Chapter 4 (Lupin; Part 3)

Chapter 4 is the fourth episode of the third part of the Netflix series Lupin, and the fourteenth episode overall.

Synopsis
Assane meets his mother's captor in the flesh, but there's no sign of her. Tasked with another all-or-nothing heist, he makes a devastating choice.

1998
Assane has become close with Manon, Keller’s girlfriend. Bruno is envious of Assane and tells him and Manon that Keller is going to be upset when he hears about their relationship. Assane tries to explain that there is nothing romantic going on between him and Manon, but Bruno finds Keller and voices his suspicions. However, Keller states that he trusts Manon, and is instead outraged by Bruno attempting to double-cross his friend. Keller gathers the young boxers around him and tells them that in his club, personal loyalty counts above all. He announces that as a punishment for not respecting one another, Assane and Bruno will participate in a one-on-one boxing match the following evening.

The fight occurs on schedule, watched by the other club members including Manon. Bruno, angered by Keller’s favoritism towards Assane, begins throwing punches immediately. Assane begins in a more subdued, defensive style, but Keller eggs him on, urging him to deal knockout blows. Assane lands a strong punch to Bruno’s head, and Bruno collapses to the ground, defeated. As the spectators cheer, Keller proudly declares Assane the winner. Bruno gets up and stalks off in frustration.

Present day
At the kidnappers’ lair, Assane encounters a woman with a shaved head, dressed all in black. Unbeknownst to him, it is Manon. Assane demands to see his mother, but Manon tells him that she is not there. Assane orders her to call her boss; Manon dials a number and states that she is with Assane. After Manon presses the speakerphone button, Assane hears Mariama’s voice telling him that the kidnappers want him to steal the Red Sea, a luxurious bracelet, from Tara Xang, the wife of wealthy real estate mogul Max Moller. Assane is shocked when Mariama informs him that her captors also want Assane to betray Benjamin to the police in the process.

Assane returns to his hideout, where Benjamin asks him what happened. Assane informs Benjamin about the Red Sea heist, but does not mention Mariama’s kidnappers’ desire that he be sent to jail. Benjamin tells Assane that the bracelet’s value comes from its extremely intricate clasp rather than its jewels, and is convinced that he will not be able to make a credible copy. Assane entreats Benjamin to try his best, telling him that he knows he will manage to pull it off. Benjamin sighs and relents.

Some time afterward, Assane meets Claire in a café, disguised as Raoul’s basketball coach Alex. Still concerned that Raoul is not opening up to her following the loss of his father, Claire asks Assane if he might tell her anything Raoul reveals to him in private, but Assane refuses, stating that he is not a snitch. Although slightly disappointed by this, Claire nonetheless tells Assane that although she doesn’t know why, she feels comfortable and happy when she is around him. This causes Assane to chuckle, while Claire hastily clarifies that she is not making a pass at him. Assane jokes that they are in the friendzone.

Later that day, while at work at the hospital, Claire runs into Dr. Martinez, who asks her if she knows Vernes, the doctor who had identified Assane’s body. When Claire replies that she does not, Martinez informs her that the police are seeking information on anybody who had been at the morgue on the night Assane was brought in, and that there is no sign of Vernes anywhere in the hospital’s database. Catherine, a nurse sitting nearby, offers that it can take some time for new doctors to be added into the system, but Claire is nonetheless alarmed by Martinez’ words, and immediately begins to doubt that Assane is dead. She asks the nurse to send her information on Vernes if and when she finds it.

Back at the hideout, Assane tells Benjamin that the theft of the Red Sea will occur during a gala held at the Château de Thoiry. Assane decides that he and Benjamin will pose as cloakroom attendants, so that they will be able to handle the coats and valuables of the guests without arousing suspicion. The two practice for the event, with Benjamin playing the role of the guest while Assane removes his jacket and attempts to steal a stand-in for the bracelet at the same time. The first few attempts at this go poorly.

