The channel is offering “Piste Noire” this Monday, January 23, 2023, from 9:10 p.m., its new detective series which takes place in the mountains, with Constance Labbé (“Balthazar”) and Thibault de Montalembert (“Ten percent”). Should we watch this fiction?
What is it about ?
“In the Alps, the resort of Les Clairies celebrates the victory of its downhill champion, Boris Arnoux, darling of the country. The party is in full swing when a fire breaks out lower in the valley, in a makeshift camp. caravan burns, enclosing in its flames a poorly housed seasonal worker.
This ‘accident’ is the starting point of an investigation led by Emilie Karras, a young policeman from Lyon, originally from the Clairies where she grew up but who she also left 12 years ago to save herself.
She is forced to stay and collaborate with Major Servoz, a disillusioned local policeman. They will discover the twists and turns of this resort swallowed up by a luxurious real estate project that divides people as much as it stares at the mountain.
Black track is broadcast from Monday January 23 on France 2, from 9:10 p.m., with two episodes per week.
Who is it with?
Constance Labbé (currently in season 5 of Balthazar on TF1) and Thibault de Montalembert (Ten percent) respectively embody Emilie Karras and Loïc Servoz, the duo of Piste Noire investigators.
They also give the reply to Hélène Seuzaret who plays the mayor Florence Clairevoix, but also to Pierre-Yves Bon (Boris Arnoux), Solène Rigot (Alexia Maldini) or even Déborah Krey (Charlotte Arnoux).
The six episodes are written by a quartet of screenwriters formed by Sylvain Saada, Monica Rattazzi, Pierre Delorme and Robin Barataud. Finally, the series is produced by Frédéric Grivois.
Well worth a look ?
Mountains and mysteries… That’s how you could sum up Piste noire in two words. Set in a breathtaking setting in the Alps, the six-part mini-series features a tandem of police officers who are different from each other but both damaged by a difficult story.
Emilie, to whom Constance Labbé lends her features, returns to her hometown after a suspicious death. Leaving the fold more than ten years ago, this return to the sources is not the most peaceful for this one who fled her past. Meeting her parents, her ex and other old acquaintances here is not a piece of cake for her… Far from it!
Facing her, she meets her partner Loïc Servoz. The latter, never short of humor, yet also lives with the weight of an extremely painful experience: the death of his son years ago. Never marked by this drama, he developed an ability to put things into perspective without ever losing sight of the important issues relating to any investigation.
Opposed in many ways, therefore, our heroes quickly learn to know and respect each other. A camaraderie and solidarity is even born between them during their research to clarify the suspicious circumstances of what looks like a murder, which occurred in this ski resort where everything is apparently perfect…
Political and economic interests mingle with ecological issues during the investigation at altitude of Emilie and Servoz, confronted in parallel with their past which resurfaces… In addition, some people take a very dim view of their determination to elucidate this affair macabre.
Well put together and taking place in an idyllic snowy setting, Piste Noire has some significant advantages. However, we regret a lack of rhythm in several scenes, as well as some pep in certain lines and the interpretation. The realization of some sequences (the opening of Black Track, for example) has unfortunately sometimes a little dated side.
Our main protagonists are however rather endearing, starting with Emilie. Constance Labbé slips freshly into the skin of the heroine. The cop’s complicated personal situation (family and love) intrigues us and the tension during the scenes where she has to face the ghosts of the past is palpable.
Thibault de Montalembert, meanwhile, still amazes us under this policeman’s coat. Indeed, in terms of looks, the actor is the opposite of the style of Mathias Barneville in Ten percent! The experienced actor also offers the audience a game that is both compelling and touching.
If it does not revolutionize the genre of the detective series on television, Piste noire remains quite pleasant entertainment to follow thanks to the particularities of its duo of main characters. A winter fiction that will undoubtedly captivate fans of this type of format.