Un Village Français 2.01

La Loterie

or The Lottery

De Kervern celebrates with Alfred, a friend. They recently bought a winning lottery ticket. They won 150,000 francs. Alfred goes upstairs with one of the prostitutes who works in the brothel where they were celebrating. Minutes later Alfred is dead. The prostitute doesn't know where Alfred's wallet is. De Kervern takes her in for questioning.

Daniel Larcher goes to see Marcel, his brother, in prison. He brings him a picture that Gustave drew for him. He tries to get Marcel to sign a paper promising to give up his political activities but Marcel refuses. Daniel starts to suspect that there is something going on between Hortense, his wife, and Jean Machetti, the policeman. He questions her about it but she insists that it is just his imagination. Daniel finds Marchetti a place to stay and makes it clear that he wants him to move out as soon as possible.

Lucienne gets some help from a friendly your German soldier. He helps her to get her violin from Villeneuve to the repair shop in Besançon. He is part of a violin quartet, all German soldiers, who are planning to perform a special concert for von Ritter, the German commander, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of Mozart.

The prostitute eventually talks and tells De Kervern that Alfred had documents he was going to pass to someone in the Resistance. She was protecting Alfred. He lets her go and she returns the wallet to De Kervern. She burned everything that was in it, except for a picture. She also kept a piece of paper which has a coded message explaining where and whom Alfred was to pass the picture to in Besançon.

Marchetti has Suzanne, the woman with whom Marcel was working to distribute leaflets in the previous season, arrested after Gustave unintentionally gives her away.

De Kervern decides he must take Alfred's place. He sneaks his way into Besançon. He doesn't seem to know who it is that he is supposed to meet. He winds up in a café after some shooting breaks out. He sits down at the first table he finds. Marie Germain is sitting at the table. She helps him to make up a story when a German police officer walks in and starts asking questions. 

Thoughts

This episode seems to introduce the notion of the Resistance to the show. De Kervern seems to be getting involved although he has yet to make any contacts. I wondered if Luciene was already involved with the Reistance when she was trying to get her violin across the border to get it fixed. I wonder if she will get recruited by the Resistance?

This is a good, but not great, episode. I can see it laying the groundwork for things that will probably be happening down the road.