In this world everything is governed by balance. There’s what you stand to gain and what you stand to lose. And in this moment they think they have nothing to lose. And when you believe you’ve got nothing to lose, you’re overconfident. We will be the ones that are going to show them just how much they have to lose.
One way or another, many have become aware of La Casa De Papel and the Salvador Dali masks. The worldwide rights of the Spanish series, which was originally produced by the Spanish network Antena 3, was acquired by Netflix and it was recut into two parts. The first part was released in December 2017 with 13 episodes and the second in April 2018 with six episodes. Soon after, Netflix announced the renewal of the series with eight episodes making up part 3, which released in JUly 2019, and part 4 has no release date as of yet.
So, what is Money Heist about? A group of eight robbers, all nicknamed after cities, break into the Royal Mint of Spain with the goal to print €2.4 billion on their own and escape. In the process, they take the employees and guests hostage and during the series, things get out of control. The genius mastermind and leader of the robbers, the Professor, who is guiding the group from an external location had thought of dozens of possible situations, but he miscalculated.
Money Heist is truly one of the most ground-breaking non-English speaking series worth watching. Now, do you want to learn more? If so, there are spoilers ahead!
“The second any blood is shed, we’ll no longer be Robin Hood, but just a bunch of plain motherfucking punks.”
The Characters
Money Heist provides you with a bunch of interesting and complex characters and every single one of them will fascinate you for different reasons.
- The Professor (played by Álvaro Morte) is the mastermind of the heist and assembled the group. During Part 2, it is revealed that he and Berlin are brothers. He is driven by the thought of justice and seems to have some socialising issues. He may be a prankster, but he cares deeply about those who are close to him
- Berlin (played by Pedro Alonso) is a jewel thief, the Professor’s brother, and suffers from a terminal illness. He sacrifices himself at the end of Part 2 to make sure the others can escape.
You either love him or hate him. He wins you over with his charm and charisma. Unfortunately, he is ruthless and the knowledge of facing a painful death soon makes him unstable. - Lisbon (played by Itziar Ituno) is an inspector of the National Police during Part 1 and 2 who is put in charge to solve the heist. In Part 3, she joins the group because she falls in love with the Professor. Lisbon is the one character who makes a 180-degree turn. First, she wants to get the robbers at all cost. In Part 3, she is a great help with making sure the plan does not go sideways.
- Tokyo (played by Úrsula Corberó) is the narrator of the show. She was a runaway robber until the Professor acquired her for his plan. Tough on the outside, Tokyo is the one who acts recklessly because of her emotions without giving it a second thought. Because of one of her solo moves, the group has to come together in Part 3 to undo her mistake.
- Rio (played by Miguel Herrán) is a hacker and Tokyo’s boyfriend. As the youngest and with not much criminal experience, he brings a kind of playful side to it. It seems that he mostly is not aware of the consequences of his doing.
- Denver (played by Jaime Lorente) is a robber and Moscow’s son. After Rio, he is the second one of the group who takes the heist not too seriously and is overwhelmed by the whole situation.
- Moscow (played by Paco Tous) is a former miner and Denver’s father.
- Stockholm (played by Esther Acebo) is the bank manager’s secretary and one of the hostages. She had an affair with the bank manager and she is pregnant when the series starts. During the robbery she falls in love with Denver. She joins the group in Part 3 as part of the main cast.
- Nairobi (played by Alba Flores) is an expert in forging money and oversees the printing machines during the heist. She is the toughest group member and does not hold back with telling people her opinion. She grows close to Helsinki who she sees a bit more as just her best friend and partner in crime.
- Helsinki (played by Darko Peric) is a Serbian veteran soldier and Oslo’s cousin. He has started as more of a side character of the main cast and got a more meaningful part in Part 3 in which it is shown that he is gay and sees Nairobi as his rock during hard times.
- Oslo (played by Roberto Garcia Ruiz) is as well a Serbian veteran soldier and Helsinki’s cousin.
- Palermo (played by Rodrigo de la Serna) is an old friend of Berlin’s who once planned the bank robbery. The Professor brings his group to him in Part 3 and asks him for help. He seems to be Berlin’s twin in spirit. He behaves just the same as Berlin which sometimes is a little bit too spooky.
- Marseille (played by Luka Peros) joins the group in Part 3.
The Storytelling
The series is told partly from a narrator’s perspective. Tokyo introduces the audience to the story and makes sure it does not miss a single thing, while the story jumps back and forth between the robbery and how the group has got to know each other and has memorised the plan.
Part 1 and 2 is a closed story. In Part 3, the group is forced to do something similar. We get to learn that they have become a family who is there when one of them needs them.
The series takes its time telling the main plot, while giving every character an equal amount of time to introduce themselves to the audience. However, it still feels like we do not know much about these complex characters. There is definitely a lot to explore and if the Money Heist fans get lucky, maybe future parts will focus on each of them more closely.
Bella Ciao
Italian for “goodbye beautiful”, Bella Ciao is an Italian folk song which was adopted as an anthem from the Italian partisans between 1943 and 1945 during the Italian Resistance. The song has been used as a symbol of freedom and resistance worldwide. You can look up the lyrics translated in English here.
“The life of El Profesor revolved around a single idea: Resistance. His grandfather, who had fought against the fascists in Italy, taught him the song and he taught us.”
Money Heist uses the song as a metaphor for freedom. The whole series is a small protest against the gap between the rich and the poor and the partly corrupted system in some parts of the world.
