In the previous episode of “Drops of God,” Camille was contacted by her father, who asked her to come to visit him as soon as possible in Tokyo; however, during her journey, he passed away. He left behind a will that would determine a worthy successor for his estate and wine collection. Camille had been tempted to renounce her inheritance; however, she finally did change her mind after Luis showed her the message Alexandre had recorded for her on his deathbed. He had devised the tests to connect with her, and he apologized that he had not been a better father. He asked Camille to go back to Domaine to prepare and regain what she once was with the help of Philippe.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Philippe Hold A Grudge Against Camille?
“Drops of God” Episode 2 takes over Camille’s journey toward a new beginning as it follows her while she takes in the familiar yet unfamiliar lanes, vineyards, and houses. She is greeted by Philippe Chassangre, the owner of Domaine Vineyards. At first glance, Philippe seems to be holding a grudge against Camille and is a little short with her. Philippe shows her to her room, and as she follows her memories through the house, she stumbles across a grown Thomas, who had been her partner in crime when they had been younger. Thomas walks her through the estate, giving her a tour and also revisiting the memories they had of the place.
Camille confesses to Thomas that her knowledge of wines is limited to the color red; this vexes Philippe to no end. However, they still tried one last time, and the next day Camille’s mother joined them for a quick visit to the doctors to gauge how bad her condition really was. The doctor confirmed that her taste sensations were fantastic; however, the recognition of the taste got blocked due to the disgust and fear she associated with the recognition. The disgust and the fear were doubled when it came to alcohol because, in her memories, Alexandre had apparently let her drink the wine while she was underage, and she had to be hospitalized for it. This had led to trauma, and the smells, tastes, and alcohol she associated with her father led to a mental blockage that, if not dealt with carefully, could put her health at risk. This dissuaded Camille from pursuing the tests for her inheritance any further, as she decided to go back with her mother.
Philippe had decided to support her; however, with her present decision, he got hurt and disappointed. In his anger, when Camille tried to confront him, he mentioned that her father adored her and that he could not contact her after the e-mail she had so cruelly sent him. Camille had no recollection of ever sending a letter to Alexandre and had confessed to waiting for her father to contact her first because, in her heart, she had blamed him for that incident and wanted him to make amends. Philippe showed her the mail, and Camille realized that it was her mother who had sabotaged her relationship with her father. She had later blamed him for never contacting her, but it was her mother who had kept them actively apart. She immediately told her mother to leave without her, and she set her mind to fighting for her inheritance regardless of her situation. The moment she started to take tests to recognize smells, she was transported back to her young self as she ran around checking the nooks and crannies of her abandoned memories to find the smells she was looking for. The packed and disheveled boxes were her abandoned and discarded memories that only her young self could access. It simply translated into colors accessed by her old self when she came across a new smell that was not already stored inside her mind.
Why Did Issei’s Grandfather Visit His Office?
The other candidate set to battle it out for the inheritance, Issei, had started his own company. He was even contacted by another company that was in need of a sommelier. However, even after being praised by Alexandre and displaying his skills, the company did not select him because they had expected somebody older with more experience. But, in my opinion, the company could have rejected him because Issei’s grandfather wanted him to give up on his pipe dreams and focus on their family company. Issei’s grandfather paid him a visit in his office and destroyed the collection of vineyard soils his friend had sent him as a threat. He completely trampled on his dreams and made him swear to give up the wine company and report back to their company. Issei’s grandfather had at first sent his mother Honoka to bring him back, but when she had been unsuccessful, and the news came out that Issei was engaged in a battle to inherit a Frenchman’s property and collection, his grandfather could not let him go on like this. It was a matter of pride for him. This bit is a little triggering because the way he just broke the glass jars could very well signify the broken dreams of Issei, who had to tolerate his overbearing family.
‘Drops Of God’ Episode 2 Ending Explained: Did Camille Overcome Her Trauma?
Thomas urges Camille, under the supervision of Juliette, to take a whiff of the aroma and figure out the smells from a glass of wine this time instead of smelling the vials containing the smells. Camille, frustrated for not being able to get past the smell of alcohol, goes toward the grounds, where Philippe spots her and takes her to the other vineyards so as to give her the room to smell the vines and the soil present there so that she could take it all in and get past the alcoholic smell and focus on the other aromas. While she took in the environment, it finally clicked, and she could now focus on the other aromas.
Philippe and Thomas each urged her to smell the wine because she still could not taste it without having a nosebleed. When she tried to pinpoint the wine Philippe had told her to try by using just the smell test and the color test, she was able to get close to it but was unable to pinpoint the exact vineyard the wine belonged to. Philippe was proud of her, yet disappointed. He was proud that Camille could recognize the wine better than 99% of the population but was disappointed that she could only do so through smell and color tests. As she went in for a second try, Camille saw a flashback this time.
A flashback where her father was teaching her how to exactly pinpoint the estate, the vintage, and the grape by letting her taste a bit of the wine, just enough to know the flavors and not swallow the rest. In this flashback, as the older Camille watches on, her mother barges in on their studies and instantly starts to accuse Alexandre of making their underage daughter drink. She accused him of not taking into account her fragile body, her headaches, her nausea, and her memory loss that had apparently stemmed from these tests. As her mother patronized her while her father argued with her after quickly dragging her away from Camille so that she was not affected, a disturbed young Camille chugged down the wine and had to be hospitalized immediately. This incident had caused a rift between the father-daughter duo, and her mother’s active attempts to keep them away had caused the rift to deepen.
Camille returned from the flashback after she finally addressed the issue that had been the reason behind the reaction and also the inexplicable hate she had for her father, whom she thought had not tried to contact her. She resolved the issue after realizing that it had been her fault and not her father’s; she drank the wine, and her father controlled every little sip so that it did not hurt her in any way and was only educational. Her mind began to clear up almost immediately as she let her memories flow. She immediately took a sip of the wine, much to Philippe and Thomas’ chagrin, and she was fine. There was no reaction at all. Thus, Camille got over the years of the trauma she had kept hidden inside her, and the little Camille who ran around looking at boxes was replaced by the older Camille in her thoughts.
Final Thoughts: Overcoming Misunderstandings
Camille’s parents argued about whether the experiments Camille and Alexandre conducted to test her olfactory senses had placed unnecessary pressure on her. She had enjoyed the sessions, and Alexandre had recognized the genius in her. I think her mother did not like her daughter spending time with her father, which is why she deliberately sabotaged their meetings and blamed Alexandre for everything. As Camille grew up under her mother, she realized how overbearing and condescending she really was. She would constantly patronize her and call her fragile, which made Camille give up very easily. She never stopped creating a rift between the father-daughter duo, although her reasons before had been justified when she barged in on Alexandre and let Camille recognize the vineyards through the wine. This led to Camille fainting due to underage drinking and also associating her father with the negatives due to her mother’s continuous blame. She developed a trauma and could not subject herself to consuming any alcohol. She had taken to blaming Alexandre for the incident because, even though it had been her who had drunk the wine, the thought that he had let her drink had been planted in her brain. The email that her mother sent on her behalf had broken Alexandre, which is why he took Issei under his tutelage and called him his spiritual son. However, as his death came closer, he wanted one last try at connecting with his daughter and setting the misunderstandings right once and for all.
