Sky Rojo

La Casa de Putas! A three hour male erection and a ride like hell! The creators of Money Heist swapped the bank and the robbers for a brothel and hookers and it's excellent – though nothing for feminists as the women here are only prostitutes and the men are pimps, so they'll find plenty to dislike, but for me it’s proper guilty pleasure. At times the series reminded me of the 1970s rape and revenge films from Spain with the occasional wink to Grindhouse, and it's safe to say that it portrays a certain exploitation of women in its dirtiest form. The story itself is simple, three hookers escape the clutches of their pimp and he sends his goons to catch them, but the script is of a very high standard. The dialogues are awesome, if you were fascinated by the dialogue in Money Heist, you'll enjoy it here too. There are detailed analysis of the lives of prostitutes at their worst, loads of interesting information that I had to get a piece of paper and write out some of the lines, yes I was that fascinated, and the main character of the pimp takes the best of Berlin in terms of performances and wisecracks. I spotted a few easter eggs on Money Heist while watching and the director's signature is simply evident. The intensity, the build-up, the tension, the music (after the series ended, my playlist grew by another 20 titles), the visuals, the style, the panache, the attention to detail, the nerve-wracking cliffhangers, and of course the gorgeous Spanish-Argentine prostitutes, who are simply impossible to get enough of. Thanks to the short episodes, the whole thing goes by very quickly, and by the end of it I just said to myself. I want more and that's the only reason I don't give it full marks, three hours wasn't enough. 8.5/10. !! (21/03/2021)

Before the highly anticipated 5th season of Money Heist, the same creators serve us the second season of Sky Rojo and it's once again a fine, fun, stylish and sexy ride. I liked the first season a bit more, this one has lost some of the charm of the brothels and there is a little less philosophizing and main pimp, which is quite a shame. But there is more action, it still has a great pace, the characters are great again (a bit of a bummer that there are no new ones), and thanks to the short episodes, the whole thing goes by like water and I didn't get bored for a minute, which is the main thing, though one would expect a something bit more ambitious from the creators of Money Heists than just a chase between hookers and pimps. If you weren’t impressed by the first season, don’t expect much of an improvement here, but if you were impresssed, you will probably enjoy this one too. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 3/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5. 7/10. (04/08/2021)

The finale of Sky Rojo is over and it is once again an ejoyable and fun ride. The first season is admittedly unsurpassed in my book because that's where the character of the pimp gets the most space and his wisdom and philosophizing takes the best of Berlin, so I enjoyed that a lot, plus it breaks down the whole brothel system in detail and it's sexy, intelligent and compelling. In season 3 it's purely about revenge and who's who. The new villain of the sicario from El Juarez is a pleasure to watch, he plays a fine nutcase and was a great fit here. The villains are very good and the trio of hookers works as well, especially Coral and Wendy are top notch. The tension is not spared here again, the music builds up solidly and there are more and more dead bodies. It's a pity that story-wise it doesn't dazzle that much, you can guess how it will all turn out, but I can live with that. The finale is nicely action packed and Asier Etxeandía deserves an Oscar, he can play these bad guys to perfection (especially the pimps!). A fun Spanish mini-series from the makers of Money Heist. Let's see what they come up with next time, now that both series are over. 7/10. (01/02/2023)