Legendary gumshoe Sam Spade is back in action in Monsieur Spade. Twenty years have passed since his adventures in San Francisco, but he's the same wry detective we know and love. Here's what happened in the season premiere.
The story begins...
The story begins with Spade driving down a road in the French countryside with a young girl in the back seat. He’s not in a hurry, taking the time to stop for a cigarette along the road before heading down to a house. He’s there to see Philippe Saint-Andre on behalf of his late wife, Brigid, who passed away. The little girl, Teresa, is their daughter. The woman who answers the door pulls a shotgun on Spade and tells him in angry French that her son was never married and the girl is not his daughter.
Later, Chief of Police Patrice Michaud (Denis Ménochet) tells Spade that he’s not surprised that Philippe’s mother turned them away. He’s there doing business on behalf of Brigid, whom he knew “well enough so she trusted [him].” Michaud thinks they’re romantically linked but Spade’s past with Brigid is complicated and that’s why she asked him to help with her daughter. Michaud advises him to take the girl back to the US because her father is not the kind of man she should be left with, but that doesn’t deter Spade.
Though he’s aloof in his ways, he still makes sure to care for the girl while she’s in his care, asking her about her doll while they’re stopped in a field for another smoke break. There he hears the bells of a church and notices that it’s about to rain.
They get back into the car and continue on their way. By nightfall it’s still raining. Lightning strikes a tree ahead and sends it crashing down onto the road so quickly that Spade can’t stop. He crashes into it, damaging the car beyond repair. They’re forced to stay there for the night; when morning comes he finds Teresa tucked under his arm, sound asleep. He gets out of the car to see if he can fix it, and that’s when a Rolls Royce driven by a woman, Gabrielle (Chiara Mastroianni), who has a big German Shepherd riding shotgun. She offers them a ride. Thankfully she speaks English, and she and Spade hit it off right away.
Eight years later
Spade, now eight years older, delivers flowers to the grave of Gabrielle Spade. Evidently he remained in France after his business transaction ended, and he clearly wasn’t alone. He married the charismatic woman who rescued him from the side of the road that day. And he also stayed in France. As he converses with a fellow mourner, it’s clear his French has improved greatly. She tells him Philippe Saint-Andre has returned.
Later that morning, Spade goes for his physical. He’s smoking a cigarette while he’s getting a prostate exam, then he finds out that he’s in the early stage of emphysema and needs to quit smoking or it could be worse. He receives this news with his trademark dry wit.
From the doctor he goes to the market, passing through the crowds of people. They all seem to know who he is. He’s a man about town. He pets dogs and smiles at children. From there he goes to the convent. Evidently he left Teresa to be raised by nuns, but he’s a frequent visitor. The other children and the nuns all know him.
He spots Teresa sulking on her own, but Mother Superior (Martine Schambacher) calls him into her office. They make small talk about the new automated bells, then Spade asks about the children. He makes a hefty donation to the nuns, and she mentions that Teresa’s father is coming back to visit. Evidently Teresa’s grandmother, Madame Audrey Saint-Pierre, has been taking a renewed interest in her granddaughter. Spade wonders if the new interest has to do with a trust in Teresa’s name. Mother Superior says she’s confident that Teresa will forgive him for leaving her there, sooner or later.
Home sweet home
Spade returns home and has a battle of wits with his housekeeper, Helena, who teases him about buying vegetables. He asks her to start locking the doors, and she, too, knows about Philippe’s return. He grabs the paper and retires to the study, where he starts to smoke a cigarette but thinks the better of it. He doesn’t sit long, instead moving to his bedroom to relax.
He thinks back to years ago when Teresa was younger and playing in a field with Gabrielle’s dog. They follow behind. She reveals that Teresa’s father is blackmailing her because her husband was a French Nazi collaborator. Given the conflict in Algeria, exposing her could be lucrative. She reveals that he’s blackmailing a lot of people, and it could be dangerous for the residents of Bouzouls. He’s willing to help, but he’s in debt and needs his fee. She offers to pay him and stay with her in the carriage house while he gets Teresa where she needs to be.
