Three Pines: The Hanging Man parts 1 and 2

December 24, 2022 5:51 PM - Season 1, Episode 7

Episode 7: When a man bent on vengeance is discovered in the woods near Three Pines, seemingly the victim of a group lynching, Gamache finds himself wondering whether all the villages are capable of murder.

Episode 8: Gamache and his team unearth a tragic story that provides the key to the victim's desire for vengeance and by doing so leads the team to his murderers.

posted by bq (3 comments total)

Alright this show seems to be spinning out. A bunch of loose threads…the main mystery didn’t make much sense and wasn’t clearly explained. That plot thread was wrapped up in such a bizarre and callous manner that I actually turned off the show and didn’t come back to it until the next day. I don’t think we know this Beauvoir well enough for a descent into alcohol abuse and drunk driving to work on viewer’s sympathies…. Now he just seems like an asshole, especially when he runs a car off the road and then tries to convince a fellow officer not to try to help the dying passengers. What the fuck?

After so much soul searching from Gamache, a shocking small amount from the actual bad guy.

And they made Rene-Marie a D. div instead of a librarian which just….what?
posted by bq at 5:58 PM on December 24, 2022

I have to admit I thought at first, oh wow Beauvoir's house is very minimalist, I would too with those views and that surrounding, super nice until I realised oh yeah, separated.

I assume the Beauvoir crisis was to mirror the fatal decision the two people made years earlier - I'll cover for you, and we'll pretend not to repeat history, even though we are. The books are uplifting but also at moments horribly sad.

I was sure Pierre would shoot himself, but his absolute selfishness shone through in there which is why Gamache had no clue exactly how selfish his friend was, a blindspot.

It feels like it needed to be about 16 episodes for this season. A lot more time spent with the people - too much plot for a series that needs to be about people.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:03 PM on December 24, 2022

I agree with you both -- it's the last episode of the season and we barely even know Jean-Guy! So there's no adequate setup for his baffling behavior, even though it does serve to mirror the earlier car accident.

If they do another season, I hope they can arrange for some better writing.
posted by tangerine at 8:56 PM on December 28, 2022