The best and worst of “Berlín”, the series that tells the story of the past of one of the most colorful characters of “La casa de papel”

It doesn’t look like a success, like its predecessor, but It ranks as a recommended series for marathoning in a couple of days. And, above all, for entertainment. Berlin he does not appear, for now, with opportunities as a coupleto dethrone La casa de papel from the podium of the most watched in the history of Netflix, but it defends itself. Detached from each other in the format of prequel (tells something before the mother’s story), it wants to be similar and different at the same time. And he comes out of the challenge well, without revealing anything.

Berlin recalls the youth of one of the most colorful characters of the gang of robbers who became much loved (especially during the pandemic) in streaming. From the hand of the creators themselves, Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, travel to the time when Andrés de Fonollosa did not yet have the pseudonym of a European city, but he has great power to take possession of other people’s things.

And knowing how to surround yourself. Because despite the goal of this spin off is to portray a man who knew how to dream and plan – and who needed to be given the right colors to win over the public on the side of crime -, The eight episodes of this first season also retrace the lives of the members of his new (old, chronologically speaking) band. And Camille’s, the woman who makes him lose his mind. Or give it a try.

The trigger of Berlin is that a young Andrés (responsible for Pedro Alonso) designs the theft of jewels from a prestigious Parisian auction house worth 44 million euros. And he gets to work, without suspecting that love would make him understand value is not the same as price.

It is anecdotal, at least to a fiction critic, whether the group of thieves – each with the task assigned according to their abilities – achieve their goal. And even more so in this case, in which the authors try to tell a story How does this man deal with his ambition and his desire, which are not the same thing?.

With a modern aesthetic and the beauty of Paris as the backdrop for many scenes (filming also took place in Spain), Berlin tries to get into the ABC of La casa de papel, but with a twist: Romanticize the main character and add extra doses of comic relief.

It’s not a bad idea, far from it. For fans of Home… There’s something very familiar about the perfect plan and impact of the robbery, but The tension sought to see if the bad guys or the presumed good guys win is diluted from time to time.. And this ends up subtracting. There are connections that, in an instant, go from danger to gag.

At no point does it threaten to be labeled a bad or average series, but missing for the better. Among his strong points are some performances, especially when he takes shape the delightful counterpoint between Andrés and his friend Damián (the other brain of the band), played by Tristán Ulloaone of the Cortazar brothers of Large Reservehuge success of Spanish television that didn’t explode streaming.

TO The robbery of the money The opposite happened: on Antena 3 it didn’t take off well, but When Netflix bought it, it was able to make the leap into history. We’ll see if, over the days, Berlin gather so much audience. Currently It is the first in Argentina, among other countries, nine days after its premiere.

File

Qualification: Well

Drama and comedy Protagonists: Pedro Alonso, Tristán Ulloa, Begoña Vargas, Michelle Jenner, among others Creators: Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato Directors: Albert Pintó and David Barrocal, among others Problem: Netflix, eight episodes.