Chapter 5 (Lupin; Part 3)

Chapter 5 is the fifth episode of the third part of the Netflix series Lupin, and the fifteenth episode overall.

Synopsis
Increasingly suspicious, Claire launches an investigation of her own. Guédira gets the surprise – and opportunity – of a literature lover's lifetime.

1998
Claire spies a downcast Assane sitting on a bench outside her school, and is shocked when she notices that his left eye is badly bruised. She asks Assane how he sustained the injury, and Assane proudly responds that he knocked his attacker out. Claire sighs in disapproval upon realizing that Assane has been fighting at Keller’s club. Assane informs Claire that as Bruno was his opponent, he now needs a new place to stay for a couple of nights. After Claire playfully jokes that she and Assane will have to share a bed (Assane initially responds to this notion with interest), she tells him that she can help him, if he allows her to.

Assane brings Claire to Keller’s boxing gym, where Claire reproaches the overtly combative environment and asks Assane how he thinks Babakar would have felt about it. Keller walks up and eyes Claire suspiciously, asking her who she is; Assane quickly introduces her as a friend. To Assane’s horror, Claire immediately accuses Keller of exploiting vulnerable teenagers and using them as attack dogs. Keller tells Assane that that Claire is treating him like a child, and states that the boxing club is not a prison, but a family. Assane shrugs and indicates that he intends to remain a part of the club. Claire is disappointed by Assane’s attitude and leaves. After she has gone, Keller instructs Assane to reflect on his relationships, asserting that a true friend would never turn their back.

Present day
In prison, Benjamin is interrogated by Guédira, who attempts to force him into admitting that he had an accomplice at the Chateâu de Thoiry. Benjamin, however, firmly denies that he was working with anyone. Guédira informs Benjamin that the police received a tip about the crime, asserting that Assane betrayed him. He offers to release Benjamin if he gives up Assane’s location. Benjamin feigns interest in this idea, but to Guédira’s disappointment, the address he provides turns out to be Assane’s plot at Père-Lachaise cemetery.

While searching Benjamin’s shop, Belkacem nearly finds the door leading to Assane’s secret hideout, but ultimately leaves with the rest of her officers. Assane, meanwhile, receives a phone call from Mariama, who tells him that her kidnappers intend to sell the Manet painting before killing her. She urges him to do something quickly.

Belkacem calls Guédira and asks how his interview with Benjamin went. Guédira admits that the interrogation failed to produce anything meaningful, and wonders aloud why Benjamin is still protecting Assane. Belkacem becomes irritated and tells Guédira that he needs to drop all lines of inquiry into Assane, as he is dead. However, when Guédira returns to his office, he is stunned to find Assane there, waiting for him and grinning. Assane tells Guédira that he needs his help defeating a new enemy. Guédira responds by placing Assane in handcuffs. The two banter about how Assane managed to fake his death, before Guédira states his intention to keep Assane under his watch at all times. In response, Assane immediately slips out of the handcuffs and replies that he will be the one who decides whether he is a captive or not. He promises that if Guédira assists him, he will turn himself in afterwards.

Assane and Guédira are interrupted by a returning Belkacem knocking at the door. Guédira frantically tries to throw her off the trail by claiming that he is with a girlfriend. Belkacem is shocked to hear that Guédira is entertaining a romantic partner during work hours, but ultimately leaves him alone. After Belkacem has gone, Assane tells a highly embarrassed Guédira that in helping, he will be able to recover the black pearl, the Manet painting, and the Red Sea bracelet. Guédira claims that he is not interested in Assane’s offer, but relents when Assane informs him about his mother’s situation. At Guédira’s orders, Assane tapes a video message on the detective’s phone in which he confesses to having faked his death, apologizes for the wrongs that he has done, and states that he is ready to face his punishment.

Meanwhile, Claire’s doubts about Assane’s death have reached a fever pitch, and she has begun eagerly seeking out clues for what happened to him. Raoul catches her rifling through the stack of newspaper articles related to Assane that he keeps in his room. Although Claire initially tries to downplay her suspicions, she ultimately concedes that many things about the official story do not add up. She praises Raoul for his work in tracking Assane down, and tells him that it is now her turn to help.

Claire sets up a meeting with Arnold de Garmeaux, who is thrilled by the prospect of an interview with Assane’s elusive partner. At the offices of The Objector, Claire asks Arnold how he managed to get a photograph at the morgue so quickly. Arnold replies that he received an anonymous tip by email, and that although he met his informant at the morgue, he doesn’t know the man’s name. At Claire’s behest, Arnold calls in a sketch artist and describes him to her. To the shock and amazement of Claire, the sketch winds up being a portrait of Benjamin. She grabs it and dashes out of the room before Arnold can stop her.

Guédira brings Assane, who is dressed as a police officer, to one of his favorite restaurants. The restaurant’s owner questions how Guédira’s love life is going. After being pressed by Assane, Guédira admits that he has a crush on Belkacem, but states that things between them are complicated as she is a colleague. Assane pauses the conversation when he receives a phone call from Claire, switching into his “Alex” persona in order to speak with her. Claire informs Assane that she is planning to visit Benjamin in prison, but admits that she is scared and pleads with him to come along. A perturbed Assane apologetically declines, telling Claire that it wouldn’t be his place.

Assane drives Guédira to an art gallery owned by Frédéric Lassaire, a prolific art thief who has been released from prison and is currently under probation. The pair plan to ask him if he has had any contact with Mariama’s kidnappers, and whether they intend to sell the Manet painting. Lassaire, a dapper middle-aged man, welcomes them into the gallery, where to Guédira’s horror Assane immediately drops a seemingly precious sculpture on the ground, breaking it. However, Assane quickly points out that the sculpture is in fact a copy made with modern equipment, and that charging 25,000 euros for it is fraudulent.

