Anya and Kamal are revealed to be involved in some way to the murder. Hélène started questioning her daughter’s stories as the police continued looking for Anya.
Une mère parfaite, or The Perfect Mother is a French thriller series based on the novel of the same name by Nina Darnton. The story revolves around Hélène Berg (Julie Gayet), a mother whose daughter became a suspect to a murder case. Convinced that her daughter, Anya (Eden Ducourant) is innocent, Hélène seeks the help of a lawyer, Vincent Duc (Tomer Sisley). Read the summary of the Episode 4 down below.
Streaming on Netflix
The Perfect Mother- Episode 4 Summary & Recap
A different version
Hélène and Vincent managed to find Anya and stopped her from getting into the cab. They went back to Hélène’s mother’s place and started questioning Anya. Although initially very reluctant and emotional, Anya gave in as the police was also looking for her. Anya’s story this time goes like this:
That night, Damien raped Anya and when she managed to break free, she locked herself in the bathroom. Unlike the previous versions of events, Anya had her phone with her in the bathroom. She dialed Kamal for help and asked him to come in through the window, which means Kamal had to go through the next door roof. Kamal came over and helped Anya out of the bathroom but Damien was still around. An angry Damien attacked Anya and Kamal and Anya got hold of a knife. During the altercation, Kamal took the knife from Anya and when Damien kept attacking him, Kamal stabbed Damien multiple times in the stomach and on the leg
Vincent said that this murder is due to self defense, so Anya shouldn’t be worried about reporting it to the police. Then, Anya revealed that Kamal is her lover and that he is also an illegal Libyan immigrant. If they were to go to the police, he would be deported. The reason why Anya seduced Damien was to get back at Kamal as they fought the afternoon before. When Hélène questioned her daughter about the GHB she found, Anya denied ever knowing about it and claimed anyone in the shelter could’ve owned it. In the end, the group decided that Hélène would look for Kamal while Vincent would take Anya to the police to tell the truth.
Kamal Mawasen
Meanwhile, Kamal knew he was in trouble and looked for Julie. Without much hesitation, Julie gave him some money so that he could run away. Julie also questioned why Kamal was doing all these for Anya, but Kamal replied that he owed Anya too much.
In the evening, Hélène eventually obtained Kamal’s address from the law centre and to her surprise, she met Kamal’s young wife and baby there. Kamal’s wife was not sure what to do and admitted that they received a gym bag full of money and claimed Kamal already returned all the money. Hélène was not sure what to do with this information and so, she took a photo of a photo of Kamal and his wife on the wall and sent it to Vincent.
When Vincent relayed this information to Anya, the college student was in total disbelief and shocked. She could not believe that Kamal had lied to her. Then, when Hélène arrived at the station at night, Anya further took out her rage on Hélène. Nevertheless, Hélène remained calm and tried to tell Anya that the police needs to find Kamal. Believing that Kamal has betrayed her, Anya now claimed she could remember Kamal’s number and the police set up an operation to find Kamal.
Death
Anya called Kamal and not knowing their conversation is tapped, Kamal revealed that he is at the train station. To Kamal’s shock, Anya told him she knew about his wife and kids and that she had told the police the truth that Kamal was the one who killed Damien. Kamal apologized for hiding the truth about his family but did not understand what Anya meant about killing Damien. But before the conversation could continue, the police at the station went after Kamal and Kamal eventually committed suicide by jumping down a bridge.
After this incident, the police matched Kamal’s DNA to the DNA on the knife and released Anya. One last step is for Anya to appeal to the judge. Matthias flew to France and told Hélène about Anya’s rape in Berlin. Hélène could not believe the amount of things Anya has hidden from her. Matthias also took the opportunity to address their relationship, saying that he would give his all to make things right again if Hélène is willing.
Truth is out
After the police announced their verdict, Julie went to Vincent to tell him the truth as Kamal had also told her what happened. Then, on the day of the court appeal, Vincent pulled Hélène aside to tell her what he found out.
In Paris, Anya had always scammed rapists out of money. Julie would take GHB willingly and she would take the target to a private room. Then Anya would save her and they would blackmail the target for money to fund the shelter. Soon, Julie did not like what they were doing and pulled out. Therefore, when Anya identified Damien as a target, Anya had to do it on her own.
On the night of the murder, Anya took GHB and threatened Damien, but Damien got angry and aggressive instead. He raped Anya but Anya eventually got hold of a knife. As self protection, she stabbed Damien’s leg with the knife but out of anger later, she killed him by stabbing him multiple times in the stomach.
Anya then called Kamal for help and Kamal arrived through the window. He implored her to go to the police, but Anya did not want to. She got Kamal to take Damien’s wallet and watch and she herself ran away through the main door.
Even after finding out the truth, Hélène tried to do the best thing for her daughter. Therefore, she asked Vincent to still protect Anya in the court. In the end, Anya’s plea was accepted and she was allowed to go back to Berlin. When the Berg family walked out of court, Anya tried holding Hélène’s hand, but Hélène could not bring herself to reciprocate due to guilt. Anya then went over to hug her father instead.
Additional Observations From Episode 4
- Matthias stepped in and got Lukas a chance to retake his examinations in September
- Although initially shocked when Mia kissed him, Lukas eventually realized his feelings for her and the two got together.
- After the police’s verdict on the case, Claire Carnau was angry, but Audrey told her mother off for always prioritizing Damien over her. She reminded her mother that she would always be around.