Adieu, Blogger.

I've taken the plunge and ported this blog over to Substack. Could there be a more appropriate place for a subtitling blog than on SUBStack?  I think not.  Anyway, the new URL is translationnotes.substack.com.

See you over there!

Maman Dearest

Capitaine Marleau #40, “Marleau à Saint-Tropez” (Marleau in St. Tropez), runtime 1:34:22
Subtitles download link

Marleau is called to sun-drenched Saint-Tropez when Raphaël, the grandson of the very rich Léonard Michelli, is very kidnapped, and the local gendarmes are sent a very severed ear in the mail.

Only thing is– Léonard doesn’t want to pay the 30-million (euros?) ransom. The secretive Pénélope Milo (Marie-Josée Croze), daughter of local moviestar royalty (also Croze, in a brief flashback), might be one source of pressure. And why is Pénélope trying to get Lola (Raphaël’s girlfriend) out of the picture? Is Leonard’s son Dany too meek to be real? Is Lola’s dad Khader more than just Pénélope’s gardener? And how do the kidnappers seem to know what the Gendarmes are planning? Complicating matters is the discovery of the body of a murdered photographer, a paparazzo who was in possession of photos of Raphaël and Lola. What muck was he raking by visiting a gynecology clinic in Nice?

Marleau has only the local brigade on which to rely, featuring almost-identical twin lieutenants Félix and Martin, and their protective civilian aide/house mother Stéph.

l-r: Valentin Riot-Sarcey as Félix, Justin Chassel as Martin, Corinne Masiero, and Agathe Natanson as Stéph.

MISC

Keep an eye on Marleau’s hair. Unbraided, it becomes frizzier and frizzier— and blonder— as time passes, as though reacting to the hot Riviera weather. Which doesn't quite make sense, since there have been episodes in Corsica and Guadeloupe.


NOTES

Cold open: Gallais the photographer is played by Michel Ferracci, husband of the late Émilie Dequenne from Episode 36, “La 7eme danse,” in which he was Daniel the biker.  Ferracci also played Mori in Episode 18, “Pace e Salute” (the Corsica episode).

The grand aerial shot (1’09”) starts above Saint-Tropez flying west to east. The Plage de la Ponche beach is in the foreground; Portelet Tower is on the right; the bell tower is Église Paroissiale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption. The Port of Saint-Tropez is in the background

Chekhov's trip to the airport

La nuit americaine (Day For Night), 1973. Runtime 1:55:58
Subtitles download link

The first time I watched Day For Night was, and this absolutely dates me, not long after I first saw Close Encounters of The Third Kind. The part of ‘Mr Lacombe’ the French scientist/ET hunter was played by François Truffaut; since I was a kid I had never heard of him. I must have looked him up at the library, and some time afterward I saw his film Day For Night on TV, probably Seattle Channel 9, the PBS affiliate. Although it could have been NBC Channel 5, in those days the Bullitt family owned it, and their afternoon movie slot was where I first saw things like The Seven-Ups, What's Up, Doc?, and Sugarland Express.

l-r: Dani as Liliane, Jean-Pierre Léaud as Alphonse, Truffaut as Ferrand.

Being a kid, of course I didn't understand it. “So boring,” I probably said. I do recall being fascinated by the technical aspects of filmmaking.

Recently I came across a homemade CD of various French songs from different eras, and one of the tracks was Le grand choral, basically the Day For Night theme, composed by Georges Delerue. I recognized it immediately and was suddenly seized by an urge to see the film again.

I found the Criterion release, which I assume is the 2016 restoration. I don’t know where the Opensubtitles file came from. I quickly saw that the English translation had the sort of paraphrasing and abridgement that annoys me, so after watching it I thought it would make for a fun project.

*  *  *

In one of the best movies about moviemaking, Ferrand (Truffaut) is a director trying to make a formulaic romantic tragedy titled Meet Paméla, about a young wife who falls in love with her father-in-

Tax The Rich

I normally post Falco episode translations two at a time, but it's American tax season, I'm preoccupied with my documents, and I’m exhausted. Therefore only one Falco this time.


