ALEXANDRE VARGA
Fast upon the heels of the late January streaming release of “Cassandre: Season 5” (review), here are another quartet of light crime dramas from French TV for our eponymous homicide cop and her squad to solve in 90 minutes, apiece, comprising Season 6.
Most of what I’ve written before still applies to cast and tone. This season might tip the scales somewhat more towards individual character arcs in proportion to the crimes du jour. The romance between Cassandre’s (Gwendoline Hamon) son Jules (Luca Malinowski) and Pascal’s (Alexandre Varga) newly-discovered daughter, Lili (Fanny Ami), becomes a source of drama, along with the lighter sidebar of Pascal’s struggle to figure out how to be a good papa on such short notice to a strong-willed adult. And, of course, the will-they/won’t-they tease between the two stars continues, prolonged mostly by Cassandre’s waffling, and some bits of bad timing.
The other two members of the squad – Nicky (Jessy Salomee Ugolin) and Jean-Paul (Dominique Pinon) also have bigger developments in their off-duty lives. Pinon gets some particularly poignant moments in a couple of episodes, and nails them like the old pro that he is. Even the new prosecutor (Soren Prevost) who oversees their efforts with the genre-standard dose of fussiness shows some other sides to his mean-boss persona.
Major Kerouac (Emmanuelle Bougerol) who holds down the fort at the station also proves she may become as valuable in support as her predecessor. (Digression – I’ve been wondering why a major is subordinate to the captains and lieutenants of the detective squad. In French police hierarchy, a major is the highest ranking non-com, running the admin side – akin to a master sergeant in our army. It’s a separate chain of command from the officers of the detective side.)
As to the murders, the first opens with a burned sailboat drifting along the coastline with the charred remains of a young woman, and the guy who should have been at the helm missing. The second swirls around the death of a jerk who sabotaged a local organic farm by secretly using pesticides that cost them their prized designation and most of their business. The third involves the latest star triathlete from a family of triathlete stars of both genders who is found strangled on his running path. This one goes particularly heavy on clashes and resentments among the rest of his relatives, with more emotional complexity than usual. Series co-creator Bruno Lecigne and two other credited writers, Thomas Griffet and Jean-Marc Taba, deserve special mention for this script. The last begins with a young woman coming home to find both parents fatally shot, with plenty of possibilities to explore as to which of them may have been the primary target, and for what reason(s).
As always, individual cases are closed and personal story arcs progress, leading to Season 7, which seems likely to also follow in short order. That and Season 8 already aired abroad, with #9 having just begun its first run. I’m in for the duration, and think most of you who watch it will feel the same.
“Cassandre: Season Six”, in French with subtitles, streams on MHz Choice on March 3, 2026.
2 1/2 stars out of 4