POCKET REVIEWS: 3% & Money Heist

26 Sept 2020
Marc Nair & Cheyenne Phillips

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3%

Netflix (2016-2020)

3 %, a Brazilian dystopian series, shares a narrative that transcends languages. It pushes issues of classism and inequity to the extreme. The main premise: all 20-year olds are eligible to participate in a test (called The Process) where only 3% of participants who are deemed physically, intellectually, mentally and emotionally capable will be invited to join an elite and technologically advanced society on an off- shore island(The Offshore).

Over 4 seasons (and 3 Processes), we follow the main characters navigate this turbulent world. The opening season is exciting: we go through a full Process and already know which characters we will be rooting for. The second season is not as fast-paced but reveals the history of this new world: how The Offshore came to be and how it separated itself from the rest of society (or The Inland). The third and fourth seasons are where the characters come into themselves, trust each other and fight for a new reality.

Competition is not new to dystopian narratives but the one key aspect that sets 3% apart is its extreme display of meritocracy- that a single test will decide if you are worthy and deserving. As a person who’s been drilled the ideals of meritocracy throughout her entire educational career, 3%’s positioning of the system resonates more than say the Hunger Games. A meritocratic system is biased to those who are equipped and able to pass a test. It discounts empathy and compassion, as often seen in the series. It is a goal-orientated system and rarely stops to discuss its reasons. The biggest takeaway is that meritocracy as a system is essentially flawed as those on top set the tests and when they do, they often set tests they know they themselves can pass. Thus, successful participants are those who are the most like-minded as the examiner and not the most capable or the most deserving. 3% demonstrates this with excitement and suspense while still driving the larger point home.

Money Heist

Netflix (ongoing)

A lot of ink has been spilled about Money Heist, the box-office breaking show from Netflix, which is now filming its fifth (and last) season. The premise is absurdly simple: plan for months to break into the Royal Mint of Spain. Hold off the police while printing millions of dollars and eventually escape. That was the premise for part one and two, along with a whole slew of subplots.

In seasons three and four, the plot repeats, except this time they hit the Bank of Spain. What makes this more than just your regular cops-and-robbers series is the psychological toll on both the good guys and the bad guys. In fact, Money Heist is probably the most explicit exploration of Stockholm Syndrome you can find on television. Watch it for its richly drawn characters, it’s morally grey notions of justice and the sheer tension of how seemingly impossible situations are resolved.

And what will happen in the fifth season? Creator Alexa Pina wrote, “We’ve spent almost a year thinking about how to break up the band. How to put the Professor on the ropes. How to get into situations that are irreversible for many characters. The result is the fifth part of La Casa de Papel. The war reaches its most extreme and savage levels, but it is also the most epic and exciting season.”