The Prestige TV Podcast - What Makes 'Lupin' a Good Hang

Episode Date: January 20, 2021

Justin Charity and Micah Peters talk about what makes 'Lupin,' the current no. 1 show on Netflix, such a fun and stylish heist show. For the full conversation on 'Lupin,' check out 'Sound Only.' Hosts: Justin Charity and Micah Peters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You're racing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Ollie's sleep solutions for the whole family at ollie.com. That's OLLLY.com. Hello and welcome to TV Concierge, a podcast on the ringer.com, that helps you navigate the Fast streaming landscape. I'm Justin Charity, and I'm joined by Micah Peters. We host Sound Only. And in a recent episode of our show Sound Only, we talked about Lupin.

The current number one show on Netflix, a French crime thriller, dromedy featuring Omar C. It's very enjoyable. We had a lively discussion about it, and we hope you enjoy it. Here's that clip from Sound Only. This show dropped on Friday on Netflix, right? Do you like people are watching it? I watched it. You watched it.

We liked it. I thought this show is special. I don't know. This show has charm. This show is charming. Charming is, yeah, definitely like the best word for it. This show is a good take on the short stories, on the Lupin short stories. It's a good take on the heist genre.

you know, it's a good take on procedurals. It feels like the kind of show where it's like on the one hand, I get the idea of it being a sort of Netflix hype release, but it also just feels like a good, solid, reliable hang. And the show is called Lupin. The main character is called Asan. Assan Dio. Yes.

And his whole deal is that he's obsessed, right? His whole life he's been obsessed with the short stories about Arsaint Lupin. And it's sort of where he learns his craft and his trade. And what is his craft in his trade, Micah? Taking people's stuff, you know. There is a meetcue between him and his love interest where they are bonding over the book. as he's on a hospital bed after he stood up to some, you know, vaguely rapacious teenagers for her. And, you know, she's just like, there are two types of men in this world.

There are knights and barbarians. And they both, like, bust my balls equally. And he's just kind of like, I actually figured out that there's a third person. He's like someone who only cares about the things that matters and nothing else, like a gentleman or whatever. So he fancies himself a gentleman thief. And yeah, like, there's something, this show, like every episode, you know, it's, it's super, you know, for what it exists now, it's five episodes, right? And I've watched all the episodes. You've watched all with the last episode. Yeah. Last episode, big, big cliffhanger. And also, the last episode ends with this sort of note from Netflix saying, oh, there'll be some more episodes. Don't worry. You know what I mean? In other words, I can't tell if they mean, I got to wait for another. season of Lupin or whether maybe a couple weeks I get to watch some more Lupin. I would prefer the latter.

Yeah. I really would like to watch some more Lupin. So the thing is that I mean, like, as a person of you, I haven't watched all of the, all of the available episodes, but like, I mean, it would be in keeping with like the rye charm of the show to be like, oh, you know, episodes coming soon. and not come out for like another four years. No, don't pull that Sherlock shit on me. No, please don't, please don't wait that long.

Yeah, whenever Omar C is like next available, they will shoot another batch of episodes. It's kind of like, you know, BBC Limited Run series. You know, it's going to be, I feel like it's going to be one of those days. I mean, like, I would hope that we get more episodes in a couple weeks, but. Can you talk to me a little bit about Omar? because when I was first texting you about you'll watch all this. Right.

You were, you were hype. You were ready to go. Yeah, I was happy because like it's okay. Omar, Omar C is like, if you, there was, you remember that, uh, the press tour where Kevin Hartwood was just like having a month's,

consecutive months long, like public meltdown, uh, about old tweets and it was like around the movie where he, he was, uh, an inmate that was, was trying to like rehabilitate his image or reintroduce himself into society and

Brian by taking care of like Brian Cranston who was like a oh yeah yeah yeah his series movie yeah yeah yeah I've heard it was a name they they called the movie or whatever in English but the original or actually the original quote unquote I think the 2011 version of it was actually a remake of a movie that came out earlier but it is O. M.R. C and like somebody else I can't remember the actor's name and it's called Des Antus Chablis. And like, it's really just O'Barcy being six, 13. I have no idea how tall he actually is and like overwhelmingly charming.

