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The Bureau

TV·2015–2020·5 seasons, 50 episodes·Canal+·Crime, Drama·55m·8.2·Created by Éric Rochant

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Within the DGSE (General Directorate for External Security), a department called the Office Of Legends (BDL) forms and remote pilot the most important agents of the French intelligence services: Clandestine. Immersion in hostile country, their mission is to identify individuals who may be recruited as sources of information. Operating "under caption", that is to say in a fabricated identity from scratch, they live for many years in a permanent duplicity. Our hero just returned from a clandestine mission six years in Damascus. But contrary to what is required by safety rules, he does not abandon his legend and the identity under which he lived in Syria, thus putting in danger the whole system.

Highest-rated episodes all ranked

  1. 01The Bureau S01E10Episode 10S01E10 · 8.3Debailly asks DGSE to help Nadia, but is refused. He attracts the CIA by approaching the Syrians, purporting to represent the Americans, and takes time off to meet the CIA (revealed as the flashforwards shown from Episode Two). Dr Balmes suggests his motivation is not love for Nadia, but craving for the double life he experienced undercover. He agrees to return to the DGSE as a CIA double agent. Meanwhile, Marina disappears in Tbilisi en route to Iran, kidnapped by the Georgian secret service to see from where she seeks help. Cyclone is rescued in an ambush near the border with Mali.
  2. 02The Bureau S01E08Episode 8S01E08 · 8.2Nadia refuses to betray her country, and is angry at Lefevbre's revelations. Ill from the stress of her situation, she confesses to Nadim, and is flown back to Syria. The Russian FSB confronts DGSE and buys its silence. In Algeria, DGSE fails to plant a bug on the General holding Cyclone; Cyclone is handed over to ISIS. Marina is trained to deal with interrogation by Marie-Jeanne, tested by an Iranian agent pretending to be Reza's wife, and offered the Iran secondment. In flashforward, Debailly continues to talk to the CIA; the Americans do not fully believe his story.
  3. 03The Bureau S04E09Episode 9S04E09 · 8.2Sisteron warns Marina that her cover has been blown, but that her arrest could help on another crucial assignment. Meanwhile, Malotru parts ways with Samara and comes back to France, where he is to be held in solitary confinement. Back in Syria, Jonas has lost Iode 3’s track and must turn to artificial intelligence to try and find him.

Castfull cast & details

Episodes by season

Season01Episode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode10Episodes2015Aired 7.5Season avg
  1. S01E01The Bureau S01E01Episode 1April 27, 2015 7.7Agent Malotru (Debailly) is recalled to Paris after six years undercover in Damascus, and ends his affair with Nadia El Mansour. In Algiers,
  2. S01E02The Bureau S01E02Episode 2April 27, 2015 6.6Debailly is still under routine surveillance, whilst resuming his affair with Nadia under his cover identity Paul Lefevbre. He starts to que
  3. S01E03The Bureau S01E03Episode 3May 4, 2015 7.9Marina starts work at the Institute of Earth Physics. A brief scene shows Debailly, connected to a polygraph, continuing to recount his stor
  4. S01E04The Bureau S01E04Episode 4May 4, 2015 8.0The episode starts with a flashforward of Debailly continuing to explain his story. Nadim investigates Paul Lefevbre, and tells Nadia not to
  5. S01E05The Bureau S01E05Episode 5May 11, 2015 6.7DGSE makes contact with Algerians holding Cyclone, and Sisteron goes to Algeria. The Syrians continue to investigate Paul Lefevbre, testing
  6. S01E06The Bureau S01E06Episode 6May 11, 2015 8.0Debailly continues to investigate the leads on Cyclone. Nadim traces Debailly's daughter Prune and starts asking about him. Marina and anoth
  7. S01E07The Bureau S01E07Episode 7May 18, 2015 6.7Debailly continues to be tailed by the Russians. The DGSE meet an Algerian with information about Cyclone. They decide to recruit Nadia; Mar
  8. S01E08The Bureau S01E08Episode 8May 18, 2015 8.2Nadia refuses to betray her country, and is angry at Lefevbre's revelations. Ill from the stress of her situation, she confesses to Nadim, a
  9. S01E09The Bureau S01E09Episode 9May 25, 2015 6.7ISIS threatens to execute Cyclone; Debailly is asked to work on his rescue. Nadim tries to blackmail him with Nadia's life, wanting him to b
  10. S01E10The Bureau S01E10Season's bestEpisode 10May 25, 2015 8.3Debailly asks DGSE to help Nadia, but is refused. He attracts the CIA by approaching the Syrians, purporting to represent the Americans, and

