Spanish series Smiley on Netflix.

This new eight-episode series from Spain was posted earlier this month. It has a lot going for it, including a cast of engaging actors, but there's also a low-hanging haze of familiarity over it; HBO's Queer as Folk and Looking in particular come to mind. But even though it sometimes seems to be following a familiar path, it doesn't seem particularly dated; it feels current and relevant. It follows the interlocking stories of a group of old and new friends and acquaintances, at home, at work and at play, particularly at a bar presided over by an older transvestite. (He insists on being called that rather than drag queen.) In spite of screeching to a halt for "author speaks" moments every so often, it covers a lot of territory, including the work and domestic lives of a straight co-worker of one of the two central characters and the families of the leads. It's a great melting pot and the actors all pull their own weight. And Barcelona looks sooo beautiful.

A problem for me was that it's dubbed into English, which is simultaneously helpful because I think the divided attention span required by subtitles can take me out of the flow, yet somewhat emotionally numbing even in the hands of skilled voice-over artists. I saw a Spanish language trailer online and it was eye-opening how much more emotionally engaging it seemed even if I didn't understand the language, so I think something substantial has been lost here. It's not a deal-breaker, in my opinion, just an unfortunate reality.

Here's the Spanish language trailer.