This article contains spoilers for Anthracite episode 3, "The 13th Disciple". Anthracite is a French Netflix thriller miniseries that takes viewers to a fictional town in the French Alps which was once rocked by news of terrifying cult activity in the area. Thirty years on, the murder of a woman wreaks havoc in the community all over again, and youngsters Ida and Jaro get tangled up in the new case that unfolds.
In Anthracite episode 3, Ida, Jaro and Giovanna continue to try to get to the bottom of the Écrins cult. The more they try, the more layers seem to keep piling up. And with Denis' link to the group is revealed, the characters are taken in another direction entirely after uncovering fresh information. Here's what happenend in Anthracite episode 3.
Denis the disciple
After another 1994 flashback shows Juliette was stabbed by another student during Roxane’s wake at their high school, episode 3 sees Giovanna heading to the old cult house. Denis kept talking about it and the Lieutenant believes she’ll find him there.
Giovanna's hunch is spot on. She finds Denis digging a hole in the wall to uncover a dead body that has been stashed there. Who is it? Derevko, of course! The truth is that Denis killed Derevko back in 1994, during a healing ritual he performed with the cult (the whole chest pounding and goat mask wearing scene we saw at the beginning of the previous instalment).
We learn that Denis joined Caleb’s cult believing that Caleb would be able to cure his dementia. After the ritual, Denis feared the other disciples would tell on him, so he poisoned them all, in the exact same way he did the group at the winter festival. The 1994 mass deaths weren't suicide after all.
Denis confesses his past crimes to Giovanna but swears he did not kill Roxane back then, nor did he attack Emma a few days prior. He then poisons himself and dies right in front of the Lieutenant.
Romance in the air
Jaro brings Ida back to his uncle’s home, seeing as she doesn't have a place to stay after the hotel fire. Jaro expected to find Anais and Malia at his uncle’s house there but his ex decided to leave town when she saw the mess Jaro was in again.
Anais and Malia instead stop over in a hotel for a night, and it looks like they've been followed. Over at the police station, Erwan and Giovanna are reprimanded for the debacle with Denis Monnier. As punishment, Giovanna is suspended. She's dismayed and grows more upset when she learns Erwan has put in a relocation request for their family.
Love seems to be brewing between Jaro and Ida. She comes to his room in the middle of the night, unable to sleep in Juliette’s, and suggests they have sex to calm her nerves down. Jaro refuses at first but one thing leads to another after a while. Afterwards, Ida goes into the kitchen. There, she finds Marie, who tells her to drop her investigation. Ida explains she cannot give up on her father, so Marie asks that she at least leaves Jaro out of it given he's got enough on his plate already.
Eddy the menace
Jaro definitely does have plenty of problems to deal with. He's still the prime suspect for Emma's murder (his DNA was found on her body), but one of his former Parisian acquaintances has seen him on TV and has followed him to Lévionna.
This figure's called Eddy and he has the gall to turn up at Jaro’s workplace, asking after him. There, he meets Romeo, who tells him off with the help of his dog, Brad the pit bull. Eddy is not the type of man to be threatened by a canine and, shortly after, Romeo finds Brad in the woods, shot and gravely wounded. He rushes his pet to the hospital (seeing as the vet is too far away) and asks Hari to help Brad.
Jaro’s family is also in danger. At their hotel, Malia runs into a stranger who draws a symbol on her forehead. When Anais shows it to Jaro, he rushes to the storage unit to review the video of his mother being stabbed. The video features the same symbol. Jaro does further research into the girl who attacked his mother back in the day, and learns she was called Détraz.
Leaving the storage box, Jaro is followed by Eddy and comes close to getting shot. Jaro's saved unknowingly by Erwan who wants to ask him more questions about Emma. Erwan simply doesn’t believe he is innocent and lets slip that he'll be taking over as his parole officer and further asks Jaro to do a drug test.
On his way to the bathroom, Jaro finds files related to the Écrins cult case and works through them, finding info about Détraz. After leaving the police station, he meets up with Romeo and asks about the new woman. His friend explains Détraz is now a hermit who lives up in the mountain. The pair decide to seek her out, but on the drive over, Eddy reappears. He rams his car into Romeo's truck, pushing it off the road and down into a ravine.
Secrets of the mountain
Meanwhile, Ida and Giovanna are searching for more answers. Ida honors Marie's wishes and searches Denis’ house alone. There, she finds documents relating to an apartment complex called Horizon Prestige and runs into Giovanna. The Lieutenant begrudgingly agrees to let Ida come with her to check out Denis' storage unit at the abandoned Horizon Prestige building.
The place is empty. However, it looks like Denis did hide someone there at some point. As they continue to search the area, the duo run into a park ranger. Given their odd behavior, Ida ends up tasing him. The two women continue to explore the mountain.
Eventually, they stumble upon a large yellow tent. When they enter it, they find a lot of dead sheep (with wounds similar to the ones on Claude’s flock). But it’s not the only odd thing in that tent, as there appears to be something in the air. Before they know it, Ida and Giovanna pass out, and people in hazmat suits show up. This all has to be related to whatever is going on at Arcacia Labs.
We return to Jaro and Romeo. They survived the incident, and are fleeing Eddy's gunshots. They stumble on their destination: Détraz’s house. Inside, they find a man tied to a bed, missing a leg. The main is Ida’s father, Solal. They try to rescue him and take him out of the house, but they are caught by Détraz, who levels rifle at them. The screen cuts to black and a gunshot rings out: Did she shoot Jaro and Romeo? And are Ida and Giovanna okay?
Anthracite is now streaming on Netflix. If you've already streamed it, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best Netflix shows and the best French shows on Netflix to find your next fix.
