I had to watch all six of its episodes to be sure, just in case, but a few minutes of its first episode was enough: The first impression remained the same until the end. Movistar Plus+ itself insists (and rightly so) on this for a reason: ‘Rapa’ is the new series from those responsible for ‘Hierro’, something that is palpable at all times, from start to finish. In fact, if it weren’t for the numerous details that break any possible dramatic or narrative link, it could pass for some kind of derivative. Of course, at least, they take place in the same universe: That of a real, everyday, tangible and plausible world where suspense is made step by step, slowly but surely and consistently. Actions have consequences, and in a series like ‘Rapa’ there is no stitch without thread. As in ‘Hierro’, again, of course, a very elegant dramatic thriller around the investigation of a murder marked by the local and structured around the not so strange bond between two strangers condemned to understand each other. An investigation that defies the possible conventionality of a synopsis, the deceptive starting point of a story that does not miss any opportunity to play cluelessness with a viewer who, however, always knows more than its protagonists. Again, just like ‘Iron’. That in ‘Rapa’ the majority of collaborators repeat it is taken for granted: It is something evident to the eye and the ear. From the staging through the direction of photography or its soundtrack. Only judge Candela Montes, Antonio Díaz and the island of Hierro are missing. Instead we have the Galician coast, a civil guard and a literature teacher, these two obsessed with solving a crime with which to somehow give meaning to their lives. It changes almost everything with respect to ‘Hierro’ but the essence is the same and its melodramatic impact and addictive capacity comparable, virtually identical: ‘Rapa’ becomes strong in the same virtues as that one, developing another robust “Nordic noir” with a genuinely aromatic aroma. Spanish that pulsates intensely under its immaculate rested appearance. Perhaps he is missing a character as overwhelming as Candela Montes, but it is enough for him and above all else: “Another” of those suspenseful thrillers in six movements that the British do so well… but in the Spanish style, without anything to object, much less to envy. On the contrary, ‘Rapa’ is the new and resounding certification that television fiction, wherever it comes from, is based on a job well done. And this ‘Hierro 3’ is a wonderful and vibrant television fiction that keeps us waiting until its last breath.
By Juan Pairet Iglesias
@Wanchopex