Gangs of Galicia Review: Strong Beginning Loses Steam

The quiet coastal town of Cambados in Galicia, Spain, hides more than meets the eye. This is where lawyer Ana González Soriano moves, seeking answers about her late father’s secret past. She soon finds herself embroiled in the local criminal operations centered around the powerful Padín family, led by the dangerously charming Daniel Padín.

Ana discovers that before he died, her father Jorge had been living under an assumed identity, holding a mysterious bank account, and leaving money to two unfamiliar women in town. With resolve and intuition, she sets out to lift the veil on his double life. Little does she know the kinds of people and sinister schemes that lie just beneath the surface in Cambados.

Daniel is immediately intrigued by the new arrival and her persistence in poking around their criminal affairs. As head of the family business in his father’s absence, he has his own stake in maintaining their stranglehold on the town. Yet something about Ana causes even his hardened exterior to crack. As the lines blur between attraction, suspicion, and deception, their fates become perilously intertwined among the town’s underworld factions.

While the Netflix series sets up an engaging premise exploring the layers of corruption embedded in a picturesque Spanish community, it ultimately fails to deliver the fully-realized crime thriller it aims for. Beyond scenic backdrops and the intrigue first sparked by Ana and Daniel’s complicated dynamic, the show stretches its thin plot beyond its natural conclusion.

The Beauty and Justice of Galicia

Spain’s lush green coastline makes for a picturesque setting in the Gangs of Galicia. Rolling hills meet the sea in the small town of Cambados, nestled among vineyards and fishing ports. Though its streets hold secrets, the natural vistas remain serene. This escapism likely drew the camera’s eye, filling the screen with postcard panoramas of cliffs and crashing waves.

Such beautifully lensed backdrops serve as the story’s sole strength. Revolving-door plots and surface characters overpopulate the narrative. Yet the scenery provides respite, transporting viewers briefly from dull routines. One pauses to admire the seagulls’ dance against the pale blue sky, green grass swaying gently as the tide. Moments like these make the struggles feel far removed, if only fleetingly.

When drama does strike, the action scenes shine in their own way. Stakes feel high as drugs change hands undercover in the dark. The lines blur as the morally gray chase what they crave. These moments grip with pulse-quickening peril, painting villains as real as the heroics of law enforcement. Fists fly and bullets blaze amid winding coastal roads, the natural vistas now heightening each threat.

Most rewardingly, the ending brings justice fitting for such a place. Wrapping up loose ends with satisfaction, no character escapes fault unscathed. Recompense is served for wrongs great and small, restoring a sense of balance. The beauty of the coastline remains untouched, enduring beyond human faults. Perhaps this gives the greatest hope that even in darkness, light and fairness may yet surface as calm waters below turbulent tides.

Galicia’s Gloomy Underworld

The world of drug cartels can make for thrilling drama when executed well. But the Netflix series Gangs of Galicia struggles to keep viewers engaged with lackluster characters and an unconvincing central romance. Behind its beautiful Spanish scenery lies a story that fails to bring this criminal underworld to life.

We’re introduced to lawyer Ana, who abruptly leaves her career after learning her deceased father wasn’t what she thought. She moves to a remote town, hoping to find answers. But how far would any of us really go in similar shoes? It strains belief that Ana would so fully insert herself into danger just to solve mysteries from decades past. Her motives feel flimsy and don’t set the stage for meaningful involvement in her new town’s tangled dynamics.

Enter Daniel, heir to the powerful Padín clan. He sees potential in the beautiful new arrival and sets his sights on getting close. Yet the promised attraction between these two leads nowhere exciting. They share no palpable chemistry to compel interest in their relationship. Without a foundation of genuine intrigue, their inevitable romantic coupling serves only to further slow the sluggish plot.

Speaking of which, don’t expect many surprises once things get rolling in Galicia. Predictable twists unfold that could be foretold from the start. Character arcs lack dimensions that might challenge expectations. When the ending arrives, the few remaining loose threads still engage. Compelling crims and morally gray drama demand more inventive storytelling than Gangs delivers through its worn-out tropes and stilted exchanges between stock characters.

With richer portrayals of its villagers grappling with the effects of the drug trade, this series could have offered a glimpse into society’s darker recesses. Instead, viewers find only a gloomy underworld whose pallid faces offer little to latch onto. A tale with such real-world roots and a scenic setting deserved more life breathed into its streets and souls. Alas, Galicia remains as bleak and boring as its soggy reputation.

Gangs and Gallantry

The coastal charms of Cambados, Galicia, set a picturesque backdrop for intrigue. Yet director Roger Gual lingers too long in soaking up scenic vistas, leaving viewers stranded in a sea of stagnancy. What promise to be pulse-pounding cartel capers instead drift aimlessly?

Newcomer lawyer Ana targets the truth in her father’s demise. But mystery moves at a barefoot stroll. Scenes drag despite adding no layers to the characters. The audience finds things as flat as morning coffee left too long on the burner. Ana’s fixation on smuggler Daniel seems driven more by dull scripts than skill. Their will-they-won’t-they lacks zap.