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

Season02Best seasonEpisode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode10Episodes2016Aired 7.7Season avg
  1. S02E01The Bureau S02E01Season's bestEpisode 1May 9, 2016 7.9Marina begins to socialise with young Iranians, including Zamani, the son of a well-connected minister. She finds adapting to the internal p
  2. S02E02The Bureau S02E02Episode 2May 9, 2016 7.8Debailly recalls when he first met Nadia, and continues to agonise about her fate. The CIA confirms its interest in Zamani, but Debailly and
  3. S02E03The Bureau S02E03Episode 3May 16, 2016 7.8The DGSE recruits the jihadist's sister, planning to trap and kill Boumaza. Meanwhile the Iranian secret police continues to investigate Mar
  4. S02E04The Bureau S02E04Episode 4May 16, 2016 7.8DGSE receives a report that Nadia has been executed in Syria, but the CIA has warned Debailly to anticipate false reports, and agrees to wor
  5. S02E05The Bureau S02E05Episode 5May 23, 2016 7.8Duflot discovers that Debailly disregarded his order to Marina not to contact Zamani, dismisses him for misconduct, and reinstates Marie-Jea
  6. S02E06The Bureau S02E06Episode 6May 23, 2016 7.8Boumaza takes Sisteron into Syria. DGSE decides not to attack, to protect its local agents. He hears that Turkish forces have his sister, an
  7. S02E07The Bureau S02E07Episode 7May 30, 2016 7.8Continuing her meeting with Debailly, Nadia insists that DGSE help her escape from her forced role as figurehead for the Syrian rebels. Deba
  8. S02E08The Bureau S02E08Episode 8May 30, 2016 7.8Dulfot goes to interview Marina personally about how the CIA managed to recruit Zamani. Marie-Jeanne wants to exfiltrate Marina, but she is
  9. S02E09The Bureau S02E09Episode 9June 6, 2016 7.8The suicide bomber pulls out of the mission against Boumaza, and Debailly steps into the operation, travelling to Syria but swearing his tea
  10. S02E10The Bureau S02E10Episode 10June 6, 2016 6.4Duflot lectures his team about loyalty, then offers to resign, but his boss refuses to accept. The DGSE investigates Debailly's disloyalty a

Season 2 ranked & reviewed

Season03Episode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode10Episodes2017Aired 7.5Season avg
  1. S03E01The Bureau S03E01Season's bestEpisode 1May 22, 2017 7.8Debailly is prisoner of IS in Iraq. DGSE asks Nadia to negotiate his release through an intermediary Shahanah, a corrupt art dealer, and pro
  2. S03E02The Bureau S03E02Episode 2May 22, 2017 7.7One of Debailly's jailers is a Russian FSB mole and offers to help him. Meanwhile, Duflot tries to help Marina overcome her trauma. Shahanah
  3. S03E03The Bureau S03E03Episode 3May 29, 2017 7.7Debailly loses hope after his FSB helper is wounded, and stops eating. Marina is approached by Phillipe, a Mossad agent who is posing as DGS
  4. S03E04The Bureau S03E04Episode 4May 29, 2017 7.5The CIA wants to bomb the camp where Debailly might be held, but DGSE insists they wait. Duflot wants to get Debailly released before he ret
  5. S03E05The Bureau S03E05Episode 5June 5, 2017 7.4Shahanah is murdered by the Iranians. DGSE sets up a secret meeting between Duflot and Cochise near Jarabulus, and Duflot prepares for his m
  6. S03E06The Bureau S03E06Episode 6June 5, 2017 7.4Debailly manages to escape into the hills, and seeks help from a farmer who betrays him to IS, and he is recaptured. French agents identify
  7. S03E07The Bureau S03E07Episode 7June 12, 2017 7.4Cochise refuses to spy for DGSE within IS, wanting exfiltration. Duflot agrees, if Cochise can free Debailly. Before he can return, Duflot i
  8. S03E08The Bureau S03E08Episode 8June 12, 2017 7.8DGSE mourns the loss of Duflot. Meanwhile, Mossad gives Marina the memory stick with the virus, which DGSE manages to copy before Marina suc
  9. S03E09The Bureau S03E09Episode 9June 19, 2017 6.1DGSE discovers that Debailly is using the stolen IDs of former agents to travel back to France. Nadia hears from her assistant's Iranian con
  10. S03E10The Bureau S03E10Episode 10June 19, 2017 7.8DGSE tracks Debailly's attempts to contact Nadia. Dr Balmes meets her, and explains how Debailly got her released from captivity. Debailly s

