Money Heist 5 Vol 1 Review: It Is A Chapter With Tension, Surprises, And Fast-Paced Action

Creator: Álex Pina

Cast: Álvaro Morte, Úrsula Corberó, Itziar Ituño, Jaime Lorente, Esther Acebo, Darko Perić, Rodrigo de la Serna, Belén Cuesta, Najwa Nimri

Where To Stream: Netflix

Ratings: 4/5 (four stars) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

When Antena 3 premiered Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) in May 2017, people never have imagined what it would become. After all, the audiences on the network were very bad, and when its second season (or second part) came to an end the series was terminated. But over the next few months people around the world began discovering the series on Netflix, making it a worldwide phenomenon. Due to this, as it has also done with series that did not work in the open but were a success on the platform such as Lucifer or Manifest, Netflix decided to release new episodes. But everything comes to an end. The series will do so with a final season of 10 episodes divided into two parts, with the first part premiering on Netflix on Friday September 3 with its first 5 episodes. We have seen the first two, and we tell you our feelings.

Money Heist 5 Review: The Story

The season begins right where we left off in the previous one, with Lisbin (Itziar Ituño) rescued and inside the National Reserve of the Bank of Spain, and with Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri) finding Professor (Álvaro Morte). The situation is extremely serious, and Colonel Tamayo (Fernando Cayo) makes the decision to involve the army and calls Sagasta (José Manuel Seda), a commander of the Special Forces who will do whatever it takes to maintain law and order, even if it costs the lives of several civilians. He is not the only new character of the season, since through flashbacks we are introduced to René and Rafael. René (Miguel Ángel Silvestre) is the former partner and former lover of Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), a man who changed his life and taught him everything he knows. On the other hand, Rafael (Patrick Criado) is the son of Berlin (Pedro Alonso).

The gang has now been locked up in the Bank of Spain for over 100 hours. They managed to save Lisbon (Itziar Ituño), but they had to say goodbye to Nairobi (Alba Flores). As if that weren’t enough, The Professor was captured by Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri) who, for the first time, has no escape plan. And just when it seems like nothing else can go wrong, here comes an enemy far more powerful than anyone they’ve faced: the army. Thus, what began as the greatest robbery in history is taking on the shape of a war. But in warfare, as well as in writing, you must have a plan. And these first two episodes, full of the inevitable flashbacks, seem instead to continue to accumulate stories, twists and situations, ending up turning a little on themselves.

While outside the situation is limited, within the National Reserve as well. Gandía (José Manuel Poga) murdered Nairobi (Alba Flores), and Bogotá (Hovik Keuchkerian) craves revenge, but they must keep him alive because they need him to negotiate with the police. But the truth is that after the death of Nairobi, and with an absent Professor, the group is more lost than ever in their plan to extract the gold and they are beginning to improvise, which puts them in danger.

The Review

” There are no great battles without great adversaries “. Word of Alicia Sierra, the real villain of the series, the real enemy of the Professor, the only one at his height. We have said several times how the character played by Najwa Nimri is one of the most successful of the series. Crazy, cunning, ruthless, violent, was one of the surprises of the new course of The House of Paper, the one that began with season 3, and is an increasingly interesting character. Whenever she’s on stage, the focus rises, and her splintered-out role promises to take the season, the first two episodes of which we previewed, everywhere. Alicia Sierra is one of those villains who are so crazy and rich that they become nice, those villains we love to watch, like Hannibal Lecter or Hans Landa of Inglourious Basterds.

It is obvious, what we have had access to is only the beginning of a story that will unfold in eight other episodes, but the feeling is that we have reached a point where we must pull the narrative as much as possible to get to the word ” end “. To do this, Álex Pina decides to use three new characters: Rafael (Patrick Criado, Riot Police), the son of Berlin, René (Miguel Ángel Silvestre), the man with whom Tokyo started to rob (and great love of his vita) and Sagasta (José Manuel Seda), Commander of the Special Forces of the Spanish Army who, after taking part in countless international missions against the worst specimens of the human species, has become like them. Who knows if they will give Money Heist 5 Vol. 1 the right push to reach a conclusion that lives up to expectations?

