El Embarcadero

honeydue (68)in #television • 5 years ago

I think you will all agree with me when I say, there are really just a handful of good TV shows out there. And the trouble is, I've seen most of them already, which leaves me with a lot of crap to watch. But sometimes, I'm pleasantly surprised. Really pleasantly.

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One of my all time favorite shows was and is 'La Casa de Papel', known in English as 'Money Heist'. I can't remember seeing such terrific plotting and acting anywhere on television lately. And while I'm waiting for the third season to premiere, I decided to try out another Spanish TV series, namely 'El Embarcadero', starring Alvaro Morte (one of the stars of LCDP as well). A major plus for me was that it has the same creators behind it as LCDP.

And it couldn't be more different, plot wise. Basically, it's the story of a widow, a woman whose husband has just committed suicide in strange circumstances. And after his death, she discovers he was leading this double life, with a woman who couldn't be more different than her. Her search for truth and closure turns into an obsession, in which she befriends her late husband's mistress and...well, I'm not going to spoil it for you, but it's a fucking terrific show.

Truly brilliant. I loved the acting, I loved the soundtrack, I loved the plot twists. It's exceptionally well written, which is not something I often say about television.

And it's warm. There's something amazing about European TV, I find, as I watch more and more of it. There's a warmth there that American TV seems to lack, I don't know, I guess in this particular case, it's that hot Latin blood, which just shines through. There is a warmth in the words and the action. I really don't know how to describe it better, but it's a very sensual show that touches upon the very core of human relationships.

The series, spanning just eight episodes, focuses a lot on betrayal, on this element of cheating whilst in a relationship. And whether it's cheating after all...
There's a great conversation between two of the main characters where one of them talks about this silly notion that another human being can belong entirely to you and how that's not really true or possible (as the series goes to show) at all.
And what I really liked was they don't put the focus on this cheating element in an unpleasant way, you know? It's not melodrama or overly dramatic, or anything like that. It's just this surprisingly well woven story of five women whose lives are, in one way or another, touched by cheating, by this deception in marriage and how it impacts their lives.

It's just beautiful. Really, if you don't believe me, just listen to the theme song ~

I've been in love with it for the past few days now.

I really don't want to spoil the show for you, but I highly encourage you to give it a try. I loved it and I'm really not the type to go for cheap drama or anything like that (which this show isn't), you guys know that.

Something I've been noticing more and more about television is how limited our palate is. Most of the Tv/movies we watch come from America and now, having spent a good while watching European shows (from different countries) I can't help but find the American things I used to love a bit...limited. Not all of them, naturally. But many. I mean, before watching this, we tried to get into 'Ozark', a story about some dude who gets into money laundering. And sorry if it's among your favorites, but for me, it was dull as fuck and full of cliches. The action was predictable, the characters were even more so...I don't know, I guess it's a love it or hate it kinda thing, like with many shows. What I'm saying, we should try to get more into other nationalities, to watch things in languages we don't understand, you know, diversify...That's one of the things (few things) I like about this Netflix business, they buy some interesting foreign, little-known shows and expose them to a wider audience.

Anyway, check out the show. Or don't. It's beautiful, but it's up to you to see it.