Berlin (Netflix series, 2023)
La Casa De Papel may have run its course, but one of its stars, Pedro Alonso is back as Europe’s greatest thief Andrés de Fonollosa, better known as Berlin.
In this prequel to the events that happen in the Spanish series - known to international audiences as Money Heist - the legendary character goes to Paris for one of his most ambitious robberies.
The goal: to steal 44 million dollars in jewels from an auction house in one night, as if it was the work of a magician.
This time round Berlin’s gang consists of talented but insecure technician Keila (Michelle Jenner), the wild and wonderful Cameron (Begoña Vargas), his trusted right-hand man Damian (Tristán Ulloa), sensitive soul Roi (Julio Peña) and magnificent macho Bruce (Joel Sánchez).
There are also two actors who reprise their roles from La Casa De Papel: Najwa Nimri returns as Alicia Sierra and Itziar Ituño as Raquel Murillo.
The new eight-part series, which is part of the La Casa De Papel universe, was once again created by Alex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, who this time round wanted to create a more colorful and lighthearted show. Berlin employs more locations, has a bigger cast, and more often strikes a more comedic tone.
The character of Berlin himself is also different now we see him in his younger days. He comes across as warmer and more sympathetic than in the first two seasons of La Casa De Papel, when he was already suffering from a grave illness, and came across as very cold and calculating. In this series he is more like the Berlin from the third season, when he was only seen in flashbacks.
The new set-up gives main actor Pedro Alonso, who looks like a mix of Ewan McGregor and George Clooney, the opportunity to show a wider range of emotions, while he also gets to show off his romantic side. Love, actually, plays a rather large part this season, in fact quite a few of the crew members that Berlin has assembled seem to develop feelings for each other.
Berlin himself falls hard for Camille (Samantha Siqueiros), who he sees perform as a singer in a bar, on stage together with her pet dog.
Problem is that the lovely Camilla also happens to be the wife of Polignac (Julien Paschal), who runs the auction house that Berlin and his gang want to rob. But, as Berlin says, ‘let’s not put too much emphasis on that.’
Romance is probably as important now as the money heists that the original series build its reputation on. Having said that, the new show kicks off in pretty cool fashion, with a couple of well-paced, visually stimulating episodes, that immediately set the right tone for the rest of the series.
Production design, costumes, cinematography, editing and, of course, acting are all top notch, so you might want to book a trip to Paris (and also Madrid) to see the rest of Berlin too!