While waiting for Raoul’s basketball program to finish, Claire receives a call from Fleur, whom she had previously attempted to get in contact with. Claire asks Fleur why she had doubted Assane’s death. Fleur offers to meet with Claire, encouraging her to give an interview. Claire refuses Fleur’s interview request, but states that she will consider meeting with her. Having finished teaching Raoul and his teammates, Assane, dressed in his “Alex” get-up, asks Claire if she was speaking with the journalist from the other day. Claire admits that she was the one who got in touch with Fleur to begin with. Bemused, Assane asks Claire how she expects Raoul to move on if she cannot do so herself. Claire is offended by Assane’s question and quickly leaves with Raoul in tow.

That evening, Claire discovers Raoul’s handwritten notes attempting to prove that Assane faked his death, featuring references to the Arsène Lupin story Edith au Cou de Cygne (“Edith Swan-Neck”). Claire searches for the book among the many that her son has borrowed from the library, but is unable to find it.

Assane pays a visit to the home of Gérard, the Château de Thoiry’s cloakroom attendant, falsely informing him that he works with an electric company and that he and his colleagues will be replacing an antenna near Gérard’s home the following Saturday between 6:00 pm and midnight, meaning that the Wi-Fi will be down during that time. Gérard chuckles and responds that this will not be a problem, as he has to work. Assane collects Gérard’s signature on a number of documents and departs. Gérard fails to notice that one of these documents is a forged resignation letter.

Meanwhile, Fleur’s article on Assane’s connection to the Lupin stories makes the front page of The Objector. She calls Guédira, asking him if he enjoyed it, and asks him out for dinner that evening. Guédira awkwardly accepts Fleur’s invitation, but hangs up when he sees an irate Belkacem waiting for him in his office, holding a copy of the paper. Belkacem demands to know what Guédira was thinking in leaking the information to the media; Guédira denies that he was the source. Belkacem doesn’t believe Guédira and angrily informs him that his actions constitute an obstruction of justice with regards to the ongoing search for the black pearl.

In search of Edith au Cou de Cygne, Claire pays a visit to the Bibliothèque Nationale. When she requests a reading pass, the attending librarian asks her if she is there to read the Lupin books, noting that they have surged in popularity since Fleur’s article was published. A bashful Claire lies that she has no interest in Arsène Lupin and is instead passionate about ancient Egypt. While she is walking through the halls of the library, Claire is unsettled to see large numbers of young people wearing shirts with Assane’s face printed onto them, as well as a tabloid magazine featuring a photograph of herself on the cover with the headline “Madame Lupin?”

Claire steals into an empty corridor and puts on a cap and sunglasses in an attempt to conceal her identity. Feeling more secure, she heads for the Arsène Lupin section, which is crowded with new fans. Although Claire spies a single copy of Edith au Cou de Cygne on the shelf, to her disappointment it is grabbed by two teenage girls before she can get to it. The girls head to the library’s café and Claire follows them. To create a diversion, she intentionally bumps into a waitress, using the resulting commotion to snatch the book from the girls’ table and slip it into her bag. Feeling very proud of herself, Claire rushes out of the café before the girls realize that the book is missing.

Having posed as a gardener at the Château de Thoiry, Assane has a strong knowledge of the building and its grounds, most notably its elaborate hedge maze. He guides Benjamin on how to escape through the maze when he has possession of the bracelet. Unbeknownst to Benjamin, Assane is giving him incorrect directions, having placed an additional hedge in the maze to block the exit route. J’accuse barks, seemingly detecting Assane’s lies, but Benjamin does not suspect a thing.

On the evening of the gala, Gérard exits his house and walks to his car, and finds that he has a flat tire. He attempts to call for assistance, but cannot, as his Wi Fi has been disabled by Assane and Benjamin. Gérard opens the envelope that Assane had previously given him and is shocked to find a wad of 500-euro notes inside. Assane and Benjamin, meanwhile, attend the gala, posing as cloakroom attendants as planned. They are initially unable to steal Tara Xang’s bracelet, however, as her husband takes her jacket himself.

