Everybody clearly had a wonderful time making this episode of Carême, in which they either very politely make vicious threats to each other, or create a colossal mess. Best of all, nudity! Sorry, this is France: nudité. One bottom belongs to a male extra who has evidently just participated in a threesome with Germaine de Staël (Juliette Armanet) and her boyfriend, and the other belongs to Antonin Carême (Benjamin Voisin), who pauses sex with the fetching Henriette (Lyna Khoudri) to read a review of his cooking brought by the charming Agathe (Alice da Luz). As Antonin whines about the feedback, the women have a great time simultaneously telling him he deserves the write-up he got. But under all the fun, Carême, appreciates the courage it takes to speak truth to power.
And yet the critic, who glories in the surname Grimod de la Reynière (Stéphane Varupenne having a whale of a time), an irritating pet monkey AND a prosthetic arm made out of metal, has a real gift for snap judgements. [The real-life critic on whom this character is based enjoyed the first name Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent; he must have been despised at his local Starbucks.] The meal Grimod de la Reynière is reviewing is being hosted by de Staël, with Talleyrand (Jérémie Renier) lending Antonin’s talents as an excuse to figure out if de Staël is responsible for the anti-Napoleonic pamphlets causing a stir in the city. These powerful people treat the deaths and riots they are creating as bad manners, even when Henriette and Catherine (Sigrid Bouaziz) are attacked by an angry mob, saved only when Fouché’s (Micha Lescot) policemen show up and start shooting. This violence gives Fouché the excuse to crash the party, firstly so his armed cops can secure the perimeter, but mostly so he can spoil everybody’s fun. His vicious reputation is laid bare even though Mr. Lescot is playing Fouché primarily as an oily sleazebag who enjoys terrifying everyone he meets. However, he is answerable only to Bonaparte and not even Talleyrand is comfortable confronting him directly. He really is someone to fear, as the final plot twist makes clear.
Regardless of Fouché’s manipulations, no one is their best selves in this episode. De Staël’s attempt at a secret code with Antonin is as subtle as a kid telling Santa what he wants for Christmas, and Talleyrand’s smart mouth allows Fouché a great deal of rope to hang some other people with. When Antonin does some sneaking around with the finesse of a toddler, he encounters Talleyrand’s son Charles (Pablo Cobo) doing something very naughty indeed. Antonin handles this as boldly as we’ve already come to expect: making eye contact with Charles as he peeps around the corner, and later sneering openly when Charles gets big mad about it. And while Antonin is absent from the kitchen, Agathe gets so stressed she snaps at the crowd when she calls them in for their supper. She handles this misstep by tracking down Antonin and yelling at him for her mistake. He laughs and reassures her, even going so far as to kiss her on the neck. Gosh! Professional boundaries are blurring all over the place.
Well, considering that Agathe is comfortable barging in on her boss having sex, Henriette is comfortable with the sex being interrupted, and Antonin is comfortable waltzing around in front of his assistant with only a cloth covering his modesty, it’s safe to assume the French are operating on a hotter frequency here. But this is a show for all the senses, especially in the sequence where Antonin invents the vol-au-vent, slicing artichoke hearts and pouring sauces with a calm confidence that draws all the kitchen staff around to watch. Even Fouché has to admit the result is divine. But there are new traps springing up around our cutie hero all the time, and his ego really is writing checks his body can’t cash. It is so much fun.
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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