The main hook of the Movistar Plus+ original series El centro is its access to the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI), Spain’s intelligence service. The CNI is a public body attached to the Ministry of Defence and is tasked with obtaining and analysing information to prevent threats and protect national interests and stability. Created by David Moreno (El inmortal [+lire aussi :
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Viewers are shown the offices, corridors and cafeterias where these professionals work in absolute secrecy, discretion and anonymity. We also see their families, their doubts and their ethical conflicts. At the same time, the scripts – by David Moreno, Raúl López and Eva Saiz – set out a rather convoluted plot in which several threads converge: an MEP who has just taken his own life; a probing journalist seeking the truth behind the brutal murder of her partner; a ruthless Russian mobster capable of the worst possible atrocities; and a mole inside the CNI who must be unmasked without arousing suspicion.

The first episode crams in too many elements, and the excess of information is immediately bewildering. There are simply too many names, intrigues and manipulations. It’s a tough challenge for an opening chapter that – if it fails to hook an impatient viewer – may drive them to look for something else on a neighbouring platform. Fortunately, the second episode lands better. The introduction of a young investigator sparks empathy, and our interest in it begins to grow.

The series is competently shot, although it lacks narrative bravura. It features recognisable faces such as Juan Diego Botto, Clara Segura, Tristán Ulloa, Elisabet Casanovas, Nacho Sánchez, Israel Elejalde and Elena Martín Gimeno. El centro sits alongside numerous series of the same genre and a long list of spy and action films. That makes it an entertaining, familiar proposition, but one that can also pass unnoticed owing to its lack of originality amid the current maelstrom of look-alike shows. Here, the somewhat rough, abrupt beginning works against it, demanding too much from an audience that simply wants to relax in front of the screen, rather than keep track of a dossier of names or decode intricate political labyrinths.

El centro runs for six episodes, each 50 minutes long, and it was produced by the Movistar Plus+ platform (which premieres it in Spain on 9 October) together with Fonte Films. International sales are handled by Movistar Plus+ International.