The New Characters

Next to her, the Professor, and our thieves, each with their own city name, Álex Pina, deus ex machina and omniscient narrator, puts new cards on the table. The new characters of Money Heist 5, anticipated by Netflix a couple of weeks ago, are interesting. One is Sagasta (José Manuel Seda), the commander of the army’s special forces, one who has conducted missions in Afghanistan, in Yemen, in Mali. Called on by Tamayo, he is one for whom the people inside the bank are not hostages, but collateral damage, one who wants to gain positions, not save people. And then there’s Berlin’s son, Rafael (Patrick Criado), 31, someone who studied computer engineering at MIT in Massachusetts and swears he doesn’t want to be like his father. We know him through a flashback, as well as René (Miguel Ángel Silvestre, seen in Sky Rojo), who we discover is Tokyo’s first, great love (Úrsula Corberó), who lost his life in a robbery. If Sagasta, in the first two episodes, has already entered with a straight leg, we are waiting to understand the role that the other two will have in the story.

The Dangers Come From Three Fronts

Money Heist, in this Part 5 Volume 1, as part 4 did, begins by trying to put the Professor and our heroes into a stalemate, of difficulty. The dangers come from three fronts (Alicia Sierra, the army, but also an unexpected front …), and the gang seems to have reached a point of no return. For this, the tone of episode 1 (End of the race) seems to be darker and melancholier, but already from episode 2 (Do you believe in reincarnation?) The pace picks up and we return to the parts of Money Heist we know. The authors of the series are confirmed to be very good at creating perfect gears and then throwing sand inside them to jam them, and then again to have them repaired. Their game is to create diversions, continually open new battle fronts, create obstacles and find ways to overcome them,

The Important Things In Life Are Expensive

The fact that Part 5 Volume 1 of Money Heist comes after other products created for Netflix by Álex Pina (White Lines and Sky Rojo) can only provoke comparisons between the Spanish author’s main product and his other works. Said of the love for female figures, Money Heist is loved for that little bit more that it continues to have. There is a sense of ideals, a libertarian inspiration (“we are the true fighters for freedom” Berlin says to his son), and of the struggle against the powerful which has its own charm. Not surprisingly, when, in the Bank of Spain, our people see the ancient treasures of the Incas and Quechua they think of returning them. And then, alongside brutality, excess, the continuous suspension of disbelief (remember what the Professor said? ” The fact that it seems impossible makes it more beautiful “), there is always a feeling and irony at the base. , as in the previous series, there are a series of cult jokes (“here we don’t defend, here we play tiki-taka”) that dissolve the tension and, amid disbelief, tear a smile, and that’s what is missing in the other series by Pina So, waiting for the series finale, let’s remember that “The important things in life cost dear: rebellion, freedom, ideals” .

Money Heist 5 Review: The Performances

As for the performances, in these episodes Jaime Lorente stands out, who has scenes where he shines interpretively, once again demonstrating his talent. On the other hand, it is also a luxury to see Enrique Arce in his role as Arturo, a totally detestable character that the actor manages to interpret perfectly, making you love to hate him.

Money Heist 5 Review: The Last Words

It is a chapter with tension, surprises, and fast-paced action, where everything is so close to the limit that it gives the feeling of being a season finale and not a second episode, which indicates that with this season the series is going to say goodbye in a big way.

What We Liked

• The fact of finding well-constructed and therefore beloved characters.
• The spirit of resistance against abuses that reigns throughout the series.
• The continuous game of obstacles and overcoming them works.
• The irony, between excesses and brutality, fortunately is not lacking.

What We Don’t Liked

• The risk is that the game, pulled too long, risks showing the rope.
• Certain soap opera moments will not appeal to the detractors of the series.