“The Art of Crime” Season 6 – TV Series Review – We Are Movie Geeks

This light crime series from France, The Art of Crime, offers the usual elements of TV crime dramas with a painless education in the meaning of classic paintings and personalized art history. Don't yawn yet. Read a little more.

The Paris police have a special unit for art crimes. Antoine (Nicolas Gob) is tasked with being exiled from the crime squad where he was successful until he pissed off the wrong boss. His complete lack of knowledge of or interest in this milieu makes the transfer even more punishing. He is also forced to form a partnership with quirky advisor Florence (Eleonore Bernheim), whose expertise on the Old Masters is crucial to catching the perpetrators. Each case is covered in two 50-minute episodes, so there's no pressure to binge.

The new thing is that Florence hallucinates conversations with the artist in question in order to reach her “Aha!” Moments of insight into the who and why of all the thefts, forgeries, murders, etc. they commit. Whenever I googled the artist or “painting of the day,” the scripts seemed to be on the nose and offer a fun and painless way to learn something new. Those already knowledgeable in this area may differ as to the facts, interpretations, and speculations in the scripts, so do not take my words or theirs as gospel.

As must be the case with all oil-water pairings in this area, the two are constantly clashing. Antoine seems unable to absorb and retain everything he needs to learn about the art. He also runs on a default anger mode because he's upset about how he got there and because he has serious issues with his father. Florence is happy about the new use of her knowledge, but has completely different problems with her father Pierre (Philippe Duclose), who repeatedly interferes in her personal and professional life, whether he wants to or not; usually the latter. Pierre's annoying behavior as he tries to prove himself indispensable makes him an unusual addition to the production.

The tension between the two leads leads to an almost inevitable will-they-won't-they comic relief effect that runs throughout. The sixth season consists of two two-part episodes in which the personal dynamic between Antoine and Florence takes some strange turns and walks the line between warm humor and silliness. It's perhaps the funniest part of the series, but still offers a few twisty enough crime stories to keep things exciting. The first begins with a dead nude model, which requires a deep dive into Monet.

The production values ​​are top notch and each of his stories make excellent use of the Louvre and many of Paris' other landmarks and attractions. The scripts also maintain a good balance between detective work and personal subplots. The course of several relationships makes it advisable to observe them in turn.

In the second, a murdered actress posing in an underground vampire tableau triggers Florence's imaginary conversations with Edvard Munch to find a solution. The season ends with some unanswered questions, but fear not. The seventh season has just aired in France and will certainly follow the first six across the ocean.

“The Art of Crime” in French with English subtitles will stream on MHzChoice from May 7th.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars