‘Cannes Confidential’ Recap: ‘Southern Gothic’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Shy’m and Jamie Bamber as Detective Lea Robert and Harry King in Episode 105 of ‘Cannes Confidential’ – ‘Southern Gothic’. (Photo Courtesy of Acorn TV/AMC Networks.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Cannes Confidential’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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One particular word that has come up often in our discussions of the wondrous Acorn TV series, Cannes Confidential, is versatility. Simply because this series has shown over the course of its first season… that it can tell any kind of story it wants, whenever it wants. And it can even genre-bend so to speak and bring elements together that we never expected it to. Which has led to tributes to Moonlighting by way of the romantic elements present here, alongside 007 tributes and stories that explore the glamour and glitz of the undercover police world. If anything, this particular aspect of the show is top of mind today, simply because it was on display once more… in the most surprising and unique way imaginable.

For ‘Southern Gothic’ is a story that opted to… plunge Camille and Lea, and Harry, into a murder investigation that offered up a great deal of horror elements. Granted, at first, it didn’t seem as though that was going to be the case. Since the passing of a wealthy heir, seemed to be nothing more than a tragedy. But the discovery that he was murdered, after a séance no less… plunged this story into the world of the mystical and the spiritual and offered up a story that matched the title of this episode. Since this trio had to explore the haunted world of this broken family and the deeper, they dug into their affairs, the creepier the story became, the creepier the family became, and the more horror elements came into play. Since the family thought… they were riding a curse, and there was little to dispute that.

After all, the medium responsible for the séance, stuck to her story about there being spirits and ghosts in the family household and that they were awakened by the ritual, and strange stories about the family and odd occurrences along the way… only seemed to reinforce that this was something different at play. Something sinister and from beyond. But Camille didn’t believe in such matters, and that pushed her to really look at evidence and facts over anything else, and that of course… brought a killer to justice and proved that the family had different problems on their hands. Ones that were most NOT certainly spiritual in nature. But what matters more here, is that the show genuinely did a fine job of poking about the horror genre and the wonder of gothic themed storytelling.

Which really did speak to how this series likes to let loose and just explore whatever sounds like fun or might make for a unique story and it definitely stuck the landing here, and it also made a point… to keep the bigger threads hanging over this season going. Since the love triangle between this trio heated up like never before. Since Harry grew closer and closer to Camille here, and was oft her protector, but Lea also took the time to make her move and steal a passionate kiss with her boss at the end of this tale. Plus… Harry and Camille did figure out how to best Boire briefly. By discovering how he was staying one step ahead through listening devices, and by laying out a trap for him. One that he was able to sniff out and that sadly, led to injury for Lea, since she joined in on the game, and quite the surprise for Harry and Camille.

Since Borie felt the only way to regain leverage over the situation was to drag Harry into the mess, by kidnapping his daughter. Revealing his secret to Camille and putting him in the darkest place he’s been to date. Courtesy of a story that featured flawless writing and flawless acting. Because everything here worked, and everything was engaging and delightful and well, it truly set the stage for a powerful season finale. One that should at last see Camille and Harry go on the offensive to save their family members from awful fates, and hopefully bring an end to Boire’s little games and bring him to justice at last. Or it could also surprise us and do none of those things, since this series has no qualms with shaking things up to wow us, as evidenced here. But one thing is guaranteed for certain. In that, whichever way this series goes, we’re going to love it… because this really is the most refreshing and dynamic crime story around and it will be fascinating to see what path awaits us in the season finale. Until next time.

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