Like, because he's basically your funniest cousin. But also like, you know, he used to play D1 ball. that is like his vibe. And he's running a lot of game. He's just running a lot of game. But it's just like it's hilarious to imagine that he is like is like is I mean like you think thieves, jewel thieves, master thieves, cat burglars, nimble, quick, small, unnoticeable, not six, 13.

He's entirely. Yeah. You know, like sickeningly handsome and, you know, as charming as he is. But, like, it's also, like, that's part of his ability to cast a spell on basically everybody he meets. Yeah, he's entirely too tall to be committing all these crimes. He really, every scene he's in, it's just like, I don't get away with this shit. It's no fucking way. There's just no fucking way.

Because we can talk about, like, the first episode, right? You're doing, in the first episode of Lupin, right, Omar C, as Asan, you know, he's lead, he's the ringleader of this heist of, the queen's necklace, right? And meanwhile, the whole episode, like, to give you, give you a beat of this character, you know, he's got all this charm. He's got all this Savoyfair about him. But he's also constantly going on about how this whole, you know, everybody is sort of winking at the fact that this heist is inspired by one of the Lupin stories, right? So he's kind of a nerd in this way. But he, yeah, he's just this, like,

very large strong man who also who's acting out childhood fantasies. He has this whimsy about him and it's so he spins the episodes sort of going back and forth between, you know, wearing the janitor uniform, right? When he's sort of casing out the Louvre. Yeah. I believe the text messages you said you were you said

French niggas wearing track suits. Yeah. The album. The album. Yes, tatted French dudes wearing track suits, the album. And then the other half of the episode where he's sort of fronting, he's sort of created this, you know, false identities, this relatively young black billionaire. He's just wearing all these shack suits. And he's up there with the auction cards, you know?

Yeah, like he's wearing, like, he's, he's selecting from Samuel Jackson's, wardrobe from the Capital One commercials. But, you know, he ultimately, it's a usual suspects type of like, you know, Kaiser-Sosei turn where like he ends up with the thing in the end.

But, you know, it's obviously not as simple as that because there are four more episodes after that. Yeah, totally. Totally. And yeah, a lot of the drama with Lupin is, And you've seen this in other shows like this, right? Where the tension becomes as much about any particular heist, right?

And the sort of complications you have to bake into the plan and the double and triple crosses you have to bake in. That's that's one half of the show. And then the other half of the show is the family drama and the, oh, Asan, he's kind of a fuck-up. He's trying to do right by his kid. He's trying to do right by his ex. you know, he's, you know, he's a reformed man, but he's not. He's a crook. Yeah.

But we love him, you know. Yeah, that's the archetype. And I don't, there's something about this show that feels very, if you compare it, and we will in the next segment, we can talk more specifically about other shows that this show makes me think of big of. This show feels super low key in a way that is actually really appreciative of, though. Because I really do think it's mostly charming. The way that you described

Space Dandy, like a couple of episodes ago, I can't remember, like, as being like a good hang. Like, this show is a very good hang. Yeah. It's very vivy. It's not going to stress you out. That's the thing. I feel like other heist things or other detectivey things might lean more on the stress you out. The thing is that it is just smart enough to make you

to give you, like, the congratulatory thrill of knowing, like, what the next thing is going to be, but like, it's dumb enough to follow very easily. Yes. I mean, I mean, dumb enough that it's not like, sorry, because that was actually kind of redundant. What I mean is that it's dumb enough, like, that it's not going to actually challenge you beyond, like, being able to keep up with conversation and the subtitles. Yeah.

And, like, it rewards you with very, like, just impossible, ridiculous like Soderbergian like twists or whatever like in the beginning of like the of episode four like the sequence where he uses a drone to break into Pellegrini's house

yeah like it's just it's that is a ridiculous sequence and it's amazing to what you were saying though about the playfulness the drone has these red and blue flashing lights like how you would design a drone if you were in eighth grade

you know and trying to startle your parents on Christmas. It's obviously a toy. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good time. That's a good time. It's a good hang. Micah, I don't know why. Like, this works for me.

This works for me in a way. And I'm going to be real with you. This is a show that in its low-key, high spirits way, Lupin, finally marked the end of me even tucking away. at the back of my mind and occasionally thinking about like Sherlock or Luther.

