3 out of 5

Created by: Mathieu Missoffe

covers seasons 1 and 2

The signs of Black Spot becoming an average show are apparent in its first season – and not apparent in retrospect of its (for now) full, two season run, but obvious at the time of airing – but the atmosphere and tricky tone it mostly maintains, and its under-utilized X-Files-esque “is it real or isn’t it?” framing are otherwise so good at the outset that had this thing only existed for a single season, I’d consider it a much better show. I’m ultimately thankful we did get two seasons, as there’s evidence of how some of its lesser elements could’ve been smoothed out (and / or it’s nice to confirm they weren’t needed), but all the same: the average bits come to the fore, and the show struggles to get back to its tightrope balance of procedural / dark comedy / horror.

Black Spot starts with a fakeout that perfectly captures its initial sense of tension cut with a smirk: the new DA to isolated, forest-surrounded town Villefranche, Frank (Laurent Capelluto), pulls his car over during his first, befuddled attempt at finding the location, only to be struck down and rendered immobile by a mysterious force. …Which turns out to be an extreme allergic reaction, saving himself, at the last moment, via EpiPen. Until this reveal, directors Thierry Poiraud and Julien Despaux maintain a tone of unknown dread, cast over with fitting dreary (but rich) cinematography, capturing the rainy and muddy blues and browns of the town, and scored with care by Thomas Couzinier and Frédéric Kooshmanian, their carefully balanced music a highlight throughout; the mundane reality – and Capelluto’s quirky way of presenting his character’s predicament – will be ongoing touchpoints. But though that vaguely Twin Peaks-y weirdness and the aforementioned X-Files vibe inform that approach, the grisliness of the murders Villenfranche’s gendarme major Laurène (Suliane Brahim) and her main deputy (in US cop terms) “Nounours” (Hubert Delattre) look into, episode by episode, are a unique counterpoint. There’s a Criminal Minds weightiness to the investigations, leant a gritty undertone thanks to the everpresent forest – which is rather believed to have a mind of its own by the townsfolk. And that leads to Black Spot’s constant back and forth: the hints that something in the forest might be causing the various deaths, investigated with flexible logic – but erring towards the factual – by our gendarmes. The show constantly walks right up to the line, and then solves the cases satisfyingly, though without exactly walking back from the line. We edge ever closer towards it.

If you’re thinking that sets us up for some disappointing crossing of said line, yes and no. It’s more that the show gets confused about which lines we’re nearing, and when they get blurry, the tension dissipates; there are answers, but it feels like we’ve gotten away from (the admittedly vague) questions we were initially asking.

Keeping things on route in season 1 is an ongoing mystery of a missing girl, which is tied to the forest, allowing the larger what’s real / what’s not debate to take a backseat. In part, this is what unsettles season 2 – bringing this to the fore – but it’s also because the show latches on to its least interesting aspects: relationship drama.

Laurène has a mixed up past with town mayor Bertrand (Samuel Jouy); Frank gets involved in a ridiculous frienemy relationship in season 2; Nounours has a confusing non-starter relationship with a local fireman. None of these are necessary. While I understand and would even ask for aspects of these things to be inserted into a show as character building, Black Spot’s handling of these storylines only ever serves to distract, and in Laurène and Frank’s cases, offers up some frustrating ignorance, where men with horrible behaviors are kind of brushed aside, and Laurène’s generally destructive personality is never really confronted – as with most of the non-procedural stuff, it’s all just silly, faux plot roadblocks. And those roadblocks get bigger as we go along, leaving larger and larger logic gaps.

The discussion online often asks if this show is worth watching, due to the contortions it takes to get to its conclusions. In short: yes. Despite it losing a lot of mystery and tension nearly as soon as season 2 starts, we still get that core blend of interesting cases and the X-Files taint of the supernatural, balanced in a truly unique way. And the ending episode gets a little meanspirited (and silly), but I credit the writers with giving us an ending.