Season 3 ranked & reviewed

Season04Episode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode10Episodes2018Aired 7.6Season avg
  1. S04E01The Bureau S04E01Episode 1October 22, 2018 7.9Chased by the DGSE and the CIA all the way to Moscow, Malotru tries to negotiate his return to France. The DGSE’s new head of Internal Secur
  2. S04E02The Bureau S04E02Episode 2October 22, 2018 7.8Dumped by the DGSE, Malotru comes out of hiding and is quickly located by the Russian secret services. At the DGSE, Liz manipulates Sisteron
  3. S04E03The Bureau S04E03Episode 3October 29, 2018 7.8Arrested for Espionage by the Russian secret services, Malotru is tossed aside and left to the mercy of other inmates. Back in France, the D
  4. S04E04The Bureau S04E04Episode 4October 29, 2018 7.8While under intense pressure from the FSB to cooperate, Malotru is considering how to approach a cyber operations officer. Back in France, M
  5. S04E05The Bureau S04E05Episode 5November 5, 2018 6.4Just as Karlov is beginning to lose patience, Malotru suggests recruiting Ellenstein. Back at the DGSE, Marie-Jeanne is monitoring a cyberat
  6. S04E06The Bureau S04E06Episode 6November 5, 2018 8.0Under Karlov’s watchful gaze, Malotru initiates Ellenstein’s recruitment. At the DGSE, Sisteron suspects that Cesar is not ready to go on a
  7. S04E07The Bureau S04E07Episode 7November 12, 2018 8.0In Moscow, Malotru welcomes César, who has taken Ellenstein’s identity. Back in Damascus, the Syrian authorities refuse to let either Jonas
  8. S04E08The Bureau S04E08Episode 8November 12, 2018 6.5Karlov asks Malotru to join the FSB in Moscow. In Paris, Sisteron and the entire Bureau must answer to an inquiry questionnaire on Marie-Jea
  9. S04E09The Bureau S04E09Season's bestEpisode 9November 19, 2018 8.2Sisteron warns Marina that her cover has been blown, but that her arrest could help on another crucial assignment. Meanwhile, Malotru parts
  10. S04E10The Bureau S04E10Episode 10November 19, 2018 7.8In Ukraine, Malotru arrives at the exchange location to get Marina. But on the way back, their convoy deviates from the route initially agre

Season 4 ranked & reviewed

Season05Episode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode10Episodes2020Aired 6.7Season avg
  1. S05E01The Bureau S05E01Episode 1April 6, 2020 6.4JJA, the director of Dsec, has taken over the leadership of Le Bureau, while Marie-Jeanne has moved to Egypt. A newspaper article on the eve
  2. S05E02The Bureau S05E02Episode 2April 6, 2020 7.8On his way to Riga, Sylvain disappears at Moscow airport. Marie-Jeanne is in the Sinai desert. She must work alongside the Egyptian agent Ra
  3. S05E03The Bureau S05E03Episode 3April 13, 2020 6.5Malotru is in place in the Russian agency FSB as "Pavel Lebedev". Sisteron is sent in the greatest secrecy to Cairo. Meanwhile, Jules announ
  4. S05E04The Bureau S05E04Episode 4April 13, 2020 6.4Liz Bernstein and La Mule are quietly continuing their investigations to identify the mole in the service. After a few weeks of rest in Solo
  5. S05E05The Bureau S05E05Episode 5April 20, 2020 6.4A meeting between the different chiefs of the Sinai tribes is to be held at the Nile Sorman hotel where Marie-Jeanne is working undercover.
  6. S05E06The Bureau S05E06Episode 6April 20, 2020 6.4At the DGSE, the work of JJA is carefully examined. Dsec is particularly interested in the way he manages Pacemaker, who is on a mission in
  7. S05E07The Bureau S05E07Episode 7April 27, 2020 6.5JJA is told to go ahead and recruit Mikhail. He contacts Pavel in Moscow to develop a strategy. Sylvain is sent to Seoul by the Russians to
  8. S05E08The Bureau S05E08Season's bestEpisode 8April 27, 2020 8.0Mikhaïl Karlov receives a parcel with the USB key which Sylvain uses at work. Both surprised and worried, he tries to reach the young hacker
  9. S05E09The Bureau S05E09Episode 9May 4, 2020 6.8Marie-Jeanne is back at the Bureau. Sisteron processes information from Karlov. Mikhail must explain to his wife and son the difficult situa
  10. S05E10The Bureau S05E10Episode 10May 4, 2020 6.1Marie-Jeanne presents her candidacy to succeed Michel Ponte as director of the service. An Uzbek tourist in Paris finds a weapon. Is he part

Season 5 ranked & reviewed

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