Falco S03E07, “Sous les cendres” (Under the Ashes), runtime 50:49
Subtitles download link

Alex finally takes the plunge and acquires real estate— but it's a converted space that looks more like a squad room than an apartment. The brigade has moved too, and Eva’s not happy with technical issues at the new office.

Meanwhile, the squad investigates a skeleton uncovered on a vacant lot, and they link it first to an old missing person case, and then have the realization that they are really dealing with two homicides.

Alex continues the search for Edouard Ponthieux, the hood threatening Éléonore.

l-r: Stévenin, Manuel, and Barlier

NOTES

3’31”: The French title of The Deer Hunter is Au bout de l’enfer (To the depths of hell), not Chasseur de cerfs.
      Ah, Gravity, what people were watching at home in the mid-2010s.

When speaking of a marriage, l'alliance (4’01”) is the ring.

Notre petite ambassade, Ep. 5 & 6

Notre petite ambassade (Our Little Embassy) Ep. 5, “La clé du bonheur” (The Key To Happiness), runtime 21:13
Subtitles download link

Kai the courier brings the diplomatic bag, containing state secrets and (most importantly) treats from home. But Konsti is injured in a watermelon accident and can’t remember where the key is. Lupe plans an operation to rescue Walti.

Lupe’s elite strike team (l-r: Cristo Fernandez, Anaïs Decasper, Valentin Villaverde)

MISC

Remember, I'm translating the dubbed-French audio from the show's France 3 broadcast.


NOTES

Although Switzerland as a federal state was formed in 1848, it has been known as ‘the Confederation’ (0’28”) since medieval times when it was the Swiss Confederacy.

The map (2’01”) has no clues as to the series location.

Notre petite ambassade Ep. 3 & 4

Notre petite ambassade (Our Little Embassy) Ep. 3, “Qui sème le séisme” (Who sows the earthquake), runtime 21:20
Subtitles download link

Walti’s attempt at mojito diplomacy appears to have become a full-fledged hostage situation; it's Lupe and Guillermo's silver anniversary; Selina receives an important assignment just when she’s feeling professionally underchallenged; Konsti tries to deliver on his parental (!) commitments; Mrs Zybach and Chili Gonzalez are among the earthquake casualties.

Earthquake drill: the earth doesn't actually move for Marisol and Adrien (Sandra Zellwegger and Jonas Gygax)

MISC

I now have a second source of the show available to me for this project, but it's in the original German. I'll use it when the French dubbing is less discernable.

Arturo’s character started as a paranoid rookie cop, but has become a half-sweet motormouth..

Notre petite ambassade, Ep. 1 & 2

Notre petite ambassade (Our Little Embassy) popped up recently in my France 3 feed, it’s a 2025 sitcom about the staff of a Swiss embassy somewhere in South America. The series’ original title is Unsere Kleine Botschaft, so it’s from the German-speaking segment of Switzerland, and what France 3 is showing is dubbed into French (except for some in-context Spanish).


MISC

The cast includes Cristo Fernandez, who was Dani on Ted Lasso.

According to Cineuropa, this was the first Swiss sitcom in 20 years.

It was canceled after this first season, due to low ratings.

The Federal Council is Switzerland’s ministerial cabinet, the seven members are the collective chief executive of the country.


Notre petite ambassade (Our Little Embassy) Ep. 1, “L'échec fait partie du succès” (The Success Game), runtime 21:40
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Béa Laïtenegger (Susanne Kunz) is Switzerland’s ambitious ambassador to an unnamed South American country. She’s just finalized an agreement for building a Swiss train to take coffee beans to a seaport, when the Swiss bureaucracy rains on her parade: the Federal official being sent to sign the accord is her ex-husband.

Ambassador Béa (Susanne Kunz, r) and Lupe her assistant/fixer (Darinka Ezeta)

NOTES

4’12”: Well-done fake photo of Béa and her ex-husband meeting Barack Obama.

