Money Heist Part 5 Volume 2 review: Series gets the grand farewell it deserves

3.5/5

The gang has been trapped in the Bank of Spain for more than 100 hours. The stakes for the beleaguered The Professor could not be higher as he races to recover the gold and, more importantly, his crew from the bank. The greatest heist in history is coming to an end, and what began as a robbery will turn into a war.

A poetic swansong is all a fan needed after the bloodshed war that took place in the first part of Money Heist season five. It was obvious that not just the characters, but the fans also couldn't take it anymore when their favourite characters were just dropped dead in the series, leaving them gasping for breath. Of course, Tokyo's (Úrsula Corberó) death was the last resort and was unable to be digested by the fans. That was the only highlight of the poorly written Season Five, Volume 1.

Yes, season five is split into two parts to pump up the viewers for the grand finale. But it did not work as well for the first instalment as it did for the swansong. Volume 2 is high on emotions rather than violence, and (quoting Rachel Green from Friends), 'that, my friend, is what they call closure'. The series takes an unexpected turn, and even for that, you have to wait for episode eight, titled "The Elegance Theory." That's the twist you want to watch as a fan, which is the best of the entire season.

The first part even showed Berlin's (Pedro Alonso) past and didn't even make sense with the track that was going on. But like mentioned earlier, everything gets closure in some or another way, and, of course, not the way one would expect it to be. The season, like the earlier ones, goes back and forth from flashbacks to real-time, but this time, every scene counts and justifies the reason for the happenings around us.

The Professor (Álvaro Morte) and Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri) continue with their cat-and-mouse chase even after she gives birth, and it comes to an end, which some of them might have wished for. Alicia is, hands down, one of the best-written characters overall and gets a beautiful arc. She carries the season on her shoulders, so you will wait for her to come on screen while parallel tracks go on.

As we have seen in the trailer, the Professor finally makes an entry and reunites with the team. But the man with the plan looks like he has lost the game. But has he? There's a beautiful dialogue by Tokyo saying, "Even if they have us on our knees, even if it looks like there's no hope like we're almost dead, we keep on believing." Because we know we'll always have the Professor. " So, fans know him better than anyone.

Despite having the most serious situations, the makers decided to lighten up a few moments by adding flashback sequences. And lo, we see Morte showing off his dancing skills, and it's a sight to behold. Thanks to Alex Pina for bringing such moments before closing down the curtains once and for all.

Money Heist Season Five Part 1 made us believe that the series has completely lost the plot. Every aspect was underwhelming. Although Tokyo's death came as a shock, it didn't have that impact on many, like Nairobi's (Alba Flores) death did.

But Pina surely bucked up for the final part and saved the best for the last. He saved the series by going downhill by making fans happy and satiated with the conclusion, not how the makers of Game of Thrones did with the fans. He made up for the chaotic mess created in the previous part by mellowing down the guns blazing and letting the humans do the talking.

The sequences juggle emotional connections between the characters and go by the plan to get the gang out of the Bank of Spain. This makes the five episodes balance out well and does not make it preachy as most of the dramas do during the final season.

Money Heist impressed me when it stuck to its original title La Casa De Papel when they carry out the heist at the Royal Mint of Spain in the first two seasons. And I still believe that the series should have ended then and thereafter the first heist ends. If you look at the whole heist of the Bank of Spain, it has just gone haywire until the last season. Yes, it was Berlin's 'dream' just as the Royal Mint was of the Professor and his father.

But the way they get on to it, taking the reason for Rio's (Miguel Herrán) arrest and the kidnap, which makes Tokyo save him, seems very off. Of course, this was on the mind of The Professor for a very long time, but Rio and Tokyo did not provide a good catalyst for the heist to get jump-started.

Money Heist gives every character their due and explains why they signed up for something likely not to bring them back from the hellhole. The series, unlike many others, justifies each character well with well-written storylines for them. The final season also concluded with each character as they deserved to be. At the end of the day, they are criminals who are empathised with by the whole world.

The series, however, leaves us with questions about whether they are a bunch of Robin Hoods or thieves who just thought about themselves or became puppets of the Professor. Well, what suited them well ended well for them.

It's a poker play, after all, and how? Well, watch the series and expect the unexpected with a satisfactory ending that you didn't know you deserved.

Money Heist is definitely a series that will leave you wanting more (thank god, that's not happening) and makes you realise that this is how you end the series. La Casa De Papel will be remembered furthermore for giving a twisted climax where Pina didn't falter in the screenplay.

It's not a comparison of the works but a feeling that Money Heist is for TV what Avengers: Endgame made it for the movies in terms of emotions. The bittersweet feelings will linger, so to speak, because someone like me, who stopped being a fan of the series after season two, will also shed a tear or two in the last few minutes of the series.

"Bella Ciao" Money Heist! Thank you, Álex Pina, for giving a much-deserving end to the series after creating messy chaos in the previous one. The final volume will make you say, "Can we skip to the good part?" after a bad show from season 3 to 5 volume 1.