Netflix takes us back into the grim and gritty criminal underworld of Marseille in the 2nd season of the French action crime thriller series, Blood Coast, and the police officers are once again very much a part of the criminal networks. The plot is centered around the protagonist, Lyes Benamar, who is currently in prison after having been found guilty of corruption in the previous season. But Lyes soon finds a way to return to the thick of action, as a new gang emerges in the city while old drug lords like Ali Saidi continue to maintain their hold over the smuggling business. Overall, Blood Coast season 2 is very much like the first iteration, and if the intense action, at the cost of a convincing plot, impressed you last time, you are bound to enjoy the show’s latest offering.
Spoiler Alert
What is Season 2 About?
Blood Coast Season 2 begins with the protagonist, ex-police officer Lyes Benamar, having a tough time in the high-security prison where he has been spending the last few days, following the events at the end of the 1st season. The authorities had managed to find enough incriminating evidence against Lyes to prove that he had been associating with and helping criminal bosses directly. Although Lyes had always claimed innocence, stating that he had been working with the criminals and trying to earn their trust simply to investigate them and find solid proof to take them down, the authorities had ultimately ruled otherwise. Thus, Lyes was sent to prison on charges of corruption, much to the shock and despair of his loyal friends and teammates—Arno, Audrey, Tatoo, and Alice, the last one being his lover for the past few months as well.
At present, Lyes has to face a terrible situation, as he is suddenly attacked by a few men inside the prison, clearly on the orders of some of his enemies who he must have put behind bars as a police officer. It is only because of his extreme fitness and terrific fighting skills that Lyes survives the attack, and he is told that he will be transferred to a different, safer prison very soon. He does not care much about any such transfer, believing that he can defend himself anywhere, but when an old friend comes to visit him, he starts to hatch a different plan. Ali Saidi, the drug lord he had helped catch in the 1st season, also happens to be a childhood friend of Lyes, and he now wants to meet him in prison. On the day of Ali’s release, he comes to Lyes and asks him to work for him, which gives the protagonist a brilliant opportunity to carve the course of his life in the days to come.
How does Lyes escape from prison?
While in prison, Lyes also gets to know that his estranged wife, Fanny, has been arrested, meaning that their daughter, Zoe, has now been taken away by Child Protective Services. Since both her parents are in prison, the young girl will most likely end up in the foster care system or, worse, at an orphanage, which is extremely distressing news for Lyes. Fanny’s father, Armand, also has a criminal history, and so the authorities obviously do not consider him to be a safe guardian for Zoe. After realizing that his daughter will have a wretched childhood if he does not intervene, Lyes realizes that the only way to help Zoe would be to ensure that Fanny is released from prison and reunited with her. Therefore, he decides to have a private discussion with the second-in-command of Marseille Police, Victor Miranda, who happens to be the same officer who had investigated him and put him behind bars.
Lyes’ conversation with Ali only some time ago comes in handy in this situation, as he uses the situation as leverage to negotiate a deal with Victor. Ali Saidi trusts Lyes enough to ask him to work for his gang, while Victor and the police force want enough incriminating evidence against Ali to bring down his drug smuggling empire. Lyes, in turn, wants the police to release his estranged wife so that she can be with their daughter and raise her with love and support. Thus, a secret deal is struck between Lyes and Victor, in which Lyes will be allowed to ‘escape’ from prison, following which he will start working for Ali and get close enough to him to gather evidence and hand it over to the force. It is decided that this daring fake escape will take place when Lyes will be officially transferred from one prison to another. Just as planned, the convoy carrying the prisoner is halted midway, and Lyes is made to step into another car, which drives him to safety. But the news of his supposed escape is reported on TV and the internet, meaning that Lyes is now a wanted fugitive, despite having the support of Victor, and has to lay low to avoid any trouble with the law.
Does Audrey get fired from the police force?
