PBS’s Maigret Season 2, Episode 2 “Hanged Man: Part 1” picks up with Chief Inspector Jules Maigret (Benjamin Wainwright) recovering in the hospital after his violent encounter with Claude Van Damme (CJ Beckford). Despite suffering cracked ribs and a concussion, Maigret isn’t ready to abandon the investigation into Adeline Jeunet’s (Dora Sztarenki) death, even as his superiors order him to drop the case. Warning: Spoilers ahead for Maigret Season 2, Episode 2.
A decade-old secret connects the suspects
The investigation takes a strange turn when blood, bone fragments, and brain tissue found on a mysterious suit suggest another murder. Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Andrea Lucas (Kerrie Hayes) discovers that Adeline, Claude, Genevieve Belloir (Phoebe Sparrow) and a man named Emile Klein were all friends at university a decade earlier. Klein reportedly hanged himself after struggling with addiction and losing his place in the group. But Maigret suspects there’s more to the story, especially when he learns that someone has been blackmailing the former friends for years.
With Prosecutor Mathilde Kernavel (Nathalie Armin) delivering orders from Guichard (Nathaniel Parker) to shut down the investigation, Maigret moves his operation to his apartment, where Lucas, Inspector Berthe Janvier (Shaniqua Okwok) and Detective Karim LaPointe (Reda Elazouar) continue digging. Their big break comes when a recovered video from Adeline’s phone shows the group breaking into a government testing facility in 2016, the same night a security guard named Louis was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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A return to the crime scene exposes the truth
Maigret brings Claude and Genevieve back to the abandoned facility, where the truth finally comes out. The group had planned to break into an animal testing lab, but things went sideways when Louis demanded more money than they had agreed to pay him. A confrontation with a high Klein ended with the guard being shot. However, the gunshot wasn’t fatal. Claude, who was studying medicine at the time, admits that rather than trying to save the wounded man, he suffocated him while Adeline wanted to call for help.
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The group covered up the killing, but their guilt eventually destroyed them. Klein later took his own life, and Adeline spent years making the others pay through blackmail. Rather than arresting Claude and Genevieve, Maigret decides to let them go, believing they’ve already sentenced themselves to a lifetime of guilt.
That decision doesn’t sit well with Inspector Justin Cavre (Rob Kazinsky), who confronts Maigret over taking the law into his own hands. Maigret reminds him that, officially, there isn’t even an investigation anymore. It’s a move that could come back to haunt him, especially as Guichard begins questioning the loyalty Maigret inspires in his detectives and considers breaking up his team.
A heartbreaking message brings closure
The episode ends on a more personal note. A lab technician recovers one final video from Adeline’s phone, a heartbreaking birthday message to her mother. Maigret shares it with the grieving woman, finally giving her a measure of closure. Back home, Madame Louise Maigret (Stefanie Martini) reassures her husband that he did the right thing. The couple also reveals their own private struggles: Louise previously lost her baby, but they’re hoping to try again.
While Maigret may have solved the mystery, his decision to let two people responsible for a man’s death walk free could create an even bigger problem for him and his team.
PBS Masterpiece: Maigret, Sunday, 9/8c, PBS and the PBS app