‘Breathless’ (‘Respira’)
The medical drama has long been a staple of episodic TV precisely because it allows audiences entry into one of the most dramatic spaces you can dream up — a hospital — and the one depicted in this Spanish drama plays backdrop both to pressing medical issues and broader political ones. As the Joaquín Sorolla public hospital faces more budgetary cuts that keep its doctors and nurses at their wits’ end, a presidential visit looks to upend its fate. A strike is called and the public health workers have to stand up for what they believe in, even if it means leaving that politician adrift as she is dealing with a troubling diagnosis of her own. From the creator of “Élite” and starring Manu Ríos and Blanca Suárez, this series is a high-stakes take on a well-worn genre that’s as timely as it is thrilling. (Streaming on Netflix)
‘Raising Voices’ (‘Ni una más’ )
It’s fitting that a “Skam España” alum would headline a provocative, school-set #MeToo-themed miniseries like this one. In this adaptation of Miguel Sáez Carral’s novel of the same name, Nicole Wallace plays Alma, a rabble-rouser who sets off an escalating series of events when she unfurls a giant banner at her private school that reads, in scarlet letters, no less: “Watch out, there is a rapist hiding in there!” The accusation, vague if pointed, rocks her school — and the friendships Alma had long treasured. It prompts, in turn, an intriguing interrogation of what sexual abuse victims — especially those who are already cast off as outsiders like Alma — endure when they want to tell the truth and own their story. (Streaming on Netflix)
‘Six Is Not a Crowd’ (‘Felices los 6’)
Romantic comedies have historically, perhaps even exclusively, been about finding the one. But what happens when you want to keep looking? Or, as it happens to Damián (Nicolás Furtado), you find out the person you wish was your one (that’d be Deflina Chaves’ Carolina) isn’t content to be part of a traditional twosome? As it turns out, she’s part of a polycule, a word and concept that will have him questioning everything he’s ever thought about what it means to commit to one another (emphasis on the one). And, yes, that does involve meeting the other folks Carolina is involved with sexually and romantically. Polyamory, as this Argentine comedy series showcases, is ripe for examination. This show upends what audiences can expect from modern rom-coms and what anyone can expect from modern relationships. (Streaming on Max)
‘Red Queen’ (‘Reina Roja’)
Antonia Scott (Vicky Luengo) is the smartest person in the world. She is also, as so often happens in procedural thrillers of this kind, the only person who may be able to help solve a string of disturbing crimes rippling all over Spain. The globe-trotting series depends on an ultrastealth secret agent program — are there any other kinds? — that pairs Antonia with a grump of a cop (Hovik Keuchkerian), who is recruited to keep her safe as she tries to figure out whether a figure from her past has come back to haunt and maybe even destroy her. In the spirit of well-worn spy capers, but with a welcome twist on Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous detective (Antonia may well be a modern-day Sherlock), this adaptation of Juan Gómez-Jurado’s novels is a binge-worthy watch designed to keep you at the edge of your seat. (Streaming on Prime Video)
