Summary
Episode 1 is full of vibes and articulate, pulling the audience threw many twists and turns and bringing a lightbulb ending.
This recap of Netflix series Lupin season 1, episode 1 contains significant spoilers.
We have recapped every episode — check out the toggles of the top of the page for next and previous episodes.
The opening
Episode 1 opens with Assane Diop doing his janitorial work at an art museum. As he sweeps, he looks up at the painting of the Mona Lisa. He then admires the Queen’s Necklace. It’s going to be up for auction for millions of euros.
Assane wants to see his son
In the next scene, Assane meets his ex-partner Claire. He wants to see his son and makes assurances that things will be different. She permits him to see his son. There’s an amicable scenario between them. As she walks out, he sneaks child support into her jacket, and Claire turns around and smiles.
Assane meets Vincent at a block of flats; Vincent is angry that Assane hasn’t got the money. Vincent threatens to throw him off the balcony — Assane assures Vincent he’s about to make the most money ever by stealing the Queen’s Necklace. He asks for a team and then shows a blueprint of the museum with his plans. Episode 1 pushes Assane’s plans into motion, revealing what he wants the audience to see.
“A gentleman”
Episode 1 moves back to 1995 — Assane is walking with his father; it’s hailing rain. The dad asks a woman (Mrs. Pellegrini) who is stuck in a broken-down car if she’d like help, but she locks the door. Assane’s father assures her he’s the new chauffeur for her husband. The woman calls his father a gentleman, and that resonates with Assane.
The auction begins
And then episode 1 moves back to the present day — Assane is suited and booted for the auction, his plans ready to be put into place. While he sits down at the auction, the team start the heist. The auction presents the Queen’s Necklace — given to Marie-Antoinette by Louis XVI. The auctioneer announces how the Pellegrini family owned the necklace. Mr. Pellegrini found the separated stones across the world and reconstituted the necklace. Nice fictionalized history to go with the historical artifact.
The daughter of Mr. Pellegrini
The daughter of Mr. Pellegrini, Juliette, then walks out to present the necklace. A flashback shows a younger her smoking and sunbathing outside. A young Assane walks outside to use the pool. She introduces herself and knows he’s the chauffeur’s son. Juliette asks if black people cannot swim and asks him to show her — in return, she offers a “real kiss”. Assane gets into the water and tries his best to swim before kissing Juliette. As the episode moves forward, the plot becomes clearer.
Let the bidding begin
In the present day, Juliette talks about how the money for the necklace will go towards the Pellegrini Foundation. Assane starts bidding for the necklace under a fake name — an apparently very wealthy person.
Outbidding
Flashbacks show Mrs. Pellegrini asking Assane’s father to pick a book for his son — he picks Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar. In the present, Assana keeps outbidding another wealthy man while the heist team continues to infiltrate. He then bids 60 million euros to speed up the bidding process, and he wins the necklace.
Assana is double-crossed
Assana is shown the necklace. Flashbacks show Mr. Pellegrini accuses Assane’s father of stealing the necklace. He gets the police involved. As he gets frustrated, he’s arrested. In the present, Assana is showing the necklace, and then he’s attacked by one of his heist team. He’s been double-crossed. The heist team manages to get away in a Ferrari, but then end up crashing through a glass roof. But all is not what it seems in Lupin season 1, episode 1 — it’s putting the audience in a false sense of security with the narrative.
Assane loses his father
Flashbacks show that Assane’s father ended his life in prison. Assane visits his fresh grave. Mrs. Pellegrini offers her condolences and asks if she can do anything. Assane tells her to go to hell. In the present day, the heist team is arrested. A captain of the police asks Assana questions and then another inspector rings the captain, making him aware that the heist team has been arrested — he asks if he knows about Arsène Lupin’s adventures. Something is niggling on his mind.
The ending
The episode moves back two weeks earlier. Assana hears about the Queen’s Necklace on the news — how after a theft 25 years ago, it has reappeared, and the Pellegrini family are putting it up for auction. This is when he put his plans in place to steal the necklace inspired by Arsène Lupin. A twist shows Assana retrieving a fake copy of the Queen’s Necklace. The heist team stole the fake, while he threw the real necklace in the bin.
In the present day, Assana returns to the art gallery doing his janitorial work — he retrieves the necklace from the bin. The police find out that the necklace is fake — one of the detectives is still curious about Arsène Lupin and his adventures. As the episode nears an end, Assana visits his son. He gives his son a book — Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar.
Lupin season 1, episode 1 is full of vibes and articulate, pulling the audience through many twists and turns and bringing a lightbulb ending.
