Assane returns from his visit to Mariama's captors' hideout, and informs Benjamin that their new task is to steal the "Red Sea," an bracelet currently in the possession of Tara Xang, wife of real estate mogul Max Moller, who will be appearing at a gal held in their honor at the Château de Thoiry the following Saturday. The plan is for them to pose as cloakroom attendants, steal the necklace while helping Tara with her overcoat, and escape through an expansive hedge maze on the castle grounds. Or at least, that's what Benjamin assumes the plan is—because Mariama's kidnappers have decided to shift from mere extortion to full-blown psychological torture...and they want Assane to betray Benjamin.
On the night of the gala, as Assane is removing the bracelet from Tara Xang's wrist, he drops it on the ground. Benjamin leaps to pick it up, but he's noticed by the guests and dashes off to the maze in a panic. To his shock, he hears police sirens approaching, since Assane had previously sent an anonymous message to Belkacem and Guédira, tipping them off that Benjamin would be attempting a theft at the gala. When Benjamin attempts to complete the path through the maze that Assane had laid out for him, he's horrified to find a large hedge blocking his way. A few moments later, Guédia, Belkacem and their squad catch up with him, place him in handcuffs, and lead him out of the maze to a police car. Very much a Downer Ending...
In the midst of all of this, Claire has also been on a mini-adventure of her own. When the mortician at the hospital where she works mentions that "Vernes," the doctor who supposedly performed Assane's autopsy, is nowhere to be found in the hospital's records, Claire is stunned and begins to suspect that Raoul might have been on to something. After finding a page of his handwritten notes in his room, in which he's highlighted the circumstantial similarities between Assane's supposed death and the Lupin story Edith au Cou de Cygne, she pays a visit to the library and steals the book away from a pair of young women who had been intending to borrow it. Later, while reading it, she encounters the phrase, "with Lupin, there's no such thing as death."
Episode credits:
Tropes that appear in this episode:
- Amateur Sleuth: Most of Claire's subplot in this episode revolves around her hunting for clues about what happened to Assane.
- Badass Adorable: Claire gets to do Arsène Lupin-style "gentlewoman thief" caper of her own by stealing a Lupin book from a pair of college-aged women at the library. After successfully accomplishing the feat, she scampers off with a mischievous smile, indicating just how proud she is of herself.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: When Belkacem discovers Fleur's article in The Objector—with Guédira credited as a "source close to the investigation"—she hits the roof, reprimanding Guédira while also demanding to know if he's leaking info in order to impress his new girlfriend. Guédira's response is to ask Belkacem if she's jealous.
- Black-Tie Infiltration: Assane and Benjamin get into the gala at the Château de Thoiry dressed up as cloakroom attendants "Cornelius" and "Alain."
- Colbert Bump: In-Universe, Fleur's story about the connections between Assane and Arsène Lupin winds up triggering a wave of renewed interest in the Lupin books. (Once the tabloids get a hold of it, they begin referring to Claire as "Madame Lupin.")
- Et Tu, Brute?: It's probably fair to say that Benjamin never assumed he'd get sold up the river by his best friend of more than twenty-five years...but that's exactly what happens.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: J'accuse barks when Assane assures Benjamin that they'll escape the château without any difficulty. Since Assane had already been planning to betray Benjamin, the implication is that J'accuse was somehow conscious of his treachery.
- Fee Fi Faux Pas: Assane becomes aware that Claire is beginning to have her own doubts that he is dead, and attempts to throw her off the scent while in disguise as Alex by asking her how she thinks Raoul will be able to move on from him (Assane) if she can't do so herself. Interpreting this as a dig at her parenting, Claire is offended and walks away in a huff.
- Frameup: Sort of. Assane and Benjamin plot the theft of the Red Sea bracelet together, but at the behest of Mariama's kidnappers, Assane specifically sets Benjamin up as the Fall Guy, letting him take all of the heat from the guests at the gala as well as the police, to whom he had previously sent an anonymous message alleging that Benjamin was planning to steal the item.
- Just Friends: Claire invites "Alex" to lunch and tells him that, although she doesn't understand why, she likes being around him. However, she hastily clarifies that this does not mean she's hitting on him. Assane jokes that they're in the friend zone.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Benjamin's expires in horrifying fashion on the night of the gala at the castle.
- Lost in Translation: During his phone conversation with Claire while in character as Alex, Assane slips up and says "Je t'ai menti, Claire" ("I lied to you, Claire") using the informal, familiar second-person pronoun tu rather than the formal vous. Given the nature of the relationship she thinks she shares with "Alex," Claire is slightly surprised and asks "On se tutoient mainentant?"—literally, "Are we using the informal 'you' now?" As this is impossible to translate in English without a long and unwieldy contextualization for non-Francophones, the subtitles change her line to "We're opening up to each other now?"
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Claire steals Edith au Cou de Cygne from the two young women by deliberately crashing into a waitress at the library's cafe and using the ensuing commotion to snatch the book from the girls' table while they are distracted, before giving them ditzy compliments on their Anime Hair.Claire: I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened. I don't know.Girl: (annoyed) Uh, what happened is that you were wearing sunglasses inside, idiot. That's what happened.Claire: Oh, yes! That could be it. No hard feelings, though? Anyway, you two both look very nice. The hair, all of it—I love it. Bye!
- Oh, Crap!: Benjamin, when he discovers that his passage through the maze on the castle grounds is blocked, meaning that either Assane somehow got the directions wrong (unlikely) or deliberately sold him out (more than likely, and in fact exactly what happened). When he gets arrested by Belkacem and Guédira, he has visible tears in his eyes.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: A whole host of them in this episode.
- Assane's and Benjamin's disguises at the gala consist merely of them wearing suits, Assane sporting a white wig and indoor sunglasses, and Benjamin removing his normal glasses.
- During her book-stealing adventure at the library, Claire conceals her appearance by putting on a pair of sunglasses and a newsboy cap (similar to the one that Assane is often seen wearing). Nobody seems to recognize her, despite the fact that all of the people she's near should have been extremely familiar with what she looks like as a result of her face being plastered all over the French tabloids for the past year.
- Speech Impediment: While scouting out the Château de Thoiry, Assane adopts the persona of a gardener with a pronounced lisp.
- Tricked into Signing: Posing as an electrician, Assane visits the home of the château's cloakroom attendant Gérard and instructs him to sign a form regarding repairs he and his crew will supposedly be doing on the night of the gala. Turns out it's actually a false resignation letter that Assane and Benjamin have drawn up.
- Villainous BSoD: Assane is very aware of the seriousness of what he's done to Benjamin, but can do little else but blankly stare as he get dragged out of the castle grounds by Guédira and Belkacem. Immediately afterwards, Assane calls Claire and goes on something of a "Reason I Suck" rant, although what he specifically laments isn't his betrayal of his friend, but rather his being a screwup and a bad father (and even this is slightly veiled since he's posing as Coach Alex).
- Wham Line: The staff at the hospital alerting Claire to the fact that the doctor who supposedly performed Assane's autopsy isn't in their database. Claire is visibly shellshocked by the words, as they're what cause her to start doubting that Assane is dead.