Right. Because this show, this feels like the antidote to those two shows. The antidote? The antidote. Yeah, it does. Did you ever watch Sherlock or Luther? I watched both. That's drag British people. Oh, oh, multiple. Oh, God. Okay. I mean, like, yeah, it's just like, we

will have a separate, like, you know, time to talk about, like, crime procedures. That's my shit. But, like, yes, you said antidote, though. I want to, like, needle that a little bit. What do you mean? Well, in the sense, and I really liked, I would say with both of those shows. I'd say with Luther, I like the first two seasons.

Sherlock, I like the first 2.5 seasons, right? But both of those shows, they really, because they're a lot more keyed up and a lot more high wire, those shows feel like they have higher highs, right? But they also feel like they burn so much gasoline in the first part of their run that you get to season three and it's just, there's nothing left in the tank.

And you're just killing the engine with those shows. Yeah. And I don't know. I just, when watching Lupin instead of realizing how much of a hang it was, as opposed to it being, it feeling like it wanted to be this Ocean's 11

high wire act type situation like it manages to be a low-key heist show which feels which feels weird right in some ways another show would do that and it would feel like a failure right you think how could you have a show about

burglaries but it feels like the the energy is relatively low and this show makes it work so well and maybe it's just because I'm thinking of it in contrast with shows like Luther and Sherlock that really tried to be exclamation remarks all the time.

Well, no, I mean, like, the thing is that, like, Luther is very concerned with how serious it is. Like, you're dealing with slasters and rapists, like, every episode and his marriage is falling apart. And it's literally always raining. And, you know, his tea is always cold.

Like, Luther is a miserable character. And Lupon is serious but like not grave. It's like stylish, but like the style isn't the point. Like it's brooding but like not overly. So it's just like it's not too much of any one thing. Well, yeah, if you think of the stuff that Luther, especially by the by season three that that show does with Luther's marriage, that that movie goes off. I mean, that show goes off the rails in terms of... It is, the thing is that it is all worth it for Alice Morgan to, like, you know,

stroll up to John's new white lady love interest and just be like, if you ever betray John again, I'll kill you and eat you. How does that sound? It's a great line of dialogue. But, you know, that it's just, you got to go through some twists. to get there. But like I was saying about it being like a very stylish show is that the first episode is so much fun because it's kind of like turning the I'm getting the crew together thing

inside out. Like you son of a bitch I'm in. Remember they scared that on Rick and Morty where they were just kind of like, you know, like I'm putting a team together and it was like some sort of. a memory trigger or psychological trick that forced whoever it was to then come under their control and say, you son of a bitch, I'm in. It's just like a repetition of like the same thing you see in every heist movie. But the first episode of Lupin kind of like turns it inside out, you know, the way that

the heist comes together in the first episode is like him going to Lone Sharks apartment and like he owes these people money. And it's the muscles by the door. you know, the grease man is in the back and the guy that's the driver is on the couch playing need for speed. Right, and these aren't friends. This isn't like, oh, the team I'm pulling together

is my people. They're very much not his people. Yeah, he's just kind of like, I'm just going to bend this situation. Like, within five minutes of him going into the apartment, he has them on the couch going over slides on the PS4. Like, is, but then also the fact that,

that like then the heist goes completely wrong and it's like also like a comedy like for I mean because like he's just like you know the chlor form the core form thing the fact that they could never figure out the because they have okay he's just kind of like listen you're going to pose as cleaning crew and cleaning crew can bring stuff into the louvre without being scanned all you have to do is put it in bottles so you could bring cleaning, you could be window solution, you can bring pine saw, you could bring chloroform. And so they put chloroform in the bottles. And the thing is that they're supposed to sneak in and take out like, you know, cops,

guards, whatever. And it's like they build up to this moment of suspense and everything's, all the pieces are moving into place. And then like the security guards come in and then they sprits them in the face with the water bottles, which is just like not. Yeah, I don't think that's how chloro works. That's just not how chloroform works.

