Much of what is admirable in French noir has to do with a blending of humanity with existential dread and guilt. We know, for example, that Gerard Philipe's character in PETITE PLAGE is an essentially good person whose life took a tragic, terrible turn--and it's his suffering and remorse that adds emotional depth as the story unfolds, as opposed to an ongoing parade of police authorities or surrogate investigative characters who are barely escaping their own noir reckoning. (I do think that there are some of these series where these characters actually don't escape a catastrophic fall, and those tend to be the ones that I enjoy the most.)
The "flawed couple" noir subtype in classic French noir rarely foregrounds detection/police work and shows how betrayal, revenge, and murder stem from the suppression/distortion of humanistic values (often manifested in via sexism/misogyny as it poisons the body of a soon-to-be corpse, as in LA VERITÉ SUR BÉBÉ DONGE).
In their recent TV offerings, the French seem to enjoy a lighter approach to crime, as a series like THE ART OF CRIME demonstrates. It's "screwball noir" with two-part episodes that wrap up a case in a way that is much less dragged out than much of the long-form material around the world, and that settles for having its protagonist characters keeping their maladjustments within the bounds of neurosis. Needless to say, it's way too light for you, Bob--they've have to get Noe to direct the final show where the two partners kill each other... :-)
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