This is Le Banquier, where one case leads to another, and the right case can lead you to half a million dollars.
As you have most likely heard by now, TVA announced that Le Banquier would be cancelled following the current season. Since only a handful of episodes remain, I will be recapping them to give the show the sendoff that it most likely won't get on television. So with that said, let the fabulous Frenchness begin.
Julie Snyder, your hostess and chief manipulator, welcomes us to the Le Banquier baby shower, or the Spécial Baby Boom, as she calls it. It's being held in honour of tonight's contestant, 25-yearold Mélissa Trempé, who is 25 weeks pregnant with a boy that will be named Noah. She's an educator for people with disabilities.
Once we get through the usual pre-game gabfest with Julie, in come the cases, held by celebrity parents - and parents-to-be - accompanied by their kids. As a result, there are nearly double the amount of case holders as usual.
Multiple references to the number 25 inspire Mélissa to select case 25 as her case. But before we get to the game, there are some changes to the board for this season. Take a look below.
$0.01
$1
$5
$10
$20
$50
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$750
$1,000----------
$5,000
Vidétron Mobile
$25,000
$50,000
$100,000
$112,000
$125,000
$150,000
$175,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
$500,000The $1,000 moves to the left side, replacing $75. The grand is replaced by a new amount on the right side of the board, $112,000. This is, by far, the most random amount of money ever featured on any Deal or No Deal board. Logic would dictate that the amount should really be $112,500, but then again, Julie and co. have never been known for their logical prowess. The in-case bonuses from last season - Vidéotron Mobile, Surprise and Sunwing - remain intact.
Now that you have that bit of information to consider, it's juice and jam time.
Round 1[5] -
$200[9] -
$400,000[19] -
$100[2] -
Vidéotron Mobile[16] -
$50[4] -
$5Mélissa says
REFUSÉE.
Round 2[8] -
$0.01 - Officially retired in Canada since 2012, but still on Le Banquier's board. Thankfully, never won on this version.
[10] -
$175,000[18] -
$25,000[21] -
$112,000[6] -
$125,000Four out of the five cases opened in this round were Power 9 amounts. Surely that means the offer will decrease, right?
Nope! In true Le Banquier fashion, we get a slight increase instead. This, however, does not deter Mélissa, who quickly says
REFUSÉE.
Round 3[24] -
$10[1] -
$50,000[14] -
$150,000[20] -
Surprise | $20 - The Surprise is two prizes worth a combined $10,000: $5,000 worth of baby furniture from Bô Bébé, and $5,000 to spend on baby supplies from Quebec-based pharmacy chain Jean Coutu.
Mélissa says
REFUSÉE.
Round 4[26] -
$300[11] -
Sunwing | $400 - Mélissa wins a trip to St. Martin worth $8,000.
[7] -
$750Everyone loves an all-blue round. Will our contestant love the resulting offer?
Evidently not. She shows Monsieur Le Banquier no love by saying
REFUSÉE.
Round 5[22] -
$500,000 - Death Box on the now-departed UK version; Death Case on Le Banquier.
[12] -
$500On any normal version of Deal, the offer would plummet, following the elimination of the top amount. Those rules don't apply to the world of Le Banquier, where everything is made up, and statistics and odds don't matter. I guess after literally selling the show out to 20,000 different sponsors, Julie and friends forgot to hire a banker that makes realistic offers. Whoops. Cue unrealistic offer... now.
This would have been in the $40,000 to $50,000 range on the old U.S. version, or perhaps even less than that, based on the Banker's mood. Mélissa, on the other hand, is in the mood for more money, and promptly says
REFUSÉE.
Round 6[15] -
$200,000Not good, but not great. $300,000 and a safety net of $100,000 remain in play as this offer is tabled to our mother-to-be:
Mélissa actually takes some time to ponder over this offer. She swiftly dismissed the last few offers, but for some reason, this one seems to be calling her name. She calls her supporters up to the Dollar Desk, and they collectively press the flashing button to say
ACCEPTÉE.
I personally would have played on, but it's her game. And now, let's see if this was, in fact, a good deal.
Proveout
Round 7[23] -
$100,000 BANKER'S OFFER WOULD'VE BEEN | $84,000 |
Round 8[3] -
$1,000 BANKER'S OFFER WOULD'VE BEEN | $105,000 |
Assuming this was the actual offer, I'd have bailed out here.
Round 9[17] -
$300,000So a mega-money win was not meant to be, but we know that Mélissa went a couple of rounds too early. Fortunately, Julie reassures her that she made a good deal, as there is only
$5,000 in case 25. The
$1 was in case 13.
We still have a few minutes left, so that means we must fill the remaining time with what else but more handouts. Singing sensation Gregory Charles and his daughter deliver a $1,000 baby photography package from Magenta, while Benjo chips in $1,000 to spend on their extensive toy selection.
Baby Noah will soon arrive in this world knowing that his mother won
$118,170 in cash and stuff to help get his life off to a good start.
That's it for this week. Next time, a religious experience awaits us on the stage of Le Banquier. Until then, good night, and good deals.