What Would It Take to Beat Lupin?
Having someone steal your act must be especially irritating when stealing is your act. Lupin returns on Friday, October 23 with an impersonator committing museum robberies under Assane Diop's name. Omar Sy's thief is still in prison, four years after Part 3, hoping to finish his sentence and join his family in Senegal.
We want this rival to be good enough to embarrass him. A fourth installment needs to make the audience doubt something, and adding another lock to a museum door will only get it so far.
Make him work for the smile
A copycat who only borrows the coat gives Assane another chance to explain a trick after everybody falls for it. Someone who understands why the trick works could force him to abandon a plan halfway through. We want the awful moment when the man who reads everyone else realizes he has been read.
Assane also has something harder to repair than a stolen reputation. In the Part 3 finale, he surrendered to protect his family and friends. His terms included Benjamin's release and a chance to explain himself to Claire. If he goes straight back to the old routine, that sacrifice starts to look like an intermission.
An escape may be necessary to clear his name. That should not excuse him from the conversation afterward. A heist show can give us a gorgeous trick and still let the people closest to its hero be angry with him.
The catch-up that matters
The test for the copycat is simple: make Assane's usual confidence work against him. That would be a better reason for another season than a bigger haul. Whether the new episodes manage it is still an open question.
All eight arrive together on October 23. Returning viewers should revisit the Part 3 finale for the terms of Assane's surrender. Remember what he owed the people waiting outside before admiring how cleverly he gets past the guards.
New viewers should start with Part 1. The disguises make more sense once you know whom he is trying to protect, and whom he keeps disappointing.
