In episode 2 of Drops of God Season 2, Camille retrieved the bottle—that was both a gift from Leger and a trigger for the half-siblings’ new quest—that she had thrown away in a fit of rage. Even though there was no wine in it, Camille deduced the beeswax that had been used to seal the bottle could serve as a clue. While waiting for the beeswax analysis to arrive, she and Thomas traveled to the Vassal Research Center to taste almost every variety of wine they had in there, in the hopes that they’d find “the one.” Issei, who was recovering from his diving mishap, felt that Camille was hijacking his mission and arrived at the Vassal as well. Eventually, the dynamic duo discovered that the grape variety they’d been looking for was the Herbemont. But before searching for that grape, they focused on that beeswax, which was produced by a guy in Greece named Alexi Pipia. Issei learned from Pipia that his beeswax was sent to a monastery in the village that he was from. That monastery made wine, and it was located in the Kartli region of Georgia. Issei was seemingly ready to abandon Camille in Greece and head to Georgia if she hadn’t run into him on time. This doubt added to the tension between the half-siblings. So, what happened next? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Camille and Issei Find the Vineyard
Drops of God Season 2 episode 3 opens in a hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia, where Camille can be seen giving Thomas the lowdown on their wine investigation so far. Thomas wants Camille to return soon, because they have a business to look after, and since she is the face of the winery, she has to be present at the office. Camille assures him that she is doing the best she can, under the circumstances, and she’ll return to France as soon as possible. When Camille heads to the restaurant to have breakfast, she sits far away from Issei, which pretty much underscores the fact that things are not well between them, especially after Issei’s attempt at abandoning Camille in Greece. As Camille is about to put the first morsel of food into her mouth, Issei says that Gocha, the guy who’s going to take them to the monastery where Pipia’s beeswax is used to seal their wine bottles, has arrived. So, Camille has no option but to embark on his journey with just one piece of toast in her stomach. Gocha has been employed by Dai, and when Camille tries to learn a little about this best friend of Issei’s, he just shuts her down. On the road to Kartli, Camille and Issei don’t exchange any words; all we hear are Gocha’s ramblings about wine and the amazing songs playing on the radio.
Eventually, the trio reaches the monastery, and while inspecting the vineyard, Issei notices all the grapes are Saperavi, not Herbemont. They find a monk there, picking grapes, and try to get some answers from him. But instead of entertaining them, the monk makes a run for the monastery and slams the door in the trio’s faces. Camille and Issei are understandably confused by this reaction, but Gocha explains that Georgia was under Soviet rule for several decades, which is why the people there aren’t welcoming of strangers who ask too many questions. While heading back to Tbilisi, Camille wonders if there are any restaurants or diners open there, because she wasn’t able to have her breakfast properly. Gocha stops a biker, Irakli, and passes on Camille’s query, and Irakli says that while all the restaurants are closed, they are welcome to join him and his family for the supra (which is basically a feast) that’s being held to celebrate his parents’ wedding anniversary. Once Camille and Issei are in agreement, Gocha takes them to Irakli’s house, where Irakli introduces them to his family members.
Tamar Thinks Camille And Issei Are Her Enemies
There are a lot of people in Irakli’s family, but the ones we have to focus on are Ketevan, Irakli’s sister; Ramaz, Ketevan’s boyfriend; Tamar, Irakli’s mother; and Vasil, Irakli’s father. Things start off on a pretty warm and welcoming note, but as soon as Tamar gets a phone call, the vibe shifts a little, because she has just gotten a call from the aforementioned monk, warning her about these intruders trying to learn about what they are doing with their wine. When Tamar asks Camille and Issei why they are in Georgia, she says that they are looking for a flower (which is technically not a lie), which is something that further exacerbates the already bad situation. Also, there’s clearly some miscommunication going on there, because Tamar assumes that Camille, Issei, and Gocha have been sent by someone called Davit. Camille later clarifies to Issei that she lied to Tamar because the truth drove off the monk, but by then, the damage has been done, and Tamar has chucked the trio out of her house. Issei tries to unload his anger on Camille, but she is done absorbing his unnecessary verbal jabs, and she tells Issei to figure out who this Davit guy is, because he’s obviously the reason for this whole misunderstanding, not Camille’s white lie.
