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Review: La Casa de Papel Season4 (Money Heist) - Hold your Breath




Lisbon was arrested, Nairobi was shot, and the team must perform a surgery in the worst conditions possible. This is the beginning of the new season of La Casa de Papel.

I was a bit suspicious about this season, didn’t have many expectations. Most shows, especially with such a specific story like Money Heist, usually start to feel boring after a couple of seasons. Well, I was surprised!

Same formula


The show remains faithful to the formula that got us all glued to the screens since the first episode. We follow the thieves inside the Bank, and we know how the plan development through flashbacks.

When things start to be very hard, nerves raise, as well as the arguments inside the group—plausible, realistic, nerve breaking. 

The quality of the show remains untouchable. 

Sociopathy


If we pay attention, there are a few characters with some traits of sociopathy, but none goes as far as Alicia or Gandia.

Alicia is a sociopath. Yet, if you ignore some of her actions, she is kind of fun. Her confession of Rio’s torture before the press was one of the high points of the season. It made me laugh. Who of us never dreamed of unmasking the bad guys in front of everybody? She fired in every possible direction. It was wonderful!

I have this theory that she will eventually join the gang. Maybe the whole thing, aside from her husband’s death, was to make us more sympathetic towards her. Perhaps, it is a way for the viewers to accept her more quickly in the group. 

Gandia, on the other side, is no fun at all. No doubt, he gave a new breath to this season, which the first episodes were a bit slow, but I hate him. The character itself was a good addition to the show, but some details made him not credible. Was he superhuman?

One of the best things about this show, since the very beginning, was the characters’ depth. They were all believable; you could relate to their emotions and struggles. That was one of the treasures of the show. This guy is the opposite of that. 

Let’s not forget, by any means, Nairobi’s execution. It makes us want to scream. She was a wonderful character, one of my favorites. She had a good heart, full of dreams, and she was fearless. Her speech to motivate the smelters was a beautiful scene. 

El magnífico


The emotions and relationships would spoil the plan, the Professor had told them in the first season. His relationship with Lisbon and his troubles staying focused after she was arrested proved him right.

This season showed us that even the magnificent Professor could fail. He is a brilliant person and studied the plan to the tiniest detail. Yet, didn’t verify the existence of a panic room? Sure, it wasn’t in the official plans. However, shouldn’t they be suspicious that it had to be a way to protect the governador if something goes wrong?

The Professor is the brain of everything, but his power and omnipresence slightly decrease this season. Most of the time, he is not the one solving everything and motivating the group anymore. He is an outside witness, full of frustration. He is more human.

Unnecessary 


Like any other show, not everything is perfect in Money Heist. The shooting with Gandia was absurd. Who is he? How can he escape all the bullets? How is it possible that no one was able to wound him? That was a non-credible scene. Unnecessary.

Talking about unnecessary thins, what is Arturo still doing there? He contributes nothing to the development of the story. Arturo was trying to instigate the hostages to do something, to fight back, which was quite funny if we consider how much of a coward he was. Anyway, he fails. He is not interesting. He is just an annoying, disgusting character. Can anyone kill him, please?

Plot-twists


La Casa de Papel can’t stop surprising us. Berlin is one of the most beloved characters, and the writers keep finding a way for him to remain in the show. He always surprises us, and it is a high point in any scene.

The last episode was fantastic. I loved it. But how are you going to sleep now? One year of waiting for the next season? It has to be a next season, right?

While the credits roll in the season finale, we can hear Alicia singing “Bella Ciao”, the unofficial anthem of the “atracadores”. We need answers! 

Now that you have more time, I would also recommend you to watch the documentary Money Heist: The Phenomenon. It’s quite interesting.

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