Based on the novel called The Innocent by Harlan Coben, this Netflix series is definitely an example of a successful book adaptation. Like other novels by this author, this is also a mystery thriller but being adopted for the Spanish speaking world and in this case, such kind of cross cultural screen adaptation has actually worked wonders.

The series begins with the story of Mateo “Mat” Vidal who is celebrating graduation with couple of his friends and in that party, he spots a girl who happens to be his crush. They talk, dance together but that has not gone down well with her boyfriend. As a result, he and few of his friends get into arguments with Mat. As it happens, Mat has his own set of people with him including his brother. One thing leads to another and eventually, the argument turns physical; it ends abruptly with the tragic, sudden death of Dani. And from here onwards, Mat’s misfortunes begin.

In reality, his misfortunes should have ended once he gets out of jail and begins a new business along with his brother; But fate hits with a big blow and his world is turned upside down. He expects that his luck would be better with Olivia and finally, he could have the stable, normal routine life he always dreamt of, but then suddenly events begin to unravel leading to more misfortunes for both of them.

With a suicidal suspicious death of a convent nun, the police gets involved and somehow, Mat gets tangled in it without any direct connection. But unbeknownst to him, does he have any indirect connection to that violent death? How does Olivia features in all of this drama? Does she has her own shares of misfortunes from her past? All these questions are answered in series of events interlinked to each other, much like a jigsaw puzzle.

What stands out from this series is how each main character is fleshed out, three dimensional with individual backstories, making him/her who that person has become now, leading up to this moment. This makes these people more related and very well fleshed out much like the real world. And as I mentioned in the beginning, these people come from different places of Spanish speaking world, finally ending their individual journeys in Spain. Certainly, such kind of nuanced characterisation makes the series more interesting for wide ranging audiences.

Coming back to the story, it’s best to watch this miniseries on the screen itself and get answers for all the puzzling questions. Who, what, how and most importantly, why is answered in much details; however, much like the real life the perspective changes from person to person. What’s most interesting are the last two episodes where the pieces of the aforementioned giant jigsaw puzzle starts to fit in their places, giving us a complete view of the real picture. Well, that is very much expected out of any mystery story but what so special about this series is that the elements of suspense have been maintained till the very last shot of the last episode. Once you watch it then you can understand that.

All in all, if you are fan of fast paced action suspense drama series then this definitely is your kind of series. Certainly a binge watching series worthwhile at-least for a one time watch, so go for it.