Netflix Announces Money Heist Season Four Release Date

Netflix announces an April release date for their hit, Spanish-heist series Money Heist, debunking the view that foreign language shows are not worth an English-dominant audiences' time

'Money Heist' (CREDIT: Netflix)

by Jack Linsdell

Last week, Netflix announced that the fourth (and latest) season of it's sleeper-hit, Spanish-language heist-drama Money Heist (or as it's known in it's home country La Case de Papel) will debut on the streaming service on April 3rd 2020. And, yes, that's the same date that the 25th James Bond flick No Time To Die opens in UK cinemas too, so it looks like I'll be having a busy day!

Anyway, this is exciting news because Money Heist is not only one of the best crime series ever produced (let alone the best on Netflix), but it's unmitigated success in both quality and commercial terms is helping to debunk the traditional Western attitude that foreign series/movies are not worth our time because they are...surprise, in another language. I've spoken about this before, but for those new here, as a generic trend, dominant English-speaking audiences (like the UK and America) are put off, or just too lazy, to sample foreign films or TV series because they have to read subtitles or worry about the English dubbing not (obviously) matching to the actor's mouths. However, and this is something Netflix deserves a lot of credit for, by investing into and promoting foreign-language/produced series and movies on their platform they've opened up Western audiences to a deluge of really well-made and incredibly entertaining content. And, although not all maintain the same standard (the Norwegian, dystopian-teen series The Rain had an exceptional and very binge-worthy first season ruined by an awful and clichéd series two), Money Heist has managed to stay on track. 

The first and second season followed a master heist planner known as "The Proffessor" and his group of criminals as they battled the authorities and Police force trying to undertake the heist of the Royal Mint of Spain. The first two seasons were produced as a limited series in Spain consisting of 15 episodes, although when Netflix acquired the global streaming rights in late 2017, they recut the series (not as bad as it sounds) into 22, shorter episodes which they then released in two parts; season one in December 2017 and season two in April 2018. The first two seasons are self-contained, character studies, where the entirety of the two seasons are spent inside the Royal Mint with our robbers and their hostages, and with the lead Police Inspector/Negotiator as they try and catch them. The relationships that develop and the personality clashes make it fantastically entertaining, with enough tension and action to allow Money Heist to be both a well-written character drama and an escapist crime TV serial. Although a big hit in Spain, Netflix's re-organisation and promoting of the series allowed for a more global audience response, as people started to realise how aggressively good it was. 

With a bigger fanbase and an awesome season two curtain call leaving audiences on a high, Netflix renewed Money Heist for a third season in April 2018, with a significantly increased budget. As a result, and with new, core characters added in, the third season feels bigger and different, whilst still maintaining the style, emotional weight, and thrilling tension that made the first two seasons so organic. I have to admit, the storyline of season three has been an excellent expansion of the ideas and characters, whilst the bigger budget is noticeable but also a pleasure to see money put onto the screen - the action benefits the most from this. And, thus that brings us to season four, which no spoilers, will pick up from the cliff-hanger ending of season three. 

Money Heist is an example that well-made storytelling and entertaining, escapist fair can transcend cultural and language barriers because it's mostly visual. The on-screen performances in this series are superb, and an example of how you don't need to understand what's being said to get such rich entertainment and emotion value from content. However, as with these Netflix-backed, foreign language series, the English dubbing (which also consists of very talented voice actors) allows an English-speaking audience to enjoy a series or movie without the "hard work" of having to read the subtitles. I do prefer the dubbing, because once your used to it and lost in the story or tension, it allows you to focus more on what's being told visually. My problem with subtitles (although I'm not adverse to watching content with them) is that they distract you from what's happening on-screen as you spend half your time reading the titles, and can miss key visual details. So, it's great that Netflix invest in dubbing (in many languages) to open it's content up to the world. 

Anyway, Money Heist is a fine example of not only the great work Netflix is doing for foreign-language series and films, but also how language isn't and shouldn't be a barrier in consuming emotionally moving and escapist-ly entertaining, well-made content, regardless of what language it is originally made in. Season four of Money Heist debuts on Netflix on the 3rd April, leaving you plenty of time to binge the first three awesome seasons now. You know what to do, folks.