Chapter 5 (Lupin)

Chapter 5 is the fifth and last episode of the first part of the Netflix series Lupin.

Synopsis
En route to Étretat with Claire and Raoul, Assane encounters an unwelcome figure. In a bind, Assane sends a message to Capt. Laugier.

2006
Eleven years after Babakar’s death, Assane has become a skilled petty thief, able to use his charisma and charm to land himself in others’ good graces before swindling them. One day, he impersonates a police officer in order to enter the apartments of a wealthy older woman, telling her that burglars in the area will want her belongings and that she should simply give the most valuable ones to him for safekeeping. The woman obliges, handing over several statues that her husband had acquired in the former Belgian Congo, and telling Assane that he is a gentleman.

Later, Assane has drinks in an expensive bar with Benjamin, who tells him that he has found a good spot in the flea market for his antique shop. To celebrate, Assane gives Benjamin some of the items he has stolen, including a Fabergé egg, to sell. The two notice Juliette Pellegrini enter the bar, and Assane excuses himself briefly.

Assane meets Juliette, with whom he has been having an affair, in the bathroom. However, he tells her that he wants to end their relationship, as he is hoping to commit fully to Claire. Upset, Juliette tells Assane that she will not keep waiting for him. Assane says that she can stop waiting, as he loves Claire.

Claire, meanwhile, is in an appointment with a psychologist, in evident distress about Assane. She tells the psychologist that she barely knows what he does when he isn't with her, and discusses the unstable state of their relationship, revealing that it often seems to be going very well until Assane nearly ruins it. Claire says that she is not sure if is in love with Assane, but that they have been through so much together and that he is her best friend. She resolves to determine once and for all whether or not Assane really cares about her.

That night, while Assane and Claire have dinner in an expensive restaurant, an argument erupts almost immediately as Claire had been hoping for a quieter spot. Noticing that she looks anxious, Assane asks her what the matter is, and Claire reveals that she is pregnant. To her shock and delight, Assane is overjoyed by the news, and begins announcing it to everybody in the building. While celebrating, Assane sees that the old woman he had stolen items from earlier that day is in the restaurant, and hastily exits with Claire in tow. While they walk home, Claire reveals that the baby is due on December 11. Assane is stunned, as this is the birthday of Maurice Leblanc, the creator of Arsène Lupin. After all of his Lupin-themed proposals for the baby's name fail to impress Claire, Assane tells her that he will do everything in his power to protect their child, and makes one final suggestion: "Raoul."

Present day
The news breaks that Fabienne has been found dead in her apartment. Assane, back in his own home with Fabienne’s dog J’accuse, tells Benjamin that her death was his fault. Benjamin becomes concerned that Assane is in over his head, and responds that he doesn’t want to be the one to find Assane dead. Assane asks him indignantly whether he can simply let Hubert Pellegrini win. Benjamin reminds Assane that he has an ex-partner and child who both care about him deeply, and that he had a surprise planned for Raoul. Assane tells Benjamin that he is not in the mood for celebration, but Benjamin reminds him that this will mean that in effect, Pellegrini has beaten him.

Guédira, meanwhile, has been discreetly using his punishment of filling out paperwork to further investigate the connections between the Lupin stories and the various crimes he believes to have been committed by the same man. On the morning of December 11, he gets a phone notification that it is Maurice Leblanc’s birthday, and that a celebratory festival will be held in the seaside town of Étretat, Normandy, where Leblanc had lived. On a hunch, he decides to skip work, texting Belkacem to tell her that he is sick.

Assane, on the way to Claire and Raoul’s apartment, realizes he is being followed by Leonard, who unbeknownst to him had staged Fabienne’s death to look like a suicide. A chase ensues, with Assane managing to escape by running up the various levels of a parking garage and roof-hopping away. When he gets to the apartment, Assane gives Raoul a Lupin-style top hat and cape as a present. Claire disapproves of the gift, and Raoul tells Assane that he isn’t sure he likes it. Assane tells Raoul that he will love it. Claire wishes the two well on their outing, but Assane tells Claire that he has a ticket for her too. Claire laments that Assane never tells her about anything up front, but ultimately agrees to join them.

Soon, Assane, Claire and Raoul are on board a train going to Le Havre, near the Arsène Lupin festival in Étretat, where Assane plans to take them. On the train, Assane and Claire playfully banter about the Lupin stories, parts of which Claire has memorized from the early days of their relationship. Raoul says that the two of them are crazy; Assane replies that they are crazy but connected, and he and Claire smile at one another. Later, Assane asks Claire about her new boyfriend, but Claire tells him it is none of his business. Raoul reveals that the relationship is not progressing quickly; Claire is mildly embarrassed.

Claire, Assane and Raoul take a selfie to commemorate the trip and Raoul's birthday. Upon inspecting the image, Assane is shocked to see Leonard in the background. Leonard, meanwhile, gets a phone call from Hubert Pellegrini; he tells Hubert that he has managed to track Assane down but that he is with his wife and son. Hubert tells Leonard to get rid of Assane for good, but to leave Claire and Raoul alone.

To create a diversion, Assane takes a marble cake out of his bag and begins loudly singing “Happy Birthday” to Raoul; Claire and the other passenges sing along. While the song is being sung, Assane stares at Leonard to inform him that he is aware of his presence. Shortly afterwards, Assane tells Claire that he is going to get drinks from another part of the train. As he moves through the carriages, Leonard gets up and follows him.

