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
$500,000

The $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] - $5

BANKER'S OFFER

$42,000

Mélissa 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] - $125,000

Four out of the five cases opened in this round were Power 9 amounts. Surely that means the offer will decrease, right?

BANKER'S OFFER

$51,000

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.

BANKER'S OFFER

$68,000

Mélissa says REFUSÉE.

Round 4
[26] - $300
[11] - Sunwing | $400 - Mélissa wins a trip to St. Martin worth $8,000.
[7] - $750

Everyone loves an all-blue round. Will our contestant love the resulting offer?

BANKER'S OFFER

$96,000

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] - $500

On 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.

BANKER'S OFFER

$88,000

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] - $200,000

Not 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:

BANKER'S OFFER

$83,000

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] - $300,000

So 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.

I think you haven't seen the current season of Affari Tuoi, Mark. Thwy have several weird amounts on the board now (€28; €11,000; €19,000 and €32,000).

Anyway, a fairly average show to start off the final run of Le Banquier shows. I would've done the same as the player, as $83,000 was above the mean and the board was too risky to chase an even bigger AMO.

That was a truly textbook example of what this particular version is all about. It's set up to be a happy wish fulfilment show, and while that removes a lot of what makes DoND such a great format, it's also clearly got its own appeal. You can't argue with their commitment to a consistent idea for how the show works, at least.

Would have done the same as the player as well.

In nearly a decade of watching, discussing, and recapping Le Banquier, that is the best explanation I've ever head of why the show does what it does. It is a legitimate member of the worldwide Deal or No Deal franchise, but unlike the majority of the other versions, it comes off as a wish fulfillment show with an added game show element.

Throughout the years, every contestant that has ever graced Le Banquier's stage has some sort of dream or wish. They range from expectant mothers, to mega sports fans, to people who want to give back to their respective communities.

A few seasons ago, a mayor of a small town played the game to raise money for his community, and last season ended with a contestant who planned to donate most of his winnings to a favourite charity. Unfortunately, that show ended up being one of the most disastrous episodes in the show's history, but the wish fulfillment element saved the day by giving the contestant a respectable amount of money.

Does the wish fulfillment aspect make Le Banquier an inferior program when compared to other versions of Deal? Probably not. I guess Julie and co. wanted to do something different and help people while giving them the chance to win life-changing sums of money. Yes, some of the handouts do seem unnecessary, but when the goal is to make the contestant happy, I suppose it's all right.