Sintonia: Season 1, Episode 1 “They Caught Cacau” [Series Premiere] – Recap, Review (with Spoilers)

While Sintonia may not necessarily be must-see TV, it does present an entertaining way to spend your weekend.

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Network
Netflix
Creator(s)	Kondzilla, Guilherme Quintella, Felipe Braga
Director(s)	Kondzilla
Writer(s)	Pedro Furtado, Guilherme Quintella, Dude De Almeida
Air Date	8/9/2019
Genre(s)	Drama
Good If You Like	Teen Dramas Shows In A Urban, Poverty Stricken, Setting
Introduced This Episode
Doni	M.C. Jottapê
Nando	Christian Malheiros
Rita	Bruna Mascarenhas
Cacau	Danielle Olímpia
Jussara	Rosana Maris

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The Introduction

Within one of the many Favelas of Brazil, you’ll find Doni, Nando, and Rita. Doni aspires to be a popular MC, Nando an eventual drug kingpin and Rita? Well, survival seems to be her only focus. However, as their world tests them, and they lose friends to the streets, so comes the question of whether they will rise above or be swallowed whole? Either by means of being killed, their dreams dying or losing each other.

Highlights

We’re Given a Trio To Latch Onto

With Nando being about that thug life, Rita a hustler of counterfeit, stolen, or just everyday products, and then Dino trying to become a popular MC, we get a slightly diverse mix. Yes, it would be interesting to see someone who is academically inclined but maybe it isn’t worth it in their area. Perhaps there isn’t a sense of social mobility really – hence why entertainment and illegal activity is the main ways we see people venture to get ahead.

Either way, with what we’re presented, there is a sense that things are life or death, as seen by Rita getting her ass whooped by Cacau’s mom Jussara. For, in opposition to Elite, returning September 6th, we’re dealing with people just making it, or in poverty, and are perhaps one incident from losing it all. Be it their livelihood, their home, if not their life.

The Beauty and Troubles of Brazil

But, zooming out a bit, what you have to also appreciate is that we’re given a sense of Nando, Rita, and Dino’s Brazil. The Favela they live in isn’t necessarily the tourist section of Brazil yet, even with it being a shanty town area, and poverty existing, as well as crime, there is more. From the block party, you get a sense of culture in the music, dancing, the style. With Dino’s father owning a store, a legitimate business, we’re reminded there is the ability to find steady and legal work. Also, with Dino’s parents being religious, we’re reminded it isn’t all parties and hustle. There is moral grounding which we may not see as Nando murders someone in cold blood, but you are given a sense that, at one time, many of the people we see were raised up and not dragged up.

6 Episodes Seem Perfect

Less is usually more for shows like this. For while there is so much they can explore from the Journey criminal organization, Rita’s parents and other things, the worst thing a first season can be is bloated. Especially considering how violence and drugs is a factor in this show. After all, that sense of anything could happen is a driving force for the characters and a source of your investment. So, with such a limited time, the show doesn’t have to up the ante as much as stay the course and maybe have each part of the arc structure be two episodes. 

First Impression: Positive (Watch This)

One of the main things Sintonia has going for it is that it is a 6 episode season, has likable characters, and while it is showing the seedy side to Brazil, it isn’t a crime show. So with that in mind, as much as the stakes have to be made higher and higher, as well as the threat to the lives of the leads, based on first impressions, the show can’t burn out on its first outing. Heck, it may leave us clamoring for more. 

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