Yeah. And they keep doing it. Yeah, it's the thing. At first it's like, oh, that's funny. When he does it the second time to the other guard, it's just like, you know, this dude is not figured out chloroform as a concept. Okay. I see. Yeah. And then on top of that, like they and they go, he's just like, yeah, we need some,

for the getaway car, we need something fast and conspicuous. And he went out and somehow found, the Ferrari GTR 500 that he was racing with all in Grand Tarismo? Yeah, that's the thing. It's so the it's, it's the lightheartedness of that high scene, though. And the fact that ORC just sort of floats through it, right? Like he has the confidence. And you sort of, even though these guys that he's conscribed into the plot,

clearly don't know what the fuck they're doing. There is no great montage where it's like, oh, okay, so they're showing how they're going to pull it off. You just sort of have to rely. You know what it reminded me of? Oh, where'd you remind you of? No, it reminded me of like the, like the dramatization of, uh, that was in like, I, Tanya, like, how funny that was like the, because I mean, like, it's a, it's a horrifying

story. Like the, you know, the guys breaking, they has to care because, like, with a pipe. But, like, the way that they, that they do it in the movie is you're pissing yourself and laughter the entire time. And that's what the highest was like. Yeah. And like, I think the whole show, even as the show, I think over time gets weighted down a bit more in sort of the family drama. And, you know, you learn about, I think the show is really good at cultivating ambiguity about Asan's father, right?

Because there's sort of a bunch of misdirection about, well, what, you know, his father Babacar is one who gets them, who gets us on the, um, the, um, the, the, the Lupin books, right? And you're sort of wondering, like, there's this whole thing that's set up about Babacar working in the home of this French billionaire and potentially having stolen. With which he comes into their employ, like, you know, just kind of like the situations that he, he seems to be in an opportune place at an opportune time fairly often. Yeah, and they juxtapose it, right? They juxtapose, you know, through flashbacks, right? They just, they juxtapose Asan's father being in the home of the French billionaire with, you know, Assan being the janitor at the Lou. Right. So you're supposed to sort of think of that kind of parody of like,

why is he work here? And then you find out that the French billionaire, Hugo Pellegrini, and his wife, Anne in their safe had the, the queen's necklace that is, is later, on the subject of this auction and that the necklace is stolen from the Pellegrini household, basically. And Babacar is the person under suspicion for stealing it. And they do a lot of shifting of like, okay, well, maybe Babacar is this thief and his influence is passed down to his son. And then they shifted to, hold on a second, maybe the wife.

And then the blame, you know, then it shifts to Hugo Pellegrini, sort of the man of the house. And I think the way they shift that, that kind of, that, that, that suspicion around does sort of, I don't know, even that feels playful in a way, right? It feels like even though on paper, right, the dad's story is that he is, he's framed for a crime he didn't commit and then he kills himself in jail. That's sort of how it's set up. And yet there's something about even, even the little mystery of, well, did his father do it? Was his father a thief? Like, what's the deal? with the Lupin book. All of that just feels kind of, I don't know, there's like a really subtle mischief to it. You know,

it just feels like the target is constantly shifting with the show in a way that, like you said, it never really, it feels serious, but it doesn't feel self-serious. Right,

because at the end of the first episode, there's that voiceover where he's just kind of like, this book is, you know, my inspiration, also my method, I am Lupon.

But over the course of the season of television, like, the overarching thematical question is, like, who is he really? Is he Lupin? Is he Asan? Who is, who is Asan? Is he a father? Is he a thief? Is he blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, it's kind of like all of the Lupin stories more or less sit around that intrigue of, like, who he is. I think that that's what the, that sort of subtle mischief that you feel. Yo, and then how do you feel about how cheeky the show is a, the show really sort of rubs in the viewer's face that it knows that these novels.

It's not like the show, it's not like BBC Sherlock, right? BBC Sherlock, you were watching Sherlock Holmes, the detective Sherlock Holmes, but it just so happens that Sherlock Holmes actually lives in modern times, right? Whereas in, in Lupin, in this show, the source material itself exists.

And the show is constantly winking at you about the fact that the source material for the show exists. I mean, like, I think that it kind of limits what, like, you know, how I think it kind of limits how good, quote, unquote, the show can be. But, like, I mean, I'm absolutely fine with it for its extreme sense. six out of 10 this. Thanks again for listening. If you want to hear more of that conversation, you can go to the sound-only podcast feed. More TV concierge later this week.

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