The Madame Blanc Mysteries - Dec 23, 2025 - "Christmas Special"

Even though this is the Christmas episode, it really doesn't have much to do with Christmas, outside of some decorations in the background. So, who knows why they chose this story for the "Christmas Special".

Jean, Dom, Jeremy and Judith are among a small group invited to the local art museum for a fancy gala, the purpose of which is to woo donations from wealthy patrons. Jean is invited especially for her expertise in the antique world. She would be identifying and authenticating a surprise recent acquisition. If real, this piece would hopefully prove to the patrons the museum's ability to acquire top-notch art. There is a brand new director of the museum who is very eager to show off his ability to run the place.

So, the four make their way over there and marvel at all the beautiful art.

After all the initial introductions and pleasantries, the surprise piece is brought out for Jean to examine.

It is an ornate 18th century chest, supposed to have been owned by Marie Antoinette herself! But...when Jean opens it, they find that it contains a ticking time bomb! What the.....??? As they try to escape, they find that the security guard has been shot and all the doors have been locked...trapping them inside!

The group puzzles over the whys and hows...

Eventually a note is discovered alongside the bomb. It is addressed to Jean, and contains a poem, which possibly when deciphered contains a clue as to how to disarm the bomb. The group spread out, trying to figure it out but have no luck. As time ticks away, each start giving up hope and try to accept imminent death.

But Dom gives the despairing Jeremy and Judith a stern talking to and they jump up and start throwing out ideas about who amongst them could possibly be involved...

OK, if you have not seen the episode yet and want to discover the answers for yourself, I'm going to warn you right now that there are spoilers ahead......

So....all their theories fall apart when the girl who had been hired on as a server for the party and the boyfriend of the museum director step up with a gun and reveal it was they who had set up the whole thing.

They quickly exit, leaving the rest of the group behind with the still ticking bomb. Jean is able to do some quick thinking and, with literally 2 seconds left to spare, enters the code and disarms it.

Meanwhile, the local police officer, Caron, had been working with Gloria and Patrick outside, trying to find a way to get inside through the underground tunnels. Caron had just about found his way when he met up with the bad guys escaping and was luckily able to capture them.

So the group is finally able to relax and enjoy a nice Christmas dinner:

However, there are some loose ends that need tying up! Jean still doesn't understand why she was singled out with that poem and why the need for the whole bomb situation if all the thieves wanted to do was break in to the safe and steal valuables. Caron has allowed her to come by and talk to the girl about it.

The girl is ready to talk. She reveals the story behind how she got involved with the scheme. She had met the mastermind while they had both been in prison at the same time. She honestly doesn't know why the woman arranged the whole thing or why she had so much animosity toward Jean.

So....there we are left, with a glimpse of the woman who is still behind bars...and an unanswered question about who she is. Unless perhaps I'm forgetting something about some enemy Jean had in an early episode? I vaguely remember in the first season there was something with some woman involving the death of Jean's husband.

But! For now, another season wrapped up! Good job, Robin! So happy to see you regularly in this series. You were looking very dapper in this episode! I hear there's a season 5 coming up and I am looking forward to it!

The Madame Blanc Mysteries - Season 4, Episode 6 - April 24, 2025 - "Where Eagles Dare"

This episode opens with Jeremy and Domenic having some treatments done at a gentlemen's salon in town. They joke around while there...

At this time, another customer happens to show them all a piece of jewelry that he has somehow come across and asks if there's a person in town who may be able to appraise it.

They send him off to Jean, but along the way, he is attacked and stabbed in front of his young son. Fortunately, he does not die, and winds up in the hospital. Caron and Jean are then on the case to figure this one out, as well as what the piece of jewelry in the shape of an eagle actually was, and where it is now.

Jeremy doesn't have too much to do with this story, but is on the peripheral of what is kind of a contrived side story. Okay, this French guy is annoying the ladies in town with his sleazy demeanor and is thrown out of the pub by Patrick. Which makes him so irate that he figures out a way to get Patrick's license to run the pub revoked, due to his past prison record. This is where it involves Jeremy, because he's the one who employs Patrick.

Well, anyway, another character works on the case and finds a loophole that gets the license reinstated and all is well with that story.
As for the main story, after following a false lead, Jean has a realization as she is walking downtown with Jeremy...

The pieces fall into place when she discovers the jeweled eagle might actually be from Poland. Polish people are VERY proud of their Eagle symbol. I can vouch for this, as my 100% Polish uncle got a large tattoo of one on his arm for his 80th birthday...the only tattoo he ever got in his life, ha ha.
Anyway, some final comments. Don't you LOVE Jeremy's pink suit in this episode?

And we get a surprise at the end.... spoiler alert.....!

Dom asks Jean to marry him! And she says yes!

Guess we know what's going to be happening next season, eh??? Hopefully Jeremy and Judith will be offering up their Chateau for a lovely wedding episode!

