriting, and as such does not need to be witnessed.

Chop-chop

Astrid et Raphaëlle S06E07, “La Veuve” (The Widow), runtime 48:08
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It’s a dark and stormy night. A lone woman lures a building security guard away from his post. He returns a half hour later to find a dead man in the building, separated from his head in the revolutionary manner. Crucially, the evidence indicates he got the chop right there in the guillotine-free space. The trail leads to an elusive figure, a crime victim now the mastermind behind an elaborate revenge scheme.

The team suits up

Astrid encounters a higher-up who has taken an ‘interest’ in Criminal Documentation. Delphine is back, briefly. The squad and Vassieux figure out how to work together. Astrid and Tetsuo come to an understanding.


NOTES

Which is your favorite guillotine nickname (7’53”)?
      Fournier just says Monte-à-Regret (climbs reluctantly) when the full nickname is ‘Abbey of Monte-à-Regret.’ The Monte-à-Regret part is self-explanatory, and the Abbey part is because a monastery/convent separates you from the rest of the world as does the fatal platform.

After tempers flare between Raph and Vassieux, she mutters darkly: Tu peux pas te foutu tu me colle pour qu'il y ait (10’48”). The first part means ‘you can’t mess with me.’ The next part, tu me colle, is pretty common and means a lot of things that boil down to ‘stick to/follow,’ literally or metaphorically. Pour qu'il y ait means ‘so that there may be.’ The parts don’t make sense together. I did my best.

Astrid says ‘Il vous re 1 hour and 7 minutes’ (12’01”). She must mean Il vous reste (you have/you’ve got), and therefore she was using a contraction, Il vous re’.

MuCEM (14’26”) is the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations.

One of the guillotine parts is the mouton (sheep), which is the weight which holds the blade in the up position.
      The upper and lower lunettes are the parts that hold the victim’s neck in position.
      The bascule is a board that starts out vertical, the victim is held against it, and it is rotated to horizontal so the neck can be placed between the lunettes.

It was too hard to find out what a collier d'angoisse, Anguish Collar (29’04”), really is because the only thing that comes up is from the game Last Man Standing.

Saint-Cloud (35’08”) is a wealthy suburb west of Paris.

There’s no Grande Ecole Internationale de Paris (38’26” c.f.) that I can find.

40’04”: The three roads roughly form a triangle on the southeast side of the lake.

How could the execution take place with SPOILER, who has one of the pieces, in custody?

Minor League Musk

Astrid et Raphaëlle S06E06, “La Part du Diable” (The Devil’s Share), runtime 53:48
Subtitle download link


The squad investigates the murder of a man found in an ultra-secure server farm with his eyes and mouth sewn shut. Industrial pollution, a powerful techpreneur, and extreme Catholicism are involved.

Raphaëlle and Nicolas visit a monastery

Meanwhile, everyone’s concerned about how Astrid is coping with Tetsuo’s revelation; she’s giving him the cold shoulder. New Commissioner ‘I worked with the FBI’ Vassieux starts work. Mathilde Nielsen shows up to give her daughter some advice.


MISC

Hubert Roulleau (Vassieux) was the ill-fated Rossi in Meurtres dans les trois vallees, and ‘Hubert’ the rich boy detective on Crimes Parfait.

NOTES

The team arrives at the Asmodeus data center (1’02”). The original Asmodeus was a demon in Jewish folklore, and associated with the sin of lust.

The theme music (1’59”) has been altered for this episode, it’s darker and heavier.

Norah found un fichier qui était resté, ‘a file that remains/was left [behind?]’ (8’26”). It’s an odd way to say uploaded, but that’s the line.

The statue in this establishing shot (12’59”) is Triomphe de la République by Jules Dalou, and depicts Marianne, the female personification of France. It was installed in 1899 in the center of Place de la Nation, on the line between the 11th and 12th.

I’m translating Benoît (17’24” c.f.) as Benedict every time, to avoid confusion.

Saint-Michel-en-Darnois (18’20”) is a made-up place.

20’03”: By d'aménagements (accommodations) I assume they mean equipment like home medical gear and even alterations for access.
      Frankincense, Siamese benzoin, and galbanum are all aromatic plant resins.

I think this is the first time the Criminal Documentation Center has been called ‘the Doc’ (20’45”).

Saint-Benedict-du-Bon-Secours (21’15”) means St Benedict of Good Help.

      The role of the head monk (abbott?) is uncredited.

Place Beauvau is the Interior Ministry (25’03”), located in the 8th across the street from the presidential palace. Vassieux is afraid of Interior because its minister is the head of the police and security services. It's also where Bachert has gone. 

The Golden Ratio (28’51”) is 1:1.618, the geometric proportion of one object to a larger object that is considered pleasing to the eye.

Six Feet of Separation

Astrid et Raphaëlle S06E05, “Coup(s) de Théâtre” (Twist of Fate), runtime 46:05
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We begin with a brief rewind to the year 2020; Astrid and Raph have known each other for about a year, and everyone is Zooming, masking, and social distancing. A potential exposure has Raph isolated at home. Which means Astrid is with Nico at the scene of a concerning disappearance: a doctor is missing, and all the evidence points to her husband. Cut to 2025, the husband is on trial for the doctor’s murder, and now Astrid takes the witness stand. Only she notices something in the case file that calls the accused’s guilt into question, leading her to cause disorder in the court. Norah finds out Tetsuo's secret, and tells Raph.

NOTES

Rungis (3’25”) is a southern suburb adjacent to Orly airport.

During lockdown in 2020, every night at 8 the French would gather at windows and on balconies to cheer health care workers (4’47”).

The judge is the Présidente Tribunal (6’26”), so she’s Madame President. I’m abbreviating it MP.

One of the lawyers is named Fox (7’43”)...

Dewaere does a really great job of walking with a barely perceptible limp (8’26” c.f.).

The courthouse location (12’16”) is at 4 Place Nicolas Flamel in Pontoise, 13 miles northwest of Paris. It’s the same one used in Capitaine Marleau, “La der des der.”

…the other lawyer is named Raven (12’59”). The Raven & The Fox is a well-known and often-referenced poem by Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695), based on the Aesop and Phaedrus fables.

OPJ (16’12”), this hasn’t come up before, is ‘Judicial Police Officer.’ There’s even a show called OPJ.

En “off” (17’33”) means ‘off the record.’

Refaire le film, ‘remake the film’ (22’01”), apparently means ‘recapitulate.’

22’49”: Raph crosses Rue Notre Dame des Victoires, the basilica of the same name is in the background.

      She meets Tetsuo outside the Bar du Moulin, 10 Place des Petits Pères. The caricatures on the windows of the bar are like those done by Helen Soubeyrand, whom you can find on Instagram by looking up #ambidextrous #portrait.

26’’06”: It’s the same establishing shot as Episode 4, of the Canal Saint-Martin from the Pont Maria Pacôme.

The map of the area where SPOILER escaped from SPOILER (38’02” c.f.) is of the town of Pontcarré, 12 miles east of Paris. There’s what looks like a light manufacturing campus just southeast of the cemetery.

When Tetsuo explains his status is jouhatsu (43’31”), it actually does mean ‘vanished/evaporated.’