Cis one of TF1’s greatest successes last year. With 5.5 million loyal followers on average (in consolidated audiences) for a market share of 31% on the priority target of FRDA (women purchasing managers), season 1 of Master Crimesworn by Muriel Robin, rose to second place on the podium for the channel’s best new releases in 2023 (and fourth place in the series, behind the unbeatable HPI, Balthazar et Panda).
La Une therefore did not wait to order a season 2 of the police comedy, which arrives from this Thursday, October 17 for six episodes, directed by Marwen Abdallah (already working on season 1) and calibrated for the same success.
The winning formula for this playful whodunit? A very popular actress, an atypical heroine (but less and less as TV is full of such characters today) and puzzle-style intrigues. All accompanied by well-felt punchlines: “We managed to find the balance between humor and the complexity of the investigations,” says Sophie Exbrayat, the producer of the fiction. We never prioritize comedy over plot. »
Careful writing for original investigations
We therefore find in this new chapter the elegant and arrogant psycho-criminologist Louise Arbus, in her slippers, even if they are high heels, to investigate apparently insoluble (master) crimes but which she solves, in defiance of all procedures. , in two parts, three movements and 52 minutes, the length of an opus: “I’m always right, it’s my biggest fault,” she exclaims to Captain Barbara Delandre (Anne Le Nen) , still as concerned about the rules but much more comfortable in her boots since she was given a little joke by Théodore, the forensic doctor. A relationship encouraged by the consultant, never short of advice, including romantic advice.
ALSO READ But what keeps “Camping Paradis” on TF1 going? Louise Arbus also continues to send undercover Valentine (Thaïs Vauquières), Boris (Nordine Ganso), Mia (Astrid Roos) and Samuel (Victor Meutelet), her four musketeer students more than ever in the service of this queen of profiling, biting and demanding: “Mediocrity is like incompetence. Even a little is already too much,” she asserts upon her arrival at the first crime scene of the season, particularly neat, in an art therapy workshop.
A fundamental introduction to the writing process: “The trigger is always a very strong opening sequence. With the writers, we first think about the murder and the setting that will take the audience elsewhere, explains the producer. Given the competitive field in the field of police comedy, we ensure that each investigation brings something new, both in the plot and in the crime arena. »
Season 2 will send Louise and her partners to a dog cemetery, a survivalist camp or even an escape game and a chapel: “From this homicide and this twisted place, we unfold the story in drawers, which us forced into real gymnastics. The goal is for the viewer to constantly wonder who the murderer is…”
A popular actress who excels in the comic register
But there are rarely good stories without strong characters to lead them. And charismatic performers to embody them. This is what the Anglo-Saxons call character-driven storywhose French avatars are called HPI, Astrid and Raphaëlle or Candice Renoir : “People come for the thriller but stay for the characters,” analyzes Sophie Exbrayat. It is because the investigations are sophisticated that we invited Muriel Robin to play Louise Arbus. We also created this heroine for her. »
The reasons? First of all, the great popularity of the actress, which earned TF1 very good audiences with the TV film. Jacqueline Sauvage in 2018 or the series My Angel in 2021 and allowed us to quickly convince the channel of the project’s potential: “She is an inspiring actress, who had until then never played in a recurring drama,” the producer then explains. We didn’t imagine him as a cop, which is not an original enough figure. We wanted her to blow up the frame. Placing her in a teaching situation made it possible. It is delightful to see her interact with the students for the sake of transmission. »
ALSO READ “Cat’s Eyes”: we saw the first episodes of the TF1 event seriesA tailor-made score, therefore, for Muriel Robin and the opportunity for her to rediscover with relish the register which revealed her. Impeccable in the skin of this histrionic criminologist, she gives further proof of her comic talent and her remarkable sense of tempo: “She knows how to play everything, especially breakups. She is capable of being acidic, with a curling eye, believes Sophie Exbrayat. As a result, we never fall into meanness. This is why it works so well with students. We see that she is having fun with them…”
Secondary characters who gain depth
If Muriel Robin remains the “engine of the series”, she is also surrounded by a troupe of deserving actors, who, after a more or less convincing debut in season 1, have managed to find their mark in this new chapter. This is the case of Anne Le Nen, whose character, Captain Barbara Delandre, is gaining momentum: “This season, we revisited the cat and dog side of their relationship a bit,” comments Sophie Exbrayat. Louise and Barbara know their faults and have fun with them. » More relaxed, the actress can thus fully express her complicity with Muriel Robin, her wife in the city, which reflects that of their alter egos.
These new episodes finally allow the student performers to nuance their characters, until now a bit caricatured, particularly through their interactions: “The difficulty of a recurring series is to bring all the heroes to life,” recognizes the producer. But we made sure to give more flesh to the students’ relationship, by bringing their shared accommodation to life. » Enough to encourage the public’s attachment to all these beautiful people, expected to return in season 3. Unless there is a (huge) surprise, the series should indeed be renewed. Filming scheduled to begin in the first months of 2025.
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