Index of Lupin – Lupin TV Series Review
It feels good to watch people solve a crime, doesn’t it? Viewers in general indeed have a huge inclination for guessing at mysteries. It is fun to watch hour-long thrillers and mysteries, but it can be seen that in the past decade people have been more inclined towards crime shows. There have been shows that have successfully produced dramas that have talented casts, often famous actors who are adept at solving a crime on the backdrop of heavy themes that almost runs for an entire season! Netflix is a platform that showcases series and moviesthat will definitely keep you holding your breath from thrill and suspense.
Lupin is Netflix’s latest crime thriller that aired on 8th January 2021 and is based on the story of Arsene Lupin by Maurice Leblanc. Currently, with 5 episodes, this show was primarily shot in Paris and in various streets of the Louvre. The series consists of 10 episodes in total and is scheduled to be released in two parts. The second part of five episodes which were already filmed by the end of 2020, is known to be released in around the middle of 2021.
Genre:Crime, Thriller, Mystery, Drama
Created and written byGeorge Kay and Francois Uzan
Directed by:Louis Leterrier and Marcela Said
Number of seasons:1
Number of episodes:5
Plot
The French mystery thriller revolves around the story of the professional thief, Assane Diop (Omar Sy). Assane is the only son of an immigrant from Senegal. Assane’s father came to France in order to provide a better future for his son. When Assane’s father is wrongly framed by his powerful and wealthy employer, Hubert Pellegrini for a theft of an expensive diamond necklace, he is sent to prison. Unable to bear the humiliation and shame, Assane’s father hangs himself in his prison cell. Assane is left an orphan. The real thrill and mystery begin after twenty-five years. Inspired from a book on gentleman thief‘Arsène Lupin’ that Assane’s father had given to him on his birthday, Assane chalks out a plan to seek revenge on Hubert Pellegrini’s family. To bring justice to his father, Assane uses his charisma, subterfuge, disguise, and mastery of thievery to expose Hubert’s crimes.
Chapter 1 : Le Collier De La Reine
Running time:47 minutes
The first episode of Lupin opens by showing the present. Assane is a janitor in an art museum. As he sweeps, he then admires the necklace of the Queen’s Necklace. He knows that it will be up for auction for millions of euros. Later it is shown that Assane meets with a person called Vincent. After Vincent threatens to kill him, Assane tells him that he would steal the Queen’s Necklace and would make millions of euros. In order to help him with the heist, he asks Vincent for a team.
The viewers are taken back to 1995, the day when Assane’s father is recruited by the wealthy Pellegrini family. We are again taken back to the present day when Assane prepares himself for the auction. Assane’s team starts the heist, while he sits at the auction. As the auction begins, the auctioneer tells about the Queen’s necklace and how the Pellegrini family owned it. After stealing the necklace when Assane is showing it, he gets attacked by one of his teammates. Assane realizes that he has been double-crossed. Although the heist team escapes in a Ferrari, they end up crashing through a glass roof.
Now comes the most thrilling part, as things are not what they seem! In a twist of events, Assane is portrayed acquiring a fake of the Queen’s Necklace. It is then shown that the heist team had stolen the fake necklace, while Assane hid the real necklace in a bin. Assane returns to the art gallery and retrieves the necklace from the bin. At the end of episode 1, Assane visits his son and gives him a book titled: Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar.
Chapter 2: L’Illusion
Running time:52 minutes
The second episode of Lupen starts with Assane being in a high-security prison. The scenes then show the events that had taken place two days earlier. When Assane examines a necklace at a jewelry store, his friend tells him that the necklace was never stolen. This could mean only one thing that the Pellegrini family had been lying. The episode again then moves back to the day in 1995, when the police arrive at Assane’s house so as to send him off to social services. Episode 2’s vivid portrayal demonstrates how Assane’s life fell apart when his father was arrested.
After Assane returns home after an encounter with Juliette, he reads his father’s old letter. It seems that there is a mistake in the part that says ‘comet’ in the sentence. After Assane shows the letter to his friend at the jewelry store, his friend suggests him to meet his father’s prison mate Ètienne Comet. Since Assane knows that Comet does not have visitors and he is sick, he hatches a plan. This is where the episode starts! Assane swaps his place with a prisoner and frees him. In the prison, Assane comes to know that Comet is in the infirmary. Assane tries to stay at the infirmary but is stopped by the doctor. He then gets by two prisoners in order to spend the night at the Infirmary. Assane then visits Comet and presses him for answers. Comet then tells Assane that his father wanted to give him a book holding all the answers. Assane then visits Comet’s room and finds the required book. He sees that it is a Lupin book. After reading through the book, Assane finds that his father had written: “I am innocent, trapped by Anne Pellegrini”. Assane again visits Comet and thanks to him for the book. Assane now plans to escape the prison. In the middle of the night, Assane is found to have hanged himself. It is never really explained what happened but in the ambulance, Assane leaves his body bag and escapes from the ambulance. Assane then goes to Anne and accuses her of framing his father. After pressing her, Anne admits that she made Assane’s father sign a confession. The flashbacks show Anne asking Assane’s father to sign the confession so as to get a reduced sentence. As the conversation goes on, Assane becomes angrier. Then Anne gives tells Assane of the police officer, Gabriel Dumont who had vowed to help him. He is the same officer who had put Assane into social services.
As the episode comes to an end, Assane lives up to the promise that he made to Comet which is to take the sadness out of his wife. Assane lives up to his promise and gives Comet’s wife a diamond. Assane starts to research Gabriel Dumont.
