Lupin: Move Aside Herlock Sholmes

(Before I begin this review, no, that is not a typo in the title, it is referring to the second collection of Lupin stories that is genuinely--and hilariously--called Arsene Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes). 

When Part 1 of Lupin premiered on Netflix in January, I didn't pay any attention. What did I care about a French detective show that was inspired by the Arsene Lupin detective stories written by Maurice Leblanc in the early 1900s? But then I started noticing a lot of great buzz about this show--Twitter had come alive and was raving about it--so apparently it was time to take notice. My friend Peggy and I decided to watch "together" (she is in California, so it was a Zoom watch situation) and I immediately regretted suggesting this activity for a weeknight. Because of course we couldn't stop with one episode. We ended up watching three the first night and then polishing off the final two the next night, at which point we yelled "why are there only five episodes, WHEN IS PART 2!"

Well Part 2 just dropped this month and Peggy and I cued it up over another two-night binge. And by the end, we were just as delighted by the whole thing as we were back in January, with the added bonus that Part 2 wrapped up all the storylines a bit more neatly so we weren't left with a giant cliffhanger for six months.

If you're one of the few souls on this planet who have yet to experience this phenomenon, here's a quick primer. The show follows Assane Diop (played by the magnetic Omar Sy, who the French already loved and now the whole world wants to play James Bond), a French-Senegalese immigrant who is determined to avenge the death of his father, who was framed for a robbery by the wealthy Pellegrini family 25 years ago. Assane takes his inspiration from the Arsene Lupin books, following the twisty plots, disguises, and schemes concocted by that "gentleman burglar" to plot his own takedown of the Pellegrinis and ensure that justice is finally done. What follows are numerous escapades where Assane is the puppet master and we as the audience just have to blindly follow along and marvel as we go back and forth in time to understand how he pulls off each complex heist.

The other characters in this show include Assane's best friend Ben (Antoine Guoy), his ex-girlfriend Claire (Ludivine Sagnier), and their son Raoul (Etan Simon). And we have the hapless police detectives on the other side who are trying to figure out who the hell is responsible for this crime spree across Paris. Of these detectives, only Youssef Guedira (Soufiane Guerrab) is close to cracking the case because he is a massive Arsene Lupin fan and starts to piece together that the criminal he's chasing is a fellow Lupin lover. Of course, his colleagues deride his fanciful theory, much to their detriment.

Lupin only consists of ten episodes (so far) so I won't go any further. Suffice to say, you need to set aside a weekend and indulge in an epic bingewatch of this glorious show. It's shot beautifully and will make you pine for a trip to Paris, and is scripted so elegantly that you will have multiple "omg" moments as yet another twist is revealed. Assane is constantly playing the long game and your feeble mind will have to catch up to his machinations, but it is such a puzzly and splendid journey.