This show is a gem. I show it to my Spanish 4 students, and they absolutely love it! Even though it came out in 2007 and some things (such as the technology) are outdated, the students get very addicted and watch it outside of class. Although there is a newer version out, I don’t think I could watch it, because I love the original version, especially since it has many famous Spanish actors. But I digress…
El internado is about a boarding school in the middle of nowhere in Spain. It starts with another new school year, with the same teachers and students: except for two: Marcos and his younger sister, Paula. We learn immediately that their parents have died in a tragic boat accident and their new Legal Guardian is the Head of the School: Héctor. However, this isn’t like any other boarding school: this one carries many dark secrets, something that the students start discovering at the start of the series. But of course, nothing good comes from it. It seems that the more the students discover, the more endangered their lives become.
I’ve shown the first 6 or so episodes in the series (they’re quite long) with Spanish subtitles, which the DVD set offers. After that, some of the episodes are a bit mature to show. Also, the storyline just gets more and more complicated. By the final season, it almost seemed too crazy to follow, but I wanted to finish the show and see how it ended. I was glad I did, but I will say, you will probably feel the same way.
Another incentive to watch the show is the breadth and depth of the cast. There are many famous actors in it. For starters: Ana de Armas and Martiño Rivas (who are in a movie I will review later this year), Blanca Suárez (A pesar de todo, La piel que habito and Chicas de Cable, also reviewed in the past year), Yon González (Chicas de Cable and Gran Hotel), Marta Hazas (Velvet and Velvet Colección), Marta Torné (Velvet Colección), and Natalia Millán (Velvet). As you can see, some of the more well-known Spanish actors have leading roles in this show, which is one of the many reasons why you should watch it! The only difficulty is finding the show online, but there are DVDs available to purchase on Amazon. You will enjoy it, and if you teach high school Spanish, so will your students! I recommend it for sophomores and above, at the start of Spanish 4, as any other lower level will be tough for the students to follow it.
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