The end of ‘Sky Rojo’ is effective and pyrotechnic, although it is safe

The third season of ‘Sky Rojo’ has put an end to the story of Coral, Wendy and Gina, the victims of trafficking who escaped from their pimps and captors in search of an elusive freedom. Its premiere was the first national this year on the red platform (but it will be followed by the 14 most anticipated Spanish Netflix series of 2023) and with this batch of eight episodes concludes a series that has come to have three seasons and a closed ending. , which is already much more than many fictions of the platform can say. And it has been a not excessively surprising closure, although perhaps for many viewers, also satisfactory..

If the first season was the most innovative and full of adrenaline, the second left us with a certain feeling of déjà vu or stagnation: as spectators we learned that no matter how against the ropes one side or the other put themselves, in the end a magical resolution allowed neither neither of them died and, therefore, our heart rates no longer rose as much when they got into trouble. That feeling of witnessing an interlude, that the writers were taking us on a detour while we bided our time until the denouement, somewhat diminishes in this final season. Here the end is already looming on the horizon and Although we understand that the last bars will be the most interesting, the trip does not become tedious.

At this point, moreover, we already know the codes of ‘Sky Rojo’ and if we continue to see it it is because we accept them (or out of pure masochism). Namely, those bombastic soliloquies of the voice-overs, the skids, the clashes of the characters who hate and shoot each other but never trigger for whatever reason and the constant search for cool situations that border on the bizarre. That tarantinism passed through the Netflix blender (see: Rauw Alejandro’s puppet bus) that seeks the constant flash to the viewer to leave him immobile and don’t look for another screen. And in its flight forward, the series passes through many places, most of which we forget when we reach the next stop, but some others do leave their mark.

From Gina’s death to an inexorable revenge

Among those memorable is the fifth episode, in which Gina’s death—with a home caesarean section included, spearing and shooting—becomes the most emotional moment of the entire season and, probably, of the entire series. If in the first two seasons the characters seemed immortal, except for the murder of Christian at the end of the second, here we witness the first casualty among the protagonists and the series goes with everything: it chooses to kill the most painful character of all, the more innocent and luminous (and, above all, mother). There isn’t much subtlety in this, but the paddle stroke is unmistakable and impossible to dodge.

With this impact for the girls, and for the viewers, it was hard to imagine that Wendy and Coral would also have a tragic end. And, indeed, after that, all that remained was to build the tension towards something as inevitable as it was logical: finally, Coral would fulfill her promise to end Romeo, burn down the club and, with it, end the suffering that both they and others have suffered. . In between, the compliments lead us to two places that can be controversial: one, that Wendy temporarily turns her back on Coral for being a junkie (as if she didn’t know that this addiction is a consequence of trafficking) and, two, to a absolutely unnecessary redemption of Moses.

The questionable salvation of Moses

For me, this is the weakest point of the series. For some reason, it seems that the ‘Sky Rojo’ team feels more compassion for a guy who has always been a pimp and a murderer than I feel and, furthermore, they constantly force a sentimental tension with Coral that, by all accounts, is unsustainable. Perhaps the success is that, at least, they do not give the two a romantic ending (it would just be missing) and they manage to get Coral to forgive, but go ahead alone, while Moisés bears the blame forever and tries to rebuild her life in lonely.

However, Moses’ redemption builds from an unedifying place: he does it not because he understands the pain that has afflicted the girls but, in reality, what moves him against Romeo is his own revenge for the destruction of his family. Does he know he’s a piece of shit and hates himself for it? Yes, but she doesn’t change direction until Rubí tells her Romeo’s secret. Therefore, that Moses helps Coral and Wendy, he does not exempt him from any sin, since he does it himself. He might as well have drowned in the pool.

There was light at the end of the tunnel (and a bad operetta)

Whether or not the end of ‘Sky Rojo’ is satisfactory to the viewer will depend, to a large extent, on what he asks of a closure. As we said at the beginning, it is not very surprising, but it is consistent: if Coral or Wendy had fallen it would not have added more than an extra twist, but the story asked for some hope and positivity for such mistreated characters. And that it is predictable does not make it a bad ending, although I personally have missed a little more emotion and imagination in the final plan against Romeo. We have seen both in this series and in ‘La casa de papel’ (also by Álex Pina and Esther Martínez) more elaborate and crazy plans than this with which the final chapter is resolved.

Here we were crying out for an attack full of unlikely elements and a bit of sadism to put an end to that final monster, that bad guy from an operetta who had surpassed histrionics by far for a long time and who has died somewhat blandly. It could be said that the end of ‘Sky Rojo’ is safe, but with Las Novias jumping into the air and Coral and Wendy (and Moisés, to my regret) walking in slow motion towards the target (of course!), for me, it is more than enough.