We’re already on season 5 of this entertaining and popular French TV series featuring Astrid (Sara Mortensen) and her police commander sidekick, Raphaëlle (Lola Dewaere – who, incidentally, cropped up in another WP show, ‘Mademoiselle Holmes‘, recently). And it’s pretty much “as you were” as the crime-fighting duo continue their investigations into the more unusual Parisian murders.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this article now.
As an aside, many of you will have seen ‘Patience', also on Channel 4, which is an English (set in York) version of Astrid featuring the excellent Ella Maisy Purvis as the titular character, Laura Fraser as DI Metcalf in Season 1 and Jessica Hynes as DI Monroe in Season 2. And whilst there are obviously parallels between Astrid and Patience, each actor puts her own stamp on their respective characters, meaning that Astrid and Patience actually quite different individuals – despite the physical similarities and the fact that they’re both coping with their autism.
Season 5 of Astrid begins with a two-episode opening storyline around the killing of a seemingly anonymous woman innocently eating her lunch in a park. She has been killed by snake venom administered via a dart to her neck shot from a long-distance firearm, and Astrid recognises the modus operandi as being that of a famed hitman who had been quiet for six years.
Further investigations reveal that the victim is not whom they believed her to be and they suspect that she might be part of a wider witness protection programme, which might explain why she was targeted. Therefore, Raphaëlle and her team have to partner with the Organised Crime team to get to the bottom of the case.
But when Raphaëlle herself comes under fire, and both her and Astrid are forced into a van, things take a more personal turn.
Meanwhile, Astrid is struggling with self-doubt brought about by uncertainty over the future of her relationship with Raphaëlle. She craves consistency and stability, so when she learns news that threatens the status quo, it affects her ability to solve the puzzles and riddles that make her so invaluable to the team.
Chances are if you are going to be watching the latest season of ‘Astrid', you will already be au-fait with the characters from the previous seasons – and this is more of the same. Similar to shows like ‘Professor T', this is like watching an audio-visual version of Sudoku or Wordle – puzzles that, hopefully, lead to a satisfying conclusion.
Mortensen and Dewaere are both exceptional in their roles – the curious little mannerisms that Astrid displays, like the constant twitching of the fingers on her left hand, like she’s playing an invisible musical instrument, are beautifully observed. The storylines are engaging and the scripts nicely crafted.
All in all, this is hugely entertaining viewing. Long may ‘Astrid' continue.
Walter Presents: ‘Astrid: Murder in Paris' Season 5 launched on More4 in January and streams weekly on C4 Streaming.
