Quick "La casa de papel" appreciation post

[jayeless]

Over the past few years I've been pretty damn slow at watching new shows, even shows that turn out to be amazing like La casa de papel (which Netflix calls Money Heist in English). So, it was only last week that I even managed to finish the first season of this show.

Still… what a great fucking show! And yet, being Spanish, it has gone completely under-appreciated in the English-speaking world. So, have a quick little post where I gush over some of the things I love about it.

1) Raquel and the Professor. I don't think this started out as one of my favourite things about the show – it's really grown on me. And yet, how cute is it? You have the delicious tension from the fact that they're on opposite sides of the crisis – he as the criminal mastermind, she as head of the police taskforce trying to bring an end to the siege. And the individuals themselves… the Professor, which for all his genius for heist-planning is not exactly a suave dude well-versed in the ways of love, and you can kinda see how all his good sense as to what's best for the heist is melting away in the face of his intense crush. Raquel is also great. That internal debate as to whether she can trust him or not. The whole sequence that starts like, "When can we start tuteándonos?" "When you look under the table," and then she has a gun and she wants to inspect his whole warehouse and ultimately has to concede that he is, indeed, just a hobbyist cider producer. Then they have sex but she has to go home so she can see her daughter off to school in the morning.

2) Raquel's mum. When the Professor was about to go kill her I wanted to smack him. And she's so nice!!! She was so happy that Raquel had spent the night with him! And even happy that she'd got laid with him!!!

3) Tokio and Nairobi. Tokio by herself has some great lines, too. One example would be in a flashback from one of the last episodes of the season, when the Professor is talking about how they can form emotional bonds with the hostages and she suggests having sex with them, and he's all like, "Uhhh yeah but that only unites people two by two…" and she's like "No??" and makes him admit people can have threesomes and foresomes and "more group-oriented activities" (however he said that in Spanish). Plus, there is also this cracker scene that is one of my favourites in the whole show:

"La Casa de Papel - Tokyo and Nairobi dancing scene" (Watch on YouTube)

My partner doesn't understand why I love it and then I try to explain it to him and then he still doesn't get it!! It's like, you and your BFF having a tequila-fuelled dance party at 4am at crime school, and then the teacher comes to tell you to go to bed because you have explosive plastics class in the morning, and then you have the "A la cama." "¿Los tres a la cama?" "Cada uno a la suya." exchange, and then he leaves and you dissolve into giggles. It's amazing. Also, crime school.

I didn't really talk too much about Nairobi under this subheading which is half her but I love her too. One of the most compassionate characters on the show, and also she cracks me up when she marches up and down next to the money-printing machine, yelling at the hostages to work harder.

4) Río, Denver and the depiction of men in general where they are allowed to be vulnerable and sensitive. Honestly this is just refreshing… I don't think I see nearly enough shows where men are "allowed" to be scared or swept up in an intense crush or heartbroken by rejection. So good.

5) the character(s) you love to hate. ok, this is just Berlín. Seriously dude, why you gotta be so mean.

6) the character(s) you hate to hate. fuckin' ARTURITO what is your problem. also that creepy teenage boy who tried to sneak dirty pics of Allison Parker can go fuck himself too.

Is there anyone else on this website who shares my enthusiasm for this show? Or – if not – what amazing shows (or films, etc.) have you watched only to then have trouble finding anyone else to squee about it with??