Fugitiva

Yes, it's more drama-esque, but stick through the first couple episodes and it gets interesting. Also definitely keep it in Spanish. Dubbed versions are always terrible.

This series is centred on Magda, a former model from Spain, who now lives with her Mexican husband, Alejandro, in a large house outside Mexico City. They have three children; daughters Paulina and Claudia and a deaf son Ruben. Being wealthy they know they could be targeted by kidnappers who operate in the city. One day, while Alejandro is away on business in Spain, the worst happens... Magda and the children are kidnapped. We soon learn that all isn't how it seemed... Magda has orchestrated the kidnapping to get away from her abusive husband without telling the children. The 'kidnappers' get them to the Spanish city of Benidorm where they are told to stay in their hotel room while further preparations are made. Inevitably things don't go to plan; a betrayal leaves them without money or documentation and the children have no intention of staying in their room. As her husband closes in on her Magda must decide who she can trust.

If you want gritty realism this won't be the series for you; however if you want plenty of tension and don't mind characters making irrational choices to further the drama it is a lot of fun. The initial kidnapping is impressive and there is a real sense of danger as at this point it isn't clear that Magda is behind it. The children do come across as bit bratty but it isn't surprising given that they've always been given what they wanted but also always been guarded; this is their first time where they can act like 'normal' people their age; no matter how much it exasperates their mother. I liked the fact that many characters are quite ambiguous; we don't know whether Magda and the children should be trusting them; in some cases they clearly shouldn't. The antagonists; most obviously Alejandro and his mother are somewhat pantomime villains but that doesn't matter as it fitted with the general tone of the series. The cast is solid making the characters believable even if not all are likeable. Overall I found this to be a fun melodrama so would recommend it.

These comments are based on watching the series in Spanish with English subtitles.

Where to begin. Put 'Magda' in a wardrobe of crummy hoodies so she won't stand out in an upscale, highly populated tourism venue where she has gone to hide out, give her three wretched, entitled, snotty kids that you can never care about, give her a husband that she keeps running back to after he beats her and makes her life a living hell, and have her horrible kids keep disrespecting her and running off in all directions like a hormone-driven herd of cats, and top it off with a selection of mercenaries promising to help her that any fool would send packing, and what you have is - what? - ten hours of "We can't leave without Pau!!" and "We can't leave without Ruben!!" over and over and over until finally - LEAVE ALREADY!! El stinko supremo!!

Not worth a review. Series is one long B list movie with a bunch of B list actors and an unbelievable story. I bowed out after 3 episodes.

A thriller with good and bad displayed in nearly all the characters. Nothing is straightforward and the plot appears contradictory. But its strength is that it is unpredictable: the good characters struggle through the crisises and unlike many plots they don't often come out on top. This isn't a thriller following Hollywood lines. If there is one message that comes out of the show it is that there is good and bad in all of us, It is worth watching for its intensity and characterisations but don't expect a satisfying hollywood type resolution.