The Deadlier Species – As the fourth episode of Cannes Confidential begins, Camille Delmasse (Lucie Lucas) hears a rumor on the radio about Leo Duval being in town for his 30th birthday bash. A car pulls up behind her and nearly runs her off the road. Camille tries to get the vehicle’s plate. Camille goes to the prison to meet her father, Philippe (Jean-Hugues Anglade), who won’t say why he has refused to see her. Camille asks if he was blackmailed to change his plea and to protect them. She doesn’t like the fact that he is going to be sent down for crimes he didn’t commit. Camille begs him to tell her what is going on because someone tried to run her off the road.

She shows her father the cryptic note and says they’re still coming for both of them. Philippe urges her to leave it alone and possibly take a break. Before he is taken back to his cell, Camille tells him that she won’t give up. At the police station, Nina LeBlanc (Nancy Tate) tells Camille and Lea that the Duval family owns the majority of Belgian arms manufacturers and the conglomerate Gryphon. There has been a threat on his life so they want Camille and Lea to guard him. They’re going to be there and they’re going to do background checks on every guest. Camille meets Harry King (Jamie Bamber) to tell him that someone got to her father who won’t budge now.

When she tells him about the car trying to run her off the road, Harry suggests it means Boire is onto her. He wonders who Boire is working for. Harry thinks that should be a connection between the three gangsters who testified against her father. He says there is always a connection even if they haven’t found it yet. Lea catches up with them and says they can’t get enough of each other. She reminds Camille that they have to get to the Majestic. Intel suggests the hitman may be called Nightshade. Harry says he supposedly disappeared 15 years ago and they haven’t heard from him since. When Camille and Lea leave, Harry calls someone to ask them what they’ve heard about the Nightshade recently.

He goes to the Majestic with Camille and Lea. When asked about the Nightshade, he tells her that the memento is a skull-shaped pendant. Harry reminds her that it could be a woman since the female of the species is more deadly than the male. Camille goes inside. Lea tells Harry that they’ve got it covered before telling other officers to keep an eye on him. They refuse to let him inside. Once Leo Duval (Tristan Robin) arrives, Camille hears him saying he wants to use the pool. Tess Duval (Anais Weill) says they need time to get everything ready so he asks for a drink. Harry comes inside and talks to Camille. He warns her that the Nightshade has never failed to complete a contract. Harry asks a man for a favor. Camille is told by the receptionist, Francine Bernard, that they had to let her room to another guest.

The manager who Harry talked to comes over and tells Francine to find her a room right now. Francine finds a room for her and says it is complimentary. Harry takes the keycard and leads Camille to the room which is the honeymoon suite. Harry picks her up and carries her in. Camille gets mad and warns him to put her down. They check out the view from the balcony as well as the venue for Leo’s party. Camille calls Lea to tell her that Duval’s terrace is way too open. She wants to dig deeper into the Duval enterprise. Lea begins working on it. She says Leo is getting the majority of company shares when he turns 30. He will be the new CEO. Camille wonders if someone is trying to interfere. She believes Leo will be a sitting duck on the terrace.

They hear a pop when Harry opens a bottle of champagne. Lea learns that Harry is responsible for getting them a room. Camille asks her to focus and bring her the list. After the call, Harry tells Camille he knows something about her father’s case that might cheer her up. He checked into the financials of the three stooges he was talking about. On the day they testified, the same payment was made into three numbered accounts. Although they’re not identical, they’re sequential. Harry suggests the accounts were opened by the same person since they’re in order like that. They try to figure out who had it in for Leo. Camille decides to speak to Leo. She asks Leo if he has any idea who would want to kill him.

He goes through a list of people before saying all of this is an illusion to make them believe he is safe. Leo is tired of being scared. They walk out onto the terrace and Camille does not recommend holding the party out in the open. Leo says they’re holding it inside and she can join them. When she asks what happened to his leg, Leo says he ran off the road on a motorcycle when he was young. Lea calls Camille to tell her about a suspicious guest who checked in as Hillary St. John, but there is no such person. Camille decides to speak to him. She notices a necklace hanging on a horse statue. It has a skull pendant on it. Nina approaches Lea to see if she has thought about the promotion.

Lea says no. Nina hopes she doesn’t regret that. She tells Lea not to let her girl crush get in the way of a good career. When Camille runs into Harry, they see the guards check the soup before letting Leo have it. Camille shows Harry proof that Nightshade is there. She notices Hillary Saint John (Rupert Wynne-James) nearby. He escapes in the elevator before Camille can question him. She tries to run down the stairs to catch up with him. Once the elevator opens, they find Hillary with a bullet wound to the head. They begin looking for the Nightshade since they still have to be there somewhere. They run into Francine and frighten her. Camille calls Lea to tell her to come down there and to bring Ramzy.

Once they arrive, Camille tells Ramzy about the pendant and asks him to check it for prints and DNA. The gun is probably a Ruger Mark II pistol with a silencer. It is the Nightshade’s trademark. Ramzy agrees to send the bullet to ballistics. Camille chases the car that tried to run her off the road earlier. Lea wants to know what is going on. Camille promises to tell her more about it later. Lea is going to check Hillary’s dental records. Harry drinks at the bar and thinks about his daughter. Camille joins him and questions why someone would kill the old man in the elevator. Camille gets a message from her sister. She calls her a complete mess and says she can’t deal with her right now. Harry talks about how she is different than her sister. Camille gets upset and tells him not to speak about her, her sister, or Cannes.

Harry apologizes. The workers applaud Camille after she goes on a rant about Cannes. They catch up with Lea who confirms they have a positive ID on Saint John. Dental records identified him as former MI6 agent Roger Thompson. He was a writer who primarily wrote about the Nightshade. Ramzy calls to say the DNA came back and it doesn’t match anything in their files. It is a woman’s DNA though. Tess tells Leo that his guests are waiting for him. Leo admits he doesn’t want to handle all of this by himself. He wants Tess to be his co-CEO. They go outside to confront the guests. Harry gives Camille clothes and reminds her that the party has a dress code. They go to dinner where Leo begins talking about his father.

Ramzy gets the results from the prints before sending a picture of the woman to Lea. Lea calls Camille to tell her that Ramzy found a print on Saint John’s wallet. It belonged to Cleo Faucher who was previously in the military. Her other name is Francine Bernard. While Harry and Camille wrap their heads around it, Francine pulls the fire alarm. A woman retrieves a gun from the soup. Camille tries to get Leo to leave, but he says he isn’t going anywhere. Lea sees Francine so she goes after her. The woman with the gun begins shooting at Leo before Camille shoots back at her. Lea fights with Cleo in the bathroom. Camille chases the other woman who runs out of bullets.

The woman tries to escape by rappelling from the stairs. Harry comes out of the elevator in time to trip her. At the station, Cleo is interviewed. Cleo says she and her sister thought they’d pay their respects the day Leo inherited the business. A man was brutally executed and social services took his daughters. Camille believes it was an eye for an eye. Later, Harry gets a message from Alfredo saying the connection he wanted is “SUIS-YOLA”. Camille learns that Lea turned down the promotion because she loves the city too.

 

Cannes Confidential Review

Cannes Confidential has been mediocre through four episodes and this one wasn’t much different than the three before it. The story is just too thin with very little investigating going on in the episodes. This episode and the ones before it seem to be slowly pushing Harry and Camille together.

That may create more interest in future episodes. The conclusion of this episode was a bit messy because it felt rushed. There really isn’t much else to say. It was another watchable episode with many problems that viewers will have to ignore. It scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Cannes Confidential can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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