Chapter 8 (Lupin)

Chapter 8 is the third episode of the second part of the Netflix series Lupin, and the eighth episode overall.

Synopsis
As he attempts to gain Juliette's trust with a series of capers, Assane devises an elaborate plot that would blindside Hubert.

1995
Assane and Benjamin have become skilled at making money off of sleight-of-hand magic in the various parks of Paris. One day, the pair bump into Juliette Pellegrini, who asks Assane to meet her in the same spot the next day. Later, Hubert tells Juliette that she was seen with a Black boy, and orders her to never have contact with him again.

Present day
After Claire begs him to run away for a second time, Assane dashes into a deserted closet on the landing and manages to dislodge a ceiling tile, climbing his way to safety. Immediately afterwards, Pascal and the other police officers burst out of Claire’s apartment and run down the stairs and out of the building, looking for Assane. When they are gone, Claire drags Raoul inside and frantically asks him if he is all right. Raoul assures her that he is fine, and praises Assane’s actions in rescuing him.



Claire becomes agitated and asserts that Assane is a dangerous man who uses others. When Raoul disagrees, Claire grows hysterical, shouting that everything that happened to Raoul was Assane’s fault. Clinging to Raoul and sobbing into his shoulder, Claire tells him that Assane has never kept a single promise, and that she does not want him to come near them again. Hiding in the ceiling above, Assane hears everything and is dismayed.

Some time afterward, Benjamin and Assane have coffee together in a café. Benjamin comments on Assane’s foul mood; Assane reveals that Claire has cut off all contact with him, and that he hasn’t spoken to Raoul in a week. He also complains that Claire gave him up to Hubert. Benjamin defends Claire, reminding Assane that she was desperate and that she warned him about Pascal and his men. He reminds Assane that Hubert is the one they should really be going after. Assane replies that since Hubert went after his son, they will go after his daughter.

Benjamin makes a reservation for two at a local restaurant using the name Horace Velmont, a fictional French-Canadian businessman. He also contacts Juliette as Velmont and asks her to meet him for dinner under the guise of being a prospective donor for her foundation. Assane, meanwhile, calls Guédira, addressing him as “Ganimard” and telling him to be at the Place Dauphine, alone, on Monday morning at 10:00.

Hubert accepts a meeting with a young financial advisor named Philippe Courbet, who informs him of his expectations for the donations to the Pellegrini foundation. Hubert intends for only 15% of the money to go to the foundation itself, with the other 85% being wired straight to a personal offshore bank account. Noticing that Philippe looks very young, Hubert inquires as to his age. Philippe refuses to answer, stating that his age is of far less importance than what he charges for his services (10,000 euros an hour). Hubert is impressed by his confidence. Philippe asks Hubert whether or not Juliette is in on the scam; Hubert responds that she is not.



Assane walks by the restaurant where Benjamin had set up the reservation and sees Juliette sitting by a table near the window. She motions for him to come inside, and tells Assane that while she understands that there was bad blood between their fathers, it doesn’t need to come between the two of them in the present. Juliette also reveals that she has been stood up by “Velmont.” Assane asks Juliette how she has been; Juliette tells him that her work has become more involved, and that she has little energy left. Assane inquires whether Juliette misses the adrenaline rushes of her younger days, and she says that she does. To recapture the old magic, Assane and Juliette leave without paying the bill, steal a motorcycle, and joyride around Paris. Unbeknownst to Juliette, Assane had previously made a deal with the restaurant’s waiter not to go after them, and had agreed on a trade with the owner of the motorcycle.

In his antique shop, Benjamin receives a visit from Claire, who greets him warmly and asks him if Assane is doing all right. Benjamin assures her that he is, and tells her not to worry. Claire has brought along her new partner Marc, and introduces him to Benjamin, who appears somewhat apprehensive. After the two leave, Marc re-enters and buys a bracelet to give to Claire. When Marc presents Claire with the bracelet, she likes it very much and posts a selfie with it onto her Instagram account.



