Chapter 4 (Lupin)

Chapter 4 is the fourth episode of the first part of the Netflix series Lupin.

Synopsis
To retrieve incriminating evidence on Hubert, Assane enlists the help of a journalist. Officer Guédira connects the dots around the Louvre heist.

Plot
Assane flies a drone into Hubert Pellegrini’ s house and photographs several papers in his study. Eventually the drone is caught by security guards, who find a note attached to it that reads “I’ll have you.” The next day, Dumont is having breakfast in a café when Assane sits down across from him. Dumont asks Assane what he wants; Assane responds that he wants to know more about Hubert. Although initially reluctant to respond, Dumont agrees once Assane promises to stop harassing him and his family. He advises Assane to contact a journalist named Fabienne Bériot, who had nearly been successful in taking down the entire Pellegrini business empire.

Assane reads about Fabienne’s work online. It turns out that after she published a book titled Dirty Money: The Pellegrini System, Hubert was able to saddle her with a record defamation lawsuit, after which her career was in tatters and she was ostracized by her fellow journalists. Currently, Fabienne lives alone with her dog J’accuse.

One day, Fabienne arrives at her house and finds Assane there waiting for her. Upon seeing Assane, Fabienne is surprised but not afraid. Assane reveals that he has read her book; she responds that “Fabienne” doesn’t exist any more, having been silenced by Hubert Pellegrini. Assane tells her that the two of them share a common enemy. Each time “Pellegrini” is mentioned, J’accuse barks; Fabienne admits that she taught him to do this upon hearing the name, but remains suspicious of Assane’s motives, initially believing him to be a spy sent by Hubert. Assane then tells her about Babakar’s arrest and subsequent death in prison, and suggests that they work together to take Hubert down once and for all.

In the police station, Laugier, Belkacem and Guédira tell Dumont that they believe his kidnapper and the culprit behind the Louvre theft to be one and the same, pointing out that Dumont was in charge of the original investigation into the necklace, and that both cases were marked by a similar unnecessary showmanship. Guédira decides, against the wishes of the other two, to bring up his Arsène Lupin idea. Dumont mocks Guédira’s theory and allows the detectives to begin taking evidence from witnesses in order to build a physical description of the Louvre thief. Afterwards, Dumont texts Hubert Pellegrini, arranging a meeting in order to discuss Babakar.

The next day, Assane is surprised to find Fabienne waiting for him in a car outside his house. She tells Assane that Hubert took her livelihood from her, and that since she has nothing left to lose, she wants to take revenge. Assane invites her into his house, where she asks him what year his father was framed for the necklace theft. Upon finding out that it was 1995, Fabienne tells Assane that Pellegrini was on the verge of being financially ruined that year, and posits that he framed Babakar to collect the insurance from the necklace and save his career. Assane tells Fabienne that he needs solid proof to be able to accuse Hubert of criminal activity.

Fabienne brings Assane to the offices of the Objecteur, the newspaper for which she worked for the entirety of her journalistic career. She tells Assane that in the archives, there is a tape which contains incriminating footage of Pellegrini. Working together, Assane and Fabienne are able to procure the evidence, and Fabienne enjoys the experience. The tape itself contains video of Hubert selling arms to Malaysian terrorists, who went on to use them to blow up the French embassy, killing eleven people. Assane remarks that in doing this, Hubert betrayed the nation of France.

Later, Hubert and Juliette are in a meeting when they receive news that an Twitter account with the handle “Salvator813” has posted a screenshot of the video, and is threatening to reveal the whole story if Hubert doesn’t confess to his role in the original necklace theft. Juliette is concerned about the contents of the tape, while Hubert insists that the whole thing is faked. Seeing that Juliette, who is in the process of creating a charitable foundation, wants good publicity, Hubert decides to arrange a press conference about the tape.

Assane arrives for a visitation with Raoul, and encounters Claire hastily leaving for a night out with a group of female friends. While the two are playing video games together, Raoul tells Assane that he enjoyed the Arsène Lupin book very much and has started reading the sequels. He also reveals that Claire is not with friends, having instead gone for a date with a doctor she has been seeing. Assane claims to be happy for her; Raoul tells him to stop pretending not to care.

With Benjamin, Assane watches Hubert give his press conference on TV. Hubert claims that the threat is little more than a rumor, and that the only reason he is giving the conference is because his daughter is launching a charitable foundation, which could be threatened by bad publicity. He challenges “Salvator” to show himself publicly and prove his allegations. Fabienne, standing amongst the members of the press covering the event, loudly asks Hubert if he believes himself to be responsible for the Malaysian terror attack. Visibly enraged, Hubert states that he has nothing further to say.

