Un Village Français 6.04

Sur le quai

or On the Platform

Anselme, Raymond, and the others find the bodies still hanging in the schoolyard, including Marie's. Antoine goes to take her down but Anselme insists that it's his fault that it came to this and that he should not be the one to do it. Raymond takes Marie's body for burial even though Anselme insists that he shouldn't. Before the are done taking the bodies down they receive word that it was Marchetti who hanged Marie.

Heinrich and Hortense try to get through a German checkpoint but someone spots them. They are pulled aside. Heinrich is made to dig a grave for the two of them. They are about to get executed when some Americans show up and kill the German soldiers. Heinrich, speaking in English, claims that he is with the anti-fascist underground.

Daniel returns home and finds Gustave and another guy looting his home. Daniel tries to get Gustave to stop or at least talk to him but Gustave isn't interested in listening to his uncle. He says that Daniel has things to answer for.

Heinrich and Hortense are taken to an American military camp. Heinrich sticks to his story that he's with the anti-fascist underground but once the Americans see his blood type tattoo they know he is lying and take him away from Hortense.

Anselme and the others are still at the school, arguing amongst themselves, when a retreating unit of German soldiers attacks. A few members of the Resistance are killed. The other escape and regroup elsewhere.

Lucienne returns to town with her father and her daughter. She makes an attempt to resume her life in the apartment in the schoolhouse until the retreating unit of German soldiers shows up. They force Lucienne, who self-identifies as the wife of the principal who isn't there, to take charge of caring for the German wounded.

Marchetti makes his way to the train station where the Germans and the militia are waiting for a ride east to Belfort. The Germans have 15 Jewish prisoners, two of them are Rita and her son, Marchetti's son. He get near them but cannot. The episode ends with Schneider, the German commander, revealing that there will be no train. He offers to give the militia a few vehicles to help them escape but only if they first execute the Jewish prisoners.

Thoughts

The dates for these episodes seem a bit muddled. It feels like they are rolling the dates forward one day per episode but it doesn't always feel like that many days have passed.

Lucienne is back but there is still no sign of Jules or Jeanine. Lucienne doesn't know where Jules can be found or if he is still alive. She asks Anselme and Raymond when she sees them but neither of them has seen him for months.

This was a rough episode, from beginning to end. I have a lot of trouble feeling any sympathy for Hortense, Heinrch, or Marchetti. How much longer will Heirich and Marchetti survive. I doubt that either of them will still be alive at the end of the season. Hortense stands a reasonably better chance of making it to the end of the season but it probably won't be a very happy time for her.

I'm not sure how big a role Gustave will play in the remainder of this season. So far Daniel has seemed to play a much smaller role than he did in the first few seasons. Servier was not in this episode. Suzanne was barely in this episode. Clearly, the war has not left Villeneuve just yet.