Lupin the Third PART4 14 Review
Lupin the Third (2015) episode 14
Lupin III / ルパン三世

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Lupin is broke, so he embarks on a plan to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Fujiko becomes Marcello Baldini’s secretary as he pleads with French officials to lend it to him for €5 million, which they reject. While here, Fujiko spots a street painter with a Mona Lisa, which she buys for a cheap price. Lupin then announces that he’s going to steal the Mona Lisa, so Zenigata is brought in and advises the Louvre staff not to move it, as it will become vulnerable if they do so. Philip Casper, France’s Ministry of Culture, is skeptical about Lupin’s claims, but Zenigata is convinced. After screening everyone, Zenigata discovers a statue isn’t right, and inside is what appears to be Lupin. After a chase, Zenigata realizes he’s been duped and returns to the Louvre and Paris police discover they’ve captured Jigen. Lupin is making his escape, but Zenigata catches him, forcing Goemon to to assist the escape.

Philip praises Zenigata for saving the Mona Lisa, which was never removed from the Louvre, but Zenigata thinks something’s not right. Meanwhile, Jigen and Lupin take the painting Lupin stole from Philip, who’s lending the real Mona Lisa out in secret for large sums of money, to Baldini, who has an expert come in. The expert declares it to be a fake since he just verified the one in the Louvre is real. Jigen and Lupin escape, but as the expert examines the painting left behind, he discovers it to be the real McCoy as well. Meanwhile, Lupin realizes he’s been had by Fujiko. Posing as an Arab, Lupin is able to again steal the Mona Lisa from Philip. Zenigata catches Lupin, but Lupin escapes, leaving the painting with Zenigata, who then goes after Philip. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon confront Fujiko at the mansion given her by Philip, where Lupin demands a share of it since Fujiko’s street painting turned out to be another genuine Mona Lisa and a major art discovery.

Thoughts/Review:

When I saw that Lupin was targeting the Mona Lisa, I thought about other shows I’ve seen where this was the case, such as the 1979 episode of Doctor Who called City of Death, and the 1985 episode of the Jeremey Brett Sherlock Holmes series called The Final Problem. Then I wondered how the episode would make things so that the painting stays in France, yet Lupin scores the win.

The hook to get Lupin on this high profile caper is the fact that he’s broke, which for some reason means that Jigen and Goemon are broke. Goemon seems to just lead a simple life, so fine, he has no money. If you assume that somehow, the Italian government got their hands on all of Lupin’s money, then that still leaves Jigen. As many capers as they do, there should be more money around. But then again, Lupin may be like Lovejoy in the Lovejoy series, who’s constantly broke even after big commissions on antique sales. I never really imagined Lupin to be this way though. I figured he had tons of cash socked away, which is why he pretty much steals for fun, not money.

That little issue aside, the rest of the episode is pretty good. I liked seeing how Fujiko and Lupin cased the Louvre before starting their plan. I can’t really recall another time Lupin did this, but I could easily be wrong since I’ve not seen a lot of the 2nd series and I don’t remember a lot about the first series, other than the episode where Lupin was thrown in jail.

Fujiko ending up with Baldini wasn’t a surprise, since she does that a lot throughout the franchise. However, I couldn’t help but remember my mentioning in my previous episode review how Fujiko is always able to pose as a secretary/lover of someone up to no good, and no one ever questions MINE Fujiko despite her criminal record and reputation.

Zenigata is shown as mostly competent in this episode, though they have to throw in a bit of the comedic stuff too, which is unfortunate since it makes him look a bit like a buffoon. I did like how Zenigata knows his weaknesses when it comes to Lupin.

This episode actually taught me something. I’d never heard of the Isleworth Mona Lisa, a painting some in the art world believe is an authentic Leonardo da Vinci work of art, depicting the same female model, just at an earlier time in her life. However, this provided a nice, historical element to justify having another, authentic Mona Lisa that Fujiko purchased.

Finally, we are to believe that the man that escaped from MI6 is in fact Leonardo da Vinci. I’m not buying that, but we’ll see where things go.

In the end, I found Lupin the Third PART4 14 to be an entertaining and interesting episode.