Ebru.tv

There are so many series that we want to see that we end up forgetting many of them, because it is materially impossible to find enough time to sit down and watch them all. The vast majority are productions that are making the big screen begin to be the little sister of the audiovisual world. We are saturated with series, with exceptional quality, yes, but it is increasingly difficult to find characters that fall in love, of those who end up becoming an appendix of yourself, getting you to cry and laugh at your side without even realizing it. ‘Back To Life’ is one of those few series that goes straight to the heart. A superbly balanced dramedia starring a woman who tries to rebuild a broken life in the past.

After spending 18 years in jail, Miri faces the challenge of reintegrating into society. In his thirties, without work or friends, he can only do one thing: return to his parents’ house in a small town in England where the crime he committed is still very much alive in the minds of his neighbors. The series are jugs of raw reality seasoned with good doses of black humor. I love the ability of the British to find the less dark side even in the toughest moments. Because as much as life gives us the trip we must get up, look up and move on. A moral that is difficult to sell when you do not sweeten the cruelty of the world.

After ‘Back To Life’ are the producers of ‘Fleabag’, another great series that anyone who has not seen it should also. Both share this duality between drama and optimism, with a humor with its own personality and captivating characters. Daisy Haggard (‘Episodes’) is magnificent giving life to Miri, what nuances she brings to the character. The truth is that character construction is one of the great successes of the series, always moving between two waters, as in life. Because let’s be honest, we’ve all broken a plate sometime. Life is full of grays, not blacks and whites.

‘Back To Life’ has taken the place of ‘Fleabag’ on the BBC and, despite the challenge it posed, it has become a huge audience success. It is a series with a lot of British flavor. Of those jewels that usually give us in small jars: six chapters of 25 minutes. Very few episodes for many emotions and reflections. How difficult it is to make stories so everyday but so special at the same time. By the way, Daisy Haggard is also a co-writer as well as a protagonist. I recommend that you see it because it does not disappoint. It looks like a sitting.

At this point in the seriefile boom we have seen many series about people returning after death or disappearance. Titles such as the French ‘Les Revenants’, the American ‘The 4400’ or the Australian ‘The Glitch’ have gotten into these temporary waters that often cost it to go out without falling into inconsistencies. We know that playing with time is not easy, but it is more difficult to surprise with these plots. The last to be able to surprise with such a story have been the Nordics.

‘Beforeigners’ starts with the inexplicable appearance in the Oslo fjord of people from the past. But not only from a recent past, no, there are individuals from prehistory, and Vikings, with their skins, swords and tattoos included. This will create a new social framework with great cultural, religious and technological differences. They are emigrants of the past and the mission of the Government is that all live in harmony respecting the customs and beliefs of others.

From first visually it costs a little, to see a Viking from head to toe next to a policeman of the 21st century. But these dares are what make ‘Beforeigners’ different and, above all, entertaining. It is not a series to break the head, nor for dense dramatisms. It is a series to disconnect and entertain with light stories that hide very original ideas that work better or worse, are different, risky and very enjoyable.

The transverse plot of the series is the investigation of a mysterious murder in Oslo. The case will fall to Detective Lars Haaland and Detective Alfhildr Enginnsdottir, the first agent of Viking origin who enters the Norwegian police force. She will strive to integrate into the police force, hiding her past as a Viking squire. The research, without being anything from the other world, handles Norwegian mythology very well and constantly plays with the characters and cultural clashes.

‘Beforeigners’ is more enjoyed by the whole than by the specific case. More important is what they remember from their past and what they want to do with the world of the 21st century. A series that despite the triviality of its plot reflects on an issue as important and current as refugees. In the end, those appearing in ‘Beforeigners’ are temporary refugees, they don’t come from another country but from another era. They face endless threats of personal identity and social acceptance.

Despite the prominence of the two policemen, it ends up being a very choral series, in which the script is increasingly branching out more and more introducing new characters that, despite appearing secondary, will end up being decisive. The season closes giving many answers but leaving the door open for a new installment, which if it receives the approval could be even better than the first (the plot that remains in the air promises a lot).