Max‘s first original scripted series from Spain seems to follow a template that was established over a decade ago by a show that aired on Max’s linear cousin, HBO. It involves two investigators from different backgrounds getting together to solve mysteries that have religious and spiritual implications. Sound familiar? Read on for more.
Opening Shot: We see a small Buddha statue in a circle, which then expands to show a makeshift altar. A man kneels in front of that altar at his home.
The Gist: The man, in a white ghi, goes outside to his yard, gets on his knees and grabs the sword that’s in front of him. He wraps the sword in a cloth, then slowly plunges it into his abdomen, slowly moving it from left to right as his blood streams out.
It’s Easter week 2024 in Morón de la Frontera, a village in the city of Seville. During a Palm Sunday parade, two marchers end up being hospitalized: A drummer runs off on his own, breaking formation, and a man who is carrying a statue of Jesus imagines other marchers levitating before blood started coming out of his eyes.
At the nearby U.S. Army base, Lt. Magaly Castillo (Mariela Garriga), from the Office of Special Investigations arrives. She is taken by Sgt. Andrew Taylor (Austin Amelio), the base’s military police officer, to see Lt. Col. Seamus Hoopen (Ben Temple), the base commander. She’s there to find out what happened to Sgt. Miles Johnson, a cybersecurity expert that disappeared. The fear is that he deserted and is providing intel to another country.
In the meantime, we see Sgt. Lucía Gutiérrez (Maribel Verdú) of the Civil Guard — the police — put on her dress uniform, argue with her mother and teenage daughter, and arrive at the parade. She’s called away, though, when the body of Antonio Jimenez, the man who killed himself via hara kiri. It’s a gruesome sight; Jimenez literally spilled his guts out in the process of committing suicide.
As more people wreak havoc on the festivities, and the hallucinating victim claims he was on no drugs, despite what was found by toxicology, Lt. Castillo visits Sgt. Gutiérrez to ask her about what she’s gathered about Miles Johnson during their investigation.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? When No One Sees Us, based on Sergio Sarrias’ novel, really gave us True Detective vibes while we were watching it, specifically True Detective: Night Country.
Our Take: Arturo Ruiz’s adaptation of Sarrias’ novel seems to follow the True Detective game plan, for the most part, with two detectives who don’t necessarily trust each other coming together to investigate an ever-expanding case. In the case of this series, Castillo and Gutiérrez have seemingly separate cases that will likely come together at some point.
Another parallel to True Detective is the idea that local customs, spiritual and religious, are going to be a big part of the investigations. Gutiérrez is under especially tough pressure because the village doesn’t want to lose tourism dollars during Easter week, especially because what some of the people who were seemingly high during the ceremonies claim they saw. Of course, a whole other set of traditions come into play with the hara kiri victim.
In the meantime, the two investigators are going to learn to work together, despite the conflicting aims of their respective organizations. We know that at a certain point, the investigation will run up against Col. Hoopen’s interests, so it’ll be interesting to see what the American commander’s role in the story will be.
Ultimately, though, the show will come down to the chemistry between Mariela Garriga as Castillo and Maribel Verdú as Gutiérrez. The first episode doesn’t show the two of them interacting much, so the jury is still out there.
Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.
Parting Shot: Gutiérrez has a somewhat sexy conversation with the owner of her local restaurant, when she gets a call about the missing airman.
Sleeper Star: Austin Amelio is Sgt. Andrew Taylor, who will be escorting Castillo as she investigates. He’s grown a heck of a mustache for the role and looks as awkward as the role feels.
Most Pilot-y Line: Col Hoopen calls the Civil Guard “little guys in green.” Could he be any more disdainful of the local police?
Our Call: STREAM IT. When No One Sees Us gets off to a good start, introducing the audience two two strong detectives who will get together to solve a series of crimes in a small community, We just hope there are enough twists and turns to keep us interested.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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