At the same time, one of the police officers in Lyes’ old squad, Audrey, gets into trouble when a police commander from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Beckerman, takes charge of an investigation against her. The murders of Tarek Hamadi, better known as the Indian, and his girlfriend at the time, Nina Rodriguez, had taken place under extremely suspicious circumstances back in Season 1, and Nina was found to have frequented a gay bar that Audrey also used to visit quite a lot at the time. To make matters worse for her, the CCTV cameras at the bar recorded her to be the last person to be with Nina on the night of the latter’s disappearance, and they were also seen leaving the establishment together. A few hours later on that very same night, Audrey was rushed to the emergency room of a nearby hospital with serious injuries to her face and body.
Beckerman believes that on the night of the disappearance of Nina Rodriguez, Audrey had intentionally met her at the bar, and after befriending her, accompanied her home. Since Audrey and her team had been investigating Hamadi at the time and wanted to arrest him, she had probably tried to take advantage of his girlfriend and had somehow killed her in the process. According to Beckerman, the injuries that Audrey sustained during the scuffle were enough to put her in the ER, which also conveniently removed her from the crime scene. But as she is interrogated, Audrey gives a different story that fits her claim of being innocent, as she admits to having spent time with Nina on the night at the bar and even accompanying her to her apartment. However, she claims to have never gone up to Nina’s apartment, as she left her at the entrance of the building before walking back home. It was during this walk that a few junkies attacked her, following which she had to go to the ER.
This investigation being carried out by Beckerman threatens the safety of not just Audrey but the whole squad, since the whole team was originally involved in the death of Nina Rodriguez and the clean-up of the crime scene. Thus, they all, especially Arno, take an immense interest in the matter and think of ways to help their colleague. Soon, more incriminating evidence is found against Audrey, as DNA evidence of the victim is found on the shirt that she had been wearing on that night, as collected from the hospital ER. It becomes far too obvious that Audrey was heavily involved in the murder, or at least the cover-up, and she and her team can feel the noose tightening around her neck. This is when Arno executes a special plan, in which he first takes the investigative officer, Beckerman, to a shady part of town right from the office, and then has two hired goons steal his bag on the street. The bag contains all the incriminating evidence gathered against Audrey, and as it is immediately destroyed by the goons, there remains no proof against her. The police commander obviously understands what just happened, but he has no way to hold Arno or anyone in his team responsible. Audrey is ultimately cleared of all charges, and she continues to serve in the police force.
What happens to Teo and Bakari?
Blood Coast Season 2 continues to address the matter of excessive drug abuse and violence among the youth in various parts of France through the characters of Bakari and Teo. Bakari had been seen in the previous season as well, as one of the police officers, Tatoo, constantly tries to protect the young boy from danger. Tatoo is disturbed at seeing young boys and teenagers get into a life of crime and violence without even understanding what they are stepping into, especially since he too had once been such a misguided vagrant teenager who was saved from a violent life only when he was taken in by the police force. Therefore, he wants to protect others like Bakari from wasting their lives by getting manipulated by small-time criminals in the hood. Similarly, when Tatoo finds one such vagrant youngster, Mehdi Djaoui, at a drug bust towards the beginning of the season, he lets him go, thinking that being arrested will definitely not help him.
But Mehdi goes on to become a dangerous criminal, who, along with his brother, Yassine, starts a new drug gang in Marseille called the LX gang. Since Mehdi’s direct competitor is Ali Saidi, he attacks one of the spots frequented by the Saidi gang members, to announce his entry into the business, as a result of which a young man and a child are killed. Naturally, the police start investigating the incident and are helped by young Bakari, who had seen Mehdi and his men carry out the attack at the place. This leads the police towards the real perpetrators, but it also puts Bakari in immense danger, as Yassine finds out about his part in informing the police and immediately orders a hit on the boy. Mehdi sends one of his latest recruits to kill Bakari, and it happens to be a teenager named Teo, who had come from around Paris to join his gang for some money.
