***Warning: Lupin Season 4 Spoilers Ahead***
Oh Assane, all he wanted was a quiet life – but outside forces are conspiring to ensure that doesn’t happen.
As viewers reunite with the charismatic thief at the beginning of season 4, Assane (Omar Sy) has been in prison for four years, and is ready to leave his criminal double-life as Lupin behind him.
He’d even seemed to somewhat patch things up with longtime nemesis Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre), helping him break out and escape to Argentina on a plane.
Well... that's what it seemed like. In fact, he set him up to be arrested in Argentina for his other crimes – far away from his family. Assane then returned to prison and became the model inmate in order to finally put his past behind him.
Now all he wants to do is complete his sentence, reunite with his son Raoul (the newly cast Théo Christine) and head to Senegal to spend time with his family.
Then someone claiming to be Lupin announces plans to stage two museum heists, and when they succeed, Assane's right back in the thick of it in a bid to prove his innocence.
But his mission to clear his name and find the copycat comes at a cost, with major twists leaving Raoul feeling more and more shut out from his father’s life.
While Assane is insisting upon the fact everything he’s doing is to give Raoul a better life, how much can he trust a criminal father who always seems to jump at the chance to not be around?
With so much at stake, here’s what happened in season four, and what that finale means for the show going forward.
Lupin ending explained: Who is the fake Lupin behind the heists?
In a twist Assane could not have seen coming, the fake Lupin causing him so much trouble was a woman named Adele Kapoor (Laïka Blanc-Francard) – the daughter he never knew he had with Juliette Pellegrini (Clotilde Hesme).
Adele was taken from Juliette after she was born and sent to England by Hubert. There, she was adopted by the Kapoor family, and grew up to be quite the skilled hacker. Though she only really embraced her birthright when she went looking for her biological family.
She’s such a computer whizz, she even managed to deepfake her estranged father into camera footage of the fake Lupin heists so she could draw Assane out of retirement.
It worked like a charm, and Assane broke out of prison just to prove his innocence.
But there’s more. Adele (and Juliette, who had been working alongside her in the heists) want his help in another mission: steal the French Crown Jewels from their "Guardians". This rich and powerful group claims to want to keep them safe, but actually want to just keep them for themselves.
The Guardians aren’t giving the Jewels up quietly though, and plan to hunt them down.
Assane agrees, and, as the mission gets underway, even begins to bond with his newly-found daughter, but this comes at the cost of Raoul, who was looking forward to the trip to Senegal and once again feels like he’s not a priority in his father’s life.
What happens to Raoul?
Assane may repeatedly assert that Raoul is the main priority in his life and he wants to be a real father, but for Raoul it certainly doesn’t feel like it. Especially with this new mission going on.
Four years behind bars is a long time, and Raoul has grown up a lot. Even Assane’s estranged wife Claire (Ludivine Sagnier) has moved on and is in a new relationship – with Assane’s best friend and right hand man, Benjamin (Antoine Gouy).
So he’s done when, once again, his father sidelines him for his mission with Adele. Growing resentful and jealous of the bond his dad has with his newfound daughter, Raoul becomes increasingly distant.
His mission to rebel against his dad leads Raoul down a dark path. A footprint found at one of the fake Lupin heists – where an attack left Captain Belkacem badly injured – is traced back to Raoul.
He confesses to Clare and Assane that was at the scene of the heist, and was responsible for the attack, but only because he wanted to find out for himself who was impersonating his father. He pushed Captain Belkacem to protect who he thought was Assane when she drew her gun.
Now, if he ends up in prison, he could become a sitting duck for Assane’s enemies – especially as Police Chief Korvin is working with the Guardians. So Assane speeds up his plans to infiltrate the underground fortress, steal the treasure and take away their power.
To do it, Benjamin and Assane trigger an overflow of the Seine to flood the underground of Paris, and force the Guardians to move the jewels to safety. They then plan to ambush the security van and steal the treasure. But Raoul gets annoyed that he's shut out of the plans to keep him from sight and danger.
While the plan works, things go south when Raoul is kidnapped (again) alongside Adele by the Guardians. They'll return the pair to Assane – but only if they hand back the jewels.
How does Lupin season 4 end?
In the season four finale, Assane reluctantly takes a truck carrying the jewels to meet up with the Guardians at their requested location for the trade off for his children.
But he is left shaken as the truth comes out: Raoul hasn’t been kidnapped, he’s in league with Hubert Pellegrini, and had staged the capture to lure his father into a face-off with his worst enemy.
Hubert had been busy since Assane last saw him heading off on a plane to Argentina. He actually went to Malaysia, was arrested again, successfully broke out again, and is now a member of the Guardians.
He had also managed to find time to take Raoul under his wing, especially as Assane had started growing closer to Adele, and she received the kind of affection and care Raoul felt he was never given from his dad.
Raoul coldly tells his father that he doesn't know him, and even forces Assane to choose between joining him and saving Adele, who he had been put in an explosive vest.
When his dad runs to save Adele, it confirms Raoul's fears that Assane loved her more than him. It turns out the explosive vest was fake and a test – and Assane had failed.
With that, Assane is left heartbroken as the resentful Raoul boards a helicopter with Pellegrini to disappear.
As they prepare to fly off, the police arrive and draw their guns at the helicopter. Still willing to do anything to protect his son, Assane steps into the firing line and is shot.
As Assane lays bleeding out on the ground, Claire, Benjamin, Adele and Juliette try to save him – and Raoul watches it all next to Pellegrini, emotionless as he escapes.
Before we find out Assane's fate, the season ends with his life hanging in the balance.
Will Lupin return for season 5?
Currently, there has been no news on whether Lupin will return for a fifth season – though the cliffhanger ending suggests they are prepared for it.
With Raoul now in the hands of Pellegrini, Assane's future hanging in the balance, and a multitude of stories yet to be told, it seems promising there will be.
We will be sure to report on updates as we get them.
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