Assane meets Juliette in the Musée d’Orsay, where she is planning a gala for her charity. Juliette tells him that while she had enjoyed the previous night, they cannot turn back time. Later, Juliette takes delivery of a package that turns out to be a priceless Pissarro from the museum (actually a fake created by Benjamin), with the message “Sometimes, you can stop time” attached. Simultaneously, a news alert (also created by Assane and Benjamin) pops up on Juliette’s computer, reporting the theft of the Pissarro, alongside a video in which the curator of the Musée d’Orsay appears to be lamenting the loss (actually edited footage of the curator discussing the 2019 Notre Dame fire). Juliette is stunned by what she believes to be a grand romantic gesture from Assane, but horrified at the idea of owning a stolen painting. Two “police officers” (prisoners whom Assane had met during his October stay) arrive and question Juliette on the disappearance, as she had been in the museum shortly earlier; Juliette nervously denies knowing anything about it.

Afterwards, while they are walking together in a park, Juliette chides Assane for his irresponsibility and asks him what he is playing at, reminding him that he chose Claire over her. Assane states that he made the wrong choice, but Juliette orders him to prove his feelings. She reveals that she has been looking at Claire’s Instagram account, and is aware of her new bracelet. Juliette demands that Assane steal it for her.

Unwilling to actually take the bracelet from Claire, Assane visits Benjamin and asks him if he can make him a similar one. Embarrassed, Benjamin admits that he was the one who sold the bracelet to Marc in the first place. He states that as it was extremely rare, Assane will never find another one like it, and that he will have to legitimately steal it. Assane sneaks into Claire’s apartment one night and finds her asleep with Marc. Discreetly, he removes the bracelet from her wrist and slips a small electronic watch underneath her bed for later use. Quickly visiting Raoul’s room, he leaves his son a book: Arsène Lupin vs Herlock Sholmes.

The next day, Juliette is pleased when Assane presents her with the bracelet, but Assane tells her that he would prefer that they simply started over, and that he wants to return the trinket to Claire, and the painting to the Musée d’Orsay. He laments that Hubert has always been against them as a couple. Juliette tells him to stop obsessing over her father. Assane mentions Hubert’s accusation against Babakar, and tells Juliette that she doesn’t know what really happened. He urges Juliette to speak with her mother about Hubert's activities in the 1990s, and to have Anne confess everything to a police officer named “Ganimard.” Juliette gives Assane the bracelet, which he sends back to Claire. Later, she receives a false notification that the Pissarro painting has been returned to the museum.



At Assane's behest, Juliette visits Anne, telling her that she needs to know the full truth. Anne reveals that Hubert needed money, and used Babakar as a scapegoat for the theft of the Queen's Necklace in order to collect the insurance. Stunned, Juliette asks Anne why she didn’t report Hubert at the time. Anne states that she was concerned Juliette would be devastated by the loss of her father, with whom she had always been very close. Juliette becomes distressed, admonishing Anne and urging her to come clean about Hubert. Anne is reluctant, but Juliette begs her to talk to “Ganimard." On Monday morning at 10:00, Anne meets Guédira and tells him everything.

Later, while Hubert is signing papers with Philippe, Laugier and Guédira arrive and arrest him under suspicion of fraud and obstruction of justice. To comfort Juliette following her father's arrest, Assane meets her next to the Seine and kisses her.

Cast

 * Omar Sy as Assane Diop
 * Ludivine Sagnier as Claire Laurent
 * Clotilde Hesme as Juliette Pellegrini
 * Nicole Garcia as Anne Pellegrini
 * Hervé Pierre as Hubert Pellegrini
 * Antoine Gouy as Benjamin Férel
 * Soufiane Guerrab as Youssef Guédira
 * Vincent Londez as Romain Laugier
 * Stefan Crepon as Philippe Courbet
 * Salim Kechiouche as Marc


 * Nicolas Wanczycki as Pascal Oblet
 * Aloysia Delahaut as Pellegrini press official
 * Denis Mathieu as uniformed police officer
 * Maud le Guenedal as Alice Baltard
 * Mamadou Haïdara as young Assane Diop
 * Lea Bonneau as young Juliette Pellegrini
 * Etan Simon as Raoul Diop
 * Adrian Valli De Villebonne as young Benjamin Férel

Music

 * original music by Mathieu Lamboley
 * "Cuz I Love You" by Lizzo