After the incredible popularity of the first two seasons (actually a single cycle then divided) comes on July 19th on Netflix The 3 paper house of which you are reading review, with eight new episodes. Purchased by the streaming giant from Antena 3, the series conceived by Alex Pina had an incredible success thanks to word of mouth: at the beginning of 2018 there was no talk of anything else on social media and on the street, so much so that we remember the times when everyone was wondering who killed Laura Palmer or if the island of Lost was actually Hell.
The idea is as simple as it is effective (and diabolical): to combine the structure of Spike Lee's Inside Man (or a classic heist movie) with the flashbacks dedicated to the past of the characters (system introduced by Lost), adding to the whole a color that attracts attention, red, and a recognizable symbol, in this case a mask that reproduces the face of Salvador Dali (and very reminiscent of V for Vendetta). Among the references is also Robin Hood, who is here The professor (Alvaro Morte), which brings together a team of people with peculiar abilities to whom he gives the nickname of the city: we have the beautiful Tokyo (Ursula Corbero), the leader Berlin (Pedro Alonso), Rio (Miguel Herran), Denver (Jamie Lorente) , with the laughter that is never forgotten, Helsinki (Darko Peric) and Nairobi (Alba Flores). Their task is to enter the Fabbrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre in Madrid, to print two and a half billion euros with which to disappear into anonymity.
The paper house: the gulty pleasure par excellence
Action, dangerous relationships with hostages, delusions of omnipotence, Hello Beautiful: the first two seasons have conquered the public with continuous twists and captivating characters, but the reality is another: The paper house is very popular because at the base and in the heart it is basically a soap opera. At first it strikes the team, the curiosity to find out what will be the next move on the Professor's board then takes over, but it is the exaggerated (and bordering on hysteria) dynamics between the protagonists that totally capture.
Those who grew up grinding series that marked the Golden Age of TV, from Twin Peaks and The Sopranos to The Wire, passing through Mad Men to Breaking Bad, can do only two things: embrace the deliberately over the top tones of The House of Paper , or stop watching after a few episodes. If you are reading you probably belong to the first category, if instead you are part of the second and you are looking for confirmation of your impression, that is, that the Netflix series is an entertainment product but not an Emmy title, then rest assured, you are not alone. In any case, all the spectators who, for better or for worse, can no longer do without the Tokyo sulking or the investigative inability of Inspector Raquel Murillo (Itziar Ituno), can breathe a sigh of relief: the third season confirms the guilty pleasure status of La casa di carta. Indeed, it increases it exponentially.
The third season: more ambitious, more spectacular, but still soap
The end of the second season of The House of Paper is the equivalent of escapades in the elevators of Grey's Anatomy: you know they are far-fetched, you know that in some cases they are also wrong, but you can not help but look at them. Without revealing the plot in detail, let's say that the gang, more or less intact, runs away with the loot to each reach their own personal paradise. Finals, against finals, nothing is missing to create the "Ciranda de pedra" effect (Brazilian soap opera from the 80s). At the beginning of the new episodes we find everyone as we left them, two years later: happy, away from everything and full of fresh money from the press. The kidnapping (and torture) of one of them by the Spanish government, however, will force the gang to reunite: this time the blow will be even more spectacular. It's dangerous.
The first episode of the third cycle begins with a piano sequence that makes you say: "But Netflix has really taken matters into their own hands!". The beaches of Thailand, with Tokyo running through the jungle like not even Lara Croft, bode well. But then there it is, the trash moment inevitably arrives: two characters pull their hair like someone arguing at the fish market; a new entry broken by grief one moment cries and despairs, the next one dances with improbable moves; the character of Monica (Esther Acebo), a hostage who was seduced by the charm of Denver during the robbery, is now called Stockholm, after the well-known syndrome. You don't go too far in The Paper House. But perhaps this is precisely his secret: for 40 minutes you don't think, your brain turns off, you accept the voluntary as well as the involuntary comedian, good acting and poorer acting, desaturated colors to bring out all the red. We can say it: the Professor's gang is back. And, thanks to Netflix's steroid cure, he's fitter than ever.
Comment
Resources4Gaming.com
6.5
The third season of La casa di carta, thanks to the "Netflix cure", highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the series starring the Professor's band: those who love this formidable guilty pleasure, which knows how to skillfully mix drama and kitsch, will be satisfied, because that's all bigger, more spectacular, more ambitious. On the other hand, those who cannot bear the fact that a dramatic moment is constantly combined with a sensational fall in style, will continue to not appreciate it. For better or for worse, however, it is undeniable that these characters, thanks also to the now iconic Dali mask, have managed to fit into the collective imagination.
PRO
- The third season is shot better and has more resources available
- The cast is joined by new interesting characters, such as Palermo and Marseille
- The spirit of guilty pleasure is intact, indeed, it is on steroids
- This soap nature, which has made it very popular, could however make the series indigestible to the most demanding viewers
- The writing, the dynamics and some situations are still over the top
