Un Village Français 3.01

Le Temps des Secrets

or A Time for Secrets

28 Sep 1941

Marcel, Suzanne and a couple of their compatriots break city hall in Essarts to steal ration tickets. They run off without the tickets, in a panic. Suzanne goes back to get them and gets caught by the police.

Kollwitz, the new German commander, tells Raymond Schwartz that he is cancelling all contracts with his sawmill. Schwartz has to scramble to recover. He talks to Jeanine, his wife. She suggests that he talk to Daniel Larcher, the mayor.

Marie Germain and her two sons move in with Henri de Kervern and Judith Morhange. Marie was recently released from prison. The quarters are very cramped but de Kervern feels as though he owes it to her for all that she did for him.

Gustave finds out, accidentally, that Lucienne is having an affair with a German soldier. This happens while he and the rest of the kids in his class are helping Jules Bériot, th principal, prepare a surprise birthday party for Lucienne. Gustave tries to cover up that he has a secret but he winds up telling Marceau Schwartz who promises him chocolate in return for sharing what he knows.

Bériot, who is in love with Lucienne, also finds out about her relationship with the German soldier. He is heart broken but he doesn't tell anyone about it, except Lucienne. 

Suzanne shows up at Marcel's house. She explains how she talked her way out getting arrested. Marcel takes her at her word but their friends do not. They think she is lying but she sticks to her story. Later she levels with Marcel and tells him the truth. The police gave her a choice, either two years in prison or work as an informant. She chose the latter.

Daniel and Hortense Larcher still aren't getting along, ever since he had Marchetti sent away. He wants to have Schwartz, Müller, and Servier over for dinner. He wants Hortense to be there but she insists that her back is bothering her and she can't have dinner with them.

Daniel has dinner with Schwartz, Müller, and Servier. Hortense joins them, unexpectedly. She seems very interested in what Müller has to say and gets him to talk about how he injured his back.

Schwartz finds out that Kollwitz will only do business with him if he buys out a concrete business whose owner is Jewish. Cremieux, the owner of the concrete business, can get more money from the Germans but offers to sell it to Schwartz in exchange for a concession. The sale is also complicated by the fact that Caberni is the man overseeing it. He is the same person who accused Schwartz of being Jewish several months before.

Thoughts

Very little is said about Marie spending time in prison. It is brushed over very quickly. This seems a bit odd.

There's a lot going on here. This is the first episode of this season so I guess that they are setting things up for what will follow. I hope most of the episodes in this season will be a little more focused than this one was. Looking ahead I can see that the rest of the episode in this season takes place in the second half of Oct 1941.