Morgane - Detective geniale

I'm an American who binge watched 3 seasons in French w/subtitles before I even found out they had dubbed it in English. I watched 1 of the episodes that was dubbed in English & I actually prefer it in it's original French w/subtitles. It loses something w/the voice actors they chose for the dub.

The premise is awesome bc it's actually kinda spot on. I've seen things that police/prosecutors have missed that are obvious to me (& are kinda common sense), that should've been picked up by someone along the way. Doesn't matter who.

The characters are fun & work together. Of course you're going to gave the push/pull at first, due to the egos being bruised. Viewers will enjoy watching the relationships of the unit grow.

Of course there's not only the weekly murders to solve, but there's also character backstory, which of course brings it's own drama, misunderstandings, warmth, friendship, and love.

You have fun, quirky characters, along with the prerequisite stick in the mud characters. You have cute kids and some pets. All blended together to make a great cast.

Give this little show a watch. I recommend this wholeheartedly. The American version is also cute, but don't discount the ORIGINAL. It's the best one.

This rating is for the 3 first seasons.

I like the premises and the acting in the first 2 seasons, especially from the leading lady.

High Intellectual Potential is seen by many as an advantage in life. In this series, it is shown in an hyperbolic fashion. The main character has superior memory and associative intelligence that allows her to solve deep mysteries in an instant, when unrelated triggers are put in place. This is not very realistic.

What is more realistic is how possessing high intellectual potential can be detrimental in life. No one understands her, she is a constant misfit and a societal failure, in part because her super-smart aura makes everyone around her feel stupid. She is also unable to set her mind to a long-term task and stick to it. She is easily distracted and very easily bored, and so she has no qualification, no diploma, no job, no money and everyone who has tried to live with her has given up on her. She has no fear of consequences and does not care for anyone's feelings, even when people genuinely try to help her, and even for her own children. She is also very good looking and uses that to her advantage, yet comes across as uncouth and gaudy with a very poor sense of taste.

That should have made her a profoundly unsympathetic character, yet, the main actress manages to overcome all this and show that her character is actually trampled over and used by everyone to her detriment, in particular by her family, and most particularly by her father, who has the same problems as her, even worse in a way. So in the end, she is rather lovable in spite of many flaws. This is quite a feat.

So I feel this is rather a good show. The down side is that the rest of the cast is basically a support cast. No one else is remotely as interesting as she is. No one rises to her level even the various love interests with rare exceptions. There is a main story in addition to each of the episode storyline, and this is one of deep sadness and betrayal.

The third season, however, magnifies all the downsides to a point where it become an unfunny caricature. I recommend the first 2 season, not really the last one.

Audrey Fleurot makes the series worth watching. The concept is somewhat old - think Holmes + Will Hunting + saucy House and you get the idea, but after a few episodes the cast chemistry begins to show and as mentioned, Fleurot goes all-in for the quirky character. If the continues to improve, definitely worth the time.

We started watching the US version of this show and liked it so we decided to see what the original French version was like. We watched the first episode dubbed and that was not enjoyable. Then we watched the next 3 episodes with subtitles, much better. For the first couple episodes the stories are the same as the US version but there are small changes in the plot that make a big difference. For instance, the subplot about Morgane's missing boyfriend is different and much more interesting. I also feel that the interactions between the characters are subtler and more believable. Morgane's interactions with her teenage daughter are very funny and her interactions with Adam are more complex. In the French version Adam contributes as much to solving the cases as Morgane does. He is also a little more respectful of the value Morgane adds to each investigation. He seems to sympathetic to her situation, respectful of her abilities and confident in his own. This gives his character more depth than the US version.

/refers to Season 1/

Mrs. Fleurot is a really versatile actress, I have seen her in several other series (Engrenages, Un village français, Safe, etc.) and here she is so different - not frigid, not serious, but frivolous and careless... And she steals the show in every episode, even Mehdi Nebbou (a good actor as well) is not totally fitting/merited companion to her.

The cases are of different smoothness, but yet with twists, and even if you figure out the wrongdoer soon, there is always something behind until almost the very end. All in all, 8 points from me - 9 for Fleurot´s performance and 7 for script (realism included). And I am looking forward to Season 2.

PS Season 2 and 3 are as pleasant, with many unexpected twists included and an expected solution not included :) Crimes and criminals are never pleasant, but circumstances and/or people investigating them can be...

PPS Season 4 included more sad and confusing moments, but still - the quality is maintained. And more stuff to come, apparently.