Engrenages Episode #4.12 (2005– ) watch online HD

While watching Spiral with subtitles has helped me increase my basic French vocabulary, it generally has done so with words that I probably should not use in the work environment – and this trend continues with season 4, which follows the trend of the third season of being tough, with lots of strong language, tension, drama, and sexual shenanigans (albeit a bit less of the latter in this season). This season picks up shortly after the third's conclusion; with Berthaud being questioned over her shooting of Ronaldo, and tensions within the team over accounts of what happened. Clément and Karlsson continue their work together, the former taking on a client out of his normal mould, while the latter is drawn into the cases involving illegal immigrants being held by the authorities. Meanwhile, a body dumped in the woods suggests someone is trying to make explosives, and an anarchist group plans to take their fight to the police.

Subtitled "State of Terror" on BBC4, this hints at the bomb plot being the main one, which is mostly is. This is the case, and as before we have supporting character subplots moving in and around the main thread. Having greatly enjoyed the third season, there is a bit of an element of this fourth not quite being up to the same level, even if it does mostly work. There is plenty of urgency, plenty of movement, tension, Laure shouting "putain" or "merde", and so on. All of this is good and generally makes for an engaging season with lots going on, however it must be said that there are a couple of weaknesses. The first is that the anarchist plot doesn't quite grip as much as it should; partly because Riffaut is not the central villain the story needed, and the presence of the wet Sophie Mazerat doesn't help either. It builds reasonably well, and draws other groups in, but it lacks the sharpness of the third season.

Another issue is that the supporting characters are not as well involved as before. In a way I understand this, since eventually you have to have a plot that doesn't involve the same small set of people over and over, but the problem is that not all of the side- plots work and at times it does feel like we are missing out on other threads by being somewhere else. That said, I did like that the majority of the characters have more depth given to them as a result of their threads – whether it is Clément venturing out of his moral comfort zone, Karlsson's past coming out, Tintin struggling after injury, Laure struggling with settling down and so on. Additionally the role of politics remains key; with the new boss playing it with a small p, while Roban is drawn into a fight for his career. Mostly it is engaging although it doesn't all hang together quite as well as it all did in the previous season. I will not reveal any details, but I did find the ending a bit underwhelming as well – a big finish in some ways, but one that seems more about spectacle than it is about satisfying content.

The performances remain good; with the main cast being as reliable as ever. The supporting roles are more variable – with the Kurds and Turks coming over as pretty one-dimensional creations, although understandably perhaps. The production values remain high, with good use of locations, with Paris looking as grubby and intimidating as anyone who has been to some of the poorer districts will know it can be. It is not quite as good as the third season, and it does have elements that seem like they are being done to position characters for the fifth season, but generally it has enough tough movement and character development to keep it engaging and generally delivering what fans of the series are looking for.

My wife and I watched the entire series and found the program extremely entertaining, well acted and the writing well done. The performances are above par and thrilling. We were glued to our sofas during every episode from the first through the fourth season and cannot wait until the 5th season becomes available!!! There were, however, a number of episodes in the 4th season where the sub-titles were missing and/or appeared for such a short period during the scene that one could not possibly read them unless one could freeze the picture on time to see the line. Ms. Proust's performance throughout the season was short of spectacular as she became one with her character and made us laugh and cry throughout the series. The accompanying cast of characters were very well portrayed by the actors. Sadly a program like this is not televised in our country, as I am sure our various network sensors have yet to leave the 1960's. We highly recommend this program to anyone interested in watching gritty hard-hitting programs.

I only caught on to Spiral recently, and started watching season 4. I can't wait to watch seasons 1, 2, 3 and 5. I don't speak French (my vocabulary is I'm afraid limited to words like croissant, Eiffel, Les Miserable, Moulin Rouge). Anyway, episode 12 of season 4 is unforgettable and I'm still thinking about what happened.

Judge Roban acquits himself very nicely in front of the appeals court, and comes out of it as a hero. But...his colleague suggests that the Freemasons had a major hand in influencing the outcome in Roban's favor. Roban is devastated because he thought justice spoke for itself, not because of the influence of Freemasons. Roban is so shell- shocked that he cannot elicit a positive greeting to his loyal clerk Marianne (Elisabeth Macocco). If Roban knows what's good for him he'll brush up by watching Homer the Great, a top class Simpsons episode which features the famous Stonecutters song.

Sami Haroun and Tintin do their best to defuse the bomb, but it's too late. Unfortunately Sami died when Mazerat (Judith Chemla) detonates the bomb in the police building, in front of Berthaud, Karlsson, Gilou, and Herville. I was so sad that Sami died, but in the world of casting maybe it's no surprise because he was only in a few of the season 4 episodes, and he didn't look French in the eyes of some who have a traditional view of what a Franceman looks like.

Unfortunately Riffaut didn't get caught. Also this is sadly the last episode featuring Amina, and it's a shame she didn't appear in season 5. Perhaps she'll appear in season 6?

Despite the devastating ending, I would have liked a "curtain call" of the cast, like they did in F/X, where each of main cast members smiled and acknowledged the viewing audience with the end credits.