FERIA: THE DARKEST LIGHT Season One
Digging up the past
UK/US Netflix, streaming now Showrunners Agustín Martínez,
Carlos Montero
Cast Carla Campra, Ana Tomeno, Isak Férriz, Marta Nieto
The creators of Feria: The Darkest Light must have been pretty confident that Netflix would pick up their supernatural cult drama for a second season. Otherwise, why end the show on such a massive cliffhanger? It’s the kind of ending that overshadows everything that went before.
Which is a shame, because there’s a lot to like here. In 1990s Andalusia, a disturbing mass suicide leaves sisters Sofía (Carla
Campra) and Eva (Ana Tomeno) reeling, as they learn that their mum (Marta Nieto) was responsible for leading two dozen strangers deep into an abandoned mine in the fictional town of Feria to huff toxic fumes. Meanwhile their dad (Ernest Villegas) has mysteriously vanished overnight.
Though the girls deny all knowledge, detectives and villagers alike are convinced that they must have known about their parents’ dark plans – and if they want to escape the remaining cult members, they’ll need to get up to speed fast.
Viewers might feel like they’ve been thrown in at the deep end just as much as the sisters are.
There are lots of characters to keep track of, almost all of whom reveal something dramatic at some point, plus lots of occult mythology – not to mention the flashbacks to ’70s Feria, to see what the older characters were up to in General Franco’s time. No CG monster could hope to compete with all that human drama, which makes this a compelling but frustrating watch. And then there’s that ending, which leaves so much unresolved that it feels like maybe Netflix is hiding another episode somewhere. Fingers crossed that confidence wasn’t misplaced – it’d be great to go back to Feria to see what happens next.
Sarah Dobbs
Orichalcum, supposedly found in Feria’s mines, is a mystery metal that, according to Plato, was lost along with Atlantis.