Lupin Part 3 episode 3 opened with a guy sneaking into a gangster’s property and stealing his car. In the meantime, the gangster, named Cisco, was playing cards with his friend, whose winning streak irritated him. He pulled out a pack of cards and asked the guy to draw a card, saying that he had to draw an ace; otherwise, he’d be a dead man. This was Cisco’s way of judging people to see if they could be trusted or not. If not, he would simply pull the trigger and kill them. Unfortunately, his friend didn’t draw an ace and was shot to death by Cisco. However, some of Cisco’s men spotted their car being stolen and chased it, but the thief managed to evade their capture and hand the car over to Assane.

Assane, taking on a whole new disguise, brought the car back to Cisco to win his trust, but Cisco tried to judge his fate by asking him to draw a card. The mastermind thief, Assane, drew an ace by tricking them. In the previous episode of Lupin, we saw Assane’s mother, Mariama, ask him to leave the black pearl at a church, which Assane did knowing that his mother’s life was at stake. But the kidnapper continuously demanded that Assane steal one after another expensive thing by threatening him with his mother’s death. Assane’s next job was to bring the kidnapper the famous Manet painting, Chez Tortoni, which had been stolen by Cisco. Until Assane finds the culprit behind his mother’s kidnapping, he must follow the kidnapper’s instructions to keep his mother alive. Assane consulted with Benjamin on the matter, who had doubts if Mariama was kidnapped or if someone was faking her voice to dupe Assane, but he firmly believed it to be his mother.

Spoilers Ahead

How Did Assane Steal The Chez Tortoni Painting?

After Cisco spared his life, Assane was hired by his gang as a driver. As he left Cisco’s room, he slyly sneaked into another room and started looking for the painting, which he ultimately found in Cisco’s mother’s bedroom. Cisco’s mother was a bedridden patient who asked Assane his name. Assane said his name was Delangle, another name he took from the Lupin stories. Cisco’s henchman caught Assane in her room and asked him to get out, but Assane cleverly stole his phone. He made a call from that phone and later returned it to the guy.

The guy started having doubts about Assane and told Cisco that Assane might be a snitch. Cisco once again pulled out the cards to play the “kill or spare game” with Assane. But Assane turned the tables. He manipulated Cisco’s trust in his men, saying that the henchman might be a snitch, as he had already witnessed him calling the police. Cisco snatched the henchman’s phone to check if he had called the police. As he dialed an unknown number, it connected to Benjamin, who introduced himself as a lieutenant. Cisco spared Assane and pointed the gun at his henchman, asking him to draw a card, but thanks to Assane, who managed to switch out the pack of cards, the guy drew an ace and saved himself from Cisco.

Claire came to talk to Benjamin, asking him to look her in the eyes and speak the truth if Assane was dead, but Benjamin said nothing. He was also interrogated by Lt. Sofia, but she couldn’t find anything on him. Meanwhile, Cisco planned a heist the next day and asked Assane to help them. They planned to attack an armored car carrying ten million euros. But in between, Assane made a plan of stealing the painting and loading it in a safety locker inside Cisco’s car. After the successful heist, Assane was once again confronted by Cisco with the card game, but this time, as soon as Assane drew a card, the packet emitted a gas, distracting Cisco. Assane knocked him and his men out, and, stealing the painting, he fled the scene in the blink of an eye. Police arrived at the spot and arrested Cisco for the robbery.

Simultaneously, we went back to Assane’s childhood, when he was introduced to a boxing coach named Keller, who taught some of the boys including Bruno how to fight. Assane was inspired and drawn to boxing and found it was the place he belonged. However, Assane and Bruno found it hard to pay the monthly fees, so young Assane cleverly managed to get inside of a wealthy man’s house, and stole an antique piece from there. His stealthy technique impressed Keller, who began to admire Assane more than he ever did to Bruno, causing Bruno to get jealous of his friend. 

Who Was Alex?

Meanwhile, Guedira, who was certain that Assane didn’t die, consulted Fleur on the matter. She turned out to be another huge fan of Lupin and wanted to dig deeper to find out if Assane was alive. On the other hand, Raoul, who had read almost all the books on Lupin, told his mother that he believed his father was alive. Claire told him that fiction differed from reality, but deep inside her heart, she found herself questioning reality too. However, to distract her mind from Assane and all the things going on around her, she tried to move on by pursuing a relationship. As she dropped her son off for his basketball practice, she met Raoul’s coach, Alex, a gentle and well-spoken guy who impressed her at first sight. But Claire couldn’t even get the slightest hint that Alex was actually Assane with prosthetic make-up. She started dropping her son off at the practice as an excuse of meeting with Alex, and Assane found solace in seeing his family moving on. But one day, Fleur visited Claire in front of Alex and Raoul. Claire didn’t want to talk to Fleur, but she kept on insisting that they should discuss the death of Assane and the possibility that he might be alive. Fleur’s conversation with Claire made Assane more alert.

Did Assane Find His Mother?

Finally, with the painting in his possession, Assane went to meet a guy named Ferdinand, who worked for the kidnapper of Mariama. Ferdinand demanded the painting, while Assane demanded to talk to his mother first. Ferdinand granted his wish but took the painting from Assane and left without promising to release Mariama. Assane realized that with Mariama in their possession, the kidnappers would continue to blackmail him, forcing him to steal things, which Assane did not want to do at all. So, to get himself and his mother out of the situation, he made another plan. He told Benjamin that he placed a tracker inside the painting to track the location of the kidnapper. Benjamin asked him not to go alone because it seemed very risky, but Assane didn’t back off from his mission to save his mother. In the upcoming episodes, let’s see if Assane can protect his mother’s life from the kidnappers.