Álex Guzmán (Manolo Cardona) has many questions about his life and what happened while he was in jail. But he knows something clearly and without hesitation. That he did not kill his sister Sara (Ximena La Madrid), although he was sentenced to eighteen years in prison for that reason. Accused of a crime that he did not commit, Álex decided to dedicate all the necessary effort not only to find the culprit. Also to clear his name and discover the secret(s) of his sister.
Who killed Sara? became one of the most popular series on Netflix since its premiere. But as it progresses and its plot becomes more complex and melodramatic, it progressively loses its ability to surprise. This version for the new millennium of Count Monte Cristo with elements of a thriller and a twist to a disturbing procedural loses steam.
And it does as everything around Sara became more mysterious, confusing and less effective. If for its previous seasons, the mysteries surrounding an unsolved murder were disconcerting, in the third and final they fall into boredom. Especially when Alex’s elaborate revenge — who dedicates his life to taking on an influential family — turns into something more convoluted.
Of course, this is inevitable when the series bases its effectiveness on surprise. Starting from the premise of a devious murder with several possible culprits, the series progressed to its finale amid red herrings. But as the riddle about Sara became more absurd — or in any case, indecipherable — the Netflix series declined significantly. That, despite maintaining in the new chapters, his curious sense of drama and suspense. But the end has turned out to be one of the most curious combinations between a script without incentives and an absurd twist. And to that we should even add the unexpected participation of a renowned actor.
The chaotic condition on the enigma of Who killed Sara?
In three seasons, the Netflix series went through unlikely situations in his attempt to discover the identity of the unnamed killer. But what was an ingenious hook in the first episodes turned into a drag in the last ones. Especially when the argument began to show the edges of a meaningless premise that progressed on a whim and in a disorderly way. From Álex’s skills as a hacker (explained in a ridiculous way in the third season) to the final answer to the main riddle. Who killed Sarah? ended up being a combination of incomplete plot lines, with a near-absurd ending.
The show’s ability to go from high-profile corporate intrigue to surprise pregnancies, hints of depraved relationships to psychiatric disorders was unnerving. Worse yet, when the third season fast-forwarded to an abrupt resolution. The series showed that it used morbid plots or at best, with a twisted sense of mystery, to grab the audience’s attention. But he never managed to build a solid plot that would allow him to understand the notion about Sara and the crime that surrounded her as a single whole.
In fact, the end of the Serie it is a combination of the many possibilities offered by the script to each one more crazy. Sara’s murderer never existed, because in reality the character committed suicide. But that, after going through a tragic, incomprehensible and violent history of which the series never provided the slightest hint. In other words, the great fiasco of Who killed Sarah? It was to use the script as a huge booby trap without depth or meaning.
A death in the middle of a spider web
The series — which is unable to distinguish between a diagnosis of schizophrenia and one of dissociative disorder — posits that Sara suffered from something in between. In fact, the plot is so careless that for most of the episodes of the season hints character suffered from both. Or that both diseases are the same thing. As if that wasn’t enough, the entire plot is resolved with a new character, a kidnapping, and a hidden story.
And it is here when Who killed Sarah? reaches its wildest level. Psychiatrist Reinaldo Gómez decides to kidnap Sara to use her as a guinea pig for a personal project. A bizarre initiative that includes “cures” for homosexuality and schizophrenia. As if all of the above weren’t enough, Reinaldo is played by French actor Jean Reno, who creates an absurd role closer to parody and twisted humor than drama. As if in unintended satire, Reno becomes the center of an unexpected and tricky side story.
In the end,Sara ends up committing suicide after being raped and made an involuntary test subject of a delusional medical project. How does this major reveal relate to all the previous seasons? None or at least not in the central way that the series raises and analyzes in its previous installments. So that Who killed Sarah? It ended up being the most insane mystery of all. One that destroyed all of his previous argument and betrayed the essential meaning — if ever there was one — of his entire premise.