Review of 'Balthazar'

My wife and I just finishing bingeing two seasons, sixteen episodes, of Balthazar, the French series on Prime Video Acorn, made in 2018 and 2019, streaming here since April. Despite it being about a Parisian coroner (Balthazar) who cuts open dead bodies and hasn't gotten over the terrible murder of his fiance (or maybe wife) 15 years ago, the series is actually a great pick-me-up in these, our very troubled, times.

It has lots of humor, gallows and other varieties, to be sure, but that's not why it's so refreshing. Somehow, this combination of Quincy (the Los Angeles medical examiner, same thing as coroner, or whatever exactly they call it France) and The Fugitive manages to be heartbreaking, harrowing, and even cuddly all at the same time.

Part of the reason is the sheer brilliance of the wounded Balthazar, which he manages to flaunt almost all of the time. This annoys Captain Hélène Bach, who nonetheless relies on him and falls more than halfway in love with him, and not only or really because her marriage is on the rocks because of her cheating husband. That chemistry between Balthazar and Bach keeps the series bubbling and on edge, along with the constant search for his fiance/wife's killer.

Indeed, those are the constants in what is otherwise a more or less standalone episodic series, which goes against the grain of the now more usually continuing-story kind of series, which I almost always prefer. In fact, the stories in these episodes are usually nothing special, and the chemistry and the search and the sheer pleasure of watching Balthazar's mind at work keep you riveted to the screen. And when the episode itself very much matters, as when Bach's or Balthazar's very lives are at stake, well, those hours are masterpieces that you don't come by too often on television of any kind.

The leading roles are perfectly played by Tomer Sisley as Balthazar and Hélène de Fougerolles as Bach. And the supporting cast, including Pauline Cheviller as Lise (Balthazar's slain fiance or wife), Côme Levin as Eddy and Philypa Phoenix as Fatim (Balthazar's at once funny and heroic assistants), and even Yannig Samot as poor Delgado (Bach's police partner, who is told by Bach, when she says she's in love in Balthazar, in danger of dying, "you never loved anyone, other than your mother and your dog") are top-drawer, too. There's a third season well underway. There had to be, given the ending of the second. See it, after of course the first two. You'll be in for a real treat.