‘Money Heist’ 4 review: Disappointing, drag, and shallow

There will be times when you will feel this season has been dragged a bit, and you won't be wrong. It's...

KARACHI: You've got to hand it to the makers of Pakistan's latest obsession Money Heist. They give enough fodder to the viewers for them to be hooked to their TV sets and fire up the meme game at the same time. However, it wasn't until the first two seasons that the famous Spanish thriller, La Casa De Papel, landed on Netflix and has since then become one of the most-watched shows of the streaming giant.

The cast is led by The Professor (Álvaro Morte) and his criminal ensemble. Rio (Miguel Herrán), Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó), Helsinki (Darko Perić), Nairobi (Alba Flores), Denver (Jaime Lorente), Stockholm (Esther Acebo) and the famous inspector Raquel (Itziar Ituño) are some of the recurring characters.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Part three of Le Casa de Papel made waves in Pakistan last year for its gripping storyline and brilliant cast. The audience was left with one of the prominent team members, Nairobi, being shot down and an apparent execution of Lisbon. Sergio and his team had begun to crumble under pressure and resorted to violence - which the Professor had always forbidden.



The fourth season of the show was streamed on April 3 globally as many waited to see whether Nairobi makes it through and how the rest of the show unfolds. For someone who has followed the show before it received the hype, the adrenaline rush was real!

Season four continues with Sergio's flashbacks from the time of Berlin's wedding and when the duo was preparing the heist. To the relief of many, myself included, Nairobi, by some miracle and with the help of Dr Ahmed from Pakistan (woot!) makes it out alive. We see more mention of Professor's links in Pakistan as he connects with a team of hackers and surgeons from the country.

We also see the return of one of the most hated characters, Arturo, who continues his predatory ways even with all the tension. But the former manager of the Royal Mint is the least of the concerns for Sergio's team. The actual villain of season four is Gandia (José Manuel Poga), who served as the bodyguard to the Governor of Bank of Spain.

Nairobi's storyline was as always brilliant. She survives a bullet, only to have been shot down by Gandia in a later episode. Nairobi's death came as a shock to the Professor, the team and the fans. This was one of the scenes where you might have to take a pause to come to terms with the new reality.

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The action sequences of the latest season, like its previous ones, are brilliant and engaging. The cat and mouse chase continued between Gandia and the team, keeping the viewers glued. The dialogues were well-versed and intense. The acting of the whole cast was just as spectacular as the earlier seasons.

However, little did we know, disappointments were in order.

The downer

The haphazardness of the script, the new characters, the plot twists, and the flashbacks - it all got a bit too jumbled for an otherwise clearly fleshed out show. There are also narrative loopholes you can't ignore.
But don't get me wrong, there were - as always - few nail-biting sequences as well. Scenes that make you cover your eyes, scenes that you can't wait to finish. But the number of such scenes was maybe six in all of the eight episodes.

Tokyo continues to evoke chaos, Rio struggles with PTSD, Denver and Stockholm hit a rocky patch in their marriage right in the middle of a heist. Helsinki honestly doesn't really do much, Palermo, who was apparently the genius behind the whole plan of robbing Bank of Spain, betrays the team and frees their worst nightmare (Gandia) on them. Amid all this, we still don't know who or where Tatiana (Berlin's long lost love) is!



Money Heist season four frustrates you. There will be times when you will feel this season has been dragged a bit, and you won't be wrong. The makers, like earlier installments, should have wrapped the heist of Bank of Spain in this season but the audience met with yet another cliffhanger!

Safe to say, we have to wait for yet another year (or maybe more due to the current Coronavirus outbreak) to see how the Professor gets out of the mess that he is in right now.

Should you binge-watch the fourth season of Money Heist?  Absolutely. Should you expect the same greatness from this season as the last three? Not really.

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