As per my last post, I'm continuing with the review of another two of my favorite French series. Firstly, the series which I stumbled upon accidentally just recently but was pleasantly surprised with, The Wagner Method. This series is very, very different from the last French TV Series which I posted about, The Crimson Rivers. Although both are investigative series about crime and murder and were introduced to a wider English speaking audience in the UK by Walter Presents, this series is very light hearted and humorous in tone. Sometimes known under the title of "Cesar Wagner" , this series, which was first introduced in 2020, concerns a hypochondriac police captain, Cesar Wagner, who is transferred to Strasbourg, his hometown, where the mayor happens to be his own mother. The reason why this series appealed to me is because it constantly surprises you with the rather eccentric and unusual characters that populate it. You also cannot help but chuckle along with the humorous banter between the characters and the hilarious situations they get themselves into. However, all this humor juxtapose the serious and often complex murders and crimes that they investigate. Most comedic cop shows will usually trivialize or downplay the cases but there is no such sacrifice here. In this series, the cases that are investigated are both complex and diverse and warrants the equal attention of the viewer. The often volatile, funny and unique relationship between the two lead protagonists, Captain Wagner and Dr Elise Beaumont, a forensic pathologist for the police, also makes for interesting viewing. Both characters are portrayed excellently by Gil Alma and Olivia Cote and the high production value of the series is also a plus. However, I should mention here that there is an interesting and hilarious love triangle between Captain Cesar Wagner, Dr Elise Beaumont and Dr Arthur Weiss, a medical doctor who treats the hypochondriac Cesar. If you think that this is a standard love triangle of 2 guys vying for the girl, then think again :).
To be honest, I have never heard of this series before and happen to recently stumble upon the second season of the show accidentally but the first season of the show (which comprises of 5 episodes) was first shown in France in 2020, which was quite a while ago, and later premiered in the UK in 2022. The second season premiered in the UK in January 2024 and comprises of only 2 episodes. So I actually watched the second season first before the first season. Although I don't have any information on a third season, IMDB does list 2 episodes under a third season. So hopefully, there will be a future third season of this entertaining series. Does anyone know whether this series was previously aired in the US under PBS Masterpiece and has the third season already been aired in France? Currently, the first two seasons of this series is available in Amazon. Please note that each one and a half hour episode features a stand alone story and can be viewed as a mini TV movie. Final thoughts, this little known series deserves a look but I feel because it is not a high profile series and is not widely known outside France and Europe, this series is not able to garner a larger English speaking audience it deserves. Furthermore, the sporadic release date of its episodes and the delay in bringing them to the US and UK (which might be caused by Covid) makes this series difficult to be accessed especially by the English speaking audiences who rely on subtitles. Anyways, if you are looking for an intelligent and funny investigative series, this series comes highly recommended by me and for those who are looking for more French Detective TV Series, you can also check out my other posts on The Crimson Rivers and Balthazar.
Since this series is not widely available outside Europe, I have provided links below to Amazon Prime for those who are interested in viewing both seasons with English Subtitles (courtesy of PBS Masterpiece).
Wagner Method Amazon Prime (paid link)
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