Five Figure Fanwork Exchange

Title: Le Bureau des Légendes / The Bureau (Internationally)

Media: TV

Approx length: There are 5 seasons, each consisting of 10 episodes that each run from 52-59 minutes. So it's a long one!

Where to find it: Sundance Now, AMC+ for English speakers requiring subtitles. I imagine it might be more widely available for those in Francophone countries. The first 3-ish episodes of S1 should be free to watch if you have US Amazon Prime (or at least, it was when I was watching it).

What is it, in summary?: At it's simplest, it is a French political thriller set in the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security (or DGSE, Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure in French). It focuses on Malotru, a man who has recently returned from a 6 year mission in Syria, and who is about the blow the entire agency up for love.

What do you love about it? While the main story line revolves around Malotru and his lady love, it has a large cast of interesting characters and relationships and has a very personal, psychological touch to it. From a North American perspective, it's also an interesting insight into the role of intelligence agencies that AREN'T the CIA (although the CIA makes some appearances). I haven't watched Homeland, but I've read that this can be considered the French equivalent, so if you enjoyed that, you will probably enjoy this.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: I've requested a (non-canon) pining relationship between Malotru's daughter and his lady love, Nadia, an extremely antagonistic slash ship, and a 'Screw the dude, let his girlfriends ride off into the sunset together without him' ship.

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests?: Not really. All the requests I've made require watching S5, which builds on all the other seasons. Have I made it difficult to gift me anything? Yes, yes I have.

Content warnings: Torture, violence, violence against women, lots of guns, lots of angst. It's one of those shows where almost all the Middle Eastern characters wind up being terrorists.