Elise Wassermann

Elise Wassermann
First appearance	Episode 1
Last appearance	Present
Portrayed by	Clémence Poésy
Information
Occupation	Commander in Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire
Significant other(s)	Gaël, Eryka Klein

Commander Elise Wassermann is a fictional character, and one of the two main protagonists in the joint British and French television series The Tunnel (alongside DCI Karl Roebuck, played by Stephen Dillane), a remake of the Swedish/Danish television series The Bridge. She is portrayed by actress Clémence Poésy. The character is a counterpart for the character Saga Norén, played by Sofia Helin.

Elise starts the series as a Capitaine in the DCPJ, but later advances to the rank of Commander following the promotion of her superior, Olivier Pujol. As with her Swedish counterpart, Elise is noted for demonstrating traits consistent with Asperger Syndrome, such as difficulty in understanding or recognising social concepts such as empathy, sarcasm and lying, as well as an above-average intellect, a good eye for detail and a reputation for thoroughness. As with Saga, she regularly engages in casual sex, has a difficult history (in Elise's case, she lost her twin sister in a drowning accident when she was a child), and drives a Porsche (in Elise's case, a Porsche 944). However, there are some differences between the two characters' personalities; Elise is less guarded about her emotions and has less difficulty in forming social relationships (including some romantic ones). As she spends more time with her British colleague, Karl Roebuck (Dillane), he coaches her through social scenarios where she normally struggles, and makes more allowances for her when she messes up.

Critics generally praised both Poésy and Dillane's chemistry, with Rebecca Smith of the Telegraph comparing their relationship to that of the protagonists of Broadchurch, and James Stansfield of Den of Geek observing that it created a "powerful" finale.

Throughout the series, Elise does not show much interest in relationships, instead preferring to pick men up for casual sex. In series 2, she starts off the series with a boyfriend, Gaël, who has just moved in with her, but he subsequently leaves her when she shows more commitment to her work. Later in the series, Elise develops a close relationship with Eryka Klein, a German woman who worked alongside a French judge killed in the aeroplane crash she was investigating, after discovering that she was one of the children born into the notorious Colonia Dignidad colony in Chile, where she had lost her twin brother. To her own surprise, her relationship with Eryka becomes romantic, but this proves to have dire consequences on her case.

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Wikipedia