Let me start off by saying that this show was not something I thought I needed. I watched the first episode and was hooked. The story takes place in Colombia in 2019 and is about a young witch named Carmen, but there is a distinctive twist to this tale. Carmen has traveled forward 450 years in time after making a deal with a wizard in 1649 to bring back her love, Christobel. You see, Chrisobel was shot after being found in the woods with Carmen. Because at this time in the Carribbean there were slaves and Carmen is able to read, write, and heal people with herbs, the family she serves assumes she is a witch.
Oh, right. And they can't believe their son could ever fall in love with a slave, which in and of itself made my blood boil. The two teens are trying so hard to be together, and it might be a bit overdone romantically, but that is not for me to say.
Anyway, Carmen travels forward, tasked with bringing a stone to a university in the city armed only with a name. What she finds is a plot unfolding day by day over the centuries, getting more dangerous every time she turns. To make matters worse, she is from another time entirely, so she has no idea about social media, girls in schools, and a whole lot more that gets her into a lot of trouble. And of course, there is a potential love interest and a wacky friend in this time period, too, just to make things interesting.
I am only a few episodes in, so I don't know entirely how the plot will play out or if it is just beginner's luck that makes this show so captivating, but I know I am going to be watching a lot more very soon. If the plot doesn't make me pay attention, the need for subtitles will. I'm forced to see every word and detail, and, frankly, 7 years of taking Spanish has only made me understand every fifth word, anyway. Even so, I am so excited to watch something that feels different and something that I literally cannot look down at my phone during for more than a couple seconds at a time because I DO NOT SPEAK SPANISH. I know, there are native-speakers looking at this cackling, but even so, I'm not any less excited.
I have seen a lot of mixed reviews. Some people are saying that Black History Month was not the time to make another show about a slave girl falling in love with a white man. Others are saying that Carmen is a force to be reckoned with, and seeing an Afro-Latina protagonist is PERFECT. I think I fall somewhere in the middle.
Watch this trailer and tell me what you think. And then watch the first episode.
Siempre Bruja: Always a Witch | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflixwww.youtube.com