They can’t do anything for the day, so they seek shelter at a hotel. Issei is unable to sleep since he keeps having nightmares of drowning in Okinawa. The following day, when Camille goes to the nearby gas station, she comes across Issei, who completely ignores her. She doesn’t take that lightly, and confronts him about this cold-shoulder nonsense that he is doing. She points out that Leger wanted them to be divided, but they overcame everything and are currently working together. If Issei turns Camille into his rival again, he’ll essentially be doing Leger’s bidding. When that doesn’t sway Issei in any way, Camille straight-up tells him that he has to explicitly state if he wants her to be with him throughout this journey. If he tells her to go, she’ll go; if he tells her to stay, she’ll stay. After a few moments of quiet contemplation, Issei says that he wants Camille to accompany him on this adventure. With that in mind, the trio heads back to the monastery’s vineyard, this time in complete secrecy, so that they can check out the Herbemont without setting any alarm bells ringing.
Camille and Issei Win Tamar’s Trust
After looking around the monastery’s vineyard for a while, the dynamic duo finally strikes gold, but Gocha puts a stop to their celebration and tells them to hide because Vasil is making the rounds of the vineyard. Vasil isn’t alone though; he is hounded by two thugs who rough him up and tell him to leave the land. Once the thugs are gone, the trio takes Vasil to his house, where he’s patched up by Tamar. She then turns to the trio and thanks them for helping her husband out, even though she had behaved so badly with them. She understands that the trio doesn’t represent Davit, Tamar’s brother and a very ruthless businessman who wants to sell everything, including the house that Tamar and her family live in, that once belonged to their father. Tamar then goes on to explain that the wine that Camille and Issei are looking for was stolen from them and then auctioned off, and that’s how it found its way to Leger, Camille, and Issei. Issei states that their main motive was to find who had made that wine, and now that that’s done, they’re ready to leave.
However, Tamar doesn’t want them to leave until they have seen how that oh-so-precious wine is made and stored. So, she takes the half-siblings to the marani (the winery), and Irakli goes along with them. On their way to the cellar, they spot a qvevri, which is a pot that’s much, much bigger than I expected it to be. Tamar explains the process through which Georgians make wines and how her family’s history is intertwined with those spirits. Which brings us back to Davit; it’s evident that he wants to sell all of that, because he knows it’s going to make him a trillionaire. Camille and Issei exchange a look, where it becomes clear that they are starting to arrive at the decision to extend their stay in Georgia to save this family from going bankrupt and prevent Davit from destroying such an important chapter in the history of winemaking. This is an interesting twist because, so far, the half-siblings have been fighting for themselves, that too because their father wants them to. But this conundrum provides them a chance to do something that’s not about them and has nothing to do with Leger. It’s a test of their selflessness and how far they are willing to go for the sake of wine.
Issei Opens Up To Tamar
Issei takes a swig of the wine and almost immediately blacks out. He is brought into the house, and as he recuperates, Camille goes off to have a chat with Tamar. When she returns, she informs a bedridden Issei that Talion, the retired family lawyer, has told her that Tamar can prevent the sale with the help of one of the best lawyers in Tbilisi. She has an appointment with said lawyer, and Tamar is clearly okay with accepting the help that Camille is willing to provide. Issei is a little disappointed that he can’t go with his half-sister for that meeting, but Camille assures him that, once he gets back on his feet, he’ll be free to join her in this crusade to save some of the oldest wines known to man. En route to Tbilisi, Camille gets a call from Thomas, who is again telling her to return to France because of an upcoming competition and whatnot. Camille tells him to handle that, because she has more pressing matters to attend to. I understand that Camille is probably being a little self-indulgent, but it’s weird to see Thomas be so helpless without Camille. I am guessing that by the end of this journey, their whirlwind romance is going to die. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, the focus remains on Camille’s chat with the lawyer. It doesn’t take too long for Camille to figure out that the lawyer, despite being the best in the business, is a coward and doesn’t want to take on Davit.
