Streaming series review - The Traveller

The Traveller: Season Three ***1/2 (out of 5) The new release of episodes in this fine French procedural series is shorter than before - only three 90-minute mysteries for our itinerant hero, Kandinsky (Bruno Debrandt), and faithful dog Emy to solve. All begin with cold cases that turn out to be connected to recent murders, as his quest to rid France of serial killers continues. Here’s the link to Season 2’s review from almost a year ago to refresh your memory (as it did mine):

https://patch.com/missouri/clayton-richmondheights/streaming-series-review-traveller-season-2

Kandinsky’s personality is the polar opposite of my favorite roaming French cop, Captain Marleau. Both live out of their vehicles as they travel to the town with the latest challenge, bringing more talent to the task than the local cops could ever aspire to. Marleau barges in loudly, flaunting her caustic wit and sarcasm to the irritation of most, but the delight of her viewers (and, of course, this reviewer). Kandinsky arrives and works quietly, hardly ever showing emotion or humor, other than a quiet integrity and compassion for the victims. He also does odd jobs to afford his meager needs, with a side benefit of endearing himself to the locals. Despite his Spartan existence, this trio of tales dangles some romantic possibilities for our guy. None for the dog, alas.

The first perp is a serial killer who has long been targeting young women, and anyone who might be able to ID him from witnessing one of his gruesomely vicious murders. We not only learn whodunnit, but his appalling backstory that made the monster of the man. The second is more complicated as a psycho murderer in the loony bin who Kandinsky nailed before tells him that a fellow inmate who’d been convicted of offing his family was the wrong guy. He offers to tell where all the bodies of his own 22 victims were buried in exchange for Kandinsky re-investigating the other man’s case. That story is particularly fascinating, since the inmate had been a pillar of his community, generous to all, and seems way too nice to have done the foul deed. The path to solution is more emotionally compelling than usual, with a couple of interesting hooks at the end.

But the best of the three is the last one. Six sacks containing bodies of young women that had been submerged for about 10 to 20 years are dredged up when one of them surfaces in a vast marsh. Kandinsky is summoned by a judge, Delphine (Florence Pernel), who happened to regularly vacation nearby, and was zealous in her pursuit of the offender, even though the case was not in her jurisdiction. The two team up for identifying the victims and solving their deaths in an episode with more than the average level of physical danger and action.

As before, the rural settings provide lovely scenery – especially the sprawling marshland of the third. And here’s a shoutout to Emy, who helps her owner in realistic ways and adds a dimension of warmth to the whole production. I hope Kandinsky ain’t done yet, since the character and premise have much more to offer that should be enjoyable to follow.

(The Traveller, in French with subtitles, streams on MHz Choice as of 6/16/26)