Later, he goes for a swim and is interrupted by George Fitzsimmons (Matthew Beard), who is looking for Gabrielle. Spade says he’s not selling the house, but that’s not what George is there for. He didn’t know she remarried. His father was a landscape painter and she allowed him to paint on the property. He’s hoping to do the same, now that he’s a painter, too. Spade welcomes the idea.
That night he’s plucking feathers from a bird and listening to a news report about John F. Kennedy’s plans to put a man on the moon. “A man on the moon. What the hell for?” he asks himself. He’s distracted by a man who rides up on a motorcycle in the dark. He ends up falling asleep in a chair in the study, with Helena chastising him for spilling his wine on the rug.
He goes outside and spots George painting, then he finds Jean-Pierre Devereaux (Stanley Weber) sitting there on his motorcycle. There’s tension between them and it’s tied to Jean-Pierre’s wife, Peggy (Louise Bourgoin).
Spade isn’t interested in the business deal, but he ends up visiting Peggy in her club later that day. She hands off an envelope full of money to him. She notes that her husband thinks he stole the club and his wife, but that’s not how things are. It turns out she was the woman at the cemetery that morning, too.
He meets with Patrice, who mentions the fight between Jean-Pierre and his wife. He, too, knows about Philippe Saint-Andre. They’re interrupted by a beggar and Spade gives him money but Patrice doesn’t. Patrice is concerned that they’ve discussed two men who want him dead before his breakfast arrived, and Spade isn’t concerned.
Visitors in the night
On the way home, Spade passes by a motorcyclist who almost crashes into him. Is that the same person who was outside his house the night before?
Henri (Oscar Lesage) is waiting for him at the house. He’s in his military uniform and he tells Spade how his biggest challenge in the military is taking orders. Spade was never in the military, not because he’s against killing but because he likes to make those decisions on his own. He asks for Henri’s help keeping an eye on Philippe, who pledges to do whatever he can.
That night Spade’s phone rings and it’s Philippe, who warns Spade to stay away from Teresa. While he’s on the phone, there’s the sound of a struggle and a gunshot.
Spade recounts the story of the call to Patrice, who doesn’t seem surprised by the sound of the gunshot. He knows that Philippe won’t be found unless he wants to be found, so his suggestion is to wait and see what happens. Spade manages to convince Patrice to put some effort into finding Philippe in case he’s hurt someone. Philippe agrees after some arm twisting and a reminder about favors.
From there, Spade heads to Philippe’s mother’s home. She hasn’t seen him, and she doesn’t expect to see him. They’re not on good terms, and even if there’s a chance her son could be hurt, she doesn’t care. He tells her he knows about the letters she took to Teresa, which gives her pause, but she still refuses to help.
Before he goes to bed, he recalls a moment in time when he was at the club with Gabrielle. Philippe is there and the Devereauxs are watching them closely. Back in the present, Spade gets back up and heads to the club to see if Peggy knows anything about Philippe. She’s surprised he’s still involved with the whole thing after his history with Philippe, and Spade says that there’s a point when you can’t avoid getting involved because you can’t live it down.
Terror in the night
When he gets home, Spade notices that something is amiss. Teresa comes running toward him, begging him for help. Inside, he offers her a drink to take the edge off. She ran straight from the convent. She’s covered in her father’s blood; he’d been shot before he got there. He presses her for information about the people who shot her father. A monk was at the gate after her father left, asking to see Mother Superior. Everyone hid after that, but she ran to Spade for help.
Spade leaves her to go to the convent, a concerned look on his face. He knows something is very wrong. Upon arriving, he doesn’t find Philippe, but he does find the nuns. They’ve been brutally murdered in front of the altar, posed at the feet of Mother Superior, who was shot in the head.
Monsieur Spade airs Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC, and is also available to stream same-day on AMC Plus.
