What happens throughout this episode is, in the very best sense of the word, adult. Carême’s understanding that people’s motivations and people’s desires do not necessarily reflect their best selves is unknown in American art. But the French are perhaps more capable of acknowledging the gap between their best and true selves, or at least the selves they most try to keep hidden from the world. But when secrets come out, as they always do, there are always consequences. And in French political society, the stakes are both higher than normal and double-edged, making for an absolutely delightful episode of television.
Antonin (Benjamin Voisin) is settling into Talleyrand’s (Jérémie Renier) service, attempting to recruit Agathe (Alice da Luz, who has a wonderful smile) to join him, which seems to have nothing to do with how angry he is with Henriette (Lyna Khoudri) for the secrets she kept. When Henriette begs for Antonin’s help with something that only his knowledge of medicinal herbs can provide, he provides it with a smile, then wastes no time blabbing that information for his own ends. Suddenly the terrifying Parisian chief of police Fouché (Micha Lescot) is sniffing around like a dog on point. In order to amend his mistake Antonin must cook for a party hosted by Talleyrand and Catherine (Sigrid Bouaziz, who does some extremely sensual work in this episode). The best way to throw a great party is to serve the guests food absolutely soaked in alcohol, so everyone will get drunk without even realising. Obviously. This leads to a sequence in the ice store between Talleyrand, Antonin, Josephine (Maud Wyler marvellously expressing a brittle power through body language) and two others. Those two are Josephine’s daughter Hortense (Lily Taieb) and her husband Louis (Arthur Mazet, a great piece of casting), who just happens to be Bonaparte’s brother.
It’s all nasty work, except when it isn’t. The scene where Talleyrand hops fully dressed into Catherine’s milk bath, which she is enjoying in a thin dress, demonstrates how two mutually attracted and compatible adults can work together beautifully while also manipulating each other to their own ends. Mr. Renier is playing Talleyrand as wearing all his power lightly, because he is fully aware of how many allies he truly has, which makes his charm all the more seductive, too. In Talleyrand’s gorgeous, tall-ceilinged kitchens we also meet jaded housekeeper Liliane (Clotilde Mollet) and wide-eyed young chef Noël (Gabriel Donzelli), who so quickly impresses Antonin that he earns a swift promotion. For the party the dessert crew puts together the sugar sculpture of the veiled lady as seen in the opening credits, which the guests at Talleyrand’s party fall all over themselves in enjoying. The orgies happening behind flowered curtains (again with no nudity, but with a sensuality that lasts much longer than its screen time) also seem pretty fun. What an aspirational lifestyle! Except of course they are all there for Talleyrand to assess who can be trusted, and someone – evidently philosopher Germaine de Staël (French singer Juliette Armanet) – goes a little too far. This is okay by Talleyrand, because for sure he will use this information later, in the same way that Antonin is in trouble he doesn’t yet know about.
None of this would be unfurling like this if it wasn’t for Antonin’s colossal self-belief. Mr. Voisin does some absolutely incredible work here in finding just the right note of calm self-assertion that isn’t arrogance, because he can back it up. It’s like watching someone with a superpower, when the superpowers are cooking and (forgive the language) f***ing. It is downright revolutionary how ordinary Antonin’s abilities are, except that his skill at these ordinary abilities has landed him amongst some of the most powerful people in France. By any standards quite an achievement, even if entirely fictional, but it does feel plausible and is above all extremely good television, a feast for the senses in ways which justifies that cliché. And the best thing of all is that while Antonin is running around in the kitchens, he never forgets why he’s here: to get his father Bailly (Vincent Schmitt) out of prison, where’s he’s being tortured for the crime of criticizing Napoleon in public. The pace is fantastic, the stakes are high, and the food is more gorgeous than the actors, who are all smoking hot. If this keeps up Carême will be some tv show.
Carême is now streaming on Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
Learn more about the show, including how to watch, on the official site for the title.
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