Zone Blanche dives into the supernatural exploring Celtic myths delivering an enthralling story.

The second season of Zone Blanche/ Black Spot gets more mysterious and focuses more on the supernatural and on the ancient godlike being that lives in the woods. With a great atmosphere that is dark  and mystical, beautiful shots of nature and with a big story arc that deepens the personal story of Laurène, this second season sets forth on a great buildup established in the first season and continues expanding the storyline of Villefranche. There are also more strange murders, more development of the characters, more questions are answered but more will arise in this enthralling second season.

This second season consists of 8 episodes with each a duration of 50-61 minutes. It has a crime-of-the-week structure while the bigger storyline about the mysteries continues and evolves. It is highly recommended to watch the series with its original French audio and with subtitles in your own language, if possible. 

Plot

It has been 2 months since Camille, who turned out to be the accidental killer of Marion, shot Laurène. A wild man buried a seemingly dead Laurène in the woods under leaves and dirt and she miraculously healed while Teddy found her. Now she has more clues to the strange wild man in the woods and gets help from Teddy to find him and maybe she will find out more about her kidnapping twenty years ago.

Frank Siriani still is after Bertrand Steiner and his family and wants to prove they are illegally dumping toxic waste in the quarry. While the Children of Arduina are making plans to attack the quarry. 

Meanwhile the mysterious deaths are piling up and seem to have a connection with the wild man and a Celtic godlike being called Cernunnos. 

Why you should watch it

The first season did a great job establishing the characters, the atmosphere and the mysterious murder cases and the mystical woods. Instead of a full-on crime-of-the-week episode structure, this season has a more continuous storyline that focuses more on the supernatural and on Cernunnos in particular. 

This is done in an original way, showing scenes from ancient Roman soldiers wandering the woods in 57 B.C. They encountered a strange creature in the woods, the same one that is occasionally seen in the woods right now. This is a very different turn of tone and events in the series and this shift to the supernatural is, although well written into the story, still a big change. 

But those who are into the mystical supernatural concerning Celtic godlike beings, then this season is going to be a treat. 

The cinematography and atmosphere are excellent and are a big addition to the storyline. It’s an intriguing and interesting story that evolves into something much bigger than Laurène could have imagined. 

The impact of and on nature plays an even bigger part. Bees are helping Laurène solve a case and Cernunnos himself stands up for the forest that is threatened by the toxic waste. Samonios, the Celtic day of the dead is coming as is a Hunters Moon, that makes ghosts appear. And Laurène finds a very surreal crime scene in the forest with a piano.

Cernunnos is beautifully created, really godlike as a protector and fighter for the woods. His antlers are impressive and his body is quite human but beastly as well. And a massive astounding secret surrounds him, that is imaginative and very unexpected. His storyline and character are woven in a crafted way into the whole story but also intertwines Laurène’s kidnapping 20 years ago. With flashbacks we learn more about what happened to her and she remembers what really happened, resulting in a twist. 

There are a lot of thrilling moments, when Teddy and Laurène are looking for the ravine where she was held, and the cliffhanger creates some life threatening situations. The personal storylines of the townspeople, the main characters and their romances, relationships, problems, secrets and quests are continuing in a soap-like but smart way. We learn more about Sabine, Cora, Roman and Bertrand and his relationship with his dominant evil father Gérald.

The dark absurd humor plays a big role in this season too. Mostly Siriani is responsible for some fun scenes, but he also gets more fleshed out and we understand his character better, due to his past and who he is now turning into, a fighter for justice and even becomes friends with Laurène. He’s less uptight and even falls in love with Delphine Garnier, an environmental inspector. We also get to understand Laurène better and she becomes more relatable and likable. 

My favorite part

The episode with the bees is a great episode. Instead of killer bees they are trying to communicate and that really brings nature to life, into a big sentient being, protected by a godlike being Cernunnos. The way Cernunnos and nature are used to show how badly nature is affected by toxic waste or other bad stuff humans are doing to nature, is very well-done. It shows the perspective of nature itself, being badly hurt by our bad behavior, which is sad to see, but it also shows nature isn’t helpless and will strike back. 

To intertwine this supernatural perspective with realistic situations is well-crafted into an enthralling and gripping story that is also very entertaining. It’s a great mix of entertainment, crime and the supernatural and has a very important message. 

Ratings

Rating: ★★★★★

Drama factor: ★★★★☆

Gruesome factor: ★★★☆☆

Entertainment factor: ★★★★★

Read more about Zone Blanche:

• Zone Blanche season 1 review

Cast and crew

Zone Blanche is created by Mathieu Missoffe. It stars Suliane Brahim (Laurène Weiss), Hubert Delattre (Nounours), Laurent Capelluto (Frank Siriani), Samuel Jouy (Bertrand Steiner), Camille Aguilar (Cora), Renaud Rutten (Louis Hermann), Brigitte Sy (Sabine Hennequin), Naidra Ayadi (Leïla Barami) and Mariana Hands (Delphine Garnier). 

Music: Thomas Couzinier, Frédéric Kooshmanian. Cinematography: Christophe Nuyens, Brecht Goyvaerts, Matias Boucard. Production companies: Ego Productions, BE-FILMS, France Télévision, RTBF Télévision belge, Umedia, Wallimage, uFund. Original network: Netflix.

Check the trailer below