I'm getting tired of big-city detectives moving to quaint small towns to solve murders -- I don't even like murder mysteries -- but who could resist Chantal (2022-25) on Amazon Prime: a tv series set in "the far west of Flanders," the region of Belgium where they speak Flemish (actually a dialect of Dutch, separated for political reasons).
The Quad Cities, where I grew up, had a large Flemish community -- you could even take courses in the language at the community college. The Belgian Inn, a few blocks from our house, served a famous Vandereuben: ham, corned beef, sauerkraut, and French dressing on slabs of rye toast the size of a dinner plate.
There is also a Belgian-American museum, a Belgian bookstore, and an annual Belgian bookstore, but I'm sure you'd rather see the Vande reuben.
I'll review Episode 4, because "the mayor's friend is assaulted." Maybe it will be a boyfriend.
Scene 1: Night. a man loads a gun and some stuff into his car, when two guys approach and ask if he's Etienne (Bernard Pieters). Before they can answer, they kick and punch him many times. One complains that he hurt his foot on Etienne's head. They have a message for him, but he's unconscious, so they run to their car and drive away. A blonde woman and a bald man watch.
Scene 2: In a field, the guys complain: "Colossus just told us to scare Etienne, not kill him!" And even if he's not dead, he won't know why they beat him up: they didn't get to deliver the message. "Just tell Colossus 'mission accomplished.'" They drive away.
The guys are Rinus (Kenneth De Scheemaecker) and Quinten (Bjarne Devolder, who is gay in real life). Maybe the character is gay, too.
Title: Establishing shot of the picturesque village, shots of the cast, and "Who the F*ck is Colossus?"
Scene 3: A middle aged guy (Mathias Sercu) knocks on Chantal's door -- her boyfriend from 25 years ago! So this is one of those series where the big-city detective goes back to her small hometown to solve murders.
She isn' t happy to see him, but at least he brought breakfast. They discuss how he's getting tired of his wife, even though she's attractive, smart, and makes a lot of money as a model. Hint-hint.
Chantal doesn't take the bait. She tells her lovers that they can bring toiletries,but leave the suitcase at home. Her hookup from last night appears, har har, and asks if he can leave some toiletries.
A cop who dresses as a cowboy (Dries Heynemann) comes rushing up: she's needed now! "But it's my day off!" "Tough -- mayor's orders!"
Cowboy wants to know what Ex-Boyfriend is doing there. "What do you think I'm doing here, on a Sunday morning?" As the Hookup passes on the way out, Cowboy stares at him suspiciously, no doubt thinking that they had a three-way.
Scene 4: On the way to the mayor, Cowboy gazes at Chantal's lady parts -- wait, he's into her, too? -- and they discuss his attraction to Sylvia -- the Ex-Boyfriend's wife?
The Case: Etienne, city councilman, head of the hunting club, and the mayor's friend (hopefully boyfriend) , was beat up in his driveway, and is now in a coma.
They interview the Mayor (Yves Degryse): "Etienne was supposed to pick me up at 5:30 for hunting, but he never came or called, so I went over, and found him in the drive way."
He looks like he's about to cry. "Are you ok?" Chantal asks.
"No, my friend was beat up." Chantal is still suspicious. Maybe she thinks they are boyfriends.
Scene 5: More about Etienne: Good guy, captain of the football (soccer) team, day job in real estate, partnered with the Mayor. Chantal finds this suspicious.
At the station, Chantal wonders why Etienne was carrying a gun when he was attacked. Did he startle a burglar? Because he was going hunting? Neighbors didn't hear anything. No surveillance cameras. "So we know nothing."
"Just like we know nothing about why your Ex-Boyfriend was at your house," Cowboy chimes in. Why does he care? Is this one of those series where every man gazes at the focus character like she's a pork chop?
As she is brainstorming, and the other cops are making fun of each of her ideas, the Mayor calls her and Cowboy into his office. He just got a threatening call from Schiettekatte (everyone knows who these people are except Chantal, who is new in town, so they have to explain it to her).
Schiettekatte is a Very Important Man who put in an application to tear down a shrine to Tipsy Mia's dead son so he could build something. They rejected him. He just called and told the Mayor to reconsider his application "if you don't want to end up like Etienne." Red herring.
More after the break
