It’s a journey into the secret life of plants, as Astrid and Raph tackle a murder case where the flora may be the perpetrators, or the victims – but are the detective duo being taken for saps by a killer?
When a botanist is found dead in a greenhouse, poisoning seems to be the likely cause – but which plant was responsible? A pair of secateurs seem to have been used to torture a plant into creating poisonous sap – but as soon as we hear that the dead woman’s effects included an inhaler, we jump to the conclusion that this was the means of delivery of the poison (it takes Astrid, Raph and Fournier most of the episode to figure this out).
But what was the motive for the killing? The botanist’s brother has a nice sideline in cannabis cultivation, but he claims this was for medical purposes; a sinister corporation seems to have an interest in the woman’s research into their medical products, but their lawyer claims that it would have been easier to entangle her legally than to kill her; and her ex-partner is in a coma, so she can’t have been culpable.
It takes a combination of chemistry, romantic literature and Astrid’s puzzle-solving ability to figure out that the ex-partner’s jealous husband poisoned her, and then the botanist, who had created a blue rose as a symbol of their forbidden love. The blue rose has a long history in literature and philosophy as a symbol of the unattainable, as blue roses are genetically impossible, and the title of the episode, Fleurs du Mal, refers to the controversially erotic and decadent poetry of Charles Baudelaire.
Here, though, the blue rose could also be seen as a metaphor for the relationship between Astrid and Raph, or between Astrid and Tetsuo. Astrid says she has great difficulty understanding the workings of romantic feelings, and perhaps makes a terrible mistake in telling Raph that Nico has said that he loves her; this is probably not going to work out well.
More promising is Astrid’s relationship with Mme Langlais, who is helping her to get through her oral examination at the police academy by preparing for a ‘planned unexpected event’. Though Astrid says that there are limits to this strategy for helping her cope with the unexpected, we can feel fairly confident she’ll get through it, if not without difficulty. It’s odd, though, that she hasn’t pressed Langlais to tell her more about her father, presumably a revelation yet to come.
This is probably the first episode of this season where the solution to the murder mystery seems entirely plausible, so marks for that; and in the developing relationship between Astrid and Tetsuo (and Raph and Nico), we’re building to a promising climax. The seeds have been planted, let’s see what grows.
Chris Jenkins
READ MORE: ALL OUR NEWS AND REVIEWS OF ASTRID
The Killing Times 
That theme of Astrid and unexpected results resonates through this series. Her gradual accomodations to the unexpected are considered, interesting, endearing and in some cases heart-tugging; but also show the challenges often faced by the neurodivergent – and that, as for neurotypical people, there is more than one way to meet an unexpected event.
LikeLike