Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
The third season of Netflix’s Club of Crows (or,
depending on your native tongue, Temporada 3 Club de Cuervos) opens with an ominous proverb: “The third generation is the one that wastes the fortune of the previous two.”
This is clearly a jab at the Iglesias siblings who continuously sabotage their family’s hard-earned status with their self-centered shenanigans. But could it also point to the thought that the third season of the show may not live up to the previous two?
Club de Cuervos has returned to show us that third generations, and third seasons, are complicated.
In an interview with The Atlantic, Brooklyn Nine-Nine creator Mike Schur said, “everyone’s favorite seasons of shows are seasons two and three, because you’ve had a year to get to know them, and then you’re still in the honeymoon period where you go, ‘This is great!’” However, Schur explains that the third season is also the moment that a show’s novelty begins to wear off. “Everyone starts to go, ‘Eh, that show’s not as interesting as it was anymore.’”
The third season of Cuervos, Netflix’s first original Spanish-language series, feels partly reinvigorated by a smart retooling of its main cast, but weaker moments show viewers that the series may not be able to mature past certain repetitive story lines and themes.
We return to the Iglesias siblings in a similar place to where we first met them back in season one. Chava (Luis Gerardo Méndez) and Isabel Iglesias (Mariana Treviño) are stuck. And they still aren’t interested in helping one another out. The Cuervos FC have returned to their rightful place in the first division (which I would consider to be important plot progression, but that’s exactly where they were in season one), and Chava and Isabel are at odds to see who will control the team and bring it back to the former glory of their late father’s reign (which, once again, is exactly what they were doing in season one). If this sounds a bit repetitive, that’s because we have yet to see any lasting character progression from these two.
The good news: If you have never seen Club de Cuervos before, you can totally start with season three and completely enjoy the series for what it is: a smart and fast-paced workplace dramedy that regularly tackles issues of class, gender, and political corruption.
The bad news: If you’ve been watching this series from episode one, you might find yourself screaming, “When will Chava and Isabel grow up?!”
This is not to say that the Iglesias siblings haven’t had small moments of growth. Seasons one and two consistently taught this brawling brother and sister duo that they need one another more than they will ever realize. For better or worse, theirs is a symbiotic relationship. An attempt to create a united Iglesias front does take place in season three, but I still found myself wondering when these co-presidents would learn even the most basic of conflict resolution skills.
Regardless of permanent character growth, I commend season three of Cuervos for staying true to its original voice. At its core, this show is about bad things happening to even worse people, and even though iconic characters such as Mary Luz (Stephanie Cayo) are now gone, the quick-witted exchanges and over-the-top debauchery that we have come to love still remain completely intact.
In a sense, Club de Cuervos may be Netflix’s first “prestige” soap opera. Like other prestige television, the writing is sharp and the production is inspired, but like many classic soaps, certain characters may always remain somewhat two-dimensional and appear doomed to repeat their mistakes.
This show is explosive, heart-wrenching, and funny. And it never really changes. (This being said, a certain revelatory event does happen near the end of season three that could alter this semi-cyclical nature, should we receive a season four. No word on renewal just yet.)
So, yes, maybe this third generation does “waste the fortune of the previous two.” But it’s so fun to watch them do it.
Cody Schmitz is a writer based in New York and Kansas. He doesn’t have a Twitter for some reason, but you can still find him at codyschmitz.com.
