In 2005, ‘Los Hombres de Paco’ was released, a police series that initially had a markedly comical tone. That did not take long to change to go more towards the thriller -although without ever abandoning the humor-, also knowing how to handle the use of surprising twists quite successfully to keep the viewer hooked.
Its loss of popularity led to it being terminated in 2010 after the broadcast of nine seasons, but now it resurfaces with a tenth season whose first episode premieres today on Antena 3 before becoming exclusive to ATRESplayer Premium for a time. For my part, I have already had the opportunity to see the first chapter and I have been quite satisfied with it.
A joyous reunion
One thing that should be made clear is that the tenth season of ‘Paco’s Men’ completely ignores the disconcerting supernatural turn that was chosen in the ninth to try to return to what had previously defined the series, that is, the team led by Paco using unconventional methods to solve cases that a priori should be impossible for them.
That is the starting point for the start of the tenth season, but in parallel it is necessary to place all the characters again, both the old acquaintances and those who add for the occasion to the series created at the time by Daniel Écija and Álex Pina . I prefer to wait a little longer to really assess how the newcomers work -it does not stop being strange to see Amaia Sagasti completing the main trio instead of Hugo Silva, but not at all because he does it wrong-, but what he does recover quickly the series is the great chemistry shared by Paco Tous and Pepón Nieto.
Just by seeing Paco and Mariano in action again, one already knows that he is going to have a good time, and if along the way you add special appearances like those of Silva or Michelle Jenner, then things get quite lively. In addition, the presence of Lucas and Sara, whose love story was always one of the great axes of the series, is well integrated, has logic within the universe of the series and also that they do not have a leading role.
It is clear that other old acquaintances are yet to arrive, something key so that ‘Paco’s Men’ continues to be a recognizable series by its followers, no matter how much that feeling of a new beginning that this episode has also leads to a change in the career professional of its protagonists.
To all this must be added a solvent editing work and an effective direction by Alejandro Bazzano, a veteran of the small screen who had previously worked on titles as diverse as’ Physics or chemistry ‘,’ The paper house ‘or’ Ines of my soul ‘. Undoubtedly a tighter footage helps, since the first episode barely exceeds 50 minutes when the usual thing in the series was to easily exceed the hour of duration, but above all because the staging is aimed at enhancing the identity signs of the series instead of wanting to appear to be what it is not.
In short
As a cover letter, the first episode of this late tenth season of ‘Paco’s Men’ is very good, since it serves to remind us what we liked about the series without resisting evolution. Of course, it is still a small introduction and now it is time to show that beyond the very pleasant reunion there is something that justifies these two more seasons commissioned by Atresmedia.