As the reception begins, Assane and Benjamin are accosted by the head of staff at the château, who asks them where Gérard is. Assane introduces himself and Benjamin as “Cornelius” and “Alain”, and tells her that Gérard has resigned from his position. He gives the head of staff a letter in which Gérard appears to claim that he feels exploited and underpaid. Gérard’s signature appears at the bottom of the letter, unbeknownst to him one of the supposed forms that he had signed earlier when Assane was posing as an electrician.

The gala ends and the guests begin to file out. Assane helps Tara with her coat, deftly slipping the bracelet off her wrist as she doe so. However, as Tara and Moller prepare to leave, Assane intentionally drops the bracelet onto the ground. When Benjamin leaps to pick it up, he is seen by many of the guests, who react with confusion. Panicking, Benjamin dashes off with the necklace, while Moller orders his capture. At the same time, the police converge on the scene, having received an anonymous tip from Assane that Benjamin would attempt the theft of the bracelet.

Benjamin tries to escape through the castle’s hedge maze, using the directions that Assane had given him. Upon finding a drone in the midst of a small clearing, he places the bracelet onto it and sends it off. The drone flies to Manon, who is waiting in a parked car near the castle grounds. With the police hot on his trail, Benjamin continues his journey through the maze, but to his horror he encounters Assane’s hedge standing in his way. With no option but to turn around, Benjamin realizes that he is about to be cornered. Sure enough, moments later, a team lead by Guédira and Belkacem arrives and orders Benjamin to place his hands over his head. As she handcuffs Benjamin, Belkacem scoffs and tells him that he is not as good of a thief as Assane. She and Guédira lead a shellshocked Benjamin out of the maze. As they pass by the castle, Benjamin looks up to see Assane watching from one of the windows.

Although he has managed to slip away unnoticed, Assane remains deeply distressed by what he has done to his best friend. Seeking emotional support, he calls Claire under his “Alex” persona. Despite their earlier disagreement, Claire is happy to console Assane after hearing his dejected tone. In a confessional mood, Assane admits that he doesn’t understand how to be a good father. Claire replies that being a mother means frequent worry, frustration and loneliness. With some trepidation, she reveals that she has been reading a Lupin book; upon hearing this Assane becomes choked up. He and Claire agree to meet up after Raoul's basketball practice the following day.

Soon afterwards, Claire receives another phone call, this time from her colleague Catherine, who tells her that no doctor named Vernes has ever worked at the hospital. Claire weakly thanks Catherine, picks up Edith au Cou de Cygne, and begins flipping through it at a feverish pace. Moments later, she finds the line “with Lupin, as I told you, there’s no such thing as death.”

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
 * Adèle Wismes as Clémentine Vidal
 * Martha Canga Antonio as Fleur Bélanger
 * Salif Cissé as Jean-Luc Keller (1998)
 * Sandra Parfait as Manon (2021)
 * Sandya Touré Maite as Manon (1998)
 * Naky Sy Savané as Mariama Diop (2021)
 * Luc-Antoine Diquero as Dr. Martinez


 * Nicolas Berno as Ferdinand (2021)
 * Gaelle Lebert as Clothilde Sabban
 * Laurence Cormerais as Isabella
 * Jean-Louis Cassarino as Gérard
 * Antony Hickling as Max Moller
 * Win Wang as Tara Xang
 * Jérôme Quintard as bearded gardener
 * Laurent Pons as tall gardener
 * Edouard Michelon as librarian
 * Gaïa Warnant as girl with pink hair
 * Estelle Desydol as Nurse Catherine
 * Noé Wodecki as young Bruno
 * Bartholomeus as Ferdinand (1998)

Music

 * original music by Mathieu Lamboley