Sometimes it seems like shows set in the 1970s rely too much on pop culture references and flashy clothing and decor instead of telling real stories. Colombian comedy-drama Durable Eva I certainly felt that way when it debuted last year, but in its second season it’s had a chance to cut through the cheesiness and tell interesting stories.
DURABLE EVA SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening shot: “The year 1976 had not yet ended,” says the narrator, an adult version of Camilo Granados (Emmanuel Restrepo), as we see some scenes of events that happened in Colombia and other places that year.
The essence: Camilo is contemplating his impending fatherhood, having accidentally impregnated Luisa Salcedo (Sara Pinzón), the sister of his friend Martín (Sergio Palau). This happened after his girlfriend, the very progressive Eva Samper (Francisca Estévez Navas), moved in with her drug-dealing father in the United States. Of course, his vision of fatherhood feels like a nightmare, disrupting his ambitions to become a writer. It also makes him think more about Eva.
So he is overjoyed, but also worried, when Eva shows up at her parents’ house. She is back in Colombia after her father was extradited and placed under house arrest. He knows he will have to tell her about Luisa sooner rather than later, although the biggest worry is that Luisa has not returned to the Salcedo residence since she found out she was pregnant and left boarding school.
When Camilo finally reveals everything, Eva’s priority is to find Luisa and make sure she is well taken care of, even though she says that she and Camilo are no longer a couple.
Of course, this plunges Camilo into an even deeper state of mind than he was in before. But when Luisa shows up at Eva’s house and asks if she can stay with her, Eva tries to give Luisa every option available to her. This includes abortion, which is not legal in Colombia in 1976. Both Luisa and Camilo think it’s a mortal sin, but Eva cites the protests of prominent French women who got abortion legalized there earlier that year and believes that Luisa should be able to determine what happens to her body.
Camilo supports Luisa’s decision and goes with Rodrigo (Mateo García Mazo) to visit a clinic run by the father of a classmate. Meanwhile, Martín, who still has no idea about his sister, begins to suspect.
What shows will it remind you of? Durable Eva It still feels like a 1970s feminism-focused comedy-drama. Martha combined with a series of transition to adulthood along the lines of I have never.
Our opinion: We weren’t fans of parts of the first season of Durable Eva Mainly because writer Dago Garcia was a little too liberal with the pop culture references, doing things like Saturday Night Fever at plot points even though the movie wouldn’t be released until over a year after the show’s 1976 setting. But in the second season, Garcia stops trying to be cute and simply gives his now-established characters good stories in which to exist.
The show still focuses on the chemistry between Navas and Restrepo, but both Eva and Camilo have matured a bit. Eva is applying her independence and liberalism where she thinks it is most useful, such as in her effort to convince Luisa that she has a choice when it comes to her pregnancy. And Camilo is no longer as cowardly as he once was, and is willing to help Luisa through whatever decision she makes.
Both Camilo and the show also show some maturity when Camilo tells Eva that he got Luisa pregnant. Other shows have artificially delayed a conversation like that for several episodes, dragging out what is an inevitable shift in the central relationship. García smartly does this in the first episode, which will make the second season focus on Camilo trying to get back into Eva’s circle of trust while dealing with everything else he’s facing, including possible fatherhood.
While there are still some side stories, such as the decision of Camilo’s parents, José (Jaime Zevallos) and Ana (Verónica Orozco), to have another child, most of what happens is related to Camilo and Eva, and feels much more organic than what we saw in the first season.
Sex and skin: Nothing in the first episode, although the boys want to go see it deep Throatwhich has just been released in Colombia.
Parting shot: Martín says he “knows everything” and confronts Camilo.
Sleeping Star: Mateo García Mazo plays Rodrigo, who appears to be the calm, serene and thoughtful member of Camilo’s group of friends.
Pilot’s most typical phrase: Jose gives Camilo advice about women a couple of times in the first episode, calling himself “The Predator,” but he tries to keep all that talk as far away from Ana as possible.
Our calling: STREAM IT. Season 2 of Durable Eva It softens the corniness of the first season now that Eva’s presence with Camilo’s group of friends is no longer a novelty, and gives the cast a much more mature story to tell.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting, and technology, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV addict. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and elsewhere.