There is no one named Follie

My new semi-regular thread Rewatch Project kicks off with “Follie’s,” what I feel is the best episode so far of my favorite French mystery, Capitaine Marleau. I’ve watched the episode again and made a number of changes– some retranslations, some formatting improvements, and application of my current stylebook.


Capitaine Marleau #30 “Follie’s” (2023), runtime 1:37:03
Subtitles download link

Marleau is basking in the glow of news reports about her capture of an escaped fugitive. She’s about to head off down the road when a woman stops her in the post lobby begging her to find her missing daughter, Sylvie. Marleau’s boss pro temps Cmdr. Duchesne had been less than helpful when Sylvie’s disappearance was originally reported, owing to her being a stripper (under the stage name Sunlight) at the local cabaret, Follie’s. Duchesne shares some choice insults about Follie’s’s colorful staff, at which point Marleau decides they must be her kind of people.

However the Follie’s family closes ranks, indicating Sunlight isn’t missing so much as hiding. There are also corrupt politicians and businessmen, sex tapes, and a blackmailer who is as scarce as Sunlight. So Marleau and her assistant Melissa– and to an equal extent Vincent, Sunlight’s roommate– have to do it the hard way: by annoying the hell out of the suspects one by one.


MISC

I originally posted the translation for “Follie’s” on August 27, 2023. Yes, MHZ is way behind.

What makes “Follie's” so wonderful, the apostrophe notwithstanding?

• The sheer volume of work that must have gone into it: it's two episodes, a mystery and a musical.
• The Easter eggs.
• The world inside Follie's and the connections Marleau builds with the inhabitants.
• Bugs Bunny vs. Yosemite Sam- I mean Marleau vs. Duchesne.

Catherine Ringer (Rosa) is a multi-talented singer/songwriter/actor/musician, who also had a career in adult films and traded insults about it with Serge Gainsbourg on TV.

Samuel Mercer (Vincent) played Samuel Muir in the first Marleau series episode, “Philippe Muir.”

Zahia Dehar (Sunlight) first entered the public eye in 2010, when she was arrested in connection with a prostitution investigation involving footballers, and again in 2020 when the case was reopened.

Why did I think translating a 26-year-old episode would be fun?

It’s the second anniversary of Translation Notes.

Florence Larrieu: La juge est une femme (Florence Larrieu: The Judge is a Woman), “Suspectes,” 2000, runtime 95:21
Subtitles download link

MHZ recently posted the final episodes of Alice Nevers: The Judge is a Woman, moving the long-running series from Paris to Normandy, where Alice and Fred go for their perfect life together. Alice brought the kids but not her clerk, who shows up briefly in the epilogue. Fred didn’t bring his partner Karim, which is just as well as since Karim would probably be afraid of the horses in the final case.

Before Alice’s arrival in 2002 the show went by the name Florence Larrieu: The Judge is a Woman. Apparently female judges were such a rarity that the fact had to be part of the title. Florence Pernel played Judge Larrieu for 17 episodes between 1993 and 2002. I have this joke that there are only 12 actors in France, because the same actors keep popping up over and over. Well, Florence Pernel is three or four of them. If you watch a lot of French TV like I do, she seems to be everywhere.

Florence Pernel, with Frederic Diefenthal

I got it off YouTube. Because it’s 26 years old the audio is not all one would hope for, much of the higher registers are fried or blown out. When I couldn’t make out what was being said, Vosk was usually no help; I did my best.

The episode is titled “Suspectes”: Larrieu and her assistant Lt. Colas investigate when hardened robber Jackie breaks out of a women's prison, in which the inmates are contract employees for a tech company. A guard dies during the escape. Jackie just wants to see her daughter but also denies being the killer, as well as the earlier robbery. Will the tech company get any blame, or is it a red herring? Will Florence and Colas ever stop bickering like siblings?


MISC

The Judge is a Woman was created by Noelle Loriot based on her trilogy of Laurence Larrieu crime novels— so, prior to Nevers all the names had to rhyme.

Larrieu was the judge for seasons 1-7, Nevers for seasons 8-26.

