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Véronique and Alexandre Rémonville own a bustling Latin dance school, she's the artistic heart of the operation and he's the management. When we meet them they are preparing for their big annual dance festival. Dozens of happy participants will engage in various styles of Latin dances, concluding with a big ball. What could possibly spoil this idyllic scene?
Well, just a curious rash of pickpocketing. But then Véro and Alex's daughter Bérenice vanishes, and the local gendarmes call in Marleau. Then Alexandre's brother Luc (he runs the festival refreshment stand) ends up with his head bashed in. Where’s Bérenice? Who killed Luc? The suspects are many:
- Bérenice herself
- Daniel, a sketchy Corsican biker
- Momo, accordion player and Bérenice’s boyfriend
- Zoé, a nervous and emotional festival-goer
- Dr Chastaing the veterinarian
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| Masiero, with Aurelie Verillon as 'Speedy' |
MISC.
Véronique appears to have been the final role played by Emilie Dequenne, the Belgian actor passed away March 16, 2025.
Alexandre is played by Gregoire Bonnet, who was the gruff and troubled Capt Monet in “Meurtres à Amiens.”
The show has done a good job lately of adding narrative content in the cold opens and opening credits. This episode begins with possibly the most plot-propelling pre-credits scene since Season 1's "À ciel ouvert."
The locations for the episode were in the Paris region.
Subtitle Edit’s auto-translation (Google Translate v1 API) has really sucked lately (e.g., Oui translated as ‘Yei,’ au revoir translated as ‘u vant,’ etc.) It’s of no help if I have to correct every-other line. I’ve resorted to using the auto-translation in Subtitle Edit Online (which has its own problems, but that's not important right now).
The sound designer for this episode went bonkers with the animal sounds: birds, dogs, sheep, cows, roosters.
NOTES
Marleau episodes always take me a long time; not only do the scripts have more words than other series with 90 minute episodes, Marleau is heavy with idioms and cultural references.
‘Lucky Luke’ (0’26”) refers to a cartoon character, a cowboy gunfighter. He and the three Dalton brothers (c.f.) were created by mono-monikered Belgian designer Morris.
Gas station gag (1’06”).
The paso (2’’58”) is the paso doble, a type of French-Spanish ballroom dancing.
3’26”: What an odd thing to say.
Piste:ski run :: piste:dance floor (4’56”).
Véro says Ah bah, non, dans un chassé, c'est mieux, ‘Oh, well no, in a hunt it’s better’ (6’17”) regarding leg stance in the cha-cha. I think in this case chassé is a contraction of chassé-croisé, ‘comings and goings.’ I think she means ‘it's better if they mix it up.’
Elodie/’Speedy’ introduces herself as Aspirant (7’54”), which in Gendarmerie parlance seems to mean officers with special field training who are also real go-getters. Then Marleau jokes by using aspirant colloquially.
QOQ (9’09”), Quand-Ou-Quoi (When-Where-What) only makes sense in French, of course.
9’32”: It sounds like Marleau is saying des jeux interdits, ‘banned game,’ which is nonsensical so it must be something else. When I listen very closely, the line sounds like a des jeunes interdit, ‘Young people aren’t allowed.’ So my translation is ‘Shouldn’t happen to kids.’
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| Maserio with Gregoire Bonnet (L) and Emilie Dequenne |
10’19”: Diatonic accordions have twice as many notes as buttons, chromatic accordions have as many or more buttons than notes.
10’31”: Georges Moustaki (1934-2013) was a Franco-Egyptian singer-songwriter who often wrote for others, such as “Milord” for Edith Piaf.
13’21”: Alain Bashung (1947-2009) was a singer who looked like a cross between Leonard Cohen and Alan Cumming. Dominique de Villpin was prime minister 2005-07 under Chirac; he looks kind of like the actor Philippe Duclos (Judge Roban on Engrenages).
I’m translating Ben oui, si vous êtes assez con pour le voler dans votre propre rade (13’42”) as ‘Well yes, if you’re stupid enough to poach in your own harbor.’ Harbor suggests fishing, and poach is more apropos than steal.
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| Brilliant gag with the Nirvana concert photo (14’11”). |
Shaka Ponk (14’14”) was an electronic/experimental/world music group from 2002 to 2024.
15’22”: Démerdez-vous is great! It basically means ‘deal with it/fend for yourself/you’re on your own.’
I think the writers have coined a term with bobo-d’enfant, which I take to mean that the festival is for the young bourgeois-bohemian set.
