The difference between the two seasons is quite stark in this regard. This time around, every character extends beyond their mere plot function starting with Diop himself, who not only feels more debonair, but more conflicted, and brims with anger and intensity after being backed into a corner by familiar foes. Previously, Diop’s father Babakar (Fargass Assandé) was the only character who felt like a living, breathing human being with a recognizable personality, and he was already long dead by the time the story began. These people become much more important in Part 2. These stories not only flesh-out his early relationships with ex-wife Claire (Ludivine Sagnier/ Ludmilla Makowski), best friend and accomplice Benjamin (Antoine Gouy/Adrian Valli De Villebonne), and former flame Juliette Pellegrini (Clotilde Hesme/Léa Bonneau), but they offer meaningful contrast with the current timeline, as both past and present see Diop navigating the consequences of his schemes, and their effects on the people around him. The show’s childhood flashbacks, previously deployed to fill scattered elements of Diop’s backstory, now portray episodic events from his early days as a teenage hustler (where he’s played with charm by the young Mamadou Haidara). While the season frequently breaks the promises of its cliffhangers, its narrative still feels more incisive than Part 1. Omar Sy may not have much to work with, but his alluring presence makes Assane Diop feel like a worthy successor to Arsène Lupin.' ' Lupin manages to have fun even with an antiquated premise - the story of a suave con-man who charms his way through high-profile robberies - while adding just enough new spin on the concept to feel refreshing. The season’s first episode pits them against Pellegrini’s Black henchman Léonard (Adama Niane), and what ought to play out as a standard chase to save Diop’s son is imbued with surprising intensity, when all three men are forced to tiptoe around scornful onlookers in a small, mostly-Caucasian town not far from Étretat, where Part 1’s finale took place and where Leblanc himself once lived. Diop, the son of working-class Senegalese immigrants, is looked upon with far more suspicion than Arsène Lupin, even (and especially) when disguised as an aristocrat, while North African policeman Guedira - the modern equivalent of Leblanc’s Inspector Ganimard - doesn’t command the respect of his white peers the same way.

However, once its dramatic questions are clarified, the show falls back into its rhythm of entertaining action peppered with social commentary, largely born from placing non-white characters in traditionally white settings, like those of Maurice Leblanc’s original novels. “Chapter 6” has an admittedly awkward start, since Guedira finding Diop doesn’t seem to line up with what Part 1 had teased. Last season’s finale, “Chapter 5,” ended with the gripping one-two-punch of Diop’s son Raoul (Etan Simon) being kidnapped just as detective and fellow Lupin enthusiast Youssef Guedira (Soufiane Guerrab) caught up to the master thief. Part 3 has already been confirmed, but this second block of episodes is a fun and satisfying conclusion to Diop’s story - at least, for the time being. Lupin: Part 2 largely surpasses Part 1, and it even overcomes a few genuinely deflating rug-pulls to create a season with swift pacing, alluring characters, and a clockwork action climax right out of a spy thriller. Part 2, despite its bizarre penchant for diffusing tension at key moments, is much tighter than its predecessor, and it allows Sy to embody a much more interesting version of Diop, a man now dealing with the ripple effects of a criminal life he had hoped to leave behind. The French thriller’s first five episodes were largely set-up, but they make way for a second-half filled with mile-a-minute payoffs since the police and other forces are hot on Diop’s heels when the season begins. Lupin’s second season picks up where Part 1 left off, diving headfirst into the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between Assane Diop (Omar Sy) - a modern-day Parisian swindler taking after Arsène Lupin, the fictional gentleman thief - and Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre), the ruthless businessman who had Diop’s father framed for theft.

Inspector dupin season 1