Cat Fancy

Mademoiselle Holmes S02E01, “Suivez le chat” (Follow The Cat), runtime 49:52
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Season 2 begins with no payoff to last season’s cliffhanger ending. Charlie is safe, telling us (rather than showing us) how she got to where she is– a rest home where she’s been enjoying a voluntary mental health holiday.

April Moriarty vanished after her Big Fall from the cliff at Gray Rocks; Georges has recovered; IGPN has cleared Charlie, ruling the cliff was an accident (presumably Georges gave testimony about who really shot him, but it’s not mentioned. Bad writing). Which means Charlie can return to work.

Charlie and Samy check out Violaine's shop

But before Charlie can get there she and Samy happen upon a dead man in the street with no ID. The only clues are a wristwatch, paint on a shirt covered with cat hair, and cat scratches on his body. In true Holmes fashion she quickly deduces where he lives, leading to an identification, and the hunt for the killer is on.


MISC.

Sherlock Holmes went for rests in the country in the stories “The Reigate Squires” and “The Adventure of The Devil’s Foot.”

In “The Adventure of The Lion’s Mane,” Sherlock— sans Watson— investigates after witnessing the death of a man with whip-like injuries on his body, not cat scratches.


NOTES

SDF = Sans Domicile Fixe, ‘homeless’ (5’17”).

5’54”: I can’t recall a wristwatch making a ticking sound you could hear without putting your ear up to it. More bad writing.

Saint-Herblain (7’58”) is a city of 50,000 abutting Nantes on its western edge.

Florence makes Samy a Policier Adjoint, ‘Police Assistant/Cadet’ (11’53”). It’s a real thing, a contract position that includes paid training.

Oh, here’s how Charlie became a Captain behind the Complaints Desk– it turns out a Captain is someone who’s been a Lieutenant for at least 4 years. All rank advancement in the Police Nationale is based on seniority within ‘corps’ (Management, Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, Assistants).

Légiste (14’19”) is usually translated ‘law clerk’ or ‘coroner,’ but it’s really any legally-recognized technical expert in law, medicine, or science. So a forensics analyst is a légiste too, and so is a pathologist/medical examiner.

Samy was originally introduced as training in médecine légale, which is the application of medical expertise to investigations of both living and dead. In Season 1 I called him Forensics, but given how he’s tried to be padewan to Dr Camus, and now he's sometimes being described as a coroner.

Hmmm. This is the first time it occurs to Charlie (not to mention Samy) that April faked her death (18’38)? Oh, bad writing again.

Repris du poil de la bête, ‘Regained the hair of the beast’ (19’20”), means ‘recovered strength.’

Charlie, who has just declared herself the intellectual heir to Sherlock (at 18’00”), is oblivious to Georges’s undisguised frostiness toward Samy (19’23”).

Blanquette (19’29”) is a stew of clear broth, or broth whitened with flour. It’s usually made with poultry, rabbit, lamb, or veal.

Place du Commerce (20’12”) is a popular commercial and entertainment district in central Nantes.

For some reason I find zinzin (23’16”) to be a funny term, it means crazy/loopy/bonkers.

Day 1 as an Assistant and Samy already has a badge and ID (24’07”)? Way to go commissariat admin.

Nice gag: the cat bar keeps a box of lint rollers by the door (25’18” c.f.).

I can’t find rabies (25’54” c.f.) in Holmes canon, however– in The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1987), American private eye Jane Watson thaws out Sherlock Holmes, who put himself into hibernation after Moriarty infected him with the bubonic plague. He takes a late-20th century cure and resumes his sleuthing.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1987)

starring Margaret Colin and Michael Pennington

RSA (26’33”) is Revenu de Solidarité Active (Active Solidarity Income), public assistance.

Nantes has no Papinet or Tanquerel avenues (33’54”).

Nice to see the Navibus again (34’00”).

Mauduit (34’32”) is Latin for cursed.

Nice, they’re going to live together like Sherlock and Watson (34’57” c.f.). This means Georges will fill the role of Mrs Hudson.

LOL, you can’t believe what’s in LinkedIn in any language (37’07”).

Yamoussoukro (37’27”) is the capital of Ivory Coast.

The episode explicitly refers to “A Case of Identity” (37’58”), a Sherlock case about a woman whose secretive fiancé disappears.

Chris announces it wasn’t cats the victim fancied (39’10”), but the cat bar owner: c'est pas avec les chats que Vernant tes collants. Collants means ‘pantyhose,’ so I’m putting ‘It wasn’t the cats that Vernant was sticking close to.’

Madame Chenu offers Charlie une petite prune, ‘a little plum’ (42’15”). I think she’s calling red wine by its color.

Rue Abbé Boutet (44’53”) is a real street in Nantes, on Île Beaulieu in the Loire. The quiet street is known for the site of the early-17th century Recollet convent.

They arrest the murderer and Chris shouts ‘CAT!’ (46’04”). I don’t know why.

Georges and Charlie’s group don't just play sea shanties. Rocky Road To Dublin (46’17”) is an Irish folk music standard with a number of versions. I can't make out all of the lyrics heard here, so I used the lyrics from the 2008 version by The High Kings. When those don't match what is sung I have entered ellipses.

Samy mentions needing to arrange his new room so it is carré, ‘square’ (47’35”). This seems to be close enough to the English expression ‘squared away.’


Florence-isms: 0
Season total: 0

Bad Writing Points: 3