Lupin review: a steal of a season

Assane Diop is back. In the fourth season of Lupin, Netflix’s suave French gentleman thief returns with his trademark disguises, audacious heists, and an uncanny ability to stay several steps ahead of everyone else. Played with irresistible charm by Omar Sy, Assane remains the sort of criminal who makes you root for the theft and admire the thief. Four years after surrendering to the police, Assane is preparing to leave prison and reclaim a quieter life with his family. But retirement, it turns out, is not on the cards. A series of spectacular museum robberies, orchestrated in the name of Lupin, implicates him in crimes he could not possibly have committed from behind bars. With his escape, unmask the impostor and reclaim ownership of his own legend. It is a delicious twist: the master of disguise finds himself trapped by a deception he did not create.The planning, the misdirection and the last-minute reversals are all part of the fun. Even when you suspect Assane has anticipated every possible complication, the show finds another card up its impeccably Yet the real intrigue in this season lies beyond the stolen jewels. Assane’s relationship with his son Raoul becomes increasingly complicated, lending emotional weight to a story that might otherwise be content with elaborate escapes and expensive accessories. Then there is Adele Kapoor, Assane’s newly discovered daughter, played by Laïka Blanc-Francard. Her arrival adds another intriguing dimension to his already complicated family life, while the revelations surrounding her identity bring fresh complicationsOf course, Lupin occasionally confuses audacity with invincibility. Some sequences are so elaborately choreographed that they require an almost supernatural suspension of disbelief. Convenient coincidences, improbable escapes and dramatic revelations sometimes pile up faster than Assane can change disguises. Certain emotional confrontations, too, feel over-dramatised, with the show occasionally reaching for operatic intensity when a quieter moment might have done the job. The plotting can become needlessly convoluted, as though every simple problem must involve three disguises, two betrayals and a helicopter.But these excesses are part of the show’s slightly outrageous charm. Lupin has never aspired to the grim realism of a conventional crime thriller. It is a stylish game of cat and mouse. Its Parisian locations, elegant visual language, and nimble plotting ensure that even its more implausible turns remain entertaining. More importantly, the series understands that its greatest asset is not the spectacle but Assane himself

The season is at its best when it lets Assane do what he does best: think on his feet. The prison escape is a wonderfully executed exercise in ingenuity, while the elaborate museum robberies demonstrate the show’s enduring flair for turning apparently impossible situations into thrilling puzzles. A particularly spectacular sequence involving a ruby and the Eiffel Tower delivers the kind of visual extravagance that makes Lupin such compulsive viewing.