Teo fails at committing the murder because of his inexperience and also because he fears getting caught. As a result, Bakari survives and is admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. Mehdi himself now comes to kill the boy but is unable to do so because of Tatoo, who had come to the place to check on his young friend. While Bakari ultimately survives the ordeal, Teo is tremendously affected by the whole situation, and he is then arrested by the police during a raid at Yassine’s house. Teo then plays a crucial role in helping Alice and her team figure out the exact hiding spot of the Djaoui brothers. As the police raid this place, Tatoo is finally able to undo his previous mistake, as he now arrests Mehdi, and the criminal is put behind bars. This angers Yassine, of course, who manages to avoid getting caught till the end of Blood Coast Season 2, but there is no escape for Mehdi as of now.
Why does Beckerman kill Alexander Verlet?
One of the key figures in Ali Saidi’s drug business is revealed to be Alexander Verlet, a wealthy businessman who officially runs a luxury vehicle trade shop but secretly also helps Ali launder his funds. As the police pick up Alexander and have his shop searched, they find him to be intricately linked with the Saidi family business. Arno makes his best efforts to ensure that the crooked businessman is held responsible for getting involved in criminal affairs and that he receives the punishment that he deserves. But Alexander manages to get away, obviously making use of his wealth, as his defense lawyer finds numerous holes in the manner of his arrest. Shortly after his release, Alexander actually gets in touch with the police commander, Beckerman, who turns out to be a corrupt official despite having looked like an honest and dedicated man till now.
It is Beckerman who unexpectedly kills Alexander Verlet inside his car and then acts all surprised when the body is found the next morning. The reason for this murder is that Beckerman is actually in cahoots with Yassine Djaoui, which is why we see Yassine call him, ordering that his brother be released later on in the show. Alexander had actually been working with the Djaoui brothers as well, which had significantly hurt Ali’s business. If Ali were to know of this betrayal, then both the businessman and the Djaoui brothers would have been in trouble. Therefore, to protect Yassine from the Saidis, Beckerman kills Alexander Verlet to silence him forever, so that his secrets can never be learned by Ali or anyone else.
Who is Sarge Laborde?
Serge Laborde, seemingly an old nemesis of Lyes Benemar, appears in the later half of Blood Coast Season 2, after he is released from prison. Serge has an extremely determined and passionate hatred towards Lyes, whom he wants to hurt at all costs, possibly because the police officer had been the one to put him behind bars in the past. For this reason, Serge keeps looking for ways to execute his plan, even visiting Lyes’ father-in-law, Armand, to get any information about his daughter and granddaughter. After realizing that these individuals cannot be harmed, Serge even threatens to hurt Lyes’ mother and sister, and also wants Ali to lead him to the ex-police officer. Ali keeps turning him down, for Lyes is simply much more useful to him at the moment. But Sarge Laborde ultimately gets his chance when he manages to follow Alice and photograph Victor Miranda alive and well. He sends the photos to Ali to prove that Lyes has betrayed him, and this leads to Ali confronting the protagonist. What happens to Serge Laborde is unclear, though, which means that he will return as an important character in the next season of the show.
Does Lyes succeed in carrying out his plan by the end?
After helping both the police and Ali out without letting the other side know about it, Lyes ultimately sides with his childhood friend, as he ensures that his last drug smuggling deal cannot be intercepted by the police. Lyes seems to genuinely believe that Ali will leave this life of crime and violence after the deal but unfortunately cannot find out if his beliefs are true. This is because Ali is killed by Yassine, who takes advantage of the distrust between Ali and Lyes that had been planted by Sarge. Therefore, Lyes’ plan of helping his old friend fails, although his bigger goal of infiltrating the top rungs of the criminal network in Marseille to take the whole thing down succeeds. Ali’s boss, Jaddou Sidi, appoints Lyes at the very end of Blood Coast Season 2, meaning that the protagonist might finally get to destroy the entire criminal network through the evidence that he will find while in this undercover role.