Highly flustered, Lassaire leads Assane and Guédira to his office, where they blackmail him into revealing that he was contacted for a sale. Assane promises Lassaire that they will find him a buyer, and that if he cooperates, he will not be sent to jail for repeated offenses. Afterwards, Assane brings a blindfolded Guédira to his hideout. When Guédira removes the blindfold and sees Assane’s 3D models and costumes, he is amazed. Assane tells Guédira about his plan to disguise him as art collector “Justin Avisto” in order to complete the deal; initially skeptical, Guédira ultimately decides to go along with it.

Assane dresses Guédira in a blond wig and a pair of small round sunglasses, before calling Lassaire and informing him that he has a buyer and that the sale will take place at a nearby hotel ar 10:00 PM the following day. At the time of the appointment, Guédira arrives at the hotel, wearing a concealed headset through which Assane, sitting in the hotel’s bar, gives him instructions. In a room on the second floor, he encounters Manon and Ferdinand, bearing the stolen Manet painting. Lassaire introduces “Justin Avisto” to Manon, and tells her that he is offering 17 million euros for the artwork. Manon scoffs coldly and asserts that it is worth 50 million. Lassaire hastily explains that prices work differently in the black market; Manon responds by accusing Lassaire of being in cahoots with Guédira.

To Assane’s shock, Guédira improvises by offering to cancel the sale right then and there. He is relieved when Manon states that she will sell it for 25 million. Playing hardball, Guédira tells her that he cannot go over 20, and Manon decides to accept. Guédira grins and points out his bag, which is filled with the money. Ferdinand verifies the contents of the bag, and Guédira, Manon and Lassaire toast the deal.

At that moment, however, a police squad led by Belkacem arrives, having been previously informed of the trade by Assane. Ferdinand manages to escape with the money, and Assane begins tailing him. Guédira is shocked when he hears Assane’s voice over his headset telling him that his part of the deal is done. At that moment, Belkacem bursts into the room, calling for “Justin Avisto.” After Lassaire points him out, Guédira quickly removes his sunglasses and reveals his identity to a flabbergasted Belkacem, who orders him into an adjacent room so that they can speak privately. Manon and Lassaire, meanwhile, are arrested.

Guédira tells Belkacem that he had a lead and was attempting to go undercover. He asks Belkacem how she managed to get to the hotel, and she reveals that she was tipped off. Guédira informs Belkacem that if she wants an explanation, she will need to watch the latest video on his phone, intending for her to find Assane’s message. However, when Belkacem plays the video, it turns out to be footage, secretly recorded by Assane, of Guédira confessing his affection for her. Guédira is horrified and grabs the phone away from Belkacem, who tells him that she is flattered but questions what they are going to tell their superiors.

Assane continues tailing Ferdinand, discreetly following him down a deserted alleyway. He sees Ferdinand go into a dingy shop and peers inside. To his horror he discovers that the man Ferdinand is working for is Jean-Luc Keller, and realizes that his female accomplice is Manon.

During this time, Claire and Raoul have each pursued their own investigations into Assane’s whereabouts. Raoul returns to Père-Lachaise cemetery and, using a map he had copied in the library earlier, manages to locate the old sewer system that Assane previously used to escape from his ostensible resting place.

Claire, on the other hand, makes good on her promise to visit Benjamin. She is shocked and saddened to see that he has gashes and wounds all over his face; when she asks him how he sustained them, he claims that he slipped. In an attempt to extract the truth about Assane, Claire lies that he has contacted her and explained everything, from getting in touch with the Objector journalists to setting up the false funeral. Benjamin apologizes to Claire and asserts that he was against the scheme from the beginning, before desperately asking her whether Assane has any new plans for him. Claire, however, responds by breaking down in tears of joy. As she breathlessly thanks him between sobs, a dejected Benjamin realizes that he has been manipulated into confessing that Assane is alive.

Cast

 * Omar Sy as Assane Diop
 * Ludivine Sagnier as Claire Laurent
 * Antoine Gouy as Benjamin Férel
 * Soufiane Guerrab as Youssef Guédira
 * Shirine Boutella as Sofia Belkacem
 * Mamadou Haïdara as young Assane Diop
 * Etan Simon as Raoul Diop
 * Martha Canga Antonio as Fleur Bélanger
 * Julien Pestel as Arnold de Garmeaux
 * Steve Tientcheu as Jean-Luc Keller (2021)
 * Salif Cissé as Jean-Luc Keller (1998)
 * Sandra Parfait as Manon (2021)
 * Sandya Touré Maita as Manon (1998)


 * Naky Sy Savané as Mariama Diop (2021)
 * Nicolas Berno as Ferdinand (2021)
 * Ludmilla Makowski as young Claire Laurent
 * Noé Wodecki as young Bruno
 * Bruno Paviot as Frédéric Lassaire
 * Omar Baha as Algerian café owner
 * Frank Messica as first-floor police officer
 * Guillaume Tarbouriech as Père Lachaise security guard

Music

 * original music by Mathieu Lamboley
 * "Drug Song" by Janko Nilovic and Louis Delacour
 * "A Little Waltz" by Brian Dee

Trivia

 * The prison Benjamin has been placed in is the same one where Babakar was incarcerated, and where Assane contacted the prisoner Comet in the second episode of Part 1.