“Failed” on Netfix, the series with Alexandre Kominek is a hit, but is it worth it?

Welcome to the Kominek-show. Netflix released the first season of Recalénew production Made in France. Since then, she has been at the top of the content list. The series is number 1 in France, and is in the world’s top 10 non-English speaking series. Alexandre Kominek responds to a farandole of faces well known to viewers in this nice, frankly joyful fireworks display.

Eddie (Alexandre Kominek) is a professional scammer. After being arrested by the cops, he is offered a deal to escape the 7 years in prison promised to him: infiltrate a high school to identify the child of a dangerous gangster. He then slips into the shoes of a contract maths teacher in the establishment in the north of France. Problem, he doesn’t have the codes at all: neither those of the teachers, nor those of the students of the Alpha generation born in the early 2010s.

At first a little reluctant when pressing “play”, we were picked up by Recalé for several reasons. First of all there is the rhythm of the valves thrown by Eddie. He doesn’t take a break to tease Lucie, the police officer in charge of his cover played by Laurence Arné, to tackle the students of this generation that is too fragile for his taste, to invent lies bigger than him. It is impossible not to recognize here Alexandre Kominek’s talent as an entertainer and imitator, a talent that he uses on stage, but also on France Inter and which he had already revealed in season 5 of LOL Who laughs comes out last year.

A series that can be devoured like a packet of chips

La série créée par François Uzan, à qui les abonnés Netflix doivent déjà Lupin, can also rely on many tasty secondary characters. Fred Testot the high school guard, Josephine de Meaux the CPE who calls everyone “my darling”, Sabrina Ouazani the reactionary History teacher, Yannick Landrein the union teacher, Bérengère McNeese the conspiratorial Russian teacher or even Mathilde Seigner, the mother from Eddie.

Recalé offers a caricatured but endearing vision of the world of high school and the teachers’ room. Eddie is there, like the viewers, dropped among acronyms like ENT and the Parcoursup system, and not at all aware of the way in which he should in principle address the students.

Finally, Recalé earns extra points because it is only made up of eight episodes with a maximum duration of 35 minutes. And that felt good.

Recalé is a light and tasty series, which can be nibbled compulsively like a packet of chips (with vinegar of course). No, the scenario is not revolutionary, nor full of twists and turns with a “wow” effect. But let’s be honest, making us press without thinking on “next episode” for more than two hours was not necessarily a win.