The Asunta Case is a Spanish series on Netflix that is a dramatization of a true story from 2013. Asunta was a 12-year-old adopted girl in Galicia, Spain who was found dead by the side of a road two miles from the family’s country house. The investigation focuses on the parents, but did they do it? The series follows the investigation through the eyes of the lead detectives and the investigating judge. (Note, in Spain, as in France and other countries, a magistrate is assigned to a case at the outset to help investigators with things such as warrants, etc, and also to assist the District Attorney in building their case. Investigating judges have the power to interrogate witnesses, attend crime scene examinations, etc, but, outside of petty crimes, they do not hear a case in court-that is a different kind of judge. Fans of Spiral will recognize this system.) I don’t want to say too much because of spoilers (don’t google the case!), but what you will figure out immediately in episode 1 is that there is something OFF about the parents. Whether or not they are murderers is for the jury to decide.
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The characters
Asunta was adopted from China by Rosario “Charo” Porto (Candela Peña) and Alfonso Basterra (Tristán Ulloa) when she was a baby. She was the first Chinese adoption in Galicia, as the real Charo and Alfonso smugly tell a reporter in an interview clip from 2006. Charo is the daughter of a late prominent lawyer, which affords her some status in Galicia. She is charming and attractive, but is soon revealed to be melodramatic and spoiled. Alfonso is never likable. He is controlling, creepy, and pugilistic with authorities. Charo is being treated for both lupus and anxiety, so she is often dismissed by Alfonso as addled and fragile. And, indeed, one of her medications, lorazepam (Ativan), is an important element of the case. The investigation is led by Guardia Civil detectives Ríos (Carlos Blanco) and Cruces (María León). Ríos is a gruff veteran cop who tries to be a curmudgeon, but he’s a softy. Cruces is in her 30’s, struggling with fertility treatments that make her feel crappy. She brings compassion to the case. Judge Malvar (Javier Gutiérrez) is super arrogant, yet somehow still likable. He’s sure that the parents are guilty, and he does everything he can to build a case against them, to the point of riding the line on ethics.
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Our Take on The Asunta Case
The actual Asunta Case was huge in Spain, and the series will definitely bring to mind the JonBenet Ramsey case for Americans, including how the press litigated the parents before the trial even started. It was brilliant for the creators to put the interview clip of the self-satisfied Charo and Alfonso at the beginning because it immediately gives an idea of who they are. And while, yes, they are unlikable, they are completely divorced from reality, which is fascinating. I binged the series, but I do have two gripes. One is that the personal lives of the investigators feels wedged into the story. I understand trying to make them three dimensional characters, but now is not the time for that. Secondly, episode 5 is complete speculation on what could have happened and is thus a waste of time. You could literally skip it. I have a LOT of questions and complaints about the actual investigation, but that is the point of the series. The Asunta Case is compelling TV, in the literal sense.
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