The Mess You Leave Behind

This is basically a murder mystery, a whodunnit. In stead of a police-officer, here it's a new high school teacher who tries to unravel the strange circumstances of her highly popular predecessor's suicide. In her quest several suspects turn up, from some of the students to even her own husband, and eventually she gets more and more bewildered, doubting her own sanity and ultimately realizing that her own life is at stake. The pace is high and the story is definitely entertaining, keeping you guessing until the very end, when we at last do get a satisfying solution to all the mysteries, albeit a bit farfetched and coming out of the blue.

The acting is fine, especially Arón Piper does a great job as the troubled, ominous student Iago (he's also one of the more outstanding actors in the popular Netflix series "Elite"). Inma Cuesta as main character Raquel is as beautiful as a young Penélope Cruz, but unfortunately she has to act with every new episode more and more hysterical, what eventually got a bit on my nerves. In fact all major characters were constantly shouting and crying and yelling at each other, maybe that has something to do with the Spanish temperament, but as far as I'm concerned it could have used some tuning down. And maybe a bit of humor to counter all the heavy stuff would have been welcome too, now it was all so terribly dead serious.

I loved the first episode. Interesting story, suspense and a bit of erotic, good actresses- I thought this might an amazing, atmospheric series. But the longer the action was going on, the more the story gaps, but especially the unreasonable behaviour of the characters and the non-logical dialogues with people saying nothing without reason were annoying me.

A 10 for the idea and the start. A 2 for the execution of the later episodes and the finish - a 6 in total

This series deserves a higher rating than it currently has. It is a storyline with suspense, that keeps your attention. There are some not very well worked out aspects in the storylines of certain characters, but that doesn't devaluate the show too much. I like it and couldn't stop watching. Would definitely recommend (and I'm a series snob). And, for the Netflixers; it's a fresh change from a lot of soap opera like shows from Spain. This is better quality and more Netflix worthy.

This series is centred on Raquel and Viruca, two literature teachers working in a small Spanish town. Raquel moves to the town with her husband, who is a local, to take up the teaching position. She didn't know that her predecessor, Viruca, had died in a presumed suicide. The more she learns the more Raquel starts to think Virura may have been murdered, possibly by somebody in her class. As the series progresses we see Raquel's story intertwined with flashbacks of the events leading to Viruca's death.

This is a somewhat mixed series; on the down side one does have to suspend one's disbelief at times... watching the series one would think there was only one class at the school and the way the students and teachers interact seems highly unlikely; it is far too casual and students get away with threatening teachers. If you can get passed those problems the central mystery is gripping and there were plenty of genuinely tense moments. As the series progresses more suspects emerge as we learn about various activities going on in the town which include affairs, sexual jealousy, shady financial dealings and drugs. The cast is solid; most noticeably Inma Cuesta and Bárbara Lennie as Raquel and Viruca. Overall I'd recommend this despite its problems; if you want a good mystery it is definitely worth watching.

These comments are based on watching the Series in Spanish with English subtitles.

First: beautiful acting from a high level. You may know Barbara Lennie - the old teacher from the movie Contratiempo where she played a completely different role. This big name in Spain has something magical in her work. She is natural down to the smallest details and knows how to create an attitude that haves something mysteries. And Inma Cuesta is an acting talent. The series is full of intrigue, plot twists and the dynamics in characters make it interesting. In terms of tension and action, it can be called more of a Mystery than a typical thriller, but it is definitely recommended!