Duel – As this episode of The Madame Blanc Mysteries begins, a woman runs by a campaign poster for Stephanie La Marie. Gloria (Sue Vincent) lets Douglas outside. She finds a man with a fencing sword in his chest. Dom Hayes (Steve Edge) takes Jean White (Sally Lindsay) to check on Gloria. She introduces them to the woman who found him. Dom offers the woman a ride, but she’d rather walk to clear her head. Jean asks Richard (Jacqueline Berces) to make sure the woman is okay. Caron (Alex Gaumond) shows Jean the fencing foil found in the man’s hand. Jean says it’s an epee de combat circa 19th century. It’s solid silver. Caron says a matching one was sticking out of the man’s chest.

The end has been sharpened. Jean is shown the Cartier jewelry the man was wearing. Jean decides to go back to the station with Caron so she can look at the other sword. Jeremy (Robin Askwith) and Judith (Sue Holderness) tell Dom they got a cryptic message from Celine last night saying they couldn’t go on. Dom asks about Niall and Celine. Their finances got worse so they had to do a midnight flight back to Ireland. They were so short of money a couple of years ago that Jeremy and Judith bought La Couronne from them. They kept it quite because Niall didn’t want to bring shame on his mother. Jeremy wants Dom’s help because La Couronne is the beating heart of the community. They also have an important reception for the new mayor.

Dom agrees to help. At the station, Caron and Jean learn that the victim is Georges Allaire who was a bit of a gangster in his younger days. In the 70s, he ran a notorious street gang in Paris. Jean says the cufflink could be worth 10 or 15,000 euros  if it is Cartier. She tells Caron why it is so expensive. Jean admits it could be a motive for murder. Cartier always issues a certificate of authentication. Outside, Jean runs into Dom who tells her about Niall and Celine. They head to the shop so Dom can get something to eat. Once they go inside, Jean speaks to Charlie (Sanchia McCormack) who is learning how to be northern. Charlie and Dom finally find something they have in common. Jean returns and asks Charlie about the cufflink.

They agree there is something not right about it. Simone (Djinda Kane) becomes excited and immediately wants to know where the picture was taken. She says she made it a few years ago. Simone eventually says she made it for John Marsden. She tells Jean he is one of the most dangerous men in France, but she gives Jean his address anyway. Jean tries to force Dom to go with her. Jeremy and Judith speak to Gloria about the pub. They ask if they can use her van to pick up some supplies. Gloria reminds them she used to work as a barmaid so she agrees to help them. When Dom and Jean visit the gangster’s house, they’re confronted by a man with a handgun. Gloria goes with Judith and Jeremy to pick up supplies.

Dom tells the guard that they want to speak to John Marsden. Eventually, John (Stephen Bailey) comes in and warns them they’ll die if they don’t tell who sent them. Dom quickly says it was Simone. John says he loves Simone and she is no harm. He asks his guards to put their guns down. John and Jean kick it off before he asks what she wants. He tells Jean he likes to collect historic artifacts. John confirms the cufflinks are his. He repeats the same story Simone told. Jean asks him about Georges Allaire. John says the old cretin worked for him for years until he sacked him. He suspects Georges took a souvenir with him. If John had something to do with his death, he promises Jean would never know.

He allows them to leave. Caron scolds Jean when he finds out what she did. Then, they learn that the swords were on loan to the San Victoire Museum. They were stolen in transit on their way back to Paris months ago. Georges and his accomplice David Monroe were recognized by the driver in police photographs. When Georges played his little old man routine, the driver lost confidence and refused to commit to a positive identification. Caron makes Jean and Dom promise to never put him in that position again. He asks Jean to come to the museum with him. Gloria wants Dom to meet her at La Couronne. Once he meets her, Gloria tells him that Jeremy and Judith are driving her mad. Dom learns why she is behind the bar.

He ends up getting stuck helping too. At the museum, Jean tells Caron about a mixing bowl her gran gave her. Caron says every possession in their home retains a memory ever since he lost his wife. He admits those possessions sometimes offer comfort but not always. Jean thinks he should have a clear-out. She offers to help if he needs a hand. Then, they receive an inventory of everything stolen from the van. Yasmine tells them you’d need a pass to reach the loading bay. In the car, Jean and Caron look through the inventory. Jean remembers what John said about collecting old items. She believes the theodolite stolen was in John’s home so Allaire did the museum job for him. Caron wants to bring him in for questioning, but he thinks Jean should lay low so John doesn’t know.

