Summary
Episode 2 requires the viewer to suspend their disbelief, but its creativity and continued vibe make it an enjoyable watch.
This recap of Netflix’s Lupin season 1, episode 2 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
Lupin season 1, episode 2 opens with Assane in a high-security prison. He’s one of the inmates, and he’s introduced to his cellmate. The episode then moves to two days earlier. Assane examines a necklace with a friend at a jewelry store. His friend claims the necklace has never been taken apart, which means the Pellegrini family could have lied and it was in the safe all along, which could mean his father was imprisoned for no reason. Assane is getting closer to the truth — there’s a clear narrative arc for this character. The necklace was only the beginning. It was never about the money.
The police visiting in 1995
Episode 2 then moves to 1995, and the police arrive at Assane’s house. The officer asks Assane’s age and general background. He wants to wait for his mother and tells him he’s off to social services. As Assane packs, he takes the book on the adventures of Arsène Lupin and leaves the house from the balcony. However, the police officer finds him down the flights of stairs. Episode 2is demonstrating how quickly Assane’s life fell apart after his father’s arrest.
Juliette receives a message
And now back to the present day; Juliette Pellegrini meets her mother, Anne. They talk about the necklace and how the police have a lead. Anne’s worried about her husband. As Juliette leaves the hotel, she is given a message at the reception — “Luxembourg Gardens, 14:00 — no police”. In the envelope is a diamond.
The message is from Assane; when he meets her, he covers her wire as she’s being tracked by the police. Juliette admits the necklace was not split apart and it was all to create hype. She tells Assane to give back the necklace, and she will not tell anyone that she knows him. Assane wants to know that his father was innocent. But he runs out of time and has to cycle off with the police chasing him. This provides a Jason Bourne-type escape, where he manages to confuse the officers with ease, disguised as a food delivery cyclist.
Father’s letter
Assane gets home and reads an old letter from his father — he was ashamed of what he was accused of. There seems to be a mistake in the letter that says “comet” in the sentence; Assane ponders if it is intentional. Assane shows the letter to his friend at the jewelry store and raises how his father wrote the mistakes “Comet”, “libraryes”. There was a man in prison with his father called Ètienne Comet, who worked at the library. The jeweler tells Assane that he must see Comet. Assane knows Comet doesn’t have visitors and that he’s sick, so he must find another way to get into prison, hence the chapter’s start.
Entering prison
Assane visits a man in prison and offers to swap places with him; he will be free, while Assane goes into prison. He even takes the handcuffs off him using a trick. Assane is now in the prison system.
Denial
A lieutenant asks Juliette if she knew the thief at the station, but she threatens them with lawyers for non-compliance and then tells them to find the necklace. Afterward, the lieutenant is trying to piece the timeline together and linking them to the Lupin books. However, his colleagues mock him, claiming he should also investigate Harry Potter.
Comet is in the infirmary
In prison, Assane is told that Comet is in the Infirmary and he doesn’t believe he’s coming back. As he walks the corridors, he’s threatened by two men who want their dope back, 1,000 euros worth — Assane has taken another inmate’s identity, and it has come back to haunt him. Assane goes to the Infirmary and asks the doctor if he can spend the night. After a bit a flirting, the doctor tells him he has to try harder.
So Assane does try harder — he gets stabbed by the men who want the dope back by provoking them. He can stay the night in the Infirmary, and the doctor tells him to make friends in prison. This character will literally do anything to make sure his plans work.
Speaking to Comet
Assane visits Comet on his hospital bed. The man states that his father stole a necklace. And then Comet changes his tune and says he didn’t know his father and that he was under constant surveillance; he says the reason he knew him was that he brought a book from the library once. Assane gets frustrated and presses Comet for more answers. Comet explains that Assane’s father wanted him to pass on a book if anyone came on his behalf, which holds all the answers.
The clues in the book
In a flashback, a secret donor offers Assane a private school so he can receive the best education. The young Assane reads the letter from his father but scrunches it up and throws it away. In prison, Assane visits Comet’s room and finds the book he was referring to. It’s a Lupin book. Assane reads through the book and reads the clues left for him: “I am innocent, trapped by Anne Pellegrini”. I’m not sure why his father had to put such a small message cryptically in a book, but the complexity matches the story’s theme.
Juliette asks the question
Juliette asks her father if Assane’s father really stole the necklace 25 years ago. He gets angry at the question and claims it was definitely stolen.
Leaving prison
In prison, Assane is in a dangerous position while out playing basketball. The same men are after him. In the infirmary, Assane revisits Comet. He thanks him for the book and kisses the doctor’s hand on the way out. In the middle of the night, the doctor finds Assane who looks to have hanged himself. He has to leave prison due to the emergency.
The escape
The story then shows what really happened as there is a narration about illusion. It starts with Assane kissing the doctor’s hand. He stole the basketball net, took some pills, and then hung himself. In the ambulance, he leaves the body bag and escapes. It’s never explained how both elements linked — we can only assume the pills temporarily stopped his heart.
Confronting Anne
Assane visits Anne Pellegrini, and she’s shocked. He accuses her of framing his father 25 years ago and wants answers. Anne admits that she made his father sign a confession. Flashbacks show her telling the father to sign the confession for his son in order to get a reduced sentence. However, the judge was strict and showed no mercy. That’s what led to the suicide. Anne states she’s tried to help Assane from a distance with the donors and private schools. She felt responsible for the situation. Assane gets angrier as the conversation moves on. Anne gives him the police officer who vowed to help — Gabriel Dumont. This is the same officer that placed Assane into social services.
The ending
A flashback shows Assane at this private school, and because of the color of his skin, everyone keeps looking at him. One student named Benjamin defends him — he’s the jeweler in the present day.
As the episode ends, Assane lives up to a promise made to Comet — to make his wife smile. Assane drops off the widowed wife a diamond. Assane then researches Gabriel Dumont, presumably triggering the premise for the next chapter.
Lupin season 1, episode 2 requires the viewer to suspend their disbelief, but its creativity, and continued vibe makes it an enjoyable watch.
