[SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1] Drops of God, the multilingual wine world drama, concludes its second season tonight, with all episodes streaming on Apple TV+. Though initially intended to be a limited series, the show’s critical acclaim (and an International Emmy for Best Drama) led to a second season that digs deeper into the show’s main characters, Camille and Issei, and the cutthroat industry they have dedicated their lives to.
Season 1 of Drops of God focused on a fantastical premise: When famed oenologist Alexandre Léger dies, his estranged daughter Camille and his star student Issei must battle it out in a series of blind tastings, with the winner inheriting his vast estate. Neophyte Camille, crash-coursing her way through a wine education in record time, turns out to be a dark horse in the running, and the prodigy ultimately defeats the protégé. In a twist, however, the two are revealed to be half-siblings, and Camille opts to share her riches and success with her newly-discovered brother.
As Fleur Geffrier, who plays Camille, told me in a recent interview: “What happened in the first season, it was a very happy ending for Camille, but for Issei, it was very hard on him.” This sets the emotional core of Season 2, with Issei plunged into a deep depression while Camille, oblivious, barrels onwards with blind optimism and ambition. “She thinks it’s all okay, it’s all good. I’m with the perfect boyfriend, and I have the perfect job and perfect house, and everything is perfect. But no, that’s not how life is, and she will be confronted by her demons.”
It is this imbalance in tempers that poses the greatest challenge to Season 2. While Season 1 delved into Camille’s childhood trauma, she was given the opportunity to overcome it with spunk and verve. Issei’s dark Season 2 journey is, frankly, a lot more of a bummer. Camille, on the other hand, verges on manic, with a character arc that feels deeply satisfying, even as you constantly wish for her to make better choices. “Sometimes you have to let it go,” Geffrier says of her character. “That’s the big thing for Camille. She struggles, struggles, struggles. She fights, fights, fights, fights. Thinking I’m doing the right thing, I’m doing the right thing, and then it all collapses.”
The catalyst for all this is a new challenge posed posthumously by Camille and Issei’s father, who tasks them with finding the producers of an unlabeled bottle he deems to be the best wine in the world—a task he never managed to accomplish in his lifetime. The mythic wine is tracked down relatively quickly, but leads to a new quest once found. Camille and Issei are then pushed to discover how far they’re willing to go for the sake of this singular wine.
Since she already has it all, it is Camille with the most to lose over this obsession, yet she can’t help but channeling her father’s destructive ambition. Issei tries to talk her out of it, but, caught up in his own sad-and-keeps-getting-sadder trauma plotline, offers about as much resistance as a cardboard wall. “They’re from different cultures, so sometimes they don’t really understand each other,” Geffrier says. “I don’t mean by words, but by actions.”
Season 1’s French-Japanese culture shock gives way to a more nuanced interplay of personalities. Camille and Issei must meet on neutral ground, which is linguistically represented in the fact that they speak to each other in English, which is neither of their first languages. “I realized in my own life that when I speak English, I can easily talk about intimate things,” Geffrier says, “because there’s like, some distance you put with your words when it’s not your maternal language.”
In fact, it is with Camille and Issei’s respective friends and family that things seem to get lost in translation, as they run to all corners of the globe avoiding harsh realities at home. I get it—I, too, would rather be jet-setting to gorgeous Georgian vineyards and Greek apiaries than dealing with my own issues. But that, readers, is what therapy is for. “They go all around the world,” Geffrier says, “but at the end, it’s Issei and Camille and the others struggling with themselves.”
Season 2 of Drops of God sees both characters confronted with harsh truths about themselves, and while there is a bit of grunt work to get there, it opens up a strong opportunity for a redemption arc. Though the show has not yet been renewed for a third season, I hope that Apple TV+ will decide to give Camille and Issei the ending they deserve, especially after such a brutal season finale. In the meantime, the show’s stunning visuals, juicy drama, and excellent performances make for a highly entertaining watch.
Stream Seasons 1 and 2 of Drops of God on Apple TV+.
Catherine Rickman is a writer, professional Francophile, and host of the Expat Horror Stories podcast. She is currently somewhere in Brooklyn with a fork in one hand and a pen in the other, and you can follow her adventures on Instagram @catrickman.
