Review of Return to Las Sabinas, a luxury for daily series for different reasons. First, this is the first time that a platform streaming broadcasts this type of content. The first five episodes are now available on Disney+ and next week, one per day (out of a total of 70) will begin airing, just like on conventional television. In addition, Return to Las Sabinas It’s a visual delight, filmed in natural spaces, without scenery, with a large amount of media appearing on screen. But the best thing is that it is an honest product, it does not deceive the viewer. It’s a traditional soap opera with its ingredients intact: love, betrayal, secrets from the past, ambition, murders and so on. It entertains, engages and goes even further. Andrés Velencoso, Celia Freijeiro, Natalia Sánchez, María Casal, Miquel Fernández are the main actors, while the direction is provided by a series virtuoso, Jordi Frades ( The heirs of the earth, The cathedral of the sea, Matadero).
Plot and production data
In Return to Las Sabinasthe Molina sisters, after many years without seeing each other, receive a call that forces them to return to their hometown, Manterana, to take care of their father’s health problems. This unexpected return means reconnecting with the life and loves they tried to forget. Settled on their family farm, Las Sabinas, they will face secrets from the past that will change their lives forever.
The series is produced by Jordi Frades (The Heirs of the Earth, The Cathedral of the Sea) and featuring Andres Velencoso (My mother’s love, Elite), Celia Freijeiro (Husbands, perfect life), Angela Molina (Velvet, the fence), Nancho Novo (Dreams of Freedom, Doctor García’s Patients), Olivia Molina (La Valla, Love in Troubled Times), Natalia Sanchez (Dreams of freedom, The heirs of the earth), Miguel Fernández (Power outage, dawn), Marie Casal (We are sorry for the inconvenience caused, Marché Central), Marta Calvo (Love in troubled times) And Julia Carnero (The Cathedral of the Sea).
Experiment with what you’ve always had
The successes of Coffee with a woman’s aroma either The queen of flow At Netflix, we are told that the public wants to continue consuming the usual soap opera, whatever the medium. On open television, Dreams of freedom (Antena3) and The promise (TVE 1) come and say the same thing. It is therefore not surprising that Disney+ wanted to produce its first series broadcast daily. It’s about experimenting, involving the viewer in a different way, rather than doing it the old way.
Return to Las Sabinas It has the language of the traditional soap opera. There is no content innovation. The plots are classic and therefore effective. The same thing happens with its narrative codes: repetition of situations and explanatory dialogues so that no one loses the thread, constant music (although beautiful) and shots of melodramatic and exaggerated effects. Fans of the genre can’t ask for more.
Maybe Return to Las Sabinas little restraint at the beginning. It’s never boring, but it starts slowly. The tension increases until it reaches a fifth episode (the ones we have been able to see so far), which leaves us breathless and, of course, anxious until the next chapter arrives (here’s the strategy tip Disney + and the creators of the series).
But if Return to Las Sabinas Something that stands out is its non-daily serial packaging. There is the distinctive seal of the product. Everything is filmed in natural rooms. There is no set and therefore no feeling of watching a small local theater in which you have the impression that the walls are going to fall every time you slam the door. The photography is beautiful and evocative, particularly because it knows how to exploit the natural space in which the plot takes place.
The historical soap opera stands out for its absence of gray. The bad guys are usually very bad and the good guys are usually very good. Here there is a little of that, but with some nuances that not only enrich the plot but also inject it with an unusual truth in these parts. And the best thing about Return to the Sabines is that you like the vast majority of the characters. Even those who are supposed to be the bad guys have their own inner division and are not obvious. We see the care taken by the team and the direction of the actors to embrace the genre without drowning out the voice but giving more to what we usually see in soap operas.
