There may be readers to whom the name of Agustín Martínez don’t tell you much, but if we tell you that he is one of the writers who published his works under the pseudonym Carmen Mola will be more than recognizable: he is one of the authors of the publishing success of the popular saga The gypsy bride.
He is therefore very familiar with the codes of a type of thriller that combines police elements with traditional elements, also having a very specific localist aspect, in this case linked to the Cantabrian orography and folklore.
In collaboration with Isa Sanchezwho has also worked on writing the scripts for the recently released Not one more and is part of the adaptation team of When no one sees ushas created Second deatha series of six episodes that are around 50 minutes long and that includes Georgina Amorós and Karra Elejalde in its cast.
It is one of the original series of Movistar Plus+, which premieres the first episode on June 6 and will release the rest at the rate of a new one every Thursday until completing the broadcast on July 11.
A corpse as the starting point of a journey to hell
Sandra is a young police assistant who tries to stay away from the fame of her father: a recently retired former UCO agent popularly known as “the mountain”, accustomed to doing and undoing as he pleases.
The relationship they maintain is one of tension and mistrust since she decided to leave behind a promising future working in a technological multinational to return to her town to raise her son, a product of her relationship with Castro, a man locked up in prison who is missing little time to serve his sentence and be free.
By chance, Sandra will find a corpse that will set off all the alarms: the woman she finds dead had supposedly died seven years before and is buried in the town cemetery.
As much as it may be, Sandra will have to combine her exceptional photographic memory and her natural talent for research with the experience of her father, who is suffering from senile dementia and has certain debts from the past that are going to make things very difficult for them.
Movistar Plus+
Second death has indisputable successes in the direction, which is carried out by Alex Rodrigo that comes from working on sugarcane projects such as Vis a vis either The Money Heist and of Oscar Pedrazaattached to productions as diverse as Homeland either red sky.
Both show that they are clear about where to place the camera and how to take advantage of the filming locations, with compositions of very satisfactory plans on an aesthetic level and a notable technical solvency.
Much less interesting is the work of directing actors: on many occasions they are over the top (especially Karra Elejalde) and their design makes them too sullen to make it easy to accompany them on their adventure as accomplices.
The script, full of twists until the last episode, does not make it easy for the performers, who sometimes have to defend very implausible sequences in which they cannot find the tone.
It seems that many seeds are sown that never finish germinating: the protagonist’s ability to memorize, without going any further, is presented and barely exploited and her relationship with her partner also suffers ups and downs that are difficult to justify with any logic. .
In sum, Second death It has interesting elements, but as a whole it falls far short of Iron either Rapasome of the best police thrillers on the platform that did know how to bring together more positive aspects, keeping as a focus the identity features of the place in which the plot unfolded.
It lacks originality, it has plenty of morbidity that aims to shock but fails to do so, and above all it has a fundamental lack: attachment to the characters.
