This article contains spoilers for the ending of Class Act Season 1 Episode 7.
Class Act is a Netflix limited series chronicling the real-life rise and fall of Bernard Tapie, an ambitious man who refuses to accept the everyman lifestyle of his father and is determined to become, one way or another, known across the length and breadth of France.
Across the seven episodes of the series, Tapie takes out a loan to record an album, which flops and lands him in debt. To free himself from these financial shackles he convinces the wealthy Mr. Loiseau to invest in his subscription-based electronics store, which is a financial success, if not a personal one.
The reason for this is that Tapie falls in love with Mr. Loiseau’s secretary, Dominique. As a result, Loiseau takes Tapie to court for mismanagement and wins the case, keeping the business and leaving Bernard prohibited from owning his own. Tapie’s wife, Michelle, also leaves him when the affair comes to light.
From here, new business acquisitions make Tapie a wealthy and largely disliked man until his own TV show attracts the attention of France’s president, and Tapie, now the owner of Adidas, becomes the Minister of Urban Affairs.
He lasts two months in the position before being forced to resign in the midst of a scandal due to an old associate, Charles Coupant, suing him. After selling Adidas Tapie is able to settle the case out of court, but it forces him to rebuild once again, turning his attention to Olympique de Marseille winning the Champion’s League, thus assuring him the position of Marseille’s mayor.
Class Act Season 1 Ending Explained
How does Bernard Tapie become mayor?
As Bernard is willing to do anything he can to secure this position, he asks the team’s general manager Jean-Pierre Bernès to fix a match. Olympique de Marseille do indeed win the Champion’s League, but one of the aggrieved bribed players, Jacques Glassmann, lodges a complaint against Bernes and subsequently takes legal action against him.
Despite assurances that Olympique de Marseille will attempt to discredit Glassmann if his legal case is not successful, he nonetheless proceeds.
Prosecutor Éric de Montgolfier uncovers 250,000 francs in the garden of a relative of Christophe Robert, another bribed player, corroborating Glassman’s accusations.
He keeps this smoking gun to himself, however, and allows Tapie to incriminate himself by making up stories to prove Bernes’ innocence and thus get himself off the hook. However, Montgolfier is well aware of his intentions and forces him into a corner. He insists that Tapie confesses in exchange for a more lenient sentence or be forced to corrupt his public image – one of success against the odds – by being seen being dragged off to prison.
Was Bernard Tapie found guilty?
Bernard is found guilty and sent to prison for a mere eight months after a months-long trial. In a strange way, though, he considers this a win. Everyone in France knows the name Bernard Tapie, which is what he intended in the first place.
Now, he’s ready to leave business, politics, and TV behind to be with his family, his mission finally accomplished.
You can stream Class Act Season 1 Episode 7 exclusively on Netflix. Do you have any thoughts on the ending of Class Act Season 1? Let us know in the comments.
