Summary
It’s hard to predict what will blow up on Netflix. Sometimes a hotly anticipated new release will make a big splash as expected, and at other times a show no one has heard of can come out of nowhere to dominate the ratings. That’s what happened with Elite Force, a French action series that dropped its first season on July 22. The show became the number one most-watched Netflix series in the world, and now it’s getting ready for more. What is Elite Force about? Welcome to the GIGN Elite Force follows members of the GIGN, which is a real-life counter-terrorism and hostage rescue tactical unit within the French Armed Forces. It stands for Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale; the original French title of the show is simply GIGN. We’re introduced to David (Tomer Sisley), a high-ranking officer within the unit. David is looking forward to leaving the GIGN so he can spend more time with his family, but fate intervenes. For one thing, the unit is attacked very close to home. Several members are killed, and David finds himself on a mission to track down stolen military-grade explosives. For another, David’s godson Max (Tristan Zanchi) has joined the unit, despite David’s best efforts. Max is the son of one of David’s former colleagues who died on a mission decades ago, and David promised Max’s mother that he would do whatever he could to keep Max out of the GIGN. David even comes up with especially tricky tasks designed for Max to fail, but when the young recruit completes them anyway, it’s clear there’s no stopping him. In order to watch over his godson, David decides to stay on, at least for a while longer. So there are two main strands to this story: David and the other members of the GIGN working to track down these explosives, and David’s efforts to protect Max, who does not think he needs protecting. These eventually collide in a very compelling way. Come for the action Stay for the soap opera Elite Force is co-created and directed by Julien Leclercq, who’s also behind the Netflix action series Ganglands. Leclercq is an expert director of action, so you already know going in that Elite Force is going to get your pulse pounding. The action is explosive, the choreography is fluid, and the tone is gritty. The bomb-defusing scenes are especially nail-biting. What’s more, the producers of Elite Force were given access to actual officers within the real-life GIGN, which lends the action scenes an air of authenticity they wouldn’t otherwise have. On the other side of the show, we have the family drama. Without giving away too much, there’s more to the death of Max’s father Laurent than David initially lets on. While the GIGN mission takes up most of the early episodes, eventually the show pivots to focus more on the increasingly complex family drama. By the end, there are some twists worthy of any soap opera, which is a good thing. Elite Force operates on a heightened level of TV reality, where everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and where the characters’ personal lives are as dangerous as any battle in the field. In fact, the show might be a shade too melodramatic for some, but if you give yourself over to it, you’ll have a good time. At just six episodes lasting around 42 and 55 minutes, Elite Force is a fairly quick watch. Clearly, a lot of people have enjoyed the show, which isn’t surprising; quality action series are always welcome on Netflix. The question now is what happens next. Will Elite Force return for a second season? All the indicators are there The first season of Elite Force is not set up as a one-and-done series. Again, we’re not going to spoil you, but the ending is very much something that needs to be followed up on. Whether the show will get the chance is another matter, but we know that the producers are working on giving us more. In a conversation with French outlet Télé Loisirs, Tomer Sisley mentioned that “a second season is being written,” and said that “Netflix usually greenlights a new season one month after release.” He also shared that the cliffhanger ending was “planned from the start,” and teased that there several directions the show could go in. Netflix is no stranger to canceling beloved series, but with Elite Force quickly becoming a smash hit, its chances at getting a second season seem very good. We’ll cross our fingers. More where that came from In the meantime, Elite Force isn’t the only foreign language Netflix action series to burst onto the scene and become very popular very quickly; back in February, the German show Unfamiliar did much the same thing. And if you want an English-language Netflix show that gives you these same kinds of thrills, we recommend shows like The Night Agent, Black Doves, and The Recruit. You also don’t have to leave Netflix to see more of Tomer Sisley, who has a long career as a leading man in France. He has a big role in the Netflix show Messiah, a thriller about a man whose followers claim he is the second coming of Jesus.