[Viaplay] It has managed to be an original procedural that has had irregular and downright bad seasons at times. And although Raymond Reddington's character deserved a more spectacular ending than that strange and ridiculous parallel with the bullfighter Manolete, he has ended up being one of the most seductive protagonists/antagonists of a time marked by fundamental changes in the world of television. "The blacklist" is perhaps one one of the last remaining survivors of the traditional format of procedural series.
[Disney+] For many parents it can be a frustrating series because they don't live up to the playful Bluey and Bingo's parents, but basically it's a very entertaining show, which episodes like "Sleepytime" that are short film masterpieces. Although controversial for a somewhat patriarchal vision of the family, it's a celebration of playing as a fundamental educational process. And only for that it is worth it.
[Movistar+] There are shows that are part of the history of television, and this is a bridge between the golden age and the birth of streaming. A long journey that has built a universe of deeply human characters and therefore eminently imperfect. A forceful reflection on morality and ethics, but also on repentance. It is not possible to change the past, but at least it is possible to accept the consequences.
[HBO Max] What makes this series different from many others that deal with drug trafficking is the way in which it has managed to create a solid group of characters and establish a series of consistent alliances. The impossibility of getting out of a circle that traps as if it were a spider web is raised in the development of the series until the final season. Like Walter White, Franklin Saint supposes the progressive transformation into a monster, and both represent, more solidly the first, two characters that represent the development of television in recent decades.
[HBO Max] Pamela Adlon's self-fiction has built an idea of the family as a space for conflicts but also for refuge, cruelty but also for love. The final season, dedicated to rebirth, however, begins with an abortion, revealing the contradictions of life. The visit to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery or the return to the origins in London achieve some magical moments, and it manages to find "The meaning of life".
[HBO Max] Jesse Armstrong manages to wrap up the main arc of the series in the final episode. A Shakespearean tragedy that serves to reflect today's society, with kingdoms of clay and a poisoned legacy on which the root of the confrontation is sustained. It will remain as one of the best fictions of recent times, which has been given the opportunity to conclude as the tragedy that it has always been, wrapped in splendid moments of humor and irony. And it builds such a clear look at the fragility of the US political and business system that could only have been described from the outside.
[Prime Video] One of the most relevant series in recent years, a happy place that shows the development of stand up comedy until the appearance of the first late shows in the 60's. Although it has had ups and downs throughout its five seasons, it manages to close splendidly the stories of all the characters. But above all, it celebrates the history of the first comic women who, like Joan Rivers, Mary Tyler Moore or Carol Burnett, opened the doors of comedy to other perspectives. And it achieves a screwball comedy pacing that is unprecedented on current television. The end of the TV Golden Age.
Excellent fourth season that could work perfectly as a series finale, but at the same time with the possibility of continuing in more seasons if so decided. This is achieved by few series, to develop a season that can be both a conclusion and a continuation (learned, Hollywood writers). In this sense, an intelligent narration has been developed that has even allowed the punctual recovery of some classic characters from the first seasons.
[Disney+] Something like wanting to copy "The office", with directors who worked on that series, transfering to the teachers room of a public school, but without wit and with a basic and childish sense of humor. Sometimes it works as a reflection of the challenges of public education, but it is so superficial and silly that it leaves no trace, it is forgotten in less time than the episodes last.
A series that offers optimism. The characters are well constructed, especially Merlí, possibly one of the most complex in recent Spanish fiction. The plots follow certain stereotypes of adolescent series, but it does so with a fluidity, freshness and vitality that is difficult to find in this type of production. And, at the same time, it flees from the paternalistic vision of education. A great show.
[tv+] Throughout the four seasons, it has developed an exercise in style that has benefited from the ambiguity and unsettling tone in a claustrophobic space that in its first seasons seemed to predict the confinement. The end of the series may not have satisfied everyone, being somewhat anticlimactic and in a way not quite solving all the unknowns, but it has been adequately consistent with the tone of the story. And above all, it has managed to bring together some of the most relevant directors in the resurgence of the horror genre internationally.
[Apple TV +] Although it cannot escape the stereotypes of sports stories, which limit development, this series manages to create characters that are endearing. Without falling too much into the topics of the contrast between American and English culture, which there are, the best that scripts offer is to surround the main characters with comic situations that magnify them. The result is conventionally funny.
[HBO Max] In the universe of fiction's most fascinating antiheroes, Barry Berkman accompanies Walter White, Dexter Morgan, Tony Soprano and Don Draper, characters who progressively embrace the darkness until there is no way out but to continue entering it. And that's when the concept of redemption or forgiveness takes on a more tragic tone, that of being someone they don't really want to be. "Barry" has the weirdest motorcycle chase, the most outlandish fight scene, and the most radical change of tone in recent years. A story of tragic characters who finally find the only possible ending.
Perfect example of a series that began with a good adaptation by Phoebe Waller-Bridge of the novels by Luke Jennings to go from one showrunner to another in a parody of itself, mostly in the S3 and especially in a disappointing S4 that builds an insecure ending. Basically because Emerald Fennell, Suzanne Heathcote and Laura Neal have never known what to do with the characters.