She goes to the pub and learns what is going on. Jean agrees to help them too. Caron and Richard go to John’s house. Caron asks John to come down to the station. John questions whether his unpredictability does his head in. He asks for his solicitor to meet him at the station. Judith tries to get Dom and the others to stay for a bit. The mayor comes in moments later. Gloria and Jean see the woman who found the body. When they approach her, the woman introduces herself as Nadine Briseois (Maelle Genet). Dom messages Jean to ask her to escape with him. At the station, John refuses to answer questions. He eventually tells his solicitor to shut up so he can go home. John admits to knowing Georges. Caron asks him about the museum job.

He alleges John found out that Georges stole from him so he killed him with the stolen swords. John says he was in another country at the time of the murder. Jean tells Dom that John was out of the country when Georges was killed. Dom doesn’t feel right about telling on Simone. He wants a whiskey because he is really tired. Gloria tells Jean that Nadine knows Claire who works at the council. Jean tells Andrea she is looking at the whiskeys. She notices the Mystic Isle Whiskey. Jean tells Dom they have to follow Nadine. They come up with a plan to follow her when she leaves. Nadine speaks to Dom before leaving. He texts Jean to let her know. Jeremy tries to stop Dom who is in a hurry to leave.

He rushes out to catch up with Jean. In the car, Jean tells Dom she thinks Nadine is the murderer. They look through her window and see the cufflink inside as well as a picture of two people fencing. Dom is tasked with ringing the doorbell and running so Jean can sneak inside. Jean manages to get a picture of the evidence before escaping and returning to the car. She calls Caron to tell him. Nadine is questioned about the cufflink at the station. She claims she found it down the road from the murder. Richard tells Caron and Jean something. Jean says she thinks Nadine might’ve gotten away with it if Gloria hadn’t been at the scene. She says it was the lanyard that gave her away. They have evidence that she entered the museum that day. She was caught on CCTV camera taking the epees hours before the van left.

Caron asks Nadine why she’d kill them. Jean mentions a duel involving Georges Allaire and Renee Briseois. Allaire was the clear winner. No one ever saw Renee Briseois again after the duel. Jean suspects Renee was her father. Nadine admits her father just left despite her mom and dad being so in love. She was confused about him when she was younger. Nadine found her father 18 months ago, but he didn’t have long to live. Allaire told him he had to leave town or he’d kill Nadine and her mother. Nadine was determined to avenge her father. Jean knows she is an expert fencer. Nadine has been preparing all her life. She tells them about the duel and killing Georges. Nadine took the cufflink to put it next to her father’s picture and show her dad it was over.

She admits to murdering Georges Allaire. Jean questions why she went back to the scene of the crime. Nadine explains she was missing her locket which was the last thing her father ever gave her. She found it in Georges’s hands. Nadine is locked in a cell. John gets the cufflinks back. Caron contemplates messaging Jean. Judith thanks Gloria for today. Jean gets a message from Caron asking if she can help him clear some stuff out. She agrees and asks Dom who is sleeping.

 

The Madame Blanc Mysteries Review

This episode of The Madame Blanc Mysteries was okay although it had a handful of eye-rolling moments. In fact, viewers will have to accept things for what they are to truly enjoy what is being offered here. Otherwise, it’d be too easy to overanalyze everything and find that the show is too farfetched.

There are other issues to worry about here too. For instance, Jean can be a bit unlikable at times. She is consistently interjecting herself into criminal investigations and telling police officers what to do. In this episode, she was bossing Richard around at one point. That can be a little off-putting. Also, Jean is often getting herself and Dom in dangerous situations just by being stupid. The investigation was a little dry in this episode and never really got exciting although the twist was interesting.

This is pretty formulaic like so many other British dramas. There are so many shows like this that it’d be very easy for Madame Blanc Mysteries to get lost among the competition. The episode was okay at times, but there isn’t enough substance here to make it stand out. It scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Madame Blanc Mysteries can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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