French TV series review: B.R.I (The Brigade) Season Two
French crime drama returns with gripping new organised crime storyline
Cast of the gripping French police drama B.R.I
Canal+
B.R.I (The Brigade) Season Two
Starring: Sofian Khammes, Ophélie Bau, Emmanuelle Devos
The spectacular motorway péage (toll booth) scene shootout scene at the end of Season 1 of series B.R.I in 2023 left viewers breathless.
Then, in a shocking life-imitates-art incident, French fugitive Mohamed “The Fly” Amra escaped in May 2024, when armed men ambushed his prison van at a péage in Normandy. He was finally arrested in Romania in February 2025.
Fans of the show had to wait almost three years for the next episode of the hit drama, which follows the work of Versailles’ elite anti-gang unit, B.R.I (Brigade de recherche et d’intervention).
The new season does not disappoint, with the tight-knit group taking on a new organised crime gang, this time drug runners with a network stretching all the way to Spain.
A new member of the gang ruffles feathers; their boss (the impeccable Emmanuelle Devos) must deal with pressures from her superiors while sniffing out high level corruption; and the ever-present danger during raids puts everyone in peril despite their training.
What makes the show so watchable, beyond the meticulously researched representation of the real-life unit, is the superb acting and characterisation. The work they do is intense and frustrating, perilous and all-consuming – personal relationships inevitably suffer.
Season 1 and 2 of B.R.I are available to stream on Apple TV.
Also out:
The Bus: A French Football Mutiny
Netflix documentary revisits the French team’s controversial 2010 World Cup.
