Maigret Season 2 Episode 1 Review: Bomb Threats And Trauma…But No Murder?

On Maigret Season 2 Episode 1-The Hanged Man- Part 1”, an office celebration is cut short by an incident that forces Maigret to witness a young woman’s suicide.

We open on Jules’s birthday, which is quickly interrupted by a bomb threat. He winds up following a young woman who kills herself with a gun. The backpack she’s carrying isn’t a bomb but does contain a blood-covered man’s suit.

He’s left wracked with guilt from Adeline lashing out at him for taking the pack away. As her mother arrives to identify her, explaining they’d had little contact for years, he gets drunk in a bar, but also follows up on a lead with the bartender.

The team begins to tie the bomb threat to environmental groups Adeline may have been involved with. A search of her apartment uncovers a few clues—and piles and piles of cash. Meanwhile, Jules comes under scrutiny for his actions.

Eyes turn to a woman who both studied at Adeline’s university and worked at the bank her groups may have targeted. As Maigret follows leads late into the night,  Cavre once again seems particularly determined to assign some fault to him.

Jules finally returns home to a supportive Louise only to immediately run out with more evidence against the bartender, who knew Adeline far more than he says. After the interrogation, Maigret walks outside and is shot in the street.  

The promos for this season leaned heavily into Maigret being the target of internal investigations, though they did make them seem a bit more rational, focusing on extreme methods. Instead, we get Cavre and his old, rather personal, grudge. 

Having put up with that man for a season already, I hope we don’t get too bogged down in him interfering and implying that Maigret’s team doesn’t get the job done. By now, it’s more than clear that they’ve very good at what they do.

I do hope we give our main character more time to process his pain and guilt. Louise does what she can in approximately 90 seconds of screentime, but no matter Adeline’s reasons, seeing her shoot herself in the head is going to stick with him.

And then, of course, we’re going to have to handle his own shooting. We’re only one episode into season two, so there’s literally no chance they’ll kill off our main character for dramatic effect. But how will his emotions affect his recovery?

However brief they are, I do enjoy the moments Jules and Louise get together and hope we’ll get to her more of him leaning on her over the rest of the season. I’d also like to see more supporting characters get a chance to step into the spotlight.

As for the case, since we don’t yet have a murder on our hands, I have no idea where it could go. That means odds are good we’ll shortly have another dead body on our hands, so leave your theories and predictions for this season in the comments!

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Maigret airs Sundays as 9/8C on PBS. 

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