'Balthazar' Episode 1: Diligent forensic expert Raphaël solves heinous crimes with stuck-up cop Bach
Acorn TV’s French crime-thriller 'Balthazar' had its premiere in the US today (November 25). Starring Tomer Sisley as Raphaël Balthazar and Helen De Fourgerolles as Bach, the series dealing with crime investigation in Paris was a hit when it first released in the UK in 2018. Fro/m the looks of it, seems like ‘Balthazar’ has managed to leave a significant impression on the viewers in the US as well.
Raphaël Balthazar is a Legal Expert Forensic Pathologist, known in his circle of work for his proficiency and precision in solving some of the most nerve-wracking crime cases. He comes across as a charming young man, whose tremendous charisma emanates strange but soothing aura surrounding him.
But the series takes us through the hidden aspects of his persona in the first episode, which forms a sort of complexity, revolving his character from the audience’s standpoint. Apart from poking corpses during his work hours, the protagonist binge drinks every night and screws girls before returning home. We are exposed to his dark side when we see him regularly converse with the love of his life, who has been dead for over 12 years.
Chief Inspector Bach (Helen De Fourgerolles) is new to the city, appointed to work with the Raphaël Balthazar. She is a hard-working female cop, who doesn’t let her liabilities come in the way of her professional ethics, although the first episode establishes the strained relationship between her and her two children.
In the first installment of the show, Raphaël and Bach together investigate a double murder in the city, which involved the killing of a Public Prosecutor at the Paris Criminal Court and his pregnant wife Stephanie. While the principal pieces of evidence make the victims’ 15-year-old neighbor look like the accused, Rafael is convinced that there’s more to the story and the young boy Selim (who had an affair with Stephanie) isn’t involved in the murder. But, by now, the investigators are aware of Selim’s infidelity and his plausible involvement in getting Stephanie pregnant, who was 14 weeks into her pregnancy at the time of the murder.
Guided by his sharp instincts, Raphaël dwells deep in the investigation and finds out through the only survivor of the heinous crime, Stephanie’s 6-year-old daughter, that her mother and father were killed by Selim’s mother. Later, when caught red-handed during her failed attempt to kill the little girl at the hospital, the accused confesses to the killing saying she did it to protect her son, who would lose out on the opportunity to study in Boston if Stephanie mothered his child. The episode concludes with the closing of the case and showcases the growing proximity between Rafael and Bach as they set out on a new investigation, which was preceded by a few moments of light-hearted conversation, for the first time since we were introduced to the polar characters.
Tomer Sisley’s character in ‘Balthazar’ for several reasons seems to have drawn inspiration from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation Sherlock Holmes. As the story progresses and you learn in-depth about Raphaël Balthazar, you can’t help but draw a comparison between him and the master of deduction and degradation Holmes.
However, though, there is one feature that distinguishes the two characters from each other. While Sherlock Holes refrained from romantic relationships, Raphaël Balthazar holds the record for sleeping with half the female Paris cops!
'Balthazar' is available to watch on Acorn TV.