Hotel Beau Séjour: Season 1/ Episode 7 “De film” – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Everything was fine and dandy, and quite normal, but then the last 5 minutes really shake things up in a way where the reveal of who shot who gets completely forgotten about.

Episode Focus: Alexander’s Life Continues to Fall Apart (Alexander, Leon, Vanderkerk, Schneider, and Melonie)

Vanderkerk ends up shot in the eye and, as before, Alexander hides the evidence which could link him to the man. Though, this time, he is smart enough to not hide it on his person or in his home. In fact, he burns all the evidence he has collected and burns it in the middle of nowhere. Making it seem her could be in the clear. However, while no connection might be made between him and Vanderkerk, his murder of him, which is being investigated, has led to him being suspended. Something Schneider is fine with for now he has even less reason, or ability, to get involved with the case. Though he still uses simple Bart to try to throw Schneider off.

But what perhaps is most noteworthy is that when Leon notes he wants to stop doing motocross how upset Alexander gets. He notes he has spent 5 years of his time and money investing in Leon and it leads you to wonder where is this cop getting all this money to not only train Leon but also rebuild and furnish a hotel? Though, considering Schneider and Dora get the DNA results back and it is Melonie’s eyelash which was found on Kato’s body, Leon deciding to stop participate in motocross, for now, is the least of Alexander’s worries.

Commentary

So here is the thought. Being that Vanderkerk was a drug dealer, likely he diversified his crime business. Drugs were the main export but maybe he also lent money, maybe paid people like Alexander to look the other way but, as a safety net, kept records. Yet, despite knowing what he did was wrong, guilt pushed Alexander to take care of Melonie and with Charlie being the son he didn’t want, he wanted Leon to be the son he wished he had. Thus he either borrowed or took corrupt money to make their dreams come true. Hence how he can afford motocross training, gear, and loan money to the hotel renovations.

Though with what happens in Subplot 1 and Melonie getting arrested, who knows if all that was for naught. Even if he destroyed the sim card and the evidence he thinks could solely tie him to Vanderkerk.

Subplot 1: Two Sweethearts Hanging From a Tree (Leon, Kato, Charlie, and Sophie)

With Hilde seemingly putting Sophie’s sex tape online, she is being called a slut, a bitch, and so much more. Not because that was her sister in law’s ex, but just for being caught on video doing a sexual act. This leads her to run to Leon and it seem from every direction, people are blaming Charlie. Someone who, you have to realize, has all the reason in the world to be jealous of Leon but doesn’t seem like he’d actually try to cause the young man harm.

Though what is really noteworthy and eye opening with this topic is Sophie admitting she drugged Kato and Kato being ever so forgiving. She even gives Sophie pointers on how to be a better girlfriend to Leon. That is how nonchalant she is about Sophie playing a role in her death. But, what goes around comes around and, for reasons which don’t make a lick of sense, we see Sophie and Leon hang themselves.

Commentary

Though noted as a subplot, there is a lot to unpack. First and foremost, there is the need to question what is Charlie’s illness and what triggered, or triggers, it? It is clear there is more to this boy than meets the eye and while he doesn’t vocalize jealousy over Leon much, COME ON! The dude snatched your father, is the star of the family, and you are seen as the screw-up. On top of that, his ex-plays with you when she was alive and now you are basically wrapped around her finger? At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Charlie killed her. Thus explaining what role he actually played in her death since while Luc gave Sophie the drink which she drugged, there is still a lot missing in the chain of responsibility here. Even Vanderkerk’s part of giving her a ride is missing something since it is made clear he was not the last one with her and maybe did drop her off after she was acting erratic.

Leading to Kato being so kind to Sophie. I want to assume because she is dead and can’t do anything about it, that is why she doesn’t hit or even yell at Sophie. Though it makes no sense how calm she was. Sophie openly admits she helped put into motion her death and barely a peep comes out of Kato. She just is glad she is happy with Leon and that’s it? Again, COME ON!

Then there are the strange fruits hanging from the trees. After watching Audrie & Daisy, I can understand why Sophie would kill herself. Granted, there was no rape involved, like with that documentary, but the circulation of you doing sexual acts is something you can’t recover from. Especially in a small town where it doesn’t seem Sophie can escape from anytime soon. But then there is Leon. Why did he kill himself? Is he like Charlie where if a girl pays attention to him then he’ll follow her to the ends of the Earth? Could it be he figured that would be the only way to retake control of his life? Only episode 8 can hopefully reveal the reasoning behind what seems like a rash writing decision.

Subplot 2: Luc Using His Connection to Kato (Luc and Kristel)

With it being established that Luc can speak to Kato, he fully exploits this to get Kristel back. Leading to Marcus getting jealous to the point of, drunkenly, pissing on Luc’s desk. All the while dealing with the blowback of his daughter’s sex tape and one of his workers being associated with a drug bust. [note]Did we mention it is Cyril’s 13^th birthday?[/note]

Commentary

Luc ain’t s— for taken advantage of Kristel like that. He knows how vulnerable and wounded she is, and he is taken that as his opportunity to recover their marriage? How sad is this dude’s life? Though what is really going to be interesting is when Kato finds out. For never mind dealing with her own murder, but with Sophie and Leon dead, as well as Vanderkerk, the people who can help solve her murder are dying and Alexander is episodes away from getting put in jail. So Luc is really starting to become a liability more than an asset. Which sucks since, with what Kato just learned about Ines, it pretty much makes Luc and Charlie as the sole people she can turn to.