Crime needs kicks to keep crowds hooked. When drug deals dwell on dating dilemmas, adrenaline turns to ennui. Viewers craving criminality feel conned. Capers cease while couples canoodle. Just when the storyline seems shipshaped, it veers off course. Story arcs stall like sailors in the doldrums.

The potential remains to reignite racing hearts. Condense content to currants of a crisis crammed with complexity. Lean deeper into the nefarious netherworld. Less languid locks of locked lips; more staccato stings of double-crosses. Strategize suspense by speeding scenes, not stretching them. With tight trims and tons of tension, Gangs might yet spark excitement from this critic. Dialogue deserves dynamism to drive drama. Then Galicia’s gangs could garner greatness on the silver screen.

Meet the Families

While Ana and Daniel make for intriguing leads, the supporting players in Gangs of Galicia feel thinly drawn. With such an expansive cast of criminals, law enforcement, and townsfolk, there was room to offer insight into varied experiences. Yet most remain stereotypical.

Take the Padín clan, for example. Aside from Daniel struggling to prove himself as the new capo, there isn’t much else for the relatives. Nilo and Toño could have shown the alluring or destructive pulls of this life for those without ambition yet still seeking financial gain. Marco yearns to join but is young. Would he find solace in school or be seduced down a darker path? Exploring these tensions and what drew each to crime may have lent nuance.

The police pursuing the Padíns also feel one-dimensional. Naranjo is determined, but we know nothing of what drives his mission or how his own history shaped his views. Subordinates have even less personality. In contrast, a show like Narcos breathes life into the cat and mouse by understanding all perspectives.

In Cambados, most tolerate the gangs’ influence without challenging them. Laura provides the sole vocal dissent, yet beyond owning a café, she remains an enigma. Did something in her past spark her courage? Getting to know even a selection of townsfolk may have offered a fuller picture of living under their thumb.

With richer characters, Gangs of Galicia could have balanced its thriller elements with the humanity of its themes. But limited development relegates many to the periphery, wasting opportunities to say something profound about the criminal path or redeem oneself from the shadows of the past.

Troubles with Thrills in the Gangs of Galicia

Those looking for heart-pounding criminal drama may find the pace of Gangs of Galicia’s plot wanting. While the scenery of coastal Galicia makes for lovely visuals and the premise offers potential, the execution struggles to sustain much suspense from episode to episode.

What could have been taut investigative intrigue unraveling the secrets of Ana’s past instead meanders through soapy subplots that do little to further criminal objectives or ratchet up tensions. The characters feel thinly sketched; their actions are often implausible and motivated more by the needs of sensational story beats than believable desires. Attempts at big reveals fall flat due to a lack of properly laid groundwork.

All the elements for an entertaining narco-noir exist—a plucky heroine chasing truths, a menacing syndicate determined to thwart her, locales ripe for seedy dealings—yet it remains hard to feel invested in the skirmishes between them. Romantic diversions that promise juicier entanglements end up stalling the supposedly central mystery, leaving viewers feeling jerked around more than hooked.

While aesthetic admirers may appreciate Galicia’s ocean vistas and buildings portrayed, those craving kickers of criminal cunning and jeopardy will struggle to find their fix here. Aspiring criminals, too, will learn little of practical use from these paper-thin portraits. Still, dreamier sorts just looking to pass some idle time near the sea may yet find ways to while away these sparsely thrilling hours. But for aficionados of pulse-pounding peril and Machiavellian maneuvering, Gangs likely won’t satisfy.

In the end, for all its atmospheric assets, this series proves better at scenic setting than tight storytelling and fails to live up to expectations of truly sinking viewers’ teeth into its promised proceedings of peril and intrigue. But for casual streaming surfers in the mood for a mellow mystery, it could suffice as mild background viewing if one adjusts aspirations accordingly.

Final Thoughts

While Gangs of Galicia had interesting building blocks, it ultimately failed to deliver a truly gripping crime saga. The show introduced nuanced characters and explored real-world issues of morality in the drug trade. Yet it spent too much time on contrived romantic subplots that distracted from the core criminal intrigues.

There was potential for a thoughtful examination of corruption and its effects on an ordinary community. The scenic coastal setting could have come to life as more than just a backdrop. And the show briefly touched on pressing themes of generational violence and the drive for economic opportunity through illegal means. But these thought-provoking elements were sidelined in favor of predictable romantic arcs.

By the finale, questions raised in the premiere remained largely unanswered. We never learned the full truth about Ana’s father or saw criminal organizations bring real justice. Characters made baffling decisions just to prolong the story. Overall, Gangs of Galicia felt longer than its seven hours warranted. With tighter storytelling, it could have delivered a much more satisfying crime saga within a shorter runtime.

At its best, the show offered a glimpse of what might have been—a smarter, more impactful exploration of its intriguing premise. But potential alone doesn’t make for great television. And in the end, the Gangs of Galicia settled for formulas over substance.