Represent is a French satirical comedy that discusses the politics of the country and how the right-wing narrative has taken over the continent and is harming the next generation of immigrants’ children. The first season of the show ended with Stéphane Blé winning the presidential elections and defeating his opponent, Corinne Douanier. So, let’s find out what happens in season 2 through a detailed recap.
Spoilers Ahead
What happened at Stéphane’s swearing ceremony?
Stéphane was now the new president of the Republic of France, and unlike others, he was not a traditionalist when it came to his clothing and general attitude. He was, however, looking forward to starting his tenure. He was given a new security staff led by Alice, who wanted to make sure Stéphane gave a small speech to dissuade attempts on his life from groups that had still not digested the fact that they had a president of color. At the swearing-in ceremony, Stéphane’s friend, Mo, insisted on being on the security detail, and joined the new security staff to protect him. Mo comes across a man who he assumed was planted to attack Stéphane. Stéphane, long after the ceremony, was requested to meet Mo, who reveals he accidentally beat up the Norwegian Ambassador, assuming him to be the assassin sent to kill Stéphane. To sort the matter, Willaim Crozon was called in, as he was aware of how this matter could be deescalated. William pointed out Mo and Stéphane could face serious charges if this news broke out. The ambassador was pacified and sent back to his home country; however, matters between Norway and France were far from settled over this assault incident.
Who did Stephane make his Prime Minister?
Stéphane wanted someone as Prime Minister who wanted to bring some changes in the social structure of the French public. The only person he could think of was Corinne, who believed in saving the planet. Corinne accepted the offer, but she began to overwhelm him with her environmentally friendly policies, including assigning a man with no political experience to be the defense secretary of the country. However, Yasmine had to step in and inform her that no major laws could be passed before the legislative elections were through. Stephane was sandwiched between Yasmine and Corinne, yet he had to make some solid decisions to keep both by his side. His wife Marion chose to join him in the palace just for the sake of appearances and lived in a separate room. Marion also had plans to tax the Béké community of the Guadeloupe region, whose ancestors were former slavers and right now were living off many benefits from the French government. Stéphane was not sure if this was the right idea, but he agreed to it. Marion was also assigned a new bodyguard, a good-looking young man named Aimone.
Was the diplomatic meeting between Norway and France a success?
The assault on the Norwegian ambassador was becoming a problem, and Stéphane had to come up with a plan to broker peace between the two countries. The queen of Norway was aware of the assault incident and, as a result, made a trip to France on the invitation of Stéphane and his team, who were coming up with plans to offer some beneficial deals to make sure the incident was covered up. The queen of Norway was given a traditional Norwegian welcome, and along with that, Stéphane offered a lucrative defense deal to the monarch, which she did not expect. She termed him dumb in her native language and accepted the deal, which was far better than what she had intended to demand. Corinne was not happy with how the diplomatic meeting turned out, as he’d offered a defense deal while she’d been keen on a deal that would put an end to the animal slaughter activities that happen in Norway. Since Stéphane and Corinne were on opposite ends of the spectrum, she chose to resign from the post of prime minister after the France-Norway diplomatic meeting.
Who was Stephane’s next choice for the post of Prime Minister?
With Corinne out of the picture, the only person Stéphane had in mind was Eric Andrei, his rival from the French presidential election. Eric and Stéphane were never on good terms throughout the campaign, but he needed someone with a political mindset to be his prime minister to help navigate. Eric agreed to Stéphane’s offer, but he began to plot with his assistant Jerome to remove the President from his position and assume it himself. Jerome agreed to the idea, and they began to find ways to get Stéphane out of Elysee Palace.
Why was Marion sent to Guadeloupe?
Amidst all this, Marion along with Aime, her bodyguard, was sent to Guadeloupe to work on her plans to tax the Beke community. However, Stéphane was made aware of Marion and Aime’s disappearance from the island, and he was wondering if the Beke community were involved in the kidnapping, as they were known to be brutal because of their ancestry.
Did matters get out of hand in Guadeloupe?
On reaching Guadeloupe, Stéphane and his team, which included William, Mo, and his estranged cousin, Desire, received severe backlash from the locals. Mo and William, however, found out Marion and Aime had had a brief affair after coming across footage of them kissing in the hotel where they stayed. They did not share the news yet with Stéphane, who was still under the impression she had been kidnapped. Mo and William believed Marion may have eloped with her boyfriend. They informed the Prime Minister Eric Andrei about the news of Marion’s disappearance, and he offered to dispatch elite commandos to rescue Marion from the hands of the Beke population who she was planning to tax.
Was Marion found?
Stéphane decided to confront the Beke families living on the island of Guadeloupe. All of them were shocked to hear the descendants of the slavers claiming they were the victims and putting across reasons why they should not be taxed. Marion was found at the Bekes’ home, and she revealed she had been chained in the home just like the slaves were put through centuries ago. Prime Minister Eric was given orders to not go ahead with a military operation, but he did it anyway in the hope Stéphane would get killed. The family that had kidnapped the first lady, Marion, was neutralized, and Stéphane and his team were not harmed in the process. Stéphane, for the betterment of the Guadeloupe principality, chose to implement ‘eat well, for free’ on the island. Its success or failure would help him decide if this was a program that could be implemented in France as well.
Who was blackmailing Stéphane?
