'The Longest Night' and 'The Final List': Flavorless Popcorn for Summer

Summer is not what it used to be, at least on television.

Years ago, the platforms transformed the summer panorama and some of their bets are focused on the holidays.

This year's selection points to it again.

However, this metamorphosis of the landscape does not prevent certain tics repeated by lifelong television or the cinema, without forgetting the books.

Thus, we find easy, spectacular products that do not demand and seek a wide audience.

We break down two of them to see how far they go:

(Netflix) and

(Amazon Prime Video).

We start with this second one, which has made Chris Pratt the highest paid actor on television (1.4 million for each of the eight episodes).

In

, the protagonist of

is James Reece, a soldier in Seal Team 7, an elite unit in the United States Army.

In an outside operation, an ambush kills all of his team except him and a faithful companion.

Something has gone wrong and that is the thread that a credible Pratt pulls (it is the usual one, the one from

or

, for better and for worse) to try to unravel a dark conspiracy willing to take anyone in front of it in order to preserve the ties of a certain industry with the Pentagon.

At the end of the first episode we already know that the

Dave Digilio does not save on dead.

Chris Pratt in 'The Final List'.

There are great displays of friendship, loyalty, testosterone.

Who does not want something like that, has wrong window.

Also action scenes, for which Pratt, producer of the series, had special forces soldiers hired as advisers, some even participated as actors.

It is something that he had already used in

successfully.

Until then, good.

But the series extends to eight chapters (an evil of contemporary television) in which the plot is dispersed.

And despite the time to narrate, neither Reece (outright protagonist) nor Katie Buranek (a plucky journalist, well played by Constance Wu, who becomes her ally) grow as characters.

For reasons that should not be revealed, revenge becomes the first motive of this soldier turned vigilante who is finishing off the characters on his list, the ones to blame for everything.

“What do you want, blood or answers?” one of his allies asks Reece at the end of the third chapter.

"Blood," he replies undaunted.

From there, you know: shootings, torture and lots of action.

The series is also dark, literally, there are times when it's hard to see what's on the screen,

harder still

The six episodes of

They take place on Christmas Eve in the psychiatric prison of Baruca (fictitious institution that was going to give the series its name at first).

Simón Lago (an excellent Luis Callejo) arrives there, a serial killer who has to spend the night there before testifying the next day, and the prison director, Hugo (Alberto Ammann).

A group of professionals is heading towards the prison with a single objective: to get Lago out of there and prevent him from talking to the judge.

In the different modules all kinds of prisoners are mixed (who together form a solid cast of secondary) who are going to see the opportunity to flee, settle scores between them or with the guards (also with their own stories).

Hugo, who has his eldest daughter kidnapped by someone who helps the psychopath from the outside, does not want to hand him over under any conditions.

The group of prison robbers, where nothing is what it seems.

The problem is that we have already seen the scheme of this series directed by Óscar Pedraza (

,

) and Lluís Quílez (

,

) in

: plots and subplots full of twists,

to tell the story of the characters and get out of the closed environment (in this case from the prison), bad guys and good guys on both sides, assailants and resisters to the siege, love stories between the besieged, etc.

Oh, and violence everywhere: shots, stabbings, beatings to death, fire traps, throat slits... Of course, the strongest stays off the field.

And, also like in

, certain music that sublimates some violent moments without much meaning.

It is true that in order to enjoy these fictions, the public has to make a pact and relax their demands for credibility, but here are six or seven things that we are not going to reveal so as not to gut the argument that they completely take away from you.

The ending of

is so open that it suggests a sequel.

In the case of

, it's based on a series of four books written by Jack Carr. Pratt owns the rights.

Do not be surprised if you find these series at the top of their respective platforms.

Each series has its audience and theirs can be wide.

After all, I never liked popcorn.

You can follow EL PAÍS TELEVISIÓN on

50% off

Exclusive content for subscribers

read without limits

subscribe

I'm already a subscriber