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Deep spoilers ahead for the third season ofLupin.
The first few episodes ofLupins third season are extremely slick, propulsive TV.
Until someone kidnaps Assanes estranged mother, Pellegrini is the only real big baddie this series has known.
Lets take a closer look.
Inside is a photo of young Assane holding a Lupin novel:The Cagliostros Revenge.
Within the secret of your soul.
Perhaps you believed I felt it myself, and you ended up truly loving me.
And thus, you lost any clarity of mind.
Assanes mother, Mariama, with whom he has just been reunited.
Benjamin, Assanes loyal partner-in-crime, whom Assane has betrayed.
Huberts daughter, Juliette, a past lover of Assanes.
The scene has the overall oh shit!
effect of a mid-credits sequence.
Pellegrini was always a formidable foe for Assane, but the men operated differently.
Assane was the clever thief, able to outmaneuver Pellegrini.
Pellegrini, on the other hand, manipulated Assane (and Assanes father) using his money and influence.
For example, after 25 years incarcerated, how could Keller have known that Assanes death was fake?
And where did he get the start-up capital for this elaborate revenge mission?
It feels more than possible someone was bankrolling Kellers retaliation.
And then theres the problem of Mariama, who gets singled out in the coda.
And how did she get from Dakar to Paris so quickly?
After all, its just a photo in an envelope that he receives.
Pellegrini cost Assane his relationship with his father; Assane alienated Juliette from her father.
Assane landed Pellegrini in jail and now, it seems, Pellegrini has repaid the favor.
But that scene, in which Benjamin also joins them, curdles after the coda.
Perhaps you believed I felt it myself, and you ended up truly loving me.
But perhaps the most troubling implications are for Assanes friendship with Benjamin Ferel.
In season three, Assane chooses his mothers safety over Benjamins.
Benjamin has always been Assanes greatest ally; now he may prove a liability.
Or its all just mind games.
Whatever else is true next season, Assane Diop wont be the same Lupin.
