Things move FAST this episode, which is by far the most intense of the season but not without some humor sprinkled in there. Side note – I’d absolutely watch a spin off with Madame Lépine as commissioner. Battle lines are explicitly drawn between the police and the Leagues, and within the police themselves. Its going to get messy with the mess spilling over into the streets of Paris.

Antoine has proof that Gabriel Sabran de Pontevès is the father of Matthias courtesy of the evidence Fiersi stole from Puybaraud’s office. Antoine shares this with Cochefert who quickly deduces that this means open war with Puybaraud, setting the stage for an inevitable showdown. All while another showdown is literally scheduled to start at 6:00 AM the next morning – Puybaraud gave that specific time for ordering the police to arrest the various League leaders.

Before we see Antoine and Cochefert’s accusations escalate to Lépine we return to the creepiest of evening meetings between Count Sabran and Meg amidst the butcher stalls. At least there’s wine. Sabran goes through various insults against Meg before trying to shake her down for dirt he could use. He’s mostly interested in whether she knows anything about Joséphine Berger, but she has nothing to give. Her plea for giving up the photograph of Lépine’s wife is too little too late. Just before Sabran orders his henchmen to kill her she desperately tries to sow doubt by saying how much Pontevès hates his own father. She’s then dragged off to her fate but before the deed gets done who is lurking (of course) in the shadows?  Fiersi of course! He puts on some James Bond level display of kick ass and the two of them manage to escape alive. Meg’s survival was also made possible because her husband did exactly what he was told and reached out to Fiersi for help once Meg disappeared into the night. For the first time we see real love and partnership between husband and wife as he comforts Meg once she drags herself home. Bullet dodged, quite literally.

We fast forward just a few hours to 5:00 AM the next morning. Lépine’s assistant is banging on his door to wake him up for an urgent meeting with Antoine and Cochefert. Lépine’s wife hilariously offers Lépine some injections for his nerves and I do like the casual confidence she’s strutting around. Lépine needs no such assistance since he is the embodiment of calm as Cochefert lays out his case against Puybaraud and the Sabran family. The key now is to get Matthias to the station – for his safety and for leverage in Joséphine’s mother’s cooperation. Antoine is sent off to fetch the boy and Cochefert goes on to press his case further with Lépine and speculates that Puybaraud probably warned the Guérins about the raids (true). And they still want to find that damn chimney sweep/assassin who killed Emile.

Puybaraud is otherwise busy covering his tracks. While at a fresh murder scene in the butcher stalls assessing the collateral damage of Fiersi and Meg’s escape, he declares Fiersi to be public enemy #1. He’s then somewhat shocked to find Meg alive and well in her home hosting Lépine for his portrait.

We now pause for some comic relief in the form of Madame Lépine bringing a posse of friends to talk themselves into a morbid tour of the police evidence room. As one does of course. She even manages to steal a gun in the process. This seems to have no bearing on the plot for the rest of the episode, but it was a joy to watch her be so shameless yet charming.

The rest of the episode is an expertly crafted intense whirl of activity mostly taking place in the orphanage where Matthias is living. He’s both leverage and in danger. Antoine, Jeanne with Joséphine’s mother, Cochefert, and the shady guy who burned down Pontevès’ apartment, all converge at the orphanage separately. Antoine’s insistence on questioning Joséphine’s mother delays their custody request just enough for Mr. Shady guy/Sabran henchmen to waltz right into the place pretending to be a police officer who needs to bring Matthias down to the station. We do learn some important information via Antoine’s questioning – Joséphine’s family is from the same town in Alsace as the Sabrans and there’s a hint of a larger blackmail plot. I’m sure we’ll get to that another time. Meanwhile, before Matthias is kidnapped by the pretend police officer, Cochefert catches him but gets shot in the process. Even while bleeding and getting weaker by the second he is ever the mentor in his plea for Antoine to catch the guy – ALIVE PLEASE he hilariously emphasizes with an eye roll. Before Antoine can catch up, the would-be kidnaper comes face to face with Jeanne. He doesn’t hesitate to pull his gun on her too, but to no avail. Jeanne is also armed and shoots the guy dead right between the eyes. WOW.

This is all relatively calm compared to the chaos of the police failing to arrest Guérin, who was obviously warned about the raids. He’s barricaded on Rue Chabrol with butchers and heavily armed members of the Leagues. His brother Louis is absent from the barricades as he was earlier sent on a mysterious errand by Guérin’s mother, which sparks a bizarre sibling rivalry between Jules and Louis. They hug it out in front of their mother who seems to have all the brain cells in the family. The final showdown of the episode is Jules Guérin loudly declaring his intention for more political power from the balcony where he’s surrounded by police. He’s trying to make a play for the street cops to come to their side. It’s mayhem with the crowd shouting about Dreyfus and Jews. Lépine confidently stakes his ground out in the open on the street below. Guérin aims his gun and fires at Lépine. He misses while Lépine defiantly stands there glaring back up at him. Absolute nerves of steel and to be continued…