Assane tries to evade Leonard through skilled navigation of several obstacles, and by the time Leonard arrives at the end of the line of cars, Assane is nowhere to be seen. Aware that he must still be on the train, Leonard checks inside one of the storage rooms, and Assane, who has been lying in wait, immediately jumps on him. The two begin to fight, which ends with Assane locking Leonard in the storage room and then leaving the scene. When he returns to his seat, Claire, noticing that Assane appears to have exerted himself, asks him what happened. Assane claims that he got into a fight with another Arsène Lupin fan over what the best story is. Raoul thinks that this is ridiculous; Claire is more concerned, correctly believing that Assane is lying.

As the train nears Le Havre, Leonard manages to escape the storage closet and sits down with Claire and Raoul while Assane is standing up to get their things. Leonard remarks that they are also going to Étretat and asks Raoul if he is a fan of Lupin; Raoul replies that he is. Claire, apprehensive of Leonard, asks Assane if the two know each other. Assane says that they don’t, but Leonard claims that they do. In a last attempt to fend Leonard off, Assane texts Laugier, claiming that Paul Sernine is on the train wearing a beige coat (which Leonard is actually wearing). Laugier immediately calls the Le Havre police and tells them to meet the train at the station.

The train pulls into the station and Assane tells Claire and Raoul to go ahead of him, assuring them that he will catch up after dealing with Leonard. Claire is worried for Assane but along with Raoul does as he advises. Leonard, who is carrying a gun, tells Assane that the two of them are going to get off the train quietly. As the two disembark, a group of police officers arrives and arrests Leonard after finding the gun and one of Marie-Antoinette’s diamonds concealed on his person, the latter having been discreetly slipped into his pocket by Assane.

After arriving in Étretat from Le Havre, Assane, Claire and Raoul walk through the town promenade. Raoul is wearing the cape and top hat Assane got him, remarking that the outfit would look stupid anywhere else but is cool at an Arsène Lupin festival, where everybody else is dressed in a similar manner. Claire asks Assane and Raoul what happens to Lupin at the end of the books; Raoul says that nobody knows, since he never got caught. Claire tells them that this proves that the books are fictional, since anybody doing what Lupin does would get caught immediately. Raoul says he is going to walk along the beach to explore the Hollow Needle, a rock formation that features in an Arsène Lupin story. Claire warns him not to go too far away.

Images of Leonard taken by the Le Havre police are sent to Laugier and Belkacem. Belkacem notes that the man in the photographs is not the man whose face they have reconstructed, but Laugier wants him questioned anyway since he had one of the diamonds. While they are leaving for Le Havre, they run into Dumont, who asks where they are going. When they tell him, Dumont reveals that Leonard has already been released by the Le Havre police, as he had a license to carry the gun and a solid alibi for the time of the Louvre break-in. Dumont orders Laugier and Belkacem to examine the train footage in order to see who could have planted the diamond on him. Irritated by the entire fiasco, Laugier grumbles that Guédira should be doing this.

Assane and Claire walk together through Étretat. Claire asks Assane who the man on the train was, as she knew the situation had been odd. Assane evades the question, telling Claire that he is sorting something out that impacts both him and Raoul, and concerns his father. Hurt by his unwillingness to talk, Claire indignantly asks what Assane’s father, of whom she knows very little, has to do with anything. Assane tells her that when he finishes everything, he will stop keeping secrets. He admits that he has said this many times before, but claims that this time it is true. Claire tells Assane that she is tired of pleading with him for information, and that she needs more from him in their relationship. Assane asks Claire to give him one last chance, telling her that all that matters is her and Raoul.

Suddenly, Claire realizes that she cannot see Raoul anywhere on the beach. Becoming worried, both Claire and Assane begin looking for him. Assane finds that it is difficult to tell the people in the town apart as so many have the same Lupin-style cape and hat that Raoul was wearing. Claire, meanwhile, frantically asks tourists whether they have seen her son, but runs into the same difficulties as Assane. Raoul himself has been abducted by Leonard, who stuffs him into the back seat of a car and drives off. As Claire continues her desperate seach on the beach, Assane hears somebody behind him call for “Lupin”; turning around, he finds himself face to face with Guédira.

Cast

 * Omar Sy as Assane Diop
 * Ludivine Sagnier as Claire
 * Clotilde Hesme as Juliette Pellegrini
 * Hervé Pierre as Hubert Pellegrini
 * Antoine Gouy as Benjamin Ferel
 * Soufiane Guerrab as Youssef Guedira
 * Vincent Londez as Capitaine Romain Laugier
 * Shirine Boutella as Lt. Sofia Belkacem
 * Adama Niane as	Leonard
 * Vincent Garanger as Gabriel Dumont


 * Valérie de Dietrich as Tania Fabre
 * Bérangère Dautun as Agatha Van Der Meulen
 * Pierre Rousselet as Policier 2006 1
 * Caroline Borderieux as Policier 2006 2
 * Cédric Meusburger as Controleur Train
 * David Forgit as Policier Le Havre 1
 * Vincent Furic as Policier Le Havre 2
 * Etan Simon as Raoul
 * Louis Leterrier as Réalisation Du Pilote

Music

 * "Diamants" by Mathieu Lamboley
 * "In Stride" by Christopher Bentley Kemp, Marc Aaron Jacobs
 * "Etretat" by Mathieu Lamboley
 * "Last Call" by Marvin Bounds Gordy III, William Brendle
 * "Four A.M" by Anthony King
 * "Hood Bits" by Le Fat Club, Josselin Bordat

Trivia

 * Although the train announcement suggests that connections are available from Le Havre to Étretat, this service has been discontinued in real life.