A black spot describes an area with little to no mobile reception, often due to its remote location. Interestingly, the French expression for such an area and the original title of the series is Zone Blanche, which literally translates to white spot.
Villefranche is a border city but the location of the fictitious town is never revealed.
This was filmed in the Vosges Mountains in Eastern France, just a few kilometers to the west of the fabled Black Forest in Germany.
Actor Georges Le Moal played the celtic horned god Cernunnos (mostly uncredited) in seven episodes.
Black Spot refers both to an electronic "dead zone" and a literary device first popularized in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island, where a mark is given to one who is guilty, linking the person to the injustice done.
In the secondary meaning, the guilt is not necessarily one of crimes against the nation, but rather crimes against their comrades, breaking a common code.
This is a common motif in the show and several marks exist to point guilt at guilty parties, not always for criminal activities, but more commonly crimes against "the forest".
This is a common motif in the show and several marks exist to point guilt at guilty parties, not always for criminal activities, but more commonly crimes against "the forest".