Presunto culpable

I always give foreign language programming time to establish the linguistic rhythm and account for the translation style. When it's a language with which I have some familiarity, Spanish in this case, falling into its groove and noticing regional dialects happens sooner than later. I was a little distracted in the first episodes when the lead character Jon, played by Miguel Ángel Muñoz, and his French girlfriend (Godeliv Van den Brandt) slipped between French and Spanish mid conversations (akin to "Spanglish" here in the U.S.) with a few unnecessary sentences in English thrown in. The remainder of the series was in local, regionalized Spanish.

The overall story and ending were not bad, although by episode 7 or so, "whodunnit" was becoming apparent. I am not sure how it was originally aired, but in stream/binge format I found this show belabored and taxing. In short, writers overwrote. Actors over acted. Perhaps some of that onus belongs in the series' direction. And every other conversation was some form of superfluous verbal conflict. The over the top barking among family members and their feuding rivals just overpowered the series' nicer qualities. Note to filmmakers, constant arguing, and toggled extreme emotions is not "deep." It's just amateur drama. Moreover, the episodes were not truncated into 45-55 minutes; they were over an hour each, not including previous and coming attractions. These all could have been cut to tolerable time frames.

Muñoz played the alpha male lead who dominated the first couple of episodes with two speeds, ANGRY and REALLY, REALLY ANGRY! The third episode opened up the storyline with more contributions from remaining characters, most of whom were more nuanced, but the scripting forced perpetual, unnecessary bickering even during inane or banal topics of conversation. A couple of times I blurted out in belly laugh, one time in particular sticks in mind, when Javier (Eduardo Rosa) stormed, turned, then pounded on a table (one of the latter episodes). In fairness, Rosa had better moments throughout the series-perhaps I was just getting tired.

So, for the good: lovely cinematography that explored and exploited the natural rolling landscapes of Basque Countryside and its seascape cliffs. Again, the story had promise; it was just over scripted. Some worthy acting threaded and peppered each episode. And, it took me out of my COVID head space most of this weekend.

This is a plodding Spanish remake of the 2015 Norwegian drama "Acquitted." It makes no improvements. The plot would fit in four episodes but the writers stretch it to thirteen.

Everything is based on the tense interactions and affairs between two families, one rich and one working class, involved in the shipping business. The padding includes endless landscape and sea views and frequently replayed footage of a hand slowly touching moss. And the same conversations occur over and over. We could solve the national debt if we had a dollar for every time someone says "you killed her" or "I didn't do it" or "why aren't you looking for the killer instead of talking to me" etc. Padding also includes red herrings and subplots within subplots; certain characters who take up screen time simply disappear toward the end, without explanation. I also noticed that no one locks the doors to their homes (people wander in at any hour) or lock desks or put passwords on phones (enabling snoopers to cause big trouble).

Each character is a one-note stereotype: a long-suffering matriarch, an angry vengeance seeker, a sad alcoholic, a political loudmouth, and there's the obligatory male/male sex affair. The leading man (played by handsome Miguel Angel Munoz) is hollow and wooden, with one emotion - anger - played repeatedly by slamming his fist on a table and yelling "fu**!". We're also supposed to believe an expressionless teenager is a world famous PhD marine biologist. Well, she does look in a microscope once and whisper feeble dialogue about "synthesizing proteins" to eliminate cancer. Did all the trouble start when someone failed to spotlight her at a press event? Slog through hours of repeated conversations to learn the truth.

There are some jarringly graphic sex scenes and the usual harsh profanity we can't escape in streaming shows these days. Nothing can be done about a script and direction that moves everything in slow motion with the same dialogue again and again. One waits in vain for a train derailment, a boiler explosion, a bus full of loud tourists, SOMETHING to alleviate the same droning talk. I'm giving this two stars, not one, only because it's not as aggressively vulgar and stupid as the Spanish language "Who Killed Sarah" on Netflix, which deserved no stars at all.

In Megahertz you can see the original serie called "Acquited" . This version from Spain, I like it.

It's a good mystery but Jon is abusive so it's hard to watch. I like the other characters but don't have sympathy for Jon because of the way he abuses everyone around him

Spectacular shooting.....Good Script Very high shooting quality. North Spain