Criminal: France – Episode 2 “Caroline” Recap & Review

Murder?

Episode 2 of Criminal France begins with Captain Hagen and Sergeant Matif about to talk to a woman named Caroline, in custody for attempted murder. She also happens to be in charge of the construction of an important skyscraper in Paris.

Hagen gets straight to the point as he sits down and speaks to her, asking if she was worried that the workers would go on strike. It’s then revealed that the victim, an unruly worker named Walid Benaoud, was pushed off the tower. She tells them that she wasn’t anywhere near the scene of the crime but unfortunately she doesn’t have an alibi. She remains calm and tells them she knows they haven’t got any concrete evidence. Hagen then goes on to show her that the security rails were removed, and they found one of her hair clips near the scene. She insists that she’s being set up because some people aren’t happy that she’s in charge.

Hagen asks her more questions about the victim and given the way Caroline responds, they realize that she knew him. This prompts Laeticia to burst into the room, showing Caroline pictures of the victim after he fell to see if they can get a reaction out of her.

After a break, they then decide to change tactics and tell her that Walid is having surgery but they have managed to stop the bleeding. She then admits that they were together but kept it a secret due to her being the one in charge. She starts to explain how they met and became an item but the police don’t believe her story, especially because she often uses the past tense. Hagen asks her if she was upset that Walid complained about the tough working conditions in front of everyone. She replied that she didn’t have any choice but to give more deadlines due to the constructions being severely delayed; her job and everyone’s else’s were hanging in the balance.

Realizing that all her colleagues are not warming up to her, Audrey tells them that it wasn’t her that told the Webber lawyer (from the first episode) that Laeticia was signed off work. Suddenly, Audrey gets a call from the hospital; Walid is dead which spells trouble for the police as they will not get his testimony. However, Hagen then has another theory. Walid used Caroline to manipulate her and that when she realized this, she decided to kill him. She remains silent but Audrey doesn’t think it is an admission of guilt; it could be the realization that Walid may not have loved her.

After realizing that only Walid could have removed the security rails, they deduce that no one pushed him but that he probably fell. Caroline had put all the workers under a lot of pressure and gave them near-impossible goals to achieve which meant he probably didn’t have enough time to worry about safety. Audrey arrives in the room soon after and reveals that Walid is dead but that they won’t go any further with the prosecution.

After Caroline leaves the station, we see more tension between Audrey and Laeticia. The latter defends her behaviour because Olivier’s job was threatened by Caroline.

The second episode of Criminal France was quite an emotional one too, with the twist at the end pretty dramatic and unexpected. While Caroline will not be prosecuted, she will have her conscience to live with and it will be a pretty heavy one to say the least. We also see more development between Audrey and the rest of her team here which helps flesh the show out. This dramatic touch definitely adds more depth and while all three episodes relate to different crimes, it is quite intriguing to follow the stories behind the investigators too. Roll on episode 3!