Maigret season 1, episode 2 review: The PBS hit does more with less

SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Maigret Season 1, Episode 2.

Maigret firmly establishes its own lane with “The Lazy Burglar, Part Two.” The PBS Masterpiece show’s conclusion to its opening mystery colors even further outside the genre lines than the series premiere. That’s what makes it so entertaining — viewers know what’s coming and then they don’t, not quite.

That’s particularly remarkable in the crime genre, which by and large has a very strict template. The hero is chasing the bad guy through pieces of evidence until they either arrest them or they don’t. Most episodes of many crime shows start at the beginning with the crime and move straight ahead. Maigret Season 1, Episode 2 picks up where Episode 1 left off, but even as it checks off the boxes, there are little wobbles here and there that keep things interesting. And the final few minutes are Harbinson’s particular message that this won’t be a typical detective show.

Maigret is still hot on the trail of the bank robbery crew, but is now stuck sharing command authority with Inspector Cavre (played by Rob Kazinsky with just the perfect amount of arrogance). At the same time, he’s refusing to let go of the unrelated murder of thief Honore Cuendet, which he’s now connected to a powerful…