Vigipirate is sort of France’s DHS Alert Levels.
18’54”: Rod Paradot (Momo) also played Martin the room service waiter in the episode “Grand Hotel,” S04E10.
21’57”: The city of Orchies is in the north near Lille, also on the border with Belgium. Nice gag with the traffic cone.
24’36”: Mashup. Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) was a notable anthropologist and ethnologist, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn was the French Economy minister and IMF director who was discredited in a series of sex scandals (he was never convicted).
Marleau makes nonsense sounds with an accordion-gesture (26’18”), I substituted the nickname Squeeze-Box for the sounds.
28’50”: Astor Piazzolla (1921-92) was a famous Argentinian tango composer and arranger, who also played bandoneon, a type of concertina.
First of a couple interesting camera moves, starting at 30’09”: On the drive to Luc’s house, the camera starts on the left side of Marleau’s Range Rover looking in the driver’s window. As Véro starts her phone call, the camera orbits slowly to the left to where our POV is on the hood looking through the windshield. Then as she delivers the ominous line about Luc, the camera continues orbiting to the right side of the vehicle. We conclude the scene looking through the passenger window.
32’55”: Mikhail Bakunin was a Russian anarchist. Boulevard de allongés, ‘Stretched-Out Street,’ means cemetery.
Marjorie (39’28”) is played by Anaïs ‘Anaïs’ Croze, who has been a well-known singer for over 20 years.
A luthier (43’40”) is a person who repairs stringed instruments.
45’55”: Pun! Marleau calls Jacques greedy, and then vous etes cash vous, which means ‘straightforward.’
Dr. Chastaing (45’45”) looks amazingly like David Suchet.
A donkey (48’26”)! Why did the sound designer choose a donkey?
The other interesting camera move (52’52”). Our POV is floating outside the moving vehicle, looking through the driver's side window as Marleau and Speedy converse; the camera slips back slightly (or lets the car pull ahead) to take in Dr Chastaing in the back seat.
Paul Dubois the farmer (54’02”) is played by Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat. He was the landlord Jean ‘the john’ Pilori in “L'homme qui brûle.”
A lot of French shows use the term J’ai épluché (57’16”) when referring to bank accounts. It literally translates ‘I peeled,’ and means ‘scrutinize/pore over.’ Maybe it’s like the English expression ‘peeling the onion.’
Meyssac (58’17”) is a town 100 miles east of Bordeaux. Together with Véro and Luc going to university in Bordeaux, it would seem to point to this episode being set in the Gironde region, despite the Paris-area locations.
59’30”: pension alimentaire (‘food maintenance’) is ‘alimony.’
The abandoned race track (33’20” c.f.) is the Hippodrome d’Evry (closed in 1996) in Evry-Courcouronnes, and is adjacent to the Fleury-Mérogis prison.
Conduis comme un pied, ‘drive like a foot’ (60’33”), means ‘drive terribly.’
62’22”: Marleau thinks Zoé is lying to her, and says Tu me prends pour un lapin de garenne ou quoi, ‘Do you take me for a wild rabbit or what?’ which is supposed to be a mild insult. Being a rabbit, even a wild one, doesn’t sound like much of an insult. However, ‘country rabbit’ suggests simple or naive. I did my best.
63’29”: Okay, I didn’t understand the presence of the church bell the first time (22’04”). Now I have the feeling an old church is being used as the Gendarmerie post.
And what’s with the landscape painting with the gallery lighting?
Pognon (64’15”) is an informal term for money– dough, bread, loot, etc.
I’m assuming vers l'infini et au-delà!, ‘to infinity and beyond!’ (66’22”), is a Toy Story reference, but I don’t get it.
Marleau goes down to holding to check on Chastaing (67’59”) and opens with (and I can’t catch all of it) Alors, reveche… manque? Ca vous change pas trop de vos vaches à vous (‘So, grumpy… you miss me? It’s not much of a change from your own cows’). I think she’s doing her usual number about her looks, this time comparing herself to a cow.
Then she says Chastaing will come out of the whole thing only with un joli petit bracelet, which I take to mean an ankle monitor.
Chastaing’s personal effects: Brouzouf (68’39”) is an old term for money, but Marleau is clearly holding a wallet.
Learning that Momo went to the agricultural school, Marleau recalls that quand je lui ai parlé de ça Momo a fait une autre gueule, ‘when I asked him about it Momo made a face’ (68’52”). This refers to her first interview with Momo at 19’52”.
