Astrid and Raphaëlle

So far, I have only been able to watch the first series of this amazing series. It centres on the abilities of Astrid, an autistic woman who needs a guardian, and who works in the Criminal Records department of the Paris police. Her autism gives her an encyclopaedic memory of the case files she has read and a fascination with puzzles, both of which she puts to good use in helping seemingly intractable murders.

What I liked most about this series was the ability of Sarah Mortenson to portray the physical attributes of a person with fairly pronounced autism. This, plus the manner in which others learn how to interact with her, and who themselves grow from her presence, made the whole series a delight for me.

The most amazing thing about this show is the portrayal of autism, in the character Astrid.

It's an astoundingly convincing performance, and an astoundingly convincing script.

Everyone must fall in love with Astrid, with her simplicity, her vulnerability, and her persistence in the face of tremendous challenges. She captures the innocence and joy of a child as an adult.

Around this character is an ongoing love between Astrid and Raphaelle, who work together as detectives on homicides. Astrid is Sherlock Holmes to Raphaelle's smarter, more competent version of Watson. The affection between these two women deserves a canonical place in cinema, where a focus on supportive, loving friendships between women as the central spring of a plot is not common.

There is also a moving love story as Astrid negotiates her first love affair. The love story though serves to throw Astrid's relationship with Raphaelle into relief, rather than supplanting it.

Each episode is a complete murder mystery. The mysteries are taken seriously, but they have a comic book element, with plot elements that are magical and unusual out of a fantasy adventure for children, yet always end up with a rational realist explanation. The adventures have something of the wonderful French "bande dessinee" adult comic book novels. This adds a lot of fun.

As mystery stories, fitting the complex plots and lines of investigation into 53 minutes is a shoehorn job. A lot of the story is told in summary by characters. Often repeat characters turn out to have special knowledge or abilities exactly as needed for the plot, in coincidences that beg credulity. But this convention us allows to stay in touch with some endearing repeat characters and also moves the plot along quickly to a swift conclusion. It fits the comic book flavor. The investigations themselves are fun as adventures, and have plenty of red herrings and plot twists, but are not the most convincing crime plots.

It's also often laugh out loud funny. The show finds humor in Astrid's adaptation to life always laughing with her. Astrid herself tackles difficulties like understanding figures of speech and making jokes.

All the actors manage to give performances that are at the same time exaggerated and bigger than life, and completely credible. Lola Dewaere and Sara Mortensen do outstanding jobs. Sara Mortensen has a very challenging role and gives a gold medal olympic performance, avoiding any mechanicality in the role.

The episodes often deal with social issues in a progressive way, which gives them three dimensionality and relevance apart from the discussion of autism.

Altogether, this is one of the most moving and fun tv series from any country.

Season 5 moves from standard policier genre into comic book territory. Tremendously fun and some hilarious episodes. More intense focus on the human dilemmas faced by Astrid and Raphaelle and their mutual support. Even deeper performances by Martensen that rank with the best actors. The script is inspired.

Because the mysteries are solved within one 50m episode the detective story is often abbreviated with key developments happening offscreen and being reported to bring a quick resolution. The stories are still intriguing. The focus is more on the personal interactions and reactions to dramatic events. Astrid often seems to be an incarnation of Holmes and follows in a tradition of detectives with psychological challenges like Tony Shahloub's Monk and Robson Green's Tony in Wire in the Blood, both excellent shows. This show explores more deeply though the presentation of Astrid's affect.

The show also explores important themes of our time including political injustices with a courageous open heart spreading the good word and adding emotional reverbations.

I also like the 2025 UK version Patience but it is not in the same class as this show. It's a couple of notches down in writing performance and production values. I assume this is not due to the capabilities of the filmmakers but the business exigencies and resources available as well as what the target audience wants. Anyone who likes that show might want to check out the French original.

I've watched other foreign language series; however, this show captures all realms of one's attention & interest. Even my husband, who at first refused to watch a foreign language show, was sucked-in, as the captions are easily read without loosing the visual action.

The description of the show says there are 17 episodes; however, w Walter's Picks from Masterpiece, I have only seen 8. If someone knows how or where to see the other episodes, I would most definitely appreciate it.

It is my favorite show & I continue to watch it week after week. This series is that good.

This show is very well written. The mysteries are excellent and are not run of the mill. They take a different path to find the solutions. The journey is very enjoyable. This is a genre I watch a lot of, and this show is clever.

What elevates this show to being above others, is the amazing portrayal of a brilliant autistic criminologist name Astrid and the partnership and friendship she develops with the other lead Detective Raphaëlle Coste.

What is so special to me, is the way they drop these beautiful nuggets of truth and soulful observations.

I have found myself tearing up at the smallest of these interactions because they have a sweetness that you do not see on television shows much.

The two lead actresses are superb. The entire cast is very good. I truly hope this show goes on to have many more seasons. I have watched season one and two, and this is one of my favorite shows.

My dad found this series recently and we are both mesmerised. It shows people with autism beautifully. Not just one side, thinking there's only one version of autism (like a lot of Hollywood productions did and do unfortunately). It depicts different facets, different problems for neurodivergent and for neurotypical people. And how we can live with each other, find compassion and understanding through simple acts of kindness and empathy.

I highly recommend this to everyone!