[tv+] Between "Silicon Valley" and "The office," this series achieves some fun moments and characters that are well constructed. The episodes are irregular. Interestingly, the ones that work best are the ones outside the main plot: "A dark quiet death" and "Quarantine", which is possibly the best episode that aired last year about confinement.
[Viaplay] The most interesting thing is the construction of an endearing character, which Henriette Steenstrup writes and performs with deep knowledge of her motivations, maybe because of her closeness to her personal life. And although it seems to be influenced by shows as "Better things", she creates her own space within that universe of single mothers who seek balance between obligations and emotional longings.
A nice comedy that brings back a certain style of the eighties, but always causes the feeling of knowing how it would have been directed by Frank Oz or John Hughes. Sometimes the director does not give the right comedy pace, although Steve Martin and Martin Short are a great comedic couple, despite the obstacle of Selena Gomez as a co-star who does not have much to contribute.
[Disney+] Relies on a group of actors (Whitaker/D'Onofrio/Thatch/Esposito) solving their character development issues, but wins in S2 by pushing the connection between 1960s racial strife and the plot of gangsters. The series benefits from context as a background that outlines a time when politics and the mafia were strongly connected. Which resolves any tendency to melodrama.
[Netflix] The value of a series that deals with the ins and outs of the system of political alliances in the Danish parliament is knowing how to mix high politics with the personal sacrifices that power provokes. And while it may have lost some of its effectiveness (because other notable dramas have subsequently been made on the subject), it remains one of the more intelligent forays into how ideals become corrupted when they cling to power.
[tv+] There is something that doesn't work in this proposal, shy in its approaches and off-center in its development. Set in the 80s, with elements of the 90s and aesthetics of the 70s, the story is also anachronistically chaotic, weak in an empowerment that fits badly with that period and repetitive in the neurotic representation of its protagonist, which is performed with conviction by actress Rose Byrne.
[Prime Video] A police drama that, however, has more aspirations as family drama, and that loses effectiveness in the construction no interesting subplots about the lives of the members of the Investigation Group of the Disappeared. Even as a procedural series it develops the investigations lazily, and with female characters that only in their confrontation with men manage to empower themselves.
From the beginning, the show marks its own style with an intelligent and acid sense of humor. These small stories that are carried out by the main characters, with their own entity, build a vision of race and tradition through a new generation that has been raised with white popular culture, as the reference to Tarantino shows. But above all it's full of unforgettable characters (Uncle Brownie, Big or Spirit).
[Max] The best comedy of the year. Apart from the obvious chemistry between Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, it builds a story that intelligently walks through risky areas. A representation of the dichotomy between the comfort zone and the bravery posed by the confrontation between the characters. Deborah and Eve have complex personalities that grow through their difficult relationship, while we enjoy the conflicts. S3 shows that it continues to be an intelligent comedy, incisive in its look at the artistic world and reflective in the personal relationship of two radically different women.
There is intelligence in the construction of characters that remain impregnated in the memory like tomato sauce in the bottom of the pot. This portrait of broken persons by grief is exciting, whether in 20-minute long shots or ten-minute monologues. The kitchen is the metaphor of the inability to rebuild themselves. And although there is too much awareness of an "indie" spirit, it achieves almost perfection.
It begins as a ruthless portrait of the world of finance, but gradually develops into a marriage drama that elaborates a somewhat naive message: "money does not make you happy." In this sense, it is a less acidic proposal than it pretends to be, and much more conventional for a society like Norway that tries to mask economic ambition with false solidarity.
Likewise, the liberating response of women tries to hide a story that is basically sexist, erasing the female component of financial success, and reducing it to whores, housewives or maids. The falsehood that the series denounces is also the falsehood that it transmits.
Apple TV + is not too lucky with music tv shows dedicated to New York. This animated series is disappointing, because the writers have little scope for being really sarcastic. There are so many animation series that have marked a type of ironic and scathing humor that a new proposal has to have something special. And "Central Park" simply doesn't have it. It is a forgettable tv show.
Dark comedy that has the virtue of taking situations to the extreme, with a story that is reminiscent of Alex de la Iglesia's films. Good work of the leading actresses, whose chemistry is remarkable.
The show has the problem of commercial television in Spain, too many episodes that exceed one hour each, forcing the writers to build subplots that in some cases only work to lengthen the main plot. Eight or ten 45-minute episodes would have accomplished one of the season's most outstanding comedies.
[Viaplay] Assuming his condition as a nordic noir with all its consequences, the show builds a more interesting character than the cases he investigates, too subject to fortuitous discoveries and unlikely twists. While S1 balances well the police plot with the portrayal of characters, S2 is too weak, excessively slow in its development and hasty in its resolution.
[Netflix] One of the best series that have ever been made about the world of drugs, complex in its plots, unexpected in the construction of the characters and unpredictable in the development of the story. If Channel 4 phase was more focused on the construction of the Summerhouse, Netflix phase turns into a splendid thriller with social ramifications. Each character, main or secondary, could have their own series. The last season is a perfect exercise in tension that closes the series as if it were a Shakespearean tragedy.
[Netflix] As subtle as a reggaeton song. A road-movie that does not move from the same place, stretching the excesses with unnecessary flashbacks, determined to construct supposedly impressive dialogues that are actually road bar phrases. It offers a message of denunciation that is lost between tits and buttocks, a cynicism that claims the empowerment of women while it brings her to her knees.
