Needless to say, the show isn't about to kill off its main character two episodes into its third season...So, as it turns out, Assane survived the drop from the rooftop, as he was wearing an airbag. His ultimate plan was to fake his death, thus getting the media off of Claire and Raoul's backs and allowing them to start a new life together. Shortly after Assane's "fall", Benjamin and Philippe arrive on the scene, dressed as paramedics, and whisk him off to the hospital, where they change into morticians' outfits and manage to trick the staff into confirming Assane's death.
News of Assane's apparent demise breaks the following morning. Claire and Raoul are devastated, and Benjamin isn't exactly thrilled about concealing the truth from them. Belkacem, meanwhile, is incredibly annoyed that the black pearl has still not resurfaced, as its owner is pestering her for answers; she is also irritated by Guédira, who—ever-Genre Savvy—suspects that Assane is actually still alive. At Assane's funeral service, held at Père-Lachaise cemetery, Guédira abruptly stops the proceedings and orders that the coffin be opened to confirm that the supposedly deceased man is really inside it. (He is, although Guédira's failure to poke and prod at Assane's "corpse" ensures that the ruse is maintained.)
After the service is over, Assane escapes his coffin through an underground Tunnel Network and regroups with Benjamin, who has met a potential buyer for the pearl. However, the proceedings are halted when Assane receives a shocking phone call from his Missing Mom Mariama, who claims that she has been kidnapped and that her captors are demanding the black pearl as ransom.
Episode credits:
Tropes that appear in this episode:
- Almost Out of Oxygen: Assane, when he's trying to break out of his coffin, as evidenced by his increasingly labored breaths.
- The Bait: Mariama becomes this as of this episode, with her kidnappers forcing Assane to perform various acts in exchange for her life being spared.
- Broken Tears: Despite her earlier anger with Assane, Claire is legitimately heartbroken by his supposed death, and cries during his funeral.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Assane drops all of his earlier plans in order to figure out who is holding his mother hostage. When Benjamin questions this, Assane tells him that even if the supposed kidnapping is an attempt at Catfishing, it still means that someone knows that he's alive, which could theoretically jeopardize everything they've been working towards.
- The Cameo: Philippe Courbet makes a reappearance, as he's hired by Assane and Benjamin to play The Coroner who "performs" Assane's autopsy.
- Faking the Dead: Much of the plot revolves around Assane doing this, with Benjamin's assistance.
- The "Fun" in "Funeral": Assane's funeral becomes this when Guédira interrupts the proceedings and orders that his coffin be opened. Cue the Black Comedy of Benjamin (who is fully aware that his very-much-alive best friend is lying inside) becoming increasingly nervous, while Claire desperately pleads with him to stop Guédira. The people in the extensive crowd of onlookers, meanwhile, are either horrified or excited, or both.
- Janitor Impersonation Infiltration: Assane gets out of the Tunnel Network of the disused sewer system underneath Père-Lachaise cemetery while dressed in a maintenance worker's uniform.
- Made of Iron: Assane survives his fall from the building with no major injuries, despite the fact that, even taking the airbag into account, it seems like he should have broken every bone in his body.
- No Social Skills: Guédira doesn't let the fact that it's Assane's funeral service stop him from publicly declaring his suspicions that the death is a hoax. Of course, he's actually right, but it's fair to say that his handling of the situation left a lot to be desired in terms of being respectful towards his grieving wife and son.
- Pimp Duds: While purchasing his eventual coffin, Assane dresses up in a garishly pink suit and pairs it with an equally ostentatious hat. (For some additional context: he appears to be spoofing the Congolese "sapeur" fashion subculture, as also evidenced by the Fauxreigner West African accent he adopts while in character.)
- Reading The Enemy's Mail: Journalist Arnold de Garmeaux intercepts an email from Benjamin to his rival Fleur Bélanger, intended to give her an inside scoop on Assane's death. Ultimately Arnold is the one who gets a photograph of Assane's body at the morgue and breaks the story the following day, much to Fleur's displeasure.
- Secret Underground Passage: How Assane escapes his coffin after he's buried.
- Selective Obliviousness: Despite seeing his father's body in the flesh at the funeral (albeit from a distance), Raoul refuses to believe that he is really gone. Of course, much like Guédira, he's absolutely correct, but Claire's immediate concerns that Raoul is in denial are quite reasonable given what they know at that point in time.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Assane intended his "death" as a way for him to reunite with Claire and Raoul without their having to spend the rest of their lives as fugitives from the law. That doesn't stop him from actually letting them believe that he was killed in a fall, and he's willing to let them go on thinking just that when the situation with his mother gets in the way of his plans.