The only character present for both judges was Édouard Lemonnier, their clerk, played by Jean Dell (seasons 1-9). Édouard’s nephew Victor (Guillaume Carcaud) became the clerk for seasons 9-26.

Lt. Victor Colas was played by Frederic Diefenthal (Meurtres à Rouen). He was with the show 1993-2001, and “Suspectes” is from Season 5. But at 21’45” he mentions that he and Florence’s partnership is still new.

There’s a cut in the video at 43’21”, probably done by whoever posted it. Of course this affects the subtitles sync for viewers who might have the uncut version.


NOTES

Surveillante (5’22”) can be translated as ‘matron,’ but it feels dated.
      The prosecutor asks Florence au moins que c'est au plus vite (At least do it ASAP). Or it could be au manque c'est au plus vite– something like ‘we’ll be short (handed?), be quick.’ As though someone had announced their departure in the previous episode.
      Which might help explain when Florence replies trois jours, ‘three days’ (5’27”). Whatever that meant, the prosecutor doesn’t seem thrilled.

Brest Friends

Les Trois Brestoises, “The Three Women From Brest,” runtime 1:30:09
Subtitles download link

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
Subtitles download link

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
Subtitles download link

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
Subtitles download link

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
Subtitles download link

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
Subtitles download link

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
Subtitles download link

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
Subtitles download link

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.’

A Beautiful Mind

Astrid et Raphaëlle S06E04, “La Théorie Du Tout” (The Theory of Everything), runtime 54:44
Subtitles download link


The body of a prominent mathematician is discovered in an unexpected place: the trunk of a drug trafficker’s submerged car. The clues lead to a mysterious room, where complications ensue.

Leading suspects include an ex-con gambler, the professor’s professor son, his prodigal daughter, and the functionary of a shadowy tech corporation.

Raph is vertical again; she and Nico are observing their first anniversary. Uh-oh, Tetsuo has a dangerous secret. A mystery man is lurking around Astrid. Super(cilious) agent Dagobert reappears.


NOTES

The University of Val-de-Seine (5’28”) is made up.

5’38” c.f. : Establishing shot is from Pont Maria Pacôme (Rue Louis Blanc) looking south down the Canal Saint-Martin.

Where Tetsuo and Tanaka converse in Japanese (5’46”), I used Google Translate on the audio where possible. I got something a little different from the burned-in French subtitles.

I don’t think vilain petit canard de la famille, ‘ugly duckling of the family’ (10’09”), means precisely the same in French as in English. ‘Black sheep’ would be more appropriate for the framing, but oh well.

I managed to cut down Norah’s explanation of Diane’s record, while still conveying all the ideas.

The 17th district (10’40”) is in northwest Paris, to the west of Montmartre. It’s diverse, from the 5-star hotels near the Arc de Triomphe at one end, to the public housing blocks and massive Balzac high school at the other.

The tire track (11’50”): how could the car have been in the hallway? And Raph clearly says voiture (car).

The Riemann hypothesis (17’04”) was created by Bernhard Riemann (1826-1866), a German mathematician. The hypothesis asserts that, where ζ(s) is a complex number (ζ is zeta), “all interesting solutions of the equation ζ(s) = 0 lie on a vertical straight line.” Yeah, I don’t either. Anyway, it’s unsolved– but it has been checked to 10 trillion solutions.

Lequesnoy’s explanations about Diane (29’54”) include coup de cavalrie (it sounds like) which would mean something like ‘sudden attack/charge.’ It doesn't seem to be something people say, so I'm going to assume she said coup de connerie, and put ‘tricked us.’

Is the prize in dollars or euros?

• Tetsuo first explains (17’35”) the Riemann solution prize is a million dollars (prix d'un million de dollars)
• Carl say euros (22’13”)

Then there’s the Metacortis project funding:

• Laure says (29’49”) it was 500,000 dollars.
• Diane says she needed to give Metacortis back its 500,000 euros (37’30”)

46’08”: Astrid is referring to a few seconds earlier, where Guillaume asks his father Pourquoi vous faites ça? (Why are you doing this?) using vous instead of tu.