The Mess You Leave Behind

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!

An average series with good acting, average artificial drama-mystery flow, very good for practicing Spanish and roller-coaster ratings as far as the episodes are concerned. The parallel flashbacks and present events were also developed and presented in a messy way.

It lacks solid screenplay, twists and turn of events, logic and ending. Give that script to Swedish/Danish Noir masters and they would create a series that would keep you glued to the screen while biting your nails.

Arón Piper as Iago and Bárbara Lennie as Viruca stand out above the rest in this one. Liked their charisma and acting.

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

I enjoyed the glum Galician atmosphere, the performances of the two leads, their mirrored lives, and some great classroom tension between kids and professors at odds with each other. There are some interesting twists and turns, although I felt a lot of them are revealed in a rather anticlimactic way, that lacked drama. Not all of the scenes and motivations are quite credible, although the menacing theatre of a village where everyone knows everyone is a great device for creating a level of fear and distrust of the authorities that the story needs to keep going. Overall a solid show, one which I will recommend to friends, but I was left with a sense that the story had greater potential than was realised.