With the mad Englishwoman Pamela off stage attending to her elderly mother, who’s suffering from dementia, there’s the regulation reappearance of his former lover, Isabelle, who’s there to deliver a basset hound puppy named Balzac, a replacement for the dog Bruno lost at the end of the previous instalment. Pamela’s tenant, doctor Fabiola demonstrates increasing culinary skills, so that’s the soap opera side of things under control.
As the pieces start to fit together there’s a fairly breathless rush to a subterranean conclusion that settles most of the issues and you can’t help suspecting there’s the odd new character who’s been introduced, though you can’t be sure which of the new faces has the staying potential.
One highly likely prospect is the attractive young grand-daughter and heir of resistance heroine The Red Countess, after the rest of the family and their entourage turn up to be involved in everything that’s going on around them right up to their necks, and you can be sure basset hound Balzac’s training and development will keep the soap opera side of things running along very nicely, thank you.