City of Shadows, directed by Jorge Torregrossa, is much more than just a murder mystery. It tries to shed light on how the needs of the common man are suppressed in a fascist regime while giving them the illusion that the entire state machinery works for their upliftment. Once that illusion breaks, then that same common man transforms into a volcano that erupts so violently that it takes everybody down with them. That said, let’s find out what happened in the Netflix series and why influential men in Barcelona were suddenly being killed.
Spoiler Alert
What did Milo and Rebecca think about the killer?
Milo Malart, a police officer who was suspended from service, was called back by Judge Susana after an influential businessman was murdered in the most astonishing and horrifying manner. Edward Pinto, the CEO of a construction company called Adcoensa, was abducted, and then after 5 days, he was burnt alive at Casa Mila. His gasoline-soaked body was hung from the balcony of Casa Mila and then set on fire. The perpetrators recorded the video from the footpath below and then even painted the letter “G” onto the sidewalk. Milo took over the case, and he was told by his superior, Sergeant Singla (who was also the reason why Milo got suspended, something that we will discuss later), that he would be working with a crime behavior analyst named Rebecca Garrido, who had been summoned from a different department because the Barcelona officers felt that her expertise would come in handy for the case. The first theory that Milo and Rebecca came up with was that the criminal was chasing some kind of mystical transcendence. It was the shocking modus operandi of the case that convinced them of this. The criminal did certain things that just didn’t make sense. It was clear that the perpetrator didn’t just want to murder the businessman, they also seemed to have some greater-than-life philosophy that drove their actions. Casa Mila, where the body of the victim, Edward Pinto, was found, was built by the famous and celebrated architect of the late 19th century, Antoni Gaudi. Gaudí’s architecture was famous for its symbolism, its biblical narratives, and its mythological referencing. Also, his architecture infused Catholic ideology with Catalan culture, and that introduced a certain profoundness to every building that he made. Milo and Rebecca both felt that maybe through their choice of location, the killer was trying to tell society something. Rebecca told Milo how she had read about Prometheus being punished by the gods for stealing the sacred fire and giving it to humanity. She told Milo that, according to mythology, he was chained to a rock, and then an eagle devoured his liver, which would then regenerate, every single day. Milo and Rebecca felt that the killer’s motives were fueled by some such ideology, and maybe they were a part of some Masonic society in Barcelona. Milo and Rebecca’s speculation about Pinto’s death being a ritualistic killing was not bought by Sergeant Singla. In fact, Singla felt that they had just concocted some fantasy story that was completely baseless. Before they could make any breakthroughs, another influential man, Mr. Felix Torrens, the man who ran the Torrens Foundation, was abducted in a similar manner. Milo and Rebecca both knew it was the doing of the same man, but the anti-corruption department felt that Torrens had faked his own disappearance because he had committed tax fraud and he didn’t want to be put behind bars. But that theory proved to be wrong once the abductors released a video where they were torturing Torrens. The abductors tortured whomever they captured for 5 days. They didn’t give their victims any food or water, and then later burned them alive in a place of cultural significance like Gaudi’s Casa Mila. They had a concrete plan, and they made sure that they didn’t leave any evidence behind and that they didn’t get captured by any CCTV camera installed in the city. Milo and Rebecca knew that it was going to be an uphill battle and that they would have to pull off a miracle to turn the odds in their favor.
Why didn’t Milo’s brother talk to him?
Milo was dealing with all sorts of problems on a professional and personal level. Firstly, he had a heated altercation with Sergeant Singla, after which he punched him in the face. Milo was suspended, and there came a time when he didn’t even have enough money to pay rent. Milo’s nephew, i.e., his elder brother’s son, had met with his fateful end, probably after a drug overdose. Hugo, Milo’s brother, blamed him for his son’s demise. Hugo’s mental health had taken a toll after that incident, and he was not doing well at all. His family had a history of mental health disorders, as Hugo and Milo’s father suffered from acute paranoid schizophrenia. Hugo created a ruckus at his place, tortured his wife, and was on the verge of ruining his life. Milo and Lisa (Hugo’s wife) were scared that the man might end up hurting himself. Milo knew he didn’t have anything to do with his nephew’s death, but there was this guilt inside him that made him feel that he hadn’t done enough to save the boy’s life. Milo was very close to his nephew, a fact that Hugo felt jealous of. In addition to all these things, Milo had separated from his partner, Irene, and he literally had nobody in his life to support him. Milo often experienced extreme anxiety and panic attacks, and in those moments he often didn’t know what to do. That was why he was told to attend therapy, which he didn’