‘We have all the time in the world’ (70’32”) is from the Hal David/John Barry song of the same name, performed by Louis Armstrong for the film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
‘Madam Irma’ (73’35”) is slang for fortune teller/mindreader. There was a Madam Irma in Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Adventures of Monsieur Benoit.
73’54”: Whoa! Lighten up there, Speedy.
Momo calls Speedy la sainte-nitouche, a goody two-shoes (74’06”).
I guess Bah c'est l'occasion qui fait le baron, ‘Opportunity makes the baron’ (74’47”), is Marleau’s anti-aristocratic version of ‘Opportunity makes the larron’ (thief).
I’m a fan of Daft Punk (75’56”) but not an expert. ‘One, two, three’ is closely associated with the electronic dance music group but isn’t a song title or lyrics, so I don’t know what this exact reference means. It could be a mashup of Daft Punk and a callback to the beginning, Vero counting 1-2-3 for the tango.
The video for Daft Punk’s “Around The World” was inspiration for Kinga Forrester’s Moon 13 ‘skeleton crew’ on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Di cave (77’41”) is a new one on me, it’s a less common term for imbecile, a police term for civilian, and Verlan for home/pad. So pas de di cave probably means ‘I’m no fool.’
La Conscience by Victor Hugo (78’58”).
88’26” c.f. : Tagada means ‘excitement.’ Véro , Bérenice, and Zoé make three, so Marleau calls them ‘the Daltons.’ Joe Dalton is supposed to be the meanest brother, Averell the dumbest.
89’27”: Marleau again acknowledges this is a TV show: un petite page de publicités means ‘a word from our sponsors.’
CQFD, Ce Qu'il Fallait Dire (91’47”), is the equivalent of ‘QED.’ In this case it’s clearer if we avoid the acronym.
94’34”: Vous pouviez pas être à l'eau et au moulin, ‘You couldn’t be at the water and the mill.’ There are expressions involving ‘can’t be at (something) and the mill’: kitchen and the mill, oven and the mill, water and the mill. They mean ‘can’t be in two places.’
15’22”: Démerdez-vous is great! It basically means ‘deal with it/fend for yourself/you’re on your own.’
I think the writers have coined a term with bobo-d’enfant, which I take to mean that the festival is for the young bourgeois-bohemian set.
Vigipirate is sort of France’s DHS Alert Levels.
18’54”: Rod Paradot (Momo) also played Martin the room service waiter in the episode “Grand Hotel,” S04E10.
21’57”: The city of Orchies is in the north near Lille, also on the border with Belgium. Nice gag with the traffic cone.
24’36”: Mashup. Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) was a notable anthropologist and ethnologist, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn was the French Economy minister and IMF director who was discredited in a series of sex scandals (he was never convicted).
Marleau makes nonsense sounds with an accordion-gesture (26’18”), I substituted the nickname Squeeze-Box for the sounds.
28’50”: Astor Piazzolla (1921-92) was a famous Argentinian tango composer and arranger, who also played bandoneon, a type of concertina.
First of a couple interesting camera moves, starting at 30’09”: On the drive to Luc’s house, the camera starts on the left side of Marleau’s Range Rover looking in the driver’s window. As Véro starts her phone call, the camera orbits slowly to the left to where our POV is on the hood looking through the windshield. Then as she delivers the ominous line about Luc, the camera continues orbiting to the right side of the vehicle. We conclude the scene looking through the passenger window.
32’55”: Mikhail Bakunin was a Russian anarchist. Boulevard de allongés, ‘Stretched-Out Street,’ means cemetery.
Marjorie (39’28”) is played by Anaïs ‘Anaïs’ Croze, who has been a well-known singer for over 20 years.
“Schizophrenia,” from the Anaïs album Divergente.
A luthier (43’40”) is a person who repairs stringed instruments.
45’55”: Pun! Marleau calls Jacques greedy, and then vous etes cash vous, which means ‘straightforward.’
Dr. Chastaing (45’45”) looks amazingly like David Suchet.
A donkey (48’26”)! Why did the sound designer choose a donkey?
The other interesting camera move (52’52”). Our POV is floating outside the moving vehicle, looking through the driver's side window as Marleau and Speedy converse; the camera slips back slightly (or lets the car pull ahead) to take in Dr Chastaing in the back seat.
Paul Dubois the farmer (54’02”) is played by Jean-Claude Bolle-Reddat. He was the landlord Jean ‘the john’ Pilori in “L'homme qui brûle.”
