Baron Noir

Released from prison, Philippe Rickwaert struggles to regain influence in a political world that evolved without him. In Parliament, his former aide Cyril Balsan stands out for his idealistic positions, while the president keeps tightening her grip on power.

Philippe returns to his former stronghold of Dunkirk and inserts himself into his successor's legislative campaign, carefully rebuilding his media image. Meanwhile, Amélie overhauls party nominations to bring more civil society figures into Parliament, sending the party into panic.

While Amelie faces the fragility of her parliamentary majority, Rickwaert decides to get involved with Cyril on the issue of secularism in the suburbs.

The parliamentary crisis reaches a breaking point. Weakened by the lack of a majority, Amelie refuses constitutional shortcuts while Philippe urges her to form a Left Alliance with Michel Vidal. As a jihadist attack looms, the young president grows tougher and more determined to lead on her own terms, even if it pushes her relationship with Philippe toward chaos.

Abandoned by Amélie, ruined by his lawsuit, Philippe is in big trouble. At the same time, Amélie brings the socialist barons in line with an iron fist. She gives them no choice but to accept her offer: strike an alliance with the centrists. Refusing the defeat, Philippe undertakes a wild counteroffensive, seeking out a leader able to defy Amélie.

As Cyril dominates the media with his secular agenda and Amélie triumphs alongside her new Prime Minister Thorigny, Philippe prepares to face judgment. With Laugier dead, he knows he must answer for a corrupt system he never benefited from. Driven by injustice, Philippe makes one last desperate attempt by seeking a meeting with the Secretary-General of the Élysée.

Philippe trounces the National Front leader during a primetime televised debate, suggesting a referendum on diversity in school. In the meantime, Thorigny schemes with a few centre-left and centre-right executives, aiming to create a political movement that will challenge Amélie in the next presidential election.

A riot breaks out in reaction to Mourad Adjaoui's disappearance. Vidal takes advantage of Amélie's enormous political crisis to shatter Philippe's dream by eliminating the possibility of a union within the left party once and for all. Under these dramatic circumstances, Philippe makes the decision to renew contact with Amélie.