Year Released: 2019-2021
Starring: Tomer Sisley Helene de Fougerolles. Yannig Samot, Phillypa Phoenix, Come Levin
(Not Rated but contains graphic scenes, probably a PG13 type, episodes average 50 minutes each)
Genre: Mystery and Suspense, “Dramedy”

“Mind you, he’s brilliant. But he’s also a pain in the neck.” –Inspector Delgado speaking of Balthazar.

*A note about the new 2022 season. This show is spinning off its wheels, in Different Drummer’s opinion. A little French decadence is all right, but now it is full throttle. I felt like I had to take a shower to cleanse myself after watching the first three episodes. Let me know what you think on my Facebook account. (https://www.facebook.com/DifferentDrummercc)

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It’s been compared to Castle, Bones, and The Mentalist, but this French series puts them to shame. Balthazar – great chef, athlete, extreme sports aficionado, and oh, formidable forensic pathologist – has enough presence, savior faire, panache and other fancy French-named attributes to be in a class by himself.

Yes, he is arrogant, full of himself, annoying, always pushing personal boundaries, but strangely, that arrogance usually is justified as he untangles the most complicated cases by noticing the significance of those small, telling details.

Take Sherlock Holmes’ brain, add Thor’s pecs and attitude, give it a French twist, and – voilà – you have Bathazar.

Suave, smart, and somewhat strange, Raphaël Balthazar (Tomer Sisley) can make the dead speak like no one else. As a forensic pathologist in Paris, he works with no-nonsense chief inspector Hélène Bach (Hélène de Fougerolles) to solve the city's most disturbing crimes. But there’s one case that continues to haunt him – the murder of his wife over a decade ago.

And his cases are as puzzling and bizarre as those on the long running Midsomer Murders. We have a dead dog covered in human blood, an unearthed collection of bones dating back to medieval times – except for one just a week interred, a completely frozen dead body found in a truck. a beaten man with his face torn off, and someone dressed as Snow White who was shot and buried alive.

And then there’s how Balthazar makes his entrance to the crime scene. Once skydiving in, still another time churning up the waters as he arrives, Bond like, in an amphibious vehicle, or ignoring any speed limits in any of his trendy vintage cars.

For his 007 arrival he explains without missing a beat, “Too much traffic on the highway.”

It helps that Balthazar’s Tomer Sisley is also a comedian, because his timing is perfect, which both amuses and exasperates the very serious, beautiful, and married Chief Inspector Hélène Bach. We all know that old story. The sparks fly between them even as the inspector’s disdain turns to respect and then some.

It is this ongoing sexual tension between the two that gives the program its sizzle, just like the equal chemistry between the female pathologist and the very buttoned down detective who works with her in the long running Canadian series, Murdoch Mysteries .

And like Ducky of NCIS fame, Balthazar talks to dead people. Only here, they talk back to him, appearing very alive and unscarred in the autopsy room, just like the ghost of his dead wife who also visits him frequently. But they really don’t tell him much about their murders, instead acting as Balthazar’s inner voice, ruminating on his own conflicts and turmoil. One might call them a sort of internal Greek chorus.

And then there are the distinctly French elements here – the most apparent being the French outlook on love. Balthazar, at least during the first season, woos and beds with abandon, trying to bury the decade plus aching loss of his Lize (Pauline Cheaviller). Another character also does the same in season 2, but no spoilers here.

We have everything in subtitles, since the series is in French – a language that imbues everything with a romantic haze, making even routine police questioning sound enticing. It is interesting that in these English subtitles Lise is referred to as Balthazar’s wife, fiancée, or partner in various episodes. Perhaps, the translators working for this Acorn release are not quite sure their audiences can accept the more relaxed French ways of love and marriage – or here, the lack of the latter.

So forget your cares, loosen up a little, and watch this fascinating series. It’s got wit, intellect, and a zesty sense of humor. And did I mention, the gourmet food is to die for.

The 2022 season is rather appalling. Too decadent for me.

–KathyBorich
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Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

Balthazar is a great cook and baker. The first episode opens with him taking a freshly baked pan of bread out from the oven and spreading some wonderful courgette jam on it. His beautiful companion gently derides him about how much he slathers on the delicate crust. It is her aunt’s recipe, after all.

Such a romantically named jam! That was my first option for a recipe. Well, it turns out that a courgette is just French for zucchini or even more prosaic, what the English term “vegetable marrows.”

And the recipe is rather too complicated for me, but if you are up for it, here is a link .

Instead I’ve gone with an easy and delightful cocktail that “flips the old martini on its head,” almost as much as both Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Casino Royale and Eggsy in Kingsman:The Secret Service do.

The Parisian is a cocktail where the vermouth takes center stage, unlike the myriad of cocktails where it’s purely a supporting player. In this one, it’s front and center getting some supporting notes from gin (that’s flipping the ol’ Martini on its head) and crème de cassis.

When you’re making a cocktail that really lets the vermouth shine, you need to pick a quality vermouth. In the Parisian the dry vermouth is lightly spicy and floral. – Morgan from The Drink Blog.com