Sacred Luc Dionne. Until the very last minute of the ultimate (and 720and) episode of District 31he unsheathed punches that hit the center of the target, while skillfully closing the fate of our favorite police officers (#ÉquipeMélissaCorbeil), who appeared in front of the cameras – one here and the other there – for six years.
Posted at 7:30 p.m.
Now, like Commander Chiasson’s (Gildor Roy) magic phone, the spoiler alert is ringing loudly in the drawer, for latecomers who haven’t watched this highly satisfying finale.
Its good ? So, let’s break down these busy 22 minutes. First file: that of the biker François Labelle (Peter Miller). The SPGM had finally amassed the evidence to “send him inside” alongside his sidekick Ryan Robin (Dan Bigras). In the midst of an arrest operation, a hooded man pulled out a gun and shot the Sixers leader dead. The killer was Olivier (Thomas Delorme), who wanted to avenge his father, Stéphane “Poupou” Pouliot (Sébastien Delorme), murdered in the fall of 2021.
For a few episodes, poor Olivier had been struggling to contain his rage. Olivier knew that François Labelle had not liquidated his dad, but he lost the card, he exploded in understandable pain, which however does not justify his desperate gesture.
Shortly before the murder of Labelle, and thanks to the mischievous Sylvain Coulombe (Denis Bouchard), the kingpin Martin Moisan (Jean-François Poirier) was nabbed in the warehouse where he was camping.
Martin Moisan will not have had time to “pass the big Chiasson”, as ordered by François Labelle, alias Mr. Diamonds.
Of course, the closure of the mythical post 31, according to chef Carl St-Denis (Hugo Dubé), led to several moving scenes. The frank discussion between Commander Chiasson and the tenacious Mélissa Corbeil (Brigitte Paquette) was a highlight (and flagship) of the evening. Chiasson confessed to her worst enemy that she was right about the illegal wiretap. “I couldn’t let you win,” revealed Daniel Chiasson. “They don’t know how lucky they are to have you here,” replied Mélissa Corbeil. Nice mark of respect between these two strong heads.
PHOTO FROM THE SHOW’S FACEBOOK PAGE
The leader of Sixers, François Labelle (Peter Miller), was shot dead in the middle of an arrest operation.
Leap into the future Six Feet Under and life, life allowed us to hear from the band of 31. Florence (Catherine Proulx-Lemay) has been promoted to commander, Yves (Marc Fournier) and Bruno (Michel Charette) operate a construction company, while Noélie (Catherine St-Laurent ) and Patrick (Vincent-Guillaume Otis), who are expecting a third child, run a flower greenhouse. Ah yes, now employed by the secret services, Da-Xia Bernard (Cynthia Wu-Maheux) frequents, ta-dam! Melanie Charron (Eve Landry).
“That was a double wink. Lieutenant Charron has often criticized Chiasson for his closeness to the secret services. There, it’s even worse, because Mélanie Charron is going out with a girl from the SS, ”laughs screenwriter Luc Dionne on the phone.
This way of looking into the future gives fans an even greater sense of satisfaction. Because these characters have filled our imagination four times a week since September 2016. It’s comforting to know what happens to them, even if they don’t exist for real, I know it, let me go!
Luc Dionne did not abuse the violin on Thursday evening, and the landing of his District 31 was done in action and not in nostalgic contemplation, which was perfectly in line with the frenetic DNA of the Radio-Canada soap opera.
The commander’s farewell speech was not unnecessarily tearful. And it was really touching to see, all together, Sonia (Pascale Montpetit), Jérôme (Frédéric Cloutier), Jean Brière (Jeff Boudreault), Stéphanie Malo (Virginie Ranger-Beauregard) as well as all the detective sergeants.
Another highlight: Daniel Chiasson admitted for the first time, after years of gags and innuendo, that he had executed Christian Phaneuf (Emmanuel Auger) in the salad basket. It is moreover this gesture which earned him access to the magic telephone of the secret services, a telephone which always hangs up miraculously, as you will have noticed.
Who was talking to Chiasson on the other end of the line? “It was not important. It was probably another big eraser from the SS, ”answers Luc Dionne.
Yes, the prolific author had indeed written a final scene where, instead of hunting in the woods, Daniel Chiasson was fishing with his old boyfriend Laurent Cloutier (Patrick Labbé), supposedly dead in September 2020, let us remember. This sequence was not shot.
“I considered bringing Laurent back, but I thought it was unfair for the remaining gang. It would have taken the spotlight away from them. It was a false good idea. And I didn’t feel like going to Good evening ! and to make me wonder, for the next three years: so Laurent Cloutier was not dead? “, explains Luc Dionne in an interview.
What Luc Dionne exposed in District 31, that’s how much the profession of police wears out the body and upsets the psychological balance. Without hesitation, Noélie, Patrick, Yves and Bruno all put on their badges, crushed by the violence of the horrible crimes that tormented them, day and night.
It’s no coincidence that District 31 has often addressed mental health issues that affect investigators. Luc Dionne dedicated the final episode of his series to his cousin Guy Germain, detective sergeant of the Montreal City Police Department who killed himself with his service weapon in April 2014. “I would have been unable to show the suicide of a policeman in District 31. I had promised his family,” says Luc Dionne.
Gossip plateau, in closing. The performer of the song In the time that never returnswhich punctuated the last block of District 31, is called Roxane Filion. She is a chorister at Live from the universe and is also the girlfriend of actor Stéphan Côté, alias criminal lawyer Sébastien Durand, who should therefore have married Sonia Blanchard, let’s see!