Having binge-watched all eight seasons over the last few months I can only say, whew!
I nearly didn't bother after season one, so annoying was the cinematography (particularly the clunky announcement of each new scene by zooming into some window). However, I am very pleased to have stuck with it: the production became vastly more professional, allowing the lovability (!) of the characters to shine through.
It's not so much a French "Line of Duty", more a French "The Sweeney". CID Chief Inspector Laure Berthaud shares many characteristics with Jack Regan: in her driven zeal for nailing the baddies she never saw a regulation that she didn't want to drive a coach-and-horses through, never met a superior for whom she didn't feel utter contempt and is, above all, fiercely loyal to her team.
Unlike Regan, however, Laure is too tiny to duff up the perps herself, which is where Inspector Gilles Escoffier ("Gilou") comes in. Beefy Gilou is stuck to Laure like glue (in fact, for years it's only the two of them who can't see that he is hopelessly in love with her), and whenever a suspect needs a little persuasion, Gilou is ready to oblige. His default interview technique is to snarl into the perp's face from a distance of inches, and then smack the miscreant around the head a bit.
It's astonishing how lovable we actually find Gilou, especially when you throw his propensity for prostitutes and recreational drugs into the mix!
Our third Musketeer is quiet family man, Inspector Luc Fromentin (TinTin). TinTin is slightly excluded by the tightness of Laure and Gilou's relationship, and is constantly appalled by their recklessness and their disregard for regulations and the law. However, he is diligent in the cause and, whenever lies and cover-ups are (regularly) required in the interest of keeping Laure and/or Gilou in the force and out of jail, he shares their fierce loyalty to the team and invariably (if reluctantly) obliges.
The team reports to a Superintendent who changes several times throughout the epic. Each one begins the job as a straight-laced by-the-book fellow (think Haskins from The Sweeney). Herville is obsessed with achieving results which will reflect well on him. Cerebral Bekriche comes in from the Fraud Squad and is discomfited by the casual violence of gangland Paris. Both of them are appalled by Laure's insubordination, her recklessness and her chaotic methods. However, they are both eventually won over by her infectious zeal and her wide-eyed loyalty to her team (it obviously helps that she's rather sexy too).
Clearly these are not the only cops in Paris, nor in the CID. Other notable flics are the smouldering Sami, who comes and goes to competently and calmly perform the most dangerous undercover work, and who manages to throw Laure's prolific but chaotic love life into even greater turmoil. Superintendent Brémont is the chief of CID's fierce rival, the Crime Squad. He starts out as, seemingly, an utter creep but steadily grows into a solid character with a major influence on the plots (his development seemingly signposted by an increasing reluctance to shave). And sensitive Ali Amrani is a late but very welcome addition to Laure's squad.
This dysfunctional team of cops would be quite enough for most crime dramas, but not Spiral. There is another parallel but often intersecting drama based around some heavyweight legal characters.
In early seasons the handsome young prosecutor Pierre Clément appears to be central to the entire show. However, his idealism is sadly misplaced and leads him into big problems in his chosen profession.
The ageing, equally-idealistic, and rather melancholy examining magistrate, François Roban, whilst being dedicated to solving crimes above all else, has all the experience Pierre lacks and is not above using trickery to get his way when it is called for.
Pierre and Roban both deal often with Laure and are equally fond of her, albeit in different ways.
The cynical, ambitious, avaricious young defender Joséphine Karlsson is another kettle of fish entirely. Quite ruthless, she is not averse to the use of threats and blackmail to advance her career and her bank balance. She does, however, learn some harsh lessons along the way and, despite always being clever and manipulative, she seems to always end up doing the right thing for people who need her help.
Joséphine crosses swords with Laure often. They are NOT fond of each other.
Joséphine's cynicism leads her to throw in her lot with other, equally unpleasant defenders, such as the irredeemably ghastly and thoroughly crooked Szabo, and subsequently Joséphine's male alter-ego Eric Edelman who, just like Joséphine, has a habit of doing the right thing whilst still seeming to be an utter reptile.
Odious, ambitious and deeply political Prosecutor Machard is Roban's bitterest enemy and (rightly) sees Roban's profound integrity as an existential threat. The two of them spar politely but viciously in the middle seasons.
As you would expect there are convoluted plots and an endless parade of grim villains and hapless victims, too many to get into and, anyway, it would be impossible to do so without spoilers.
I think it is fair to say, though, that Laure's team's recklessness is matched only by its comical incompetence, particularly when it comes to the raids and stings they mount seemingly several times every episode. The perp almost invariably escapes, usually through some exit route that the cops failed to notice and cover. It reaches the point where, when they are planning their next raid, you are muttering to yourself "What could possibly go wrong?"
Paris itself, The City of Lights, is seen in Spiral to be a city of darkness with much of the show set in the grim northern banlieues, beyond the Périphérique, which no tourist ever sees. A travel guide to the highlights of Paris it is not!
I watched the final episode with considerable sadness. It's one of those shows which gets under your skin and you can't help but fall in love with the characters. I for one shall miss them.
