Commissioner Pierre Niemans and Camille Delaunay (once more played by Olivier Marchal and Erika Sainteare) back for a fourth instalment of this rural French thriller with its peculiar characters and super-gory crimes, many of which that wouldn’t be out of place in a ‘Halloween’ or ‘Friday the 13th‘ movie.
If you want to avoid spoilers, stop reading now.
This particular storyline centres around the somewhat harrowing killing of a group of children after their school bus is sabotaged. It’s a particularly difficult opening scene, as we watch the poor bus driver – who is tricked out of the vehicle – having to watch as the kids are subjected to an abhorrent demise.
The bus driver, Jacques, doesn’t come out unscathed either, but in the aftermath, it’s he that the villagers – a motley crew of misfits – blame for the death of the children, mainly because of his history of drunkenness (although he was stone-cold sober at the time of the attack).
However, evidence begins to point to a more ritualistic motive as symbols are left nearby, pointing to a cult with foreign origins. And when villagers learn that a refugee – recently released from prison – is believed to be living in caves in the nearby woods, they form a vigilante pack baying for his blood.
The lone local policeman, Michaël, assigned to assist them struggles to cope with the outpouring of anger from the community and is woefully out of his depth when it comes to handing their violent intentions.
Inevitably, the vigilante gang get their way and end up searching the forest for their prey; and when a further violent death occurs, Niemans and Delaunay realise they’re racing against time to prevent further violence.
The show has become very popular in its native France (where it’s known as Les rivières pourpres). Its origins can be traced back to the 2000 cinema release of the same name (starring Jean Reno) which was loosely based on the ‘Red Blood Rivers’ novel by Jean-Christophe Grangé, who is also credited as the creator and writer of the subsequent TV adaptation.
We get eight episodes in this season, split into four two-parters, making a palatable show to dip into, without having to commit to a full season.
Marchal and Sainteare are both excellent in the lead roles, and their slightly odd-couple relationship is now – after four seasons – nicely bedded in. The plotlines are somewhat prosperous, but to be honest, that doesn’t really matter too much – it’s a fun ride, and that’s the main thing, that leaves you guessing until the end.
Safe to say, if you’ve seen the previous seasons, this will be a no-brainer and you’ll definitely want to ride ‘The Crimson Rivers’ one more time; but even if this is a new show for you, the characters are engaging enough to make it worth checking out.
Walter Presents: ‘The Crimson Rivers’ will be available as a full boxset on All 4 from 17th March 2023.
