‘The Madame Blanc Mysteries’ Recap: ‘Episode 5’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘The Madame Blanc Mysteries’.
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It is definitely safe to say that every parent out there is supremely protective of their child, and they are justified in that. After all, this is their flesh and blood, their shot at immortality and with the right amount of protection and guidance, their little one could grow up and change the world for the better. So why not fiercely protect them to ensure they have the best shot to be successful in life? But what’s tough for parents, is the transition they go through when their little one has come of age. For when that day arrives, mom or dad have to lower their protective shield and let their baby venture out into the world on their own and that really is no easy task. In fact, it can be so difficult, that some parents refuse to let go and even take their protective nature to the Nth degree.

All because they believe they know what is best for their baby and well, that particularly strange side of parenting is top of mind today, because it served as the focus of this week’s episode of The Madame Blanc Mysteries. But as is often the case in this story, that particular theme was buried beneath a mountain of deception. For the murder of a priest and the theft of a rare holy artifact, immediately led the police and Jean White to believe, that someone wanted that artifact badly and that the poor priest got in the way. Which in turn motivated Jean to call up an old friend, one that would be able to help her determine who would try and buy a rare artifact from the religious world and that in turn, led her to believe that a local businessman named Sasha Ruse was behind this all.

For not only was he dating the only woman that would know how to move precious religious artifacts, but he had taken quite the vested interest in property surrounding the church. To the point where he was preparing to purchase it and that only seemed to reinforce Jean’s theory that this man was the killer and she was so certain she had it right that she had Caron swing by Ruse’s office with her, to question him and hopefully expose his crimes, since she was working off of a lot of circumstantial evidence and well, that ended in disaster. Since she and Caron came to learn that Ruse’s mother was buried on the plot of land that he had his eye upon, and he wanted to develop it into a proper memorial for her and others and well, that left Jean beside herself.

For she basically failed for the first time ever in finding a killer. But rather than let a single misstep bring her down, she returned to the church for another look at the crime scene and that’s when she came to discover… the killer was within these hallowed halls after all. In fact, it was the mother of a priest named Durand that committed this heinous crime. For Paulette Durand believed her baby boy never needed to endure the irate temper of the former priest and should of course, be front and center in the church, and that motivated her to orchestrate murder and hide the artifact to keep the eyes of the police off her baby. All so he could be the center of attention and find success, because she couldn’t bear the thought of letting him handle his life on his own and well, that discovery, helped to bring Paulette to justice and put Jean back in Caron’s good graces.

But what matters more here, is that this story did a wonderful job of exploring how parents genuinely need to let go when the time is right. Because to do otherwise is detrimental to the now grown child and their mental health, and the mental health of the parent. For while hanging on might not lead to murder, it would certainly put a parent in a bad place mentally and warp their minds in other ways. If anything, this was simply a unique case through and through, one that took an age-old concept to a whole new level and to top it all off, it set the stage nicely for next week’s season finale. For it appears as though Jean is about to get her ring back and that will undoubtedly bring our villain out of the woodwork, as they attempt to get their hands on it… at last. Until next time.   

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