NOTE: This post contains spoilers for Lupin part 3 episode 2.
Assane Diop might want everyone to believe he's uttered his last breath in Lupin, but that's not strictly true. Few viewers of the French Netflix series would think that Assane died from falling off a building, although he made it look like his plan to steal the Everlin Black Pearl in Lupin part 3 episode 1 ended in his demise. The second episode of this latest season once again proves that we should never underestimate the elusive gentleman thief.
Let’s recap how Assane managed the ultimate escape in the second episode of Lupin part 3.
The death of Assane Diop
At L’Objecteur, journalist Arnold is watching the news about Assane’s escape when he hears an email notification on his colleague Fleur’s computer. It’s a tip about Assane, so he promptly steals the scoop from her. Meanwhile, Guedira stumbles on the bloodied scene of Assane’s accident as he calls Belkacem, who tells him the pearl is gone.
Assane is dropped off at the morgue by his accomplices, Ben and Courbet, who are there to try and trick the supervisor into letting them process the body. When the cops arrive at the morgue to confirm Assane’s death, a fake stethoscope is used to fool everyone. Guedira remains unconvinced, as Arsene Lupin faked his death many times in Maurine Leblanc’s novels.
The next day, Fleur is upset that Arnold made the front page with a picture of Assane’s body. She soon hears from Guedira — who’d seen her articles about Diop — and wonders if they might be able to help each other. He tells her of the links between Assane and Lupin and they agree to work together on the case.
The day of Assane’s funeral at the Père Lachaise cemetery, Guedira interrupts the burial, asking for the casket to be opened to confirm that Assane is actually inside. Surprise, surprise, when they open the casket…Assane is there! It’s embarrassing and if Claire’s eyes could shoot daggers at Guedira, he'd be dead too. So what is really going on there?
A plan within a plan
Once again we flashback to two weeks earlier. The plan Assane detailed to Ben about stealing the Black Pearl wasn’t a risky one because of the security around the pearl is revealed to never truly have been about the Pearl at all. It's true goal was to fake Assane’s death. We see him walking Ben through each step, explaining how he needs to fall off a roof in front of witnesses so that people see him die.
He planned it all: how to get his own blood to fake the scene of the accident, how to use airbags to cushion his fall, how to hire Courbet to fool the doctors at the morgue, his warning the press, and so on, all to make sure his death is as convincing as possible. Then the rest of the plan consists in selling the pearl, buying a house in the countryside, and taking Claire and Raoul away from the public eye.
Ben has one major question: how does Assane plan to escape his tomb? The gentleman thief reveals his dog J’accuse is the key and shows Ben how he intends on using the tunnels under the cemetery to leave.
Assane's escape
Back in 1998, Assane is confused about what happened to his mother. He tells Claire he doesn’t know where she is, and finds comfort in hanging out with Bruno. The latter takes him to a boxing gym and introduces him to Jean-Luc Keller, a man who took him under his wing and offered protection when he had no one else to turn to. Bruno says Keller can help Assane too and the latter learns to box his troubles away as Keller assures him he is his family now.
It’s the boxing part that matters here! After another funny flashback scene where we see Assane buy his own casket, we find him waking up in it, six feet under. He then starts unscrewing the cushions then hitting the wood to get out. It’s a bit like that famous scene in Kill Bill, minus the bloodied hands. A pre-dug tunnel awaits Assane on the other side of the coffin, and he manages to make his way out. He then reunites with J’accuse, who is carrying the key to a suitcase containing a cemetery worker’s outfit that will allow Assane to leave the place unnoticed.
Mommy issues
While we see an unknown woman leaving the cemetery after Assane’s funeral (spoiler alert: it’s Assane’s mom), we flashback to 1998 once more to see Claire and Assane trying to find information about his mother’s whereabouts. They look her up online and learn that she is in prison for theft. They decide to call the prison to talk to her. When he gets his mom on the phone, Assane says he wants to get her out but she tells him to forget about her.
While Ben is off finding a buyer for the pearl, Raoul tells his mother he absolutely does not believe that his father is dead. He then goes to the national library to do some research on Lupin and looks up maps of the sewers under the Père Lachaise.
Waiting for Ben, Assane checks out the newspaper and notices a message for him hiding in there (it’s referring to Sani, the nickname his mother gave him). He calls the number provided and hears a message from none other than his mom, instructing him to meet at a church. When Ben arrives announcing he has found someone to buy the pearl, Assane says the plan has changed as he needs to go find out what is up with his estranged mother.
At the church, Assane hears a phone. Picking it up, he learns that his mother has been kidnapped and he's instructed to leave the Black Pearl at the church to ensure her safety. Assane asks to confirm the woman taken really is his mother, and he hears her sing a song she used to sing to him when he was a child. Before hanging up, she tells him the people who took her want Assane to understand he now works for them. This time, Assane decides to do as he is told and surrender the pearl.
That’s it for the second episode of Lupin part 3. Curious to know what’s next for Assane Diop? All episodes of this new season are now available on Netflix. For more shows to enjoy, check out our top picks for the best Netflix shows you should be streaming right now.
