Cable Girls: Las Chicas del Cable
First impression about Cable Girls after binge watching:
I love how 4 women so diverse can be so amazingly strong in such different ways. How they show us the different ways men could have total control over women’s life, and how those characters face this oppression, each her own way, is well written while still realistic with the time period it’s written in.
- Lidia/Alba’s character complexity is amazing. Her monologues fit so well with what’s going on and the actress is amazing. Her love drama makes me yawn sometimes though.
- Carlota is probably my favorite. She’s so brave, determined, fearless, relentless. She is aware of her flaws and tries to be better. When she faces a situation she’s never contemplated (you know what I’m talking about) sit shows that she’s frustrated with herself for not being good enough. Her ideals are so rooted and her actions show so much passion. How she stands up against her dad and anyone who betrays her or messes up with her is wonderful to watch.
- Marga is the most ADORKABLE person I can think of. Her puns and sentences make me soft and laugh at the same time. She’s so naïve but so determined to be better and independent at the same time. I just want to adopt her.
- Ángeles is probably the hardest character to see on screen. Her growth process is heartbreaking to watch, and it feels a little bit rushed sometimes. But it seems they get to keep her on character while still showing how she changes her heart and mindset, and her strength is unique and different.
About Sara. I love the job the actress does. She shows so much emotion in her actions, for instance, those huge heart eyes the character has for Carlota. It’s a character you don’t expect to surprise you in the first episode but it does. *spoiler alert* The relationship with Carlota and Miguel is surprising but it doesn’t feel forced. I liked they introduced polyamory in such a casual but powerful way, showing . About the last scene of this character… *Spoiler alert* [Sidenote: Sara’s transness is an assumption that everyone I’ve talked with about the series agrees on. That’s the interpretation I made of it and they way I’m addressing it]. I have such mixed feelings about it. I love the way they introduce the concept, it’s not explicit or complicated, it’s just hinted with Miguel’s shirt and a subtle but direct sentence of Alba in the background. The sentence though… my activist self just can’t digest it. *Spoiler alert* “Not being in the right body” it transmits trans people’s bodies aren’t right, which is a concept that most of the society has nowadays (I was going to say “had”, but in 1928 most people didn’t even register trans people’s existence). Their bodies are their business and whatever they want them to be. The perpetuation of this idea it’s heartbreaking. I’m guessing the reason it’s the same old “that’s how people understand it” and “it was 1928″ and “it would not have been obvious without that sentence”, but that’s just how transphobia is perpetuated. Anyway, I’m willing to see the development of the character next season and how they treat them.
Elisa (Aka. Alice in wonderland) introduces us to how high class people with mental illnesses were treated back then. How they tried to cover up everything for what people might think, telling her about “her nerves”… I hope we get to see more of what being mentally ill implied in the 20ies, specially as a woman.
I also love the adorkableness of Pablo, but love that he’s not perfect and really screws up (Her unsufferable girlfriend, come on). And Marglo is just <3. I liked they showed an open minded man like Miguel, although his free mind felt forced. I get what they wanted to do but it didn’t feel too on character tbh. We didn’t have much information about what went though his mind, about how he saw Carlota, what he thought about her and Sara more developed… The effort is well appreciated though. They could have cut off some of the boring speeches of francisco and given him some more scenes to deepen on that matter.
Francisco and Carlos (Aka. Tweddledee and Tweedledum) have too many scenes for what little they really do. Francisco is so boring. Period. Carlos is a more evolving character, who shows a development throughout the series. The best part of those 2 is the relationship they have between them, how they behave as really good friends and as brothers, *spoiler alert* even in the end when Francisco burns the new Will of Carlos’ father (Aka. the caterpillar).
I also liked the number of aged women they show us: Carmen (aka. Queen of hearts), Victoria and Doña Lola, Mario’s mum. They all were great in their own way, had their strong suits.
About Mario. I just can’t. It makes me anxious. I know it’s necessary and real and I love they did what they did. But it’s so hard to watch. In general, the sexism shown it’s drowning. Which is the purpose of the series. The hopelessness I felt with Ángeles and the no-divorce and Sara in jail was suffocating.
The absence of POC was pretty obvious too. It might not be that far from reality from 1928 Spain, but that’s no excuse. I hope they get some time and interest next season to introduce the state of other races in that era.
The show made a pretty good job with the topics it wanted to address, introducing complex and strong characters mixed with light humor and intricate storylines, addressing different forms of sexist opression, and keeping the mystery. It misses some intersectionalism, specially more education about LGTB stuff and some introduction to POC on those times. I hope we don’t find ourselves with another danish girl.