A lot of French shows use the term J’ai épluché (57’16”) when referring to bank accounts. It literally translates ‘I peeled,’ and means ‘scrutinize/pore over.’ Maybe it’s like the English expression ‘peeling the onion.’
Meyssac (58’17”) is a town 100 miles east of Bordeaux. Together with Véro and Luc going to university in Bordeaux, it would seem to point to this episode being set in the Gironde region, despite the Paris-area locations.
59’30”: pension alimentaire (‘food maintenance’) is ‘alimony.’
The abandoned race track (33’20” c.f.) is the Hippodrome d’Evry (closed in 1996) in Evry-Courcouronnes, and is adjacent to the Fleury-Mérogis prison.
Conduis comme un pied, ‘drive like a foot’ (60’33”), means ‘drive terribly.’
62’22”: Marleau thinks Zoé is lying to her, and says Tu me prends pour un lapin de garenne ou quoi, ‘Do you take me for a wild rabbit or what?’ which is supposed to be a mild insult. Being a rabbit, even a wild one, doesn’t sound like much of an insult. However, ‘country rabbit’ suggests simple or naive. I did my best.
63’29”: Okay, I didn’t understand the presence of the church bell the first time (22’04”). Now I have the feeling an old church is being used as the Gendarmerie post.
And what’s with the landscape painting with the gallery lighting?
Pognon (64’15”) is an informal term for money– dough, bread, loot, etc.
I’m assuming vers l'infini et au-delà!, ‘to infinity and beyond!’ (66’22”), is a Toy Story reference, but I don’t get it.
Marleau goes down to holding to check on Chastaing (67’59”) and opens with (and I can’t catch all of it) Alors, reveche… manque? Ca vous change pas trop de vos vaches à vous (‘So, grumpy… you miss me? It’s not much of a change from your own cows’). I think she’s doing her usual number about her looks, this time comparing herself to a cow.
Then she says Chastaing will come out of the whole thing only with un joli petit bracelet, which I take to mean an ankle monitor.
Chastaing’s personal effects: Brouzouf (68’39”) is an old term for money, but Marleau is clearly holding a wallet.
Learning that Momo went to the agricultural school, Marleau recalls that quand je lui ai parlé de ça Momo a fait une autre gueule, ‘when I asked him about it Momo made a face’ (68’52”). This refers to her first interview with Momo at 19’52”.
‘We have all the time in the world’ (70’32”) is from the Hal David/John Barry song of the same name, performed by Louis Armstrong for the film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
‘Madam Irma’ (73’35”) is slang for fortune teller/mindreader. There was a Madam Irma in Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Adventures of Monsieur Benoit.
73’54”: Whoa! Lighten up there, Speedy.
Momo calls Speedy la sainte-nitouche, a goody two-shoes (74’06”).
I guess Bah c'est l'occasion qui fait le baron, ‘Opportunity makes the baron’ (74’47”), is Marleau’s anti-aristocratic version of ‘Opportunity makes the larron’ (thief).
I’m a fan of Daft Punk (75’56”) but not an expert. ‘One, two, three’ is closely associated with the electronic dance music group but isn’t a song title or lyrics, so I don’t know what this exact reference means. It could be a mashup of Daft Punk and a callback to the beginning, Vero counting 1-2-3 for the tango.
The video for Daft Punk’s “Around The World” was inspiration for Kinga Forrester’s Moon 13 ‘skeleton crew’ on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Di cave (77’41”) is a new one on me, it’s a less common term for imbecile, a police term for civilian, and Verlan for home/pad. So pas de di cave probably means ‘I’m no fool.’
La Conscience by Victor Hugo (78’58”).
88’26” c.f. : Tagada means ‘excitement.’ Véro , Bérenice, and Zoé make three, so Marleau calls them ‘the Daltons.’ Joe Dalton is supposed to be the meanest brother, Averell the dumbest.
89’27”: Marleau again acknowledges this is a TV show: un petite page de publicités means ‘a word from our sponsors.’
CQFD, Ce Qu'il Fallait Dire (91’47”), is the equivalent of ‘QED.’ In this case it’s clearer if we avoid the acronym.
94’34”: Vous pouviez pas être à l'eau et au moulin, ‘You couldn’t be at the water and the mill.’ There are expressions involving ‘can’t be at (something) and the mill’: kitchen and the mill, oven and the mill, water and the mill. They mean ‘can’t be in two places.’
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