At the start of the episode, Genevieve (Jessica Raine) looks out the window. She wishes she had a garden like that. She talks about the smell of freshly cut grass and how the grass is attempting to heal itself. She attempts to communicate with Lucas. She wants to know what he is thinking. Lucas is paralyzed and cannot communicate with her. She says she is so sorry. The nurse arrives and takes Lucas away a short time later. After the intro, Edward Stratton (Tom Hollander) stalks the streets. Natalie Rose invites him inside. He tells her she looks like someone. We see that Edward is telling Julien (Tcheky Karyo) about his first encounter with Natalie (Anna Prochniak).
He says it was like staring at a phantom. He speaks about his daughter Lucy. Lucy died five years ago. She worked in the red light district and killed herself. Edward says he didn’t deal with it. He saw Natalie and thought it was Lucy. He tells Julien about their odd relationship. Julien says it isn’t pathetic. It is human. One night, Natalie told Edward she overheard the Brigada Serbilu talking. Natalie heard them talking about a million euros in cash. Natalie knew where it would be. He begins talking about Natalie’s 15-year-old sister Cristina. They took her and trafficked her. Edward agreed to get the money. He managed to steal the money without getting caught. Edward explains that Natalie wanted the money as leverage.
Natalie was going to give the money back in return for her sister. He insists he did it for Lucy. Edward says he gave all of the money for Natalie. He thought that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t. Constantin (Alec Secareanu) tracks him down. He says there was a camera in the van. Edward promises to get the money back. Constantin threatens to remove his father’s head and send it to him. He also threatens Clare (Clare Calbraith). Edward eventually goes to Natalie and asks for the money back. Natalie wouldn’t give it back. 24 hours later, Edward found his father’s head on his kitchen table. He thought about calling the police, but didn’t. He hid the head in his basement. Julien asks him more about being hit in the head with the baseball bat.
Edward went to the police in hopes of tracking down Natalie. Edward tells him that neither of them are safe. Constantin called and said he met Julien’s wife. Julien tries to call Celia (Anastasia Hille). He gets his daughter instead. Julien tells her not to go home. Julien calls police and rushes home. He makes it home and heads inside. He finds the place wrecked. The officer tells him that the place was empty when she arrived. Julien receives a call. Meanwhile, Herman drives furiously with the boy in the back. The car breaks down. A man stops and offers help. The man offers to tow the vehicle. The vehicle it taken to a nearby garage. The man is told the garage is closed until the morning. Herman takes some of the money and buys a new car. It appears that he is being watched from a distance.
Julien meets up with Celia at the laundromat. She tells him all about the man. Julien knows who it is right away. Julien meets with Martha (Barbara Sarafian) and Niels (Brois Van Severen). He learns a little more about Constantin. Julien is told he needs to get his family back to France. Julien isn’t willing to do that. He wants to make arrangements for protection on his own. Edward arrives outside. Julien wants Edward to give evidence against Constantin. Edward is convinced that the gang will just send someone else. He is only interested in getting the money back. Edward apologizes for dragging Julien into it. Julien gives them the keys and tells them to search Edward’s basement for his father’s remains. The head is recovered a short time later. During the search, Niels gets into his vehicle and drives away. Julien and his family are moved to a safe house.
Jean promises to look over them. When the baby cries, Julien’s daughter won’t let him comfort it. Celia tells him to stop feeling sorry for himself. She wants him to find the money and return it. Afterwards, Julien contacts Edward. He believes he can find out how to find the money. Kim Vogel (Talisa Garcia) shops for flowers. Constantin stalks her. He harasses her. They speak about Kim’s old days as Dragomir. Kim promises she didn’t take the money. Genevieve heads out on her bike. We see that she has been researching Constantin. Her wall is covered with information about him. She goes to Europol. She learns from a colleague that a warrant has been put out on Constantin. Genevieve says to void it. Julien and Edward seek out Lina. They want to speak with her about Natalie. He finds the bat Edward was hit with. Edward promises he is not angry. Lina says she is being followed everywhere she goes. Lina mentions Natalie’s son Matty.
Matty lives with is father, who is abusive and a drug addict. The man’s name is Thijs de Boer. Lina says that the boy was in the hospital for an operation on his spleen. Natalie had made an arrangement to ensure her boy would have a better life away from his father, if she couldn’t save her sister. Afterwards, Edward admits he knew nothing about Natalie. Julien decides to contact the father. He gets help from Martha. She asks Julien about Edward. She just got off of the phone with Europol. Edward needs to come into the station. They meet with Martha before being introduced to Genevieve Taylor. She explains she is a member of a taskforce hoping to build a case against the Serbilu. They want Julien to stay out of their way. Genevieve pulls Edward aside to talk to him.
Martha and Julien argue about his decision to get the money and return it. Julien meets with Niels outside. They travel together in hopes of finding Thijs. Edward learns that the arrest warrant has been canceled. Genevieve wants better evidence. She wants Edward to wear a wire. Edward doesn’t want to cooperate. Julien and Niels continue their search for Thijs. Neil explains he met with Thijs at the hospital yesterday and didn’t know the boy was Natalie’s. They check the hospital. The boy is gone. A nurse helps. There is no record of the boy leaving. Niels requests to see the CCTV footage. Some of the footage is missing. They believe someone helped Thijs take Matty out of the hospital. Herman returns home with Matty. He hooks him up to an IV. Another man joins him. They agree that the boy will be fine, but would be better off in the hospital.
Herman is warned that he could get into big trouble. Herman says both of them could. He pays the man off. Niels offers to dig more into Thijs. Niels and Julien speak about hating hospitals. Niels explains he ran towards the operation. He nearly died when something went wrong. He sword he would live each day to the fullest after his diagnosis. Julien pays close attention to their cups. Julien returns home. His daughter is still upset with him. He tells Celia he hasn’t had any luck. Celia believes there is something he is keeping secret. Julien returns to the hospital and does some investigating. Julien learns that Anna Walke has not turned up. Julien tracks her down. He finds that she has bought a new television. He accuses her of manipulating the CCTV. She says Thijs didn’t take Matty. Meanwhile, the boy wakes up and asks where his dad is. Herman tries to tell the boy about his mom, but can’t.
Herman says Natalie wanted Matty to live with him. Herman heads outside to his vehicle. The window has been smashed. The money is gone. Julien gets a call about the results for the DNA tests on the cups. Julien confronts Martha. He asks her why she didn’t tell him Niels was his son. Edward tries to get in touch with Julien. He is stopped by Constantin. He is told to get into the vehicle as the episode ends.
Baptiste Review
I have enjoyed the first three episodes of Baptiste. I am not sure it is as good as The Missing, but it is a pretty good spinoff. The only problem is that I am afraid the show doesn’t know what it wants to be. We started off searching for a missing woman. Now, we’re tracking down a bag of money and we’ve got a taskforce going after a big gang. The direction is definitely a little odd. Still, I don’t mind it. The acting is pretty good and I have learned to tolerate the shaky camera.
I will definitely finish the season. This episode scores a 7.5 out of 10. Catch up with previous recaps of Baptiste now!