When Fabienne returns home, she finds Assane waiting for her. Assane compliments Fabienne on her performance, and she replies that it felt good to accuse Hubert Pellegrini publicly. She also informs Assane that one of Pellegrini’s men attempted to follow her, but that she successfully evaded him. Assane is less sure that she is safe, but Fabienne reassures him that due to her journalistic experience, she knows how to escape people who are tailing her. Assane reveals that his plan is to make a disguised appearance on the television show L’Autre Édition, which has two million viewers each night but which Fabienne derides as being “not journalism," although she eventually agrees to the plan and tells Assane that she wants to go with him. Assane insists that she remain in her home, believing she will be safer there. While Assane is putting on makeup in order to disguise himself for the broadcast, Fabienne tells him that he brought her back to life.

Meanwhile, four of the attempts made by the police at creating a reconstruction of Assane’s face fall through, since all of the witnesses remember him differently. Furthermore, Dumont tells Laugier, Belkacem and Guédira that none of them look like his kidnapper. Guédira presents Dumont with a final attempt, made with the assistance of Vincent, one of the loan sharks who had helped Assane break into the Louvre. Although the fifth reconstruction looks almost exactly like Assane, Dumont continues to maintain that the man depicted was not his kidnapper, and orders the detectives to stop attempting to connect the cases. As a punishment for his continued attempts to do just that, Guédira is removed from the case. However, Guédira is suspicious that Dumont is lying about not recognizing the final facial reconstruction, noting his expression when he saw if for the first time. Belkacem admits that he is probably right, but tells him that they can’t investigate the commissioner. Laugier, fed up and worried that the case may be assigned to another team, tells Guédira to drop the whole thing.

Assane, dressed as the aged, heavily bearded “Salvator,” appears on L’Autre Édition. The presenter of the show admits that he didn’t expect Salvator to be so old; Assane replies that those who fight against injustice shouldn’t be assumed to be young. Assane tells the presenter about the contents of the tape; however, when it is played, a significant amount of the footage turns out to have been wiped, with nothing incriminating remaining. Although the security guards attempt to keep him in the building, Assane successfully fights them off and leaves, removing his disguise as he returns to Fabienne’s house. Hubert, who is on the premises, orders him to be found and caught, and calls Juliette, who has been watching the broadcast and tells her she believes his innocence. Juliette also informs him that she thinks that Salvator is Assane Diop, and that he was the one she encountered at Luxembourg Gardens and who stole the necklace from the Louvre. Hubert tells Juliette that Assane believes the Pellegrinis to be responsible for Babakar’s death, and wants to ruin them.

Fabienne, disappointed by the broadcast’s failure to take down Hubert, hears a knock at the door. She opens it to find Leonard, the man who had previously attempted to follow her. Leonard orders her, on threat of death, to reveal the home address of Assane Diop. Defiantly, Fabienne tells him that a good journalist never reveals her sources. When Assane arrives at Fabienne’s home, he finds her hanging from a noose, echoing Babakar’s death 25 years earlier. For once unable to hold back his emotions, Assane breaks down in tears.

Guédira, back at the police station, sees Assane’s interview while filling out paperwork. Thinking that “Salvator” looks familiar, he compares the man on TV with the facial reconstruction that Dumont appeared to recognize, and sees that they are the same person.

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
 * Anne Benoît as Fabienne Beriot
 * Vincent Garanger as Gabriel Dumont


 * Marie Barraud as Hélène Dumont
 * Xavier Lemaître as Thibault Du Quenoy
 * Jocelyne Vignon as Aminata
 * Christian Gazio as Chauffeur Camionette
 * Charles Dupisre as Officier De La Pts
 * Azzeddine Ahmed-Chaouch as Thomas Gendre
 * Jean-Pierre Cormarie as Agent Securite Pellegrini
 * Abel Jafri as Vigile Accuiel Journal
 * Kevin Poncet as Journaliste TV
 * Olivier Ho Hio Hen as Homme Malaisien Pellegrini
 * Etan Simon as Raoul
 * Louis Leterrier as Réalisation Du Pilote

Music

 * "Tech in Motion" by Charles Breteville, David Bagatelle, Jean Villa
 * "Meaning" (Choral Version) by Cascadeur

Trivia

 * Chapter 4 is the only episode so far that does not contain any flashbacks.