Jules Maigret makes his return to PBS Masterpiece, and Maigret Season 2 preserves everything that was great about Season 1. Patrick Harbinson does his writerly duty of expanding Maigret’s world now that the exposition is out of the way, but at the same time, this is a season that feels a little bit like Maigret himself. It’s exciting, but also unassuming—not needing to clamor for attention in order to retain its audience. It just quietly builds up, moment by moment, without any fanfare.
The series still begins and ends with Benjamin Wainwright as Maigret. The task of being the hero around which the project orbits is a challenge on so many levels, and fans saw last season how Wainwright navigated that, with a calm, straight-ahead steadiness. His performance feels even more solid now with that first season in the history books. Maigret is not a demonstrative character, but Wainwright finds those moments to parcel out his humanity, even if it’s something so small as a change in tone. The banter between Maigret and his wife Louise (played by Stefanie Martini) is as charming as ever.
After a large portion of Season 1 was spent on flashbacks and digging into Maigret’s childhood angst, Season 2 lets that baggage drop in favor of an examination of his professional history. That comes in the form of Xavier Guichard, Maigret’s mentor played by British crime drama royalty: Nathaniel Parker, who previously starred as the title character in The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. Parker’s casting is not only a treat for genre fans, but it gives the character of Guichard an extra layer. Viewers take Guichard more seriously since they know and love Parker as an actor, and because Parker has played the hero detective before, his approach to scenes between Guichard and Maigret is more nuanced. He’s not just another antagonistic bureaucrat, though he certainly does make Maigret’s life more difficult.
That’s the cracking energy at the heart of Maigret Season 2. Guichard meddling in Maigret’s team is an example of one of the oldest storylines in the crime drama book. Viewers know how it plays: the team gets shuffled around, everyone complains, then the group eventually is reunited. But in Maigret, viewers can feel a noticeable difference in team chemistry—and they can see the characters feeling it too—so it really does make this season distinct. The absence of Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners, Prime Suspect: Tennison) is felt very early on, as Torrence provided most of the show’s comic relief. Some of that now falls to Martini as Louise, but there is generally less levity this season, and the show does suffer for it.
Harrison’s space is filled by a predictable new addition: an Internal Affairs detective. But Bonfils (played by Alex Bhat) is more wide-eyed than annoyingly critical. And speaking of annoying, Rob Kazinsky (Pacific Rim) is back as Justin Cavre, this time completely shameless about his disdain for Maigret. Cavre is the closest thing Maigret has to a rival, and now in Season 2 he’s become someone the audience loves to hate. But it’s the Maigret and Guichard relationship (or lack thereof) that provides the personal subplot of the season. Harbinson’s choice to continuously explore Maigret’s past simultaneously with his present, instead of just a backstory episode or two, is part of what makes Maigret successful; the audience is always a little bit in Maigret’s head.
In terms of the mysteries, Maigret Season 2 keeps to the two-part structure utilized in Season 1 and in other British crime dramas. That means that plots can occasionally start slow. But Harbinson delivers another set of whodunits that honor Georges Simenon’s character while also feeling contemporary—and importantly, not hitting the audience upside the head with reminders of how contemporary Maigret is. There are elements of modern technology or culture, but they never dominate an episode. And visually, the show continues to look fantastic; it may have one of the most beautiful opening title sequences on television.
Maigret continues to be the epitome of what PBS Masterpiece was intended for. It’s a classy, smart, well-crafted show that can easily be enjoyed on a weekend evening with a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine, if you’re Maigret). Benjamin Wainwright has gotten even better now that he’s settled into the role of Maigret, and his performance alone is worth watching for. But everything around him has blossomed a little more as well, making Maigret Season 2 an absolute pleasure.
Maigret Season 2 premieres Oct. 18, 2026 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on PBS Masterpiece, and streaming on the PBS App and PBS Masterpiece on Prime Video. Photo Credit: Gabor Kotschy/of PBS Masterpiece.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