Chapter 3: Le Commissaire Dumont
Running time:42 minutes
As episode 3 begins, Commissioner Dumont is seen waking up and following his daily morning routine. Dumont is portrayed as a happy family man with his wife and children. In the meantime, Assane is seen to be spying on Dumont’s household with the help of dozens of cameras. Revenge can be seen in Assane’s eyes as he watches Dumont sip his coffee. It seems that Assane holds Dumont is partially responsible for his father’s death.
The episode gets very interesting at this stage as Assane goes to Dumont’s office in the disguise as an IT intern. When Dumont suddenly asks Assane for his papers, he gets frustrated. Later Assane knocks down Dumont in the corridor, takes out the sim card of his phone, and kidnaps him. Later, Dumont can be seen tied to a chair. Assane speaks to Dumont through speakers with a different masked voice. Assane then begins his interrogation by portraying several pictures in front of Dumont’s screen.
Again the viewers are taken back to 1995. Dumont can be seen meeting Hubert Pellegrini as they discuss the necklace. Dumont suggests to Hubert that Babakar (Assane’s father) is not suitable for fitting the profile of stealing the necklace. Now the scenes go back to the present. When Assane asks why Dumont framed Babakar, he gets anxious and tells that Babakar was not innocent. In the meantime, when everyone comes to know that Dumont has been kidnapped, the police try very hard to find him. Assane now shows Dumont a few pictures of criminals and says that they used to wire money to Dumont. Assane also threatens to reveal this information to Dumont’s wife. Assane gives Dumont a chance to confess Babakar’s innocence but Dumont stays silent and disagrees to accept the conspiracy. Assane then shows Dumont his deep fake and threatens to release them. At this point when Dumont still disagrees with Babakar’s innocence, Assane loses his cool and reveals he is Babakar’s son. Assane is finally seen to show his weakness in this scene. When Dumont comes to know about the real identity of his captor he says that Babakar was a good man and asks for Assane’s forgiveness. Dumont also pleads his innocence.
Episode 3 of Lupin also explores Assane’s relationship with Claire. The flashbacks show that ever since Assane’s father had died, Claire had been an important friend in his life. They had also become friends very quickly. They became friends very quickly.
Assane releases Dumont and forgives him. In the meantime, although the police find the van in which Dumont was kidnapped, it is empty. It is shown that Assane had diverted them purposefully. After Dumont returns to his home, he finds the cameras and takes them down. As viewers are taken back a few years, it is seen that Dumont is telling Hubert that according to him the evidence against Babakar was planted. However, the latter promises to uplift his career if the necklace returns and Babakar confesses. Now in the present day, Dumont is overwhelmed with guilt.
Episode 3 is Lupin’s best chapter yet as it becomes emotionally engaging and less complex. As Assane takes more risks and dives deeper in the search of truth, the scenes leave the viewers in thill!
Chapter 4: Volte-face
Running time:47 minutes
As episode 4 begins, a drone can be seen flying out from Pellegrini’s residence. After the alarm goes off, Hubert wakes up from his sleep and his security breaks down the drone and shows Hubert the device. Inside the drone is a note saying “I’ll get you”. Hubert gets frustrated, as he knows that he is being slowly exposed.
In the next series of events, Assane is seen having a conversation with Commissioner Dumont in a café. Assane asks Dumont about Hubert Pellegrini and threatens to inflict danger upon his wife if he does not provide Assane with answers! Dumont asks Assane to take the help of a journalist in the name of Fabienne Bériot. Assane then sneaks into Fabienne’s house and they have a conversation related to Hubert. Even after telling about his father’s story, Fabienne denies helping Assane as she believes that Hubert has spies everywhere. She later asks Assane to leave her alone. However, later Fabienne agrees to help Assane and takes him to an old building that used to be her office. She asks Assane to retrieve a green VHS tape from the archives as it contains information that will help bring Hubert down. After retrieving the tape, Fabienne says that the tape contains information about 1996’s Kuala attack. It was basically a terrorist attack that killed aroound 11 people. As Fabienne goes on, it is revealed that Hubert was actually a go-between and due to him the French Embassy was blown up. As the tape is played, it can be clearly seen that Hubert is the go-between and striking a deal. Fabienne says that she totally believes that Hubert had used the insurance money of the necklace so as to buy the weapons. Assane uses Twitter and posts an ultimatum against him anonymously to expose his story. Hubert asks Juliette to delete the tweet as it is false information and that he has nothing to hide.
Assane tells Fabienne about a TV spot that he will acquire so as to reveal Hubert’s true story to two million people. Assane thanks Fabienne for her help while putting on his make-up. As the tape is played it seems that it has been manipulated to make Hubertlook like a villain. After Assane leaves the stage, Juliette tells Hubert that the man in the make-up was actually Assane. Hubert’s men later go to Fabienne’s house to look for Assane. She is later found dead by Assane.
Chapter 5: Étretat
Running time:43 minutes
Episode 5 begins with the newsof Fabienne’s death. As the episode dives deeper, Assane is seen to confront an unexpected person as he goes to Étretat along with Raoul and Claire. When Assane is trapped he reaches out to Captain Laugier for help. As Raoul is later kidnapped by one of Hubert’s men, the viewers are left in a cliffhanger! Lupin is certainly one of Netflix’s best-crafted thriller mystery series! There is not a single moment in the entire show that will bore the audience! With every scene and every dialogue beautifully carried out, the amazing acting of the perfectly chosen cast will attract the viewers even more!