Public Enemy is a Belgian series that aired in 2016; the third season of the series aired its latest episode on March 2023. Set in the fictional village of Vielsart in the Ardennes, the drama revolves around the release of a child murderer, who seeks a new life and a police officer keeping an eye on him, convinced he will repeat the crime.
The RTBF network airs the series. Matthieu Frances, Antoine Bours, Christopher Yates, and Gilles de Vogel are the creators of Public Enemy. The actors portraying the main characters are Angelo Bissen, Stephanie Blanchoud, Clement Manuel, and more.
As a fan of thrillers and true crime, I look forward to crime dramas, but many are not up to standards. One of the most important aspects of crime dramas is their ability to maintain suspense till the end. At least, that is what I mostly base my enjoyment of a thriller on.
Adding to that strong plot is also necessary for the success of a thriller; a boring and disengaging plot takes away the life of the series, and this holds for all genres but particularly for thrillers.
Remember all this before reading the review because this will affect the show’s rating. This review may contain spoilers. We are mainly focusing on the audience review while rating the show. You can watch the show on Netflix.
Recap & Review of Public Enemy
The ten-episode per-part series, Public Enemy, is based on the real-life serial killer Marc Paul Alain Dutroux, who got convicted for the rape and abduction of five young girls in 1989. He got released on parole after just three years. He was arrested for a second time in 1996 under the suspicion that he was responsible for the rape and torture of six girls; unfortunately, four died out of the six girls. He got convicted in 2004 for the same.
A notorious child murderer, Guy Beranger(played by Angelo Bison), is released after serving 20 years of his 30-year sentence. He is getting transferred to an abbey and will be under the care of monks. Overlooking this transfer is detective Chole Muller(played by Stephanie Blanchoud)
What a great way to show how fucked up the justice system is worldwide, and of course, Belgium is not an exception. And to look over a child murderer, they assigned just one person to save people tax money; how caring of the government.
The villagers are unhappy because, like normal humans, they don’t want to be near a murderer, especially a child murderer. And much to their dismay, soon after the transfer, a child goes missing in the village. And the fingers point to the most obvious person.
Though many suspects Guy, Chloe thinks that the murderer is a copycat; as the series progress, we see the main lead making some very stupid decision when she has to handle a serial killer. A group of vigilantes trying to capture Beranger and Chloe is seeking help to fight off the vigilantes and more.
Meanwhile, another kid goes missing in Vielsart, and the village is scared and angry. The authorities are in a knot, especially Chloe. We are further dragged into an episode where so many deals and pacts are put forward; these deals should not be agreed upon.
The series introduces so many incidents, and they act as links that connect with the main case and even the ghost from Chloe’s past, the toy dealer. Though this is not a unique format, I enjoy this. A series or a plot format doesn’t always have to be unique to be enjoyable. The series continues for three seasons with more ark incidents and further investigations.
One thing everybody disliked or pointed out as a negative in this series is the lack of workforce in the investigation team. Serial child murder is happening, and you have just two people actively working on it.
I am sure a real-life incident of this magnitude will have more officers working on the case. One viewer pointed out how even during an arrest of a suspect who could be very dangerous, they just had two or three officers on the scene.
The ending of the series, according to many, was great. It was unexpected and clean. When one is left wondering how the creators would cleanly tie up all this mess, they do it unexpectedly.
While the plot and production of the show got largely mixed reviews, the acting was satisfactory to many viewers. The acting of Angelo Bison as Guy Beranger can be considered to the mark because a viewer defined it as “a very creepy and effective performance.”
Unfortunately, there were negative opinions on that aspect too. One viewer commented that the acting was too loud with a lot of yelling, which the viewer says is very common in French and is considered dynamic.
The same user also complained about how the actors looked dirty and smoked too much. See, this is one aspect I understand. These are officers looking to solve a serial murder, they are stressed, and they have no time. So they will smoke a lot and will look messed up.
The show, like many others, received mixed reviews. One particular user tried and miserably failed to love the show. According to them, the show is full of plot holes, and the extremely slow pace makes this show unnecessarily complicated.
One user defined the plot as clever and well-constructed, but many have pointed out that “it was not very credible.”
One thing I liked was the name of the series. It looks like a simple name, but it conveys exactly what the drama is about. The Enemy of the public, in my opinion, means the murderers as well as the flawed justice system.
To end the review, one comment on the real-life incident this drama is based on. The real-life case and its impact eventually led to the restructuring of the Belgian law enforcement agencies due to the widespread discontent the people expressed with the way the case was handled police and the justice system handled the case.
Based on the average viewer rating and review, the show is a good watch. The plot line is given an Okay by many because of its repeated plot lines which gets tiresome. The production and camera work receive a thumbs up, and so does the acting.
Our Rating: ⭐ (3.5/5).
Also read: ReLIFE Review: Is It Worth the Watch?
