‘The Wall' (‘La Faille in French') is a French-Canadian series set in the beautiful countryside of rural Quebec. This is the third series (released in 2022) and sees the main character – Detective Sergeant Céline Trudeau (Isabel Richer) – return to her hometown of Applegrove to stay with her elderly uncle Léopold in his remote cottage.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading now.
However, on the first night things turn sinister when her uncle is startled by an intruder. They subsequently discover that someone has beheaded a chicken in the stables, and left an unearthed human skeleton in the grounds of the property, the identity of which is soon to be revealed of that of her grandmother, who left the house one day many years ago and never returned. The skeleton appears to have been dug up from an area next to her uncle’s property, owned by some suspicious looking monks at the abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac.
Céline calls upon her sidekick (and, I believe, one-time lover), Alexandre Théberge (Alexandre Landry) to come and investigate, alongside local police cop, Johnny Léger (Didier Lucien). Céline and Johnny have history, after the death of her cousin and best friend, Véronique – Léopold’s daughter – some years previously. Indeed, mistrust and suspicion pepper this show, with inter-family feuds being at the heart of the mystery.
There are a lot of hard stares and glaring looks between characters which are to do with the long-standing rivalry between two families, the Morencys and Jolicoeurs, although how this rivalry fits into the discovery of the dug-up corpse of Céline’s grandmother and a headless chicken isn’t entirely clear after one episode. But Céline’s return to the village, and the arrival of Alex to investigate, has clearly ruffled feathers – not just those of the dead chicken.
The Quebec countryside looks fabulous on-screen, and there are some artistic drone shots of the glorious autumnal colours of the landscape. And the performances by the cast are all very competent and enjoyable. The script seems a little laboured and lacking at times; it comes across as one of those afternoon made-for-TV murder mysteries you see listed in the TV guides. But the storyline is engaging, and I’m intrigued to see how it develops over the eight episodes.
It is, however, very dreary at times. The characters mooch about looking miserable and staring daggers at each other. There’s no levity whatsoever, and poor Céline barely cracks a smile throughout. It can be hard going in that regard.
But if you enjoy intriguing murder mysteries and aren’t put off by the moroseness of the characterization, then give this a go.
Walter Presents: ‘The Wall – The Orchard' Season 3 is available on C4 Streaming, with new episodes weekly until 21st November 2025.
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