Eric had learned of the affair Marion had had with Aime, and he had in his hands the footage to prove it. He chose to blackmail Stéphane and asked him to resign, or the footage of his wife kissing her bodyguard would be leaked to the press. Stéphane and his wife had a talk over her digression. She apologized, but she never wanted her mistake to be the reason for his resignation. He became president for a reason, and she wanted to help him. The footage was leaked, and Marion confessed to her actions to stop Stéphane from resigning. Stephane was aware he was being blackmailed by Eric and confronted his Prime Minister. Eric and Stéphane had a confrontational talk as the former accused him of not talking about politics seriously. Eric admitted to having threatened him and claimed he would do anything to become the President of France. This was the start of the cold war between Eric and Stéphane.
What did Stéphane announce during his interview?
Stéphane and Marion chose to give an interview to the French News channel to discuss the scandal around the first lady. Both had an honest interaction with the news channel, which made sure to put a rest to the scandal. However, the right-wing leader Fred Cognard forcefully took over the interview and began to ask Stéphane questions. Stéphane understood his game plan and offered to step down if Fred chose to be the next president. Fred went speechless as he had already accepted to be the Prime Minister if Eric Andrei became the President by carrying out a coup to put Stéphane aside.
Why did Stéphane move into the Presidential bunker?
Fred refused to take Stéphane up on his offer, and the people protesting outside the presidential palace took offense to the man not taking up the job of the head of the state. The right-wing protestors took offense because they were supporting Fred for a reason, as he stepped away from a crucial job. The protesters turned violent and charged into the Elysee in the hope of confronting Fred and Stéphane. The protesters claimed this to be a revolution of the kind that took place in France many centuries ago, claiming this would be the resurgence of right-wing politics just like Fred wanted. Fred fled, and Stéphane, along with his team, hid in the bunker made for such situations. The bunker was closed, and could be accessed from the outside. The whole situation had William going through a severe panic attack, as he never saw this coming.
What was Eric Andrei’s plan?
Eric wanted to use this as an opportunity to remove Stéphane as President of France and take the post for himself. This is where it was easy to point out that Stéphane was not smart enough to be a politician. He placed a ruthless and ambitious man like Eric next to him and expected him to not act dirty. Stéphane should have seen this coming, but he always chose to see the good in everyone around him, including in his enemies. Eric roped in the chief of defense staff by his side, which again indicated that Eric and the high-ranking military officer who were supposed to serve as the head of the state were closeted racists. They wanted Stéphane out of the office only because he was not the person they claimed should be in charge of a powerful nation like France.
As Eric was informed Stéphane was safe in the bunker with his team, he went ahead and announced to the media and the public that Stéphane had asked him to open fire on the protestors. Stéphane was shocked, as he knew this was Eric’s way to paint him as this evil leader who wanted to crush the dissent. The chief of the military went along with Eric’s lies, and they proclaimed they’d begun the impeachment process to remove Stéphane as the President of France. Eric knew spreading lies across the nation was the only way to sideline Stéphane and for him to become France’s next president, as he could never have been the next head of state through normal elections as he had lost once already. He would have to prove himself to be a patriot, which was why Stéphane had to be made the villain. This would make the transition of power easy.
Did Stephane and his team get arrested?
Eric had declared Stéphane to be the man who needs to be confronted for the impeachment process to be a success. He had hoped to use the military’s might to put Stéphane under house arrest and force him to follow Eric’s orders. On entering the bunker, Eric and the military officers did not find Stéphane and his team. They’d escaped from an open vent, which took them to the streets of Paris. The only person remaining back at the bunker was William. William probably stayed back because someone had to do something to keep Eric and his team engaged till Stéphane was safe and sound.
William was a Stéphane loyalist and refused to share where they were hidden. He wanted to make sure Eric’s plan would never come to fruition, as Stéphane had won the public mandate. William was tortured by Eric and rendered unconscious. Eric had let out that Stéphane was on the run, which he claimed proved his allegations true. Stéphane parted ways with his security staff, including Alice, as they did not want anyone to get into trouble because of him. They could have separated to distract the people looking out for them.
Stéphane was saved by some sanitary workers who were in support of him. These people shifted Stéphane to an apartment in the city itself, as Eric had put Paris in lockdown to make sure his nemesis did not leave the town. Stéphane was surprised to know these workers were living in a posh apartment. He soon realized the people who rescued them could afford these apartments because of his laws that now allowed people to rent or own the empty apartments in the city to stay close to their place of work. This was the reason why the sanitary workers were in support of Stéphane. Stéphane had made sure the empty apartments did not go to waste and let people of all strata access them. This was to kill the class divide, and it turned out to be beneficial to Stéphane as support for him had grown manifold.
Represent season 2 ended with Stephane going live through the Elysee social media account to let the citizens know he was being framed by Eric. This was his only way to save himself and retain the support of the public, as France was a democracy. Stéphane knew he had the mass support; he only had to address his thoughts to get it back, letting France know Eric was not the kind of head of state they needed now. Mo had accessed his phone to make plans to leave the city through the river and get out of Paris in no time. As the city was in lockdown, taking the road was risky. Eric’s team picked up the location of Stéphane’s place and barged into the apartment to arrest him. Mo, along with Yasmine and Marion, left the city fully aware of the fact that his live broadcast through social media would work in their favor. They had to stay underground till the matter simmered down. Marion was petrified, but she knew Eric wouldn’t dare to kill Stéphane since he’d declared his life was under threat.