The Madame Blanc Mysteries - Season 4, Episode 5 - April 17, 2025 - "Antique Antics"

A popular antiques pricing tv show called "Antique Antics" has come to Sainte Victoire to film an episode.

The two main hosts, Elaine and Nick, play likeable characters on it, but are rude and snooty off-screen. The other experts on the show are old friends of Jean, though, and she is happy to re-connect with them. Jeremy and Judith have offered up their "summer home" for the shooting and are eager to pitch in and help as well when it turns out that the crew have been delayed at the airport. Jeremy takes care of the snacks...

and Judith is appointed the makeup person....

Gloria has brought in some art to have evaluated and Elaine explains that it is a lithograph worth 600 pounds! She is delighted. After the shoot, they are wrapping things up outside when they hear a scream inside. It is Gloria, who had been talking to Elaine...who suddenly collapses!

Help is called...

But it is too late, Elaine has died. Gloria is overcome and must go lie down. It is determined Elaine has been poisoned. And no one can leave until the investigation is over.

Gloria needs her medication, and enlists Jeremy and Judith to sneak off the grounds to go get it.

Meanwhile, crew and fans are being questioned. Is the killer the antique expert who had been in the running with Elaine for a spot on a new show that was in the works? He had been seen giving her a bottle of water before the show. Or is it the guy who everyone thinks is a crazed fan, whom had just happened to have given Jeremy a box of chocolates to pass along to her? When Jean watches the footage, she notices that a chocolate had been eaten...so, aha! It must've been the crazed fan! Except...

Jeremy and Judith are back and reveal that THEY had eaten all the rest of the chocolates, and have NOT been poisoned. So, the chocolate guy has been ruled out.

This was a pretty fun episode. I won't reveal who the killer winds up being or why this person did it, but it's not too hard to have figured out from the little clues along the way.

I'm trying to get through these episodes quickly before my 2 months of reduced-price Acorn subscription is up near the end of January, so enjoy this flurry of posts after such a long period of quiet, ha ha!

The Madame Blanc Mysteries - Season 4, Episode 4 - April 10, 2025 - "The Blueprint"

We're skipping over episode 3 "Bad Education" because Robin's Jeremy does not appear in it, although he is mentioned by Judith when she attends an auction looking for a gift for his upcoming birthday.

In "The Blueprint" Jean is given a paid trip to Malta in order to authenticate some ancient blueprints from the 1500s. She brings along Dom so they can have sort of a romantic getaway as well. However, murder seems to follow her wherever she goes, and right when she is about to meet up with the woman who has the blueprints, the woman is attacked and later dies from her injuries. Jean knows she now needs to find out why.

BUT, back home, another crime has happened. Gloria's dad is visiting and has borrowed Dom's car while he is away. Only to immediately be involved in an accident where he hits a person who comes out of nowhere. Later, he is telling people about it at the pub and Jeremy and Judith mention that the same exact thing had happened to them, some months back!

Which had resulted in them having to pay thousands to settle it outside of the insurance companies. It dawns on everyone that this just MIGHT be a scam....

The group decide to take matters into their own hands and expose the scam. Judith takes charge and comes up with a daring plan...

They stake out the stoplight where the incident seems to occur and take some video. After one mishap, they finally get what they need.

The police are called, and the group is happy and satisfied with a job well done! ha ha

The Madame Blanc Mysteries - Season 4, Episode 2 - March 27, 2025 - "Inheritance"

This episode starts out with shopkeeper Charlie's aunt Fifi getting poisoned with mustard gas while cleaning the bathroom of the shop. We see an unknown man lock her in and then slip away as she slowly dies on the floor. So, that's the mystery that Jean needs to figure out this time. Nothing to do with Robin's Jeremy, so that's really all I'll say about the main plot.

He is instead given the silly side story of stepping in and offering to babysit Gloria's dog while she recovers from spraining her ankle.

Much to Judith's dismay...

You see, Judith had left a bucket out, which Gloria had tripped over, so Jeremy's main concern is that she may sue them.

So, they take the dog back to their Chateau, and of course, he escapes.

Luckily, Steve comes across the dog while out driving, and lets Jeremy know.

They go retrieve him, put him in the back of their convertable, and congratulate themselves for a job well done.

And then the dog promptly jumps out of the car and is on the run again. And again, Steve finds and returns him, all the while Jeremy stalling Gloria, who is ready for him to come back. He convinces her that they are just having too fun of a time with the dog.

Eventually, Gloria and Dog are reunited, with her none the wiser about what's been going on. She totally believes that Jeremy and Judith just had the time of their lives playing with him, because all dog owners definitely think that it's impossible for anyone NOT to enjoy their dog as much as they do, ha ha. So she happily tells them that they'll be first in line to call for dogsitting duties whenever she's out of town!