With some engaging characters and a money heist script with several twists, this started off SO WELL!!!
Unfortunately, however, it would seem that sometime during the first season someone realized they had an audience they wanted to keep around for a while, and from that moment on, it went downhill, quickly. Like a marmalade that will only go so far, they began to water-down the story in order to spread it out for as long as they could make it last, ultimately making it almost unappetizable.
What seemingly would have been a masterpiece if allowed to run in its predetermined time, pace and format, became a stretched-out mess and with so much stretching, something had to give. As in a bad, pieced-together tapestry, this developed so many glaring plot holes that even those who are best blessed at being able to suspend belief in order to enjoy a tv series or film, will eventually find it tedious and disheartening that one needs to do it so DAMN MUCH to keep this story on the rails. Not only are there innumerous plot holes, but the telling of the story grows more and more formulaic by the episode, and is way too often preposterously predictable.
The acting is give or take, and while some of the cast excels, others do not. Worse, still, the characters much like the original title (La Casa De Papel), lack real substance and are merely paper, molded as the scene requires, rather than being given lives and backgrounds and breath and purpose of their own, even though they spout about "purpose" almost ad-nauseum.
Then there is the fascination which the creators seem to have with either the actress who plays Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), or with the character itself or with what Natalie Portman's character in Leon the Professional would have grown up to be like (in their minds). In an effort to make an appealing character, which both men wanted and women could relate to, they bent her into a parody of a damaged superhero with psycho tendencies; an over-the-top, non-sexy, raging-hot, flip-the-switch temper; mommy-issues; street-bike stunt capabilities; good or bad, fighting abilities (depending on the scene); and oh, yes, a heart of gold or titanium or slush, which needs tending to and healing, also depending on the scene. In short, in wanting to create an amazing, powerful lead character, they morphed her into Frankenstein with sultry eyes. She reminds me of the quote from Pride and Prejudice: " I never saw such a woman. Surely she would be a fearsome thing to behold." A miss in my book. Raquel too, (played by Itziar Ituño), was denied the opportunity to be at least a somewhat balanced character, but unlike Tokyo's character which is purposefully built up, Raquel's character is a plot device which is torn down repeatedly and made to look ridiculous in many situations in order to further the script. The other characters in the first two seasons, Berlin especially and also The Professor, are written well (with the exception of THAT plot device in seasons 3 and 4 which I will not go into here). The rest of the main cast is pretty likeable on an interchangeable scale. I would be remiss not to also mention José Manuel Poga who plays César Gandía and Najwa Nimri who plays Inspector Alicia Sierra in Seasons 3 and 4. They are two of the toughest 'tough guys' I've seen in a series and do great in their respective roles.
Both despite and because of this, Money Heist (terrible change of title, by the way) engages you - ESPECIALLY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SERIES, because it is a whole, undiluted, rich story at the beginning - with fluid, deep moments of brilliance, that unfortunately, come around less-and-less often, until we barely see them at all.
If you are intent on watching it, listen to the bad reviews and go in with very little and low expectations - perhaps you will then, like those who first discovered it, be surprised and will enjoy it. If you go in expecting much, you WILL be disappointed. It rolls over, like a gigantic wet blob, over its' own hype.
