Money Heist – A Runway Hit

The year is almost over and with it, the heist of a lifetime

Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) is the brainchild of Álex Pina and without a doubt, one of the most-watched shows on Netflix ever since its release back in 2017. Before Squid Game hit, the Spanish Money Heist was crowned as the most streamed show on Netflix in a foreign language. The series takes us on a thrilling ride of two heists led by the genius mind of the Professor (Álvaro Morte) who rounds up a group of people with criminal records to execute his plans. The selected convicts take city names as their aliases to avoid revealing any personal information to each other.

The show relies on time-jumps as well as real-time action-packed events, while being partially narrated by a fellow heist member Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó). Over the past few years, fans across the globe have taken a journey together with the Professor and his team as they robbed the Royal Mint of Spain with all its enthralling sequences, its twists and turns, and their eventual success.

Season 5 sees the continuation of the events that were led with the heist of the Bank of Spain and the country’s gold resources that it houses. Earlier, fans had to bid farewell to the character Tokyo, who sacrificed her life to save her friends, while taking down five state soldiers with her. Episode 6 picks up immediately after her death which had everyone in shock and tears, whilst in the background, we hear Tokyo’s voice narrating how the lust for gold is a curse on humanity. This uncalculated and unfortunate change in the plan hit Professor the hardest as he has an immediate breakdown, screaming in grief and agony. But he is soon brought back to reality by his companions in time to finish what he has started, and the Professor comes back to form, puts on his glasses and his earpiece, representing that the mastermind is back at it again.

Things were rocky in the previous episodes as Professor lost important members of his team while dealing with Alicia Sierra’s (Najwa Nimri) sudden entanglement with the plan. On the other hand, the remaining team members were struggling with their trust in Professor’s scheme simultaneously fighting with their own demons.

With an immense success and fame, it is almost impossible to believe that the show was not very popular in Spain when it first aired on Spanish Network Antena 3. It was only after when Netflix picked up the show and released it to the wider world that the series gained recognition for what it truly was. Even though the name of the show suggests that it is about a robbery, but it is more than what meets the eye. The storyline and layering of characters is what keeps the viewers engaged. The show aims to depict themes of disproportionate financial division in a capitalist society, and its main plot serves as an analogy of war against capitalism. With that idea in mind, content creators have managed to serve this ideology with not just dialogues but with music as well.

Fan favourite  was first heard in season 1, where Professor and his brother, Berlin, sang it to remind themselves of the motive for their first heist. The Italian song is not only beautiful but echoes the rebellion against fascism and its clever use in the show boldly sets the narrative of the entire series.

The action-packed twists and turns were not the only great thing about the finale, it’s the emotions, the tears, and mending of the broken pieces of each character’s strength to find their way back to themselves that is the true highlight of the series. The writers were efficaciously able to tie the loose ends and calm down the chaos from the previous episodes with an end that all the characters deserved.

Writers and actors have done an outstanding job throughout the show, from the first-time fans met. The classic red costumes, including the masks derived from the famous Spanish painter Salvador Dalí as an inspiration for design, are forever marked in history as a symbol of rebellion and one of the most iconic costumes used in a show.

Bewitching performance from Pedro Alonso, who plays the character of Berlin in the show has once again proved his prowess and talent as an actor. Aside from Pedro, Alicia Sierra’s character played by Najwa Nimri has completely stole the series finale with her character development and emotional growth. Last but certainly not least, Álvaro Morte aka The Professor has redefined the definition of sophistication, mysteriousness and genius through his exceptional performance. Miguel Herrán (Rio), Jaime Lorente (Denver), Esther Acebo (Stockholm), Itziar Ituño (Raquel), and many other significant cast members have given an impressive performance in the last five episodes.

While some of the fans were disappointed by the creator’s decision to release the show in two parts as it could lengthen the final episodes, but the end result was nothing short of the adrenaline-rush ride and provided fans with a closure they all wished and hoped for. Even though it seems like an end of an era since fans bid farewell to their favorite show, it has managed to leave a mark in everyone’s lives where the characters will forever be deemed as the Robin Hood of the modern world.