Streaming series review - The Art of Crime: Season 7

The Art of Crime:Season 7 **1/2 (out of 5) Last May, I covered the first six seasons of this light-hearted French crime series. Here’s the link to that review to bring you up to speed or refresh your memory before diving in:

https://patch.com/missouri/clayton-richmondheights/streaming-series-review-art-crime-season-six

Season 7 is another pair of two-parter mysteries for our Odd Couple to solve. At the end of Season 6, it appeared that their will-they-won’t-they thing finally landed in the boink column. But this round opens with Antoine and Florence awkwardly backpedaling from the idea of the horizontal mambo realm. The first murder takes them to Versailles where the stiff du jour was a "medium" seeking a treasure allegedly hidden in Marie Antoinette’s elegantly-crafted wardrobe. The little coterie from the séance he performed that led him there provides a nice suspect pool. It also sets up Florence’s imaginary chats with the artist who lovingly drew a key portrait of the queen while the latter’s head was still properly affixed to her lovely royal shoulders.

The second revolves around a painting that may, or may not, be a very significant Botticelli, and artists’ obsessions with their muses, then and now. Florence confers again with the relevant old master in sussing out the truths behind his art and the current crimes.

Compared to the prior seasons, the first adventure is up to snuff in humor, mystery and character development. Versailles also adds some splendid visuals to the production. But the second tried my patience, as it spent too much time on romantic silliness and not enough on the mystery-solving or the art history element. Maybe I suffer from rom-com overload, but these two are taking too long to grasp some obvious pieces of their emotional puzzles. They’re not as charismatic as Moonlighting’s David and Maddie, and should have tied up this plot thread by now, whether by knot or scissors. I even checked on whether this last one was scripted by newbies, but series creators Angele Herry-Leclerc and Pierre-Yves Mora have headed the writing team throughout.

Also, for better or worse, Florence’s dad Pierre has less screen time to amuse or annoy (or both) than in many of the prior episodes, putting more of the character comedy load on the two stars. I actually missed his intrusions into their lives and their cases more than I expected. I hope there’ll be a Season 8, and that the dust will settle on the romance. Antoine, Florence and their loyal, patient viewers all deserve some closure.

(The Art of Crime: Season 7, in French with subtitles, streams on MHz Choice as of 12/31/24)