A psychological drama that details the tormented relationship between Marie and her mother, stemming from Marie's childhood on their estate in Algeria. The mother, Eliane had lost a child before Marie was born and was consumed with hatred for her husband who was carrying tuberculosis and may have been the cause of the child's death. That hatred was never resolved, and Marie grew up in a bitter and strained household. As both women grow older, Marie marries and raises a family while her mother sinks ever deeper into anger, frustration, poverty, and isolated despair. She vents her destructive emotions on her daughter and is completely resistant to her daughter's attempts to help her, to make her life better.

Madame Jouve, the narrator, tells the tragedy of Bernard and Mathilde. Bernard was living happily with his wife Arlette and his son Thomas. One day, a couple, Philippe and Mathilde Bauchard, moves into the next house. This is the accidental reunion of Bernard and Mathilde, who had a passionate love affair years ago. The relationship revives... A somber study of human feelings.

The series follows the adventures of lighthearted Jean-Paul Moulin, a police Commissaire, and his team as they solve crimes.