Money Heist Part 4: Berlin, Oslo & Moscow Return!

When robbing the reserve bank, one must not cause political scandal on an empty stomach…. but we’ll get back to that….

When it comes to foreign productions on Netflix, Spain has some notable material coming out of their studios and this hit now in it’s fourth year is no different. If you’ve not seen it, it expands on the comedy and crew dynamics filling in the gaps that Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen left to our imagination.

After successfully making away with takings from the Royal Mint of Spain, they printed millions of dollars until the call from the Professor brought them back together to aid in the rescue of one of their own. Rio is captured which leads to their political statement / new heist with the Reserve Bank of Spain in their sights.

The second half of the second season picks up where we left off as Nairobi’s life hangs in the balance, the crew turns on each other as the odds don’t look good as they’re faced with having to not only remove the bullet but cut out part of her lung without her bleeding to death.

In a series of flashbacks we learn that the Professor has agreed to surrogate her baby, get more of a glimpse into her life with Helsinki after they lived on the run after the Royal Mint heist and more on the deepening friendship with Tokyo.

We also learn more about Palermo and the history between Berlin and the Professor as we’re taken back to Berlin’s wedding to Tatiana in Italy. More and more we see similarities between Berlin and Palermo when it comes to structure and operational execution without emotional intelligence.

Lisbon’s assassination was staged as we know, but the real fireworks we were looking forward to was her going up against Inspector Alicia, the hormonal pregnant redhead without a conscience. Half way through the season we’re let in to her personal situation explaining part of her ruthlessness in her already tenacious interrogation style.

One of the interesting aspects to the show is the meticulous planning and preparation in place for every possible scenarios and obstacles to the crew’s success and we’re given more insight into Berlin’s plan as we’re taken into reconnaisance during one of his site visits to research Gandia, the Bank of Spain’s head of Security.

Things turn dire when Gandia escapes from his cuffs and takes refuge in the Governor’s panic room where he is able to co-ordinate an attack with the outside and surveillance the Professor’s team inside. What complicates things is his black ops training which the Professor discovers, causes more disruptions to the smooth running of the operation with Helsinki, Nairobi, Tokyo, Denver and Rio targeted.

The depth of Rio’s post traumatic stress is explored more with more specific details coming to light on his experiences that begin to impair his judgement and behaviour on the job. He develops a bond with Stockholm who helps him through his episodes of panic.

We learn there is another member of the crew, newcomer, Julia, Denver’s best friend and partner in crime in which she’s introduced through a series of flashbacks with the return of Moscow, Oslo and Denver back at the mansion. As in previous seasons, Arturo has thrown himself into the mix causing trouble and discord in his annoying way only this time, he’s using the situation to drug and take advantage of his fellow female captives.

There’s no shortage of suspense as we’re taken on twists and turns with the unexpected attacks coming from multiple fronts. As the furnaces continue to burn the 90 tonnes of gold into pellets, it’s finally looking like it’s coming together, but there will be a cost.