Directed by Scott Frank and starring Clive Owen, Monsieur Spade is a detective thriller that revolves around the titular character, Samuel Spade, who came to an idyllic French village, Bozouls, and remained there for many years. Spade came to this village with his late beloved’s daughter, Teresa whose biological father was Philippe Saint-Andre, at least as far as Spade and Teresa knew at the time, but over the course of time, the realization changed and they found out the truth. However, Philippe’s character arc wasn’t quite affected by this truth because he had his own journey filled with treachery and perils. Let’s talk about Philippe Saint-Andre’s character arc to know what happened to him.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Was Philippe Saint-André?
In the very beginning of Monsieur Spade, Samuel came to Bozouls with Brigid O’Shaughnessy’s daughter Teresa along with him. Brigid, Samuel’s beloved, died in an accident in Istanbul, and after that, Samuel wanted to bring Teresa back to her own home, where Philippe, her biological father, would take care of the child. But Philippe had never been a reliable person. One of the major antagonists of the story, Philippe Saint-Andre was a blackmailer, a thief, and a criminal-minded man who remained out of station most of the time for his illicit activities. When Philippe was out of station, his mother Audrey didn’t accept Teresa, and Spade had to take care of the child by putting her in a convent. After that, Spade and Teresa’s paths diverged, and Spade married a wealthy woman named Gabrielle, but it was revealed that Philippe had a brief affair with Gabrielle as well. He started blackmailing her in order to get his hands on her money and the vineyards that were worth a fortune. However, Spade came to her aid and made sure that Philippe wouldn’t be able to annoy Gabrielle anymore, which further heightened the animosity between him and Philippe.
After Gabrielle’s death due to her illness, Spade began to spend his days all alone, while an unfortunate incident took place that brought him closer to Teresa. In a convent where Teresa used to live, she had an unsolicited visit from her father, Philippe, who came there with a little boy, Zyad. Philippe asked Teresa to hide the boy, as there was a monk who had been looking for him. Teresa did exactly what she was told, but she witnessed bloodshed when the monk killed all six nuns at the convent in cold blood. As Teresa rushed to Spade to seek help, Sam began to look into the matter, suspecting that Philippe might have been involved with a dangerous scheme.
Philippe had always been involved with such perilous incidents, and for the time being, he was involved with an Algerian secret organization called OAS, which demanded that he bring the miracle boy Zyad to them. Zyad was a gifted child with a talent for cracking any kind of code, which made him sought after by many organizations, starting from the British intelligence to even the Vatican. Initially, OAS tasked Philippe with the job of bringing the boy, but Philippe didn’t comply with their demand. Philippe was after a large sum of money, and he knew that he wouldn’t be getting that from OAS, so he thought of selling the boy to a wealthier buyer, from whom he could collect a substantial sum of money.
Why Was Oas Named After Him?
Philippe’s decision to ditch OAS made him the target of the organization, which wanted to get a hold of him by any means necessary. Philippe had not only ditched them, but he had killed many of the soldiers from the organization in cold blood; therefore, OAS desperately wanted to punish him for the atrocities he had committed. Many of the members of OAS tried to attack Teresa, as only through her did they think they could get a hold of Philippe, but Spade being a protective shield, no one could bring harm to Teresa. Meanwhile, Philippe finally took the boy, Zyad, and remained in a hideout with Zyad’s former caretaker, Gazala. Philippe was in contact with Mr. Kahn, who used to be a private investigator working for Zyad’s family. He was also from OAS and a powerful figure who wanted the boy for his own benefit. Philippe didn’t care about the child’s safety, as he was only after money, so he planned to make a deal with Kahn. However, Philippe’s plan was to grab the money and kill Kahn, as he knew Kahn was a dangerous guy, who might not keep his promise once he got what he wanted.
Philippe had always been a cold-blooded murderer who never hesitated to kill anyone who posed a threat to his life. Jean-Pierre, whom he initially contacted for the little boy, was also in need of money, so he helped Philippe get Zyad, but Jean-Pierre couldn’t forgive himself as he knew what Philippe was about to do with that little boy. Therefore, Jean-Pierre decided to stop Philippe, knowing very well that in this attempt, he might lose his own life. When he finally confronted Philippe in his hideout, Philippe had to protect himself and the deal he had made with Kahn. He shot Jean-Pierre to get rid of the obstacle on his way to becoming filthy rich.
What Happened To Philippe?
In the concluding part of Monsieur Spade, season 1, we saw Kahn finally come to Philippe’s hideout to take the boy, but as soon as he showed up with the money, Philippe aimed his sniper rifle at him and shot him to death. Gazala, in the meantime, cunningly grabbed the money and tried to run away while Philippe and Henri got into a gunfight. Philippe attempted to flee the scene as well, but Cynthia from British intelligence caught him. Philippe was arrested and brought into custody, while the question remained of whether he was Teresa’s actual father. Marguerita, Jean-Pierre’s wife, had already voiced her concern before, as she believed Teresa looked much older than her actual age, so it might be a case that Brigid had faked her birth certificate to make it look like Teresa was Philippe’s daughter. Spade and Teresa both realized that Philippe was not her father, so at the end of the story, Sam Spade finally accepted Teresa as his own daughter. There was never a real connection between Philippe and Teresa, which was the reason why Philippe never even cared for her or tried to protect her from all the troubles he had pushed her into. Monsieur Spade season 1 ended with Philippe Saint-Andre getting the punishment he deserved while Teresa united with her actual father, Sam Spade, who’d genuinely take care of her.
