'Lupin' Part 2 may not be parfait, but it's still incredibly enjoyable

It could well be that a lot of what makes 'Lupin' so enjoyable isn't the wry references to its literary past, or even the gorgeous backdrop of Paris and the French countryside.

It's Omar Sy.

Omar Sy is up there as one of France's most experienced, well-known actors and that he hasn't been corrupted by Hollywood yet is further proof that of it.

Picking up immediately after the first part's cliffhanger, the second part delves more deeply into Assane Diop's history, how he became the gentleman thief that we know, and why his bitter thirst for revenge against Hubert Pellegrini runs so deep. In effect, Omar Sy's character has dropped the Lupin title and took up his own name, but in doing so, he's become more like him. He's still a Robin Hood-type who rewards those who help him, masterfully escapes police with sometimes broadly obvious methods, and he does it all with a panache and style. Unlike, say, Benedict Cumberbatch's iteration of Sherlock Holmes, there's no unbearable smugness to it but rather a sense of playfulness to it that's hard not to get on board with. After all, who doesn't love seeing rich, awful people get their comeuppance?

Replacing action director Louis Letterier on the second part are Ludovic Bernard and Hugo Gélin, both of whom work to give the show a more realistic edge to it. Obviously, this time around, the stakes are higher as it's Lupin fighting to get his son back, not to mention butting heads with Pellegrini and the police once more. Of course, when you say realistic, you automatically think gritty. That's not the case. 'Lupin' is still as slick and stylish as ever, but it's just got a little bit more of an edge to it this time. You still have the leaps of faith in storytelling, and like last season, trying to poke holes in the story and some of the logic is almost against the point. 'Lupin' just takes you on this ride and you're pulled along with it. More than that, you'll want to see how he gets away with it, as impossible as it may seem.

Hervé Pierre is back as Pellegrini, every bit as devious as he was in the last season, while Clotilde Hesme gives a much more vulnerable performance as his daughter Juliette. The star of the show, undoubtedly, is in the lead Omar Sy, who manages to match the ridiculousness of some of the scenes with a convincing portrayal every time while having a big, broad smile on his face. It's almost as if even he can't believe he's getting away with it. The dynamic between Sy and Antonie Guoy, who plays his sidekick Ferel, is much as last season and only for the better.

Intriguingly, the second season ends on a pretty final note - yet we're told right as the credits roll that 'Lupin' will return for a third part. Normally, we'd be wondering how that's possible seeing as how so many of the strands in the first two parts were so neatly tied off. 'Sherlock', for example, went for another season beyond its intended lifespan and ended up effectively watering down some of the impact of the preceding episodes. With 'Lupin', it's hard to know if this will be the case. Indeed, the very idea is that he comes through impossible odds and outsmarts everyone, including the audience.

Can he do it a third time?