The Hilarity and Genius of ‘Los Espookys’
The new HBO television show Los Espookys follows the collective journey of a group of individuals in an undisclosed Latin American country and their fascination with the morbid.
The group is comprised of ringleader Renaldo, played by Bernardo Velasco, chocolate magnate heir Andrés, played by Julio Torres, dental assistant Úrsula, played by Cassandra Ciangherotti, and Úrsula’s younger sister Tati played by Ana Fabrega.
Not only does the HBO original series Los Espookys fulfill some of our spookier cravings, but it exceeds expectations and encapsulates a brand of humor and horror that is a perfect transition into the October attitude many of us have been anticipating.
The group starts staging intricate scenes to help their sporadic and odd clientele with their various spooky needs, be it serving a local priest in staging an exorcism to upstage his community rival, or helping create a simulated “haunted mansion” to scare off potential beneficiaries from collecting their inheritance.
The show is executive produced by an impressive pedigree of humorous and talented individuals; with Fred Armisen and Lorne Michaels heading the production.
Armisen hails from SNL glory and his own show, Portlandia, co-starring and co-created with fellow comedienne Carrie Brownstein, which was a massive hit when it was initially released. Armisen also stars as Renaldo’s quirky tío Tico, who continuously encourages Renaldo to pursue his dreams, and who has himself reached his ultimate career goal of becoming a star parking valet at a Los Angeles hotel resort.
The show is also bilingual, serving to introduce HBO’s mostly English-speaking viewers to the intricacies and nuances of Spanglish and Spanish humor. Not only is Los Espookys a bridge of cultural exploration for American viewers, but it also incorporates the utilisation of Latinx writers and production teams, which further serves to empower the Latinx community in the arts.
Although the plot is very much humorous, Los Espookys also ensures to capture the aesthetics and practices that are prevalent in Latinx communities, and serves to tell Latinx stories in a much more nuanced fashion than the traditionally portrayed stories in commercialized American media.
Viewers may appreciate the intricacies of the plot line, as well as the solidification of each individual character’s back-story and the exploration of horror in a humorous context. The writers of the show do a fantastic job showcasing underground Latinx talent, and making the narratives of the community more mainstream.
If you are looking for a fun new show that incorporates the spookier things you have been missing this summer, look no further than Los Espookys. Not only is the show hilarious, but it is an extremely refreshing deviation from the tragedies that are so often told via Americanized media and their interpretations of Latinx stories.
