They’re still in the white heat of battle, fighting for the gold and more importantly fighting for each other. They still hold to their special code of thieves, a code which gives them a Robin Hood-like moral authority to steal and to expose the corruption of those in authority they confront. Bullets fly, as do expletives. As it has done over its previous four parts, Money Heist Part Five surges with a fiery Latin passion. It’s exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. The writers and actors have up til now made you care about these characters. They still do.
Part Five of this Spanish crime thriller is now available on Netflix, and picks up immediately where we left the story at the end of Part Four.
Most of the Professor’s band are inside the Bank of Spain, holding hostages and trying to stall for time against police and army outside, while at the same time trying to complete their theft of the Bank’s gold.
The Professor and a few of the band are orchestrating events from a distance when the Professor is confronted by the fiercely determined and rather unhinged heavily pregnant Inspector Alicia Sierra of the National Police.
I am certainly not going to give anything away of the plot of Part 5. But if you became addicted to this series’ particular brand of jet propelled action and romance, you are unlikely to be disappointed this time. Having said that, just for the opening salvo I wasn’t quite buying it. I felt the first episode was heavy on plot and machine gun fire and light on character. Maybe the writers felt they just needed to bring the audience up to speed with the story. I missed those moments when the characters pour their hearts out to each other, openly and honestly, knowing their lives could end at any moment. In Money Heist, the stakes are high in every conversation. Satisfyingly, as the episodes unfold we again dive back into the characters’ overlapping relationships, and by the end I was as invested in their outcomes as I ever was previously.
Still, this level of high speed drama can be energy sapping for the viewer. And after a while one gun battle can look awfully like another. So, perhaps to vary the pace and give the audience a breather, the writers again interlace the story with flashbacks, and, in Part Five, an entirely different backstory that features The Professor’s older brother Berlin.
Just how long this story can go on is another question. At times you want it to end so they can be put out of their misery. At other times it’s clear that this living on the edge of death mindset is in fact what makes this lot get out of bed in the morning. They’re often scared out of their wits and staring death in the face but they love it. And so, the train of thought goes, why not carry on? Keep writing more twists and impossible missions to undertake. Some characters will fall, and others will join. It’ll be a hell of a ride.
And a final thought. What a shame the English translators couldn’t come up with a more fitting title than “Money Heist”. It’s doesn’t reflect the story’s deep dive into honour, morality and corruption. I’ve always thought the English title suggests a Spanish version of Ocean’s Eleven. It’s better than that.