The synopsis promised mysteries and adventures at a reform-school in a sinister isolated monastery somewhere high in the mountains. I cannot deny that they actually more or less delivered: there were escapes and chases, murders, abductions by creepy figures, supernatural presences, and a pretty awesome location. But still it turned out as a bit of a disappointment.
What annoyed me the most was the hotchpotch of storylines, going in all directions. The basic story of the abducted kid, and his friends trying to find out what happened and where he was, could in itself have been enough for all episodes. But then they also threw in several (straight and gay) love-stories among the kids; a girl with amnesia by some traumatic experience and a father who probably wasn't really her father; a monk loosing himself in a forbidden sexual relationship; weird doctors working for a pharmaceutic company and doing neurological experiments on the kids; etcetera, etcetera. It was all a bit too much.
Other problem was, that virtually all major characters were extremely unsympathetic and thus very difficult to relate to, especially among the kids who were pivotal for the story. Like the Amaia character who was all the time on the brink of angry and aggrieved hysteria, or the Inés character that constantly walked around like a wide-eyed and whining scared rabbit.
So, in spite of all the potential, it sort of drowned in its ambition. And on top of that, the last episode of season one ended in total mid-air. I mean, I love cliffhangers as bridges to a next season, but you can give your loyal viewers at least some answers at the end of a season. Now we were just cut off and left frustrated.
What annoyed me the most was the hotchpotch of storylines, going in all directions. The basic story of the abducted kid, and his friends trying to find out what happened and where he was, could in itself have been enough for all episodes. But then they also threw in several (straight and gay) love-stories among the kids; a girl with amnesia by some traumatic experience and a father who probably wasn't really her father; a monk loosing himself in a forbidden sexual relationship; weird doctors working for a pharmaceutic company and doing neurological experiments on the kids; etcetera, etcetera. It was all a bit too much.
Other problem was, that virtually all major characters were extremely unsympathetic and thus very difficult to relate to, especially among the kids who were pivotal for the story. Like the Amaia character who was all the time on the brink of angry and aggrieved hysteria, or the Inés character that constantly walked around like a wide-eyed and whining scared rabbit.
So, in spite of all the potential, it sort of drowned in its ambition. And on top of that, the last episode of season one ended in total mid-air. I mean, I love cliffhangers as bridges to a next season, but you can give your loyal viewers at least some answers at the end of a season. Now we were just cut off and left frustrated.