Created by Graham Hurley
Starring Jean-Marc Barr, Bruno Solo, Mata Gabin
Streaming on MHz Choice starting July 27

by Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

Season Two of the French TV series Blood on the Docks, based on the Graham Hurley “Faraday” novels, is available July 27 for streaming on MHz Choice. (Viewers do not need to have seen Season One, which is also available, to enjoy this set of four 85-minute feature-length mysteries). The series—Season 2 was made in 2013 and 2014—is set in Le Havre, where Richard Faraday (Jean-Marc Barr) and Paul Winckler (Bruno Soto) are captains who work alongside lieutenant Julie Fabian (Lisa Manili) and techie Bill Gates (Guillaume Viry), all of whom work under Commissioner Lucie Dardenne (Mata Gabin).

The actors are appealing for their gruff styles and jaded expressions. Faraday is a smart, silent, and honest cop who sizes up his suspects often with little more than a withering glance. In contrast, Winckler is more impulsive, doing whatever is necessary (even if it borders on illegal) to get the job done. Barr and Soto have an endearing rapport even when they get on each other’s nerves, as they are wont to do. 

The crimes are intriguing, more puzzles for the cops (and viewers) to solve than taut, suspenseful mysteries. The series is an efficient police procedural. Director Edwin Bailey, who filmed all the episodes, employs a cool tone—cue the moody score—that makes each stand-alone film satisfying. 

Episode One of Season Two is titled “The Night of the Shipwreck,” and it begins with the discovery of a skeleton on a ship that sank four years ago. The body turns out to be Martin (Léaum Tritz), who was the ship’s cabin boy. Faraday and Winckler track down Martin’s family and his known associates. What they discover leads them to several suspects, including Bernard (Jean-Pierre Becker) and Andrei (Sébastian Vandenberghe), who were part of the ship’s crew, as well as Cuvelier (Stéphane Betit) an ex-con. As the cops investigate, a second man turns up dead, thickening the plot. Faraday and Winckler soon figure out if and how the two murders are connected. (This is a theme of the series).

Blood on the Docks trades in shady behavior, and “The Night of the Shipwreck” is gritty and atmospheric. The economic despair faced by the shipping company, a local bartender, and even some of the characters, feels authentic. Moreover, the story is absorbing as it addresses issues of bullying and loyalty as well as themes of silence and complicity. There is also a subplot involving Faraday’s deaf son, Lulu (Jean-Marie Hall), that suggests he might be a good cop himself.

Episode Two, “Blow by Blow,” is based (loosely) on Graham Hurley’s novel, The Take. Lea Chaumont (Emeline Fremont) is an anesthesiologist who is murdered, but her death is made to look like a suicide. She worked closely with Doctor Ricoeur (Grégoire Oestermann), a plastic surgeon, whose house provides another crime scene. Is a disgruntled patient out for revenge? It appears that nothing is quite what it seems. Looking into Lea’s homicide, the cops hone in on Shirley (Hélène Kuhn), the daughter of a patient who died during an operation that Lea and Dr. Ricoeur were performing. 

Meanwhile, Winckler tries to connect with his childhood friend (a recurring character in the series), Bazza Swaty (Emmanuel Salinger), a mobster whose wife Hanna (Stéphanie Lanier) was being treated by Dr. Ricouer. How these stories dovetail and how the deviate—a subplot involves a surprising encounter for Fabian—make the episode engrossing. 

However, “Blow by Blow” shoehorns arguably too many characters and storylines into its running time. The inclusion of a photography project involving Lulu, which is used to counterbalance the pain Dr. Rincouer’s bad plastic surgery has caused his patients, is meaningful, but slight. Also underdeveloped is a jealous love triangle angle featuring Lea, her girlfriend Fumeï Amiko (Mitchiko Fussandier), and Shirley. Likewise, a relationship between Faraday and Firmine (Gaëlle Voukissa), a nurse at Dr. Ricouer’s clinic, feels mostly superfluous. 

Nevertheless, the action remains nimble as various forms of justice are served. 

The third episode in the series, “A Death So Beautiful,” based on Hurley’s novel No Lovelier Death, from 2014, is arguably the best in Season Two. Bazza Swaty is being accused of murder after waking up to find a dead body in his pool. The corpse is Rachel Berger (Sophie De Furst), a swimmer who quit competing, much to the chagrin of her boyfriend, Matthieu (Tabaré). Rachel has since taken up with the dubious Gabriel Lavaud (Thomas de Montgofier). Commissioner Dardenne insists Faraday investigate as she wants Bazza behind bars and knows Winckler will do what he can to keep his friend out of jail. 

Meanwhile, Dardenne has Winckler and Fabien investigate a noise complaint that turns out to be teenagers destroying the home of a judge. Fabien catch as one young woman, Jax (Isabelle Montoya), stealing papers, which leads to a second criminal investigation. 

“A Death So Beautiful” features characters rebelling in the face of justice, from Bazza and Winckler to Jax and others. Even Lulu refuses to aid his father when Winckler recognizes a suspect in from one of Lulu’s photos. The idea of honor among thieves—or a code among cops —is examined in this episode which features characters behaving badly, because of amour fou, drugs, or other reasons. The cynicism on display may be why this film is so strong. 

The last episode, “Chapel of Rest”, has the cops investigating two more simultaneous crimes—one the murder of Father Jerome (Dan Kostenbaum), a local priest, and the other a young Malian woman named Kandé (Kelyaah Djessi Moukete). If and how these crimes are connected is determined by tracking clues which range from a tattoo that has been removed, to the alibi given by Marco (Mathéo Capelli), a cop, to the whereabouts of Thomas (Jules Pelissier), a criminal who was an intern for Father Jerome at the time of his death. 

“Chapel of Rest” tackles issues of addiction and redemption, human trafficking and slavery as the knotty plot unfolds. Again, Winckler bends the law by using his connection with Bazza Swaty, and Lulu and his photography assist in some of the crime solving. All the characters and storylines make this the meatiest entry in the series, and it is quite compelling even if the denouement feels rushed. (As with all the episodes, the confessions of guilt happen rather suddenly, even when it is clear “whodunnit.”)

Ultimately, Blood on the Docks is enjoyable because it doesn’t demand much of the viewers. That’s a compliment, not a complaint; there is a relaxed vibe to these films that makes them as comfortable as they are familiar. Bring on Season Three!