Well, since the lawyer is so unhelpful, Camille prepares to head back to Kartli. That’s when she’s stopped in her tracks by Ketevan and Ramaz, who are there to give her an alternative idea regarding tackling Davit. They say that Davit hates Tamar so much that if he learns that Camille is her ally, he’ll refuse to meet her. Hence, Camille needs to make it seem like she has no connection whatsoever with Tamar. Camille tells Ramaz to book a table for her at his restaurant, which is where she’s going to ambush Davit. Before getting to that, we get a brief scene between Tamar and Issei, who are having a conversation about the thief, Michel Poulenc, who stole the wine which was finally found in Leger’s catalog. Apparently, Poulenc told Tamar’s father that all the best wines are French, and Tamar’s father took that as a challenge and presented his wine to Poulenc. The thief apparently saw God, which is why he proceeded to steal it. Issei says that when he drank Tamar’s family wine, he didn’t see God; he saw the Moon, and he has been haunted by nightmares ever since he took that first sip. Now, he is afraid of the dark, and whenever he closes his eyes, he feels like he is being drowned. Issei thinks he is angry, but Tamar says that he is confusing sorrow with rage. What is he sad about, though? Well, for starters, losing to Camille, and given how the next scene shows Honoka meeting Hirokazu to learn about Issei, I think Issei is starting to remember that maybe his mother tried to drown him in Okinawa because she saw him as a living reminder of the mistake she had made? I guess we’ll learn more about that as the show progresses.
Camille Will Fight For Tamar
In the ending of Drops of God Season 2 episode 3, Camille heads to Ramaz’s restaurant, where Ketevan works as the receptionist by the way, and puts on an elaborate show to get the attention of Davit and his friend. Initially, it seems like she has fooled both of them, but as soon as she sits down at Davit’s table, the businessman immediately calls out Camille, and he makes it clear that he knows that she is fighting on behalf of Tamar. How? Well, it’s that lawyer that was recommended by Talion who gave Davit the heads-up; which means that she was in Davit’s pocket all this while, and she wasted Camille’s time for no reason. Camille comes down to brass tacks and says that Davit shouldn’t destroy a historic vineyard just because of his enmity with Tamar. Davit says that he isn’t swayed by such emotional blackmailing; he is a businessman, and he only knows how to do business. Camille says that Davit’s companion at his table is the guy who is about to buy those lands and the vineyard. Hence, she says that whatever that man is offering Davit, she is willing to pay more. Davit then shifts the goalposts and says that he doesn’t want to do business with Camille.
On that note, Camille leaves the restaurant and walks back to her car. Gocha tells her that he warned her about the pointlessness of dealing with the Abashidzes, to which Camille says that none of them know what a Leger is capable of. To be honest, she’s right. We haven’t gotten a display of her business acumen. Based on what we have seen so far, we know that she is one of the best sommeliers out there. However, on the business side of things, regardless of how harsh that journalist’s article was, Camille’s success is dependent on the foundations laid by her father. Now that she is away from her hometown, far from her legacy, she has a chance to make her mark. So far, Camille has been playing with her gloves on. But since Davit has challenged her, I think the gloves are about to come off. Whether or not she’ll tag team with Issei is something that remains to be seen. There’s a good chance that in her pursuit of stepping out of her father’s shadow, she’ll forget all about Issei and what he’s going through. Let’s hope that that doesn’t happen and both of them find a way to work together to save Tamar’s vineyard. At least that’s what I expect to see from the half-siblings. What are your thoughts on the same? Let me know in the comments section below.
