Streaming series review - Chantal: Season 2

Chantal: Season Two *** (out of 5) Season 2 of this charming Belgian crime dramedy picks up where the first left off. The way lead detective Chantal (Maaike Cafmeyer) handled that concluding hostage situation landed her in hot water with the brass and - even worse - the rich asshole who runs the town as his own fiefdom, Schiettekatte (Wim Opbrouck), and is the driving force behind her suspension. That puts “The Sheriff” reluctantly in charge of the department to absolutely no one else’s satisfaction – especially his. Here’s the review of Season One to bring you up to speed or refresh your memory. The season also starts with a brief recap of prior events.

https://patch.com/missouri/clayton-richmondheights/streaming-series-review-chantal

This round gives us 6 episodes, opening and closing with two-parters and a pair of standalones in between. Chantal’s look and life remain quite disheveled, as she has yet to be accepted by the feds and higher-ups who view her initiative and opinions skeptically, despite the success she continues to deliver. The sexism is rather amusing, albeit frustrating for her to slog through, making it all the more gratifying when she outshines them. The tone remains largely playful, apart from a couple of serious developments for balance.

This season brings more of the same type of light crimes, ranging from missing cremation ashes to major theft to killings, with a very low body count. The season’s running subplot is that Schiettekatte has decided to challenge the feckless mayor in the next election, which would spell disaster for the department and community. Compared to before, there’s more script time for a number of supporting characters and their story arcs, letting the cast of (mostly) oddballs and eccentrics develop more than in their debut season. Chantal’s daughter Emma (Anna-Marie Missoul) and bar owner Muze (Zouzou Ben Chikha) make particularly good use of their increased presence.

Season 3 has just aired abroad, so it’s quite likely to cross the pond to our streaming shores. I hope it won’t be as long a wait for its US release. Too much fun to defer.

(Chantal: Season Two, mostly in Dutch with subtitles, starts streaming on MHz Choice as of 7/15/25, with two episodes weekly through 7/29)