Innocent & Guilty
Episode 4 of Le Bazar de la Charité (Bonfire Of Destiny) sees Alice’s wedding looming ominously on the horizon. While she prepares, Thomas whispers to Rose that he knows who she is. Leo meanwhile is confronted by Adrienne in the street who berates him for losing her money. Camille hides the letter given to her by her Mum as her Father approaches and together they talk. He vows revenge and that is, unfortunately, directed right at Victor whom he believes is responsible for the fire. Adrienne arrives at the church and reveals herself to her sister, who’s surprised to still see Adrienne alive. Given the grievous situation she finds herself in with Alice, she regretfully tells her she can’t give any money to help her sibling out. After vowing to write to one another, she leaves. Meanwhile, Victor writes to Alice and swears he wasn’t the one responsible for the fire, prompting her to burn the letter in the fire. She then gives a letter to Jean, the letter that happens to be the one Rose requested the maid send last episode. Inside, are the tickets. Still confused over what this means, Alice interprets this as a sign that he should move on and live his life. Jean however, is not so sure. In order to play the part, Rose asks Madame Huchon to talk about Odette and how she acted. Given she’s playing the role of one of the richest women in Paris, Rose tries to hide her nervousness as she sits and eats with Thomas. However, he immediately susses out that she’s not his Mother. Hugues is visited by Celestin who asks him about the stolen jewels and asks if he’s seen the sketch of the red-haired woman who happens to be Adrienne. As it turns out, they’re intelligence officers and worse than police. As they leave the apartment building, having found nothing, they see Adrienne arrive and contemplate when to arrest her. Holding off for now, Hugues wastes no time escorting her out while, unbeknownst to him, Celestin watches from afar as she sneaks into her house and takes the money from the safe. After handing back the stolen jewels to Marc-Antoine, Celestin realizes that Adrienne is still alive given her picture on the wall matches that of the sketch he has. Victor visits Alice and tells her not to listen to what’s happening given he risked his life to save her. He also professes his love to her too and she kisses him. Only, her Father opens the door while they’re embracing and immediately tells him to leave, berating his Daughter for what she’s doing. Rose passes out outside and as she’s brought in, it turns out she’s pregnant, adding even more drama to the fold. Madame Huchon tells her to get an abortion and this leaves Rose in a very difficult situation. As she contemplates over what to do, Camille arrives at the park as scheduled, where her Mother sits on the bench adjacent and they lock eyes. Unfortunately, Celeste also happens to be at the park and he chases her, eventually stopping the young woman in her tracks, where the episode ends. As layers of melodrama are added to the fold, the show becomes a lot less about the fire and a lot more about the trio of women and their familial drama. While this isn’t necessarily bad, it does all feel quite soap opera-y. The investigation angle is a nice touch though and does help anchor this one and prevent it sailing too far into melodramatic waters but there feels like a bit of a consistent rhythm with this now that doesn’t always benefit the show. Still, the production and costume design are both top notch and that alone makes this a show well worth sticking with. Quite what the second half of this one has in store for us though, remains to be seen.
