Berlin

The title of this should have been "the love life of thieves!" - very disappointing, messed up and very far away in format from the original as the priority here was to find the right love match for each of the participants! Unnecessarily melodramatic to the point I had to fast forward most bits to get back to the story.

Also parts were too far fetched and lacking detail, like for instance they were all super meticulous about not leaving forensic signs anywhere, and yet they lost a necklace and a bike?! Come on! This was a parody - not a serious heist story, all any of them cared about was their feelings. And how is it possible that people who live a life of pure excess, indulgence and zero exercise can cycle on the mountains for days?!

What about the women investigators who look older here even though this period precedes money heist - did they run out of actors??

Fun to watch, funny at times, and even moderately suspenseful, offering a bit of the feeling of the original, but overall not nearly close to the brilliance of the money heist script.

Cliché - Simping - Overreacting

Overall, the series started off promising, but I'm genuinely disappointed with where Alex is taking it - drowning in clichés and overreactions. Those mundane scenes should fade into the background, but no, Pena's signature has to be forcefully stamped on everything. Simping, simping, and more simping - it's become a parade of tired tropes. Money Heist set a bar, and this feels like a heart-wrenching downgrade. If this trend persists, it's on the fast track to becoming a Bollywood melodrama. As someone genuinely disappointed, I hoped for more than this. Kudos, Alex, for turning what could have been a riveting tale into a predictable saga.

Berlin was the Professor's second in command in the popular 'Money Heist' series. Although not as altruistic as most of his companions, his sardonic humour made him popular with viewers, and he was given the spin off series, 'Berlin' which is naturally about another previous heist, set in Paris.

It's a smaller gang and the ambitions are not as lofty as in 'Money Heist', but the hallmarks of the earlier series are here in the electronic wizardry and the offbeat humour. Alonso carries this series with ease, and the romance which almost upsets his heist gets in the way of the story at times. However, I feel this is intentional and keeps things off balance for the viewer.

I loved the Paris setting, and Alonso's gang are a nifty bunch who knit together well in this fast paced story. A lovely touch was the addition of the two female detectives from 'Money Heist.' They were bitter enemies in the previous series but here they form an amusing and surprisingly effective duo. I loved it all, and hope Berlin gets more outings with Netflix.

The Casa de Papel was an excellent idea; the plot and characters were cool, but the made the same usual mistake of many series / movies : unnecessary love stories. Like literally all the characters were involved in relationships or affairs ALL the characters. What's the need? Too easy and cheap.

Now, with Berlin, is just the same.... but now the characters are too obvious, clichéd, predictable, I feel like I amWatching kind of the same characters from La casa the papel with a little twist and again: unnecessary love stories with the same old problems: we're so different, age difference, one in a relationship/unavailable , we together so we shouldn't hook up . Basically, all the same.

Stop forcing love stories into everything!! It ruins everything and work better on the charters. They are so obvious Not everything needs romance and sex to be good.

If you liked the character of Berlin in Money Heist, and enjoyed that show's more quirky and playful moments, you'll probably enjoy this series. It's more of an ode to love than a pure heist tale, but there is a clever heist that drives the story, and which provides some surprising and very satisfying twists and tension. It was a little melodramatic in places, but maybe these scenes were meant to be tongue in cheek. However what really stood out to me was the humour and the terrific production. The sets, locations, lighting and editing were all top notch and the casting of the main characters was great, with good chemistry between the romantic couples. It was frequently hilarious, very imaginative and kept me entertained throughout.