'Departament Amades': What if the minairons and water women lived among us?

In Beladas Department Water nymphs, minairons, witches, demons, the bogeyman, and Count Arnau all appear. But the new fiction series premiered by 3Cat is neither a classic look at Catalan mythology nor an ethnographic educational program. This fictional work, created by Júlia Cots and Jordi López Casanovas, is an approach to folklore from a format that avoids the usual tone of a traditional program about local legends. Beladas Department adopts the model of sitcom labor that coined The officeWe're dealing with an office comedy in the style of a mockumentary, with a constantly moving camera, characters breaking the fourth wall with knowing glances at the audience, and a demystified view of the workplace as a space of productivity. However, the series' tone sets aside the cynicism of the format created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, positioning itself somewhere between the gentler humor of Parks and Recreation and the family-friendly educational comedy tone of Whip.

The starting point of Beladas Department It is a Catalonia where the figures of popular legends are not only part of the cultural heritage, but live among us, without our being aware of it. The Department of the title is the public office in charge of safeguarding intangible popular heritage. But it also secretly oversees the harmonious coexistence between humans and fantastical creatures. In fact, many of the Department's members are hybrid or humanized beings. The head, Arnau (Joan Negrié), is the famous count described by Joan Maragall and Josep Maria de Sagarra. The heart of the Department is Dolça (Anna Moliner), a dedicated worker, half human and half water woman, capable of bewitching men with her song. And Kike (Kike García), the exemplary civil servant, is a descendant of minairons and humans from Santa Coloma (de Gramenet, we assume).

Despite the signs of wear and tear on the format, Beladas DepartmentProduced by El Terrat, the series works well because the writers and many of the actors believe in it, giving it an undeniable charm and making it work. The two youngest actors, Paula Jornet and Joan Esteve, embody two archetypal roles with more than enough conviction. sitcom The workplace drama, the novelistic employee, and the crony. As a civil servant addicted to routines, Kike García knows how to transplant his experience in stand-up comedy to the codes of fiction. Moliner channels his joyful energy into his role as the leader, but in key moments (the ensemble battle of water women, for example) the potential of his talents isn't showcased. The same happens with some guest stars: Judit Martín (as a water woman who disturbs the peace of the municipal swimming pools) and Miguel Noguera (as the boogeyman) are wasted. In general, the insertion of storylines with mythological characters doesn't work as well as the office comedy. And the visual splendor of the country's legends deserved more than to be reduced to drawings generated by artificial intelligence.

The series also hints at, but doesn't dare to delve into, timely debates, such as the competition that the Castilian Ratoncito Pérez poses to the Catalan Los Angelets de los Dientes (Little Angels of Teeth). Beladas Department It also confirms how the 3Cat platform has become the limbo where the most innovative fictions end up (as also happened with the Multipurpose room from The Calorie) but which public television doesn't seem to fully trust.