We saw the first episode of Plus belle la vie on TF1! How much is the expected sequel worth?

Finally the end of the countdown is near. A year after its stop on France 3, Plus belle la vie returns this Monday, January 8 at 1:40pm on TF1. A sequel eagerly awaited by early fans hoping to rediscover what made the original series so strong and enduring.

AlloCiné had advance access to this first opus during the broadcast. Has TF1 met the challenge? Check out our review.

End of Mistral

“It’s been almost a year since it happened… it’s unbelievable. Misfortune that only happens to others. A building collapsed on the Place du Mistral, followed by another, and all nearby houses were weakened. We lost everything in a few hours…”

It is with these words that the first episode of Plus belle la vie, encore plus belle opens, spoken by the voice of Thomas March (Laurent Kerussoret). Place du Mistral is no more. Residents had to leave the area to settle elsewhere, a few streets away.

But Thomas and Killian, who are not going to be distracted by this tragedy, decided to open a new Mistral bar in another square. A place that will allow everyone to gather.

It’s also the opening night of this bar-restaurant that occupies the minds of all Mistralians in this first episode. Of course, like any good self-care soap, things won’t go as planned!

new places

This opening episode also gives us an introduction to the new setting. Because if a more beautiful life is even more beautiful, the continuation of the France 3 series, it also “The first season of the series, which is 18 years old“, as producer Clementine Planchon explained.

Therefore, the challenge is clear: to create something new from the old. Get out of the old Mistral bar, hospital, high school or even a hotel. This decor gives way to more modern and more relevant places. Mirta and Yolande thus became caretakers of the residence for students and young professionals. A setting that would allow the writers to bring a “youthful” feel to the series now that high school is gone.

As for Gabriel, Babette and Lea, all three work in a medical office that opened on the new Place du Mistral. A good way to replace the hospital. Finally, the police department has also received a bit of a makeover and now uses the latest technology, which will take some time for some of the police officers to adapt to.

As for the casting, if Thomas, Luna, Barbara, Blanche, Killian, Boher, Nisma and many others return, Plus belle la vie, encore plus belle also sees the arrival of many new characters that we meet briefly in this driver.

Samuel, Gabriel’s cousin, Aya, Barbara’s kitchen assistant, and Mei Liao, the new commissary, join the ranks and must bring their share of intrigue.

The episode that lays the foundation for the series

With Plus belle la vie, even more beautiful, TF1 aims to protect the public that has followed the France 3 series for 18 years, while capturing new viewers who have disappeared along the way or are simply absent. Never watched the series.

The result is dialogues that are sometimes overexplained, allowing new viewers to understand the relationship between the various characters and especially their situation during the finale of Plus belle la vie.

While this aspect will probably put off early fans, it’s a safe bet that these passages will become fewer and fewer as the episodes progress.

In short, even if it’s still hard to form a strong opinion with only a 20-minute episode, this pilot for Plus belle la vie, encore plus belle allows us to lay the groundwork and challenges for this sequel.

And with the last cliffhanger, there is no doubt that the public should be there every day at 13:40 to discover the rest of the adventures of the residents of the neighborhood. Note that for the most impatient, the episodes will be available on the TF1+ platform starting January 8th.