With permission from other creative duets, such as those formed by Diego San Jose and Borja Cobeaga or Cristóbal Garrido and Adolfo Valor, brothers Alberto and Laura Caballero have become, along with their usual collaborators (Daniel Deorador, Julián Sastre, Nando Abad, Araceli). Alvarez de Sotomayor), in the great reference of Spanish television comedy. Not only because their ‘The one that is coming’ is incombustible nor because the flame of the memory of ‘No one lives here’ remains inextinguishable, but because in recent years they have demonstrated their ability to adapt to new times both in formats and in topics.
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If they took a first step talking about rural Spain in ‘El pueblo’, it was ‘Machos Alfa’, their approach to new masculinities and also those that are in extinction, which demonstrated what this creative team can do with a sitcom pure half hour, current themes and actors that put you in a state of grace. Now, with the approval of Movistar Plus+, they are trying to do the same carrying the customs of work comedies (of which ‘The Office’ is the main reference and here the use of the handheld camera pays tribute to it) to a rather unusual placeas is a funeral home.
Anyone who has ever gone to a funeral in their life knows that behind all that solemnity that dresses the situation, a moment of laughter always arises, either out of nerves or as an escape valve, and that they are also favorable places to uncover misery. Of course, perfect threads to weave a comedy. AND The Caballeros achieve it in a first season of ‘Muertos SL’ that leaves very good impressionsbut in which there is still room to grow and raise the stakes.
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The first chapter is skillful in deploying a simple but always effective sitcom premise (the owner of the funeral home dies and it’s time to see who takes over the position or what happens with the company) and introducing us to characters that we quickly get the hang of. We have Dámaso (Carlos Areces), a guy who boasts of power, Nieves (Ascen López), the inexperienced widow who will take the reins with tenacity, and other employees such as the tanatopractor Manuela (Adriana Torrebejano), who wants to prove that the deceased was a sexual offender, or his partner Abel (Gerald B. Fillmore) with poor social skills, among others.
It is very commendable that the series is able to define so much in such a short time and manages to, in the meantime, make us smile with the circumstances that occur in this peculiar work environment. Although perhaps ‘Machos Alfa’ was quicker to get into the thick of it and ‘Muertos SL’ needs a little more filming for things to settle (something very common in comedies) and then go crazy. Because the theme calls for more candor and irreverence, even blacker humor, although the spirit of the characters is candid. An extra point of bad baba would be good.
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The cast under the command of Laura Caballero shines again, both the safe values such as Areces (main protagonist) or Torrebejano who has already demonstrated his comic value in other projects, as well as other less known ones that demand space. There we have Roque Ruiz as an innocent intern or Ascen in what could be the most interesting horizontal plot of the series, that of a woman of a certain age who enters the world of work with more determination than knowledge. Fortunately, the series is already preparing its second season, opportunity to get your gears flowing even more than in this and to go from a notable to the outstanding that we expect.
Score: 7/10
The series of… those who laugh at everything
You will like it if… you are a fan of the other Caballero brothers series
It’s not for you if… you can’t stand Spanish comedies
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Series reviews and analysis
I was born on Wisteria Lane, I was roommates with Hannah Horvath, and ‘Chicago’ drove me crazy because Roxie Hart is me. I have a sharp tongue, but, as Lola Flores said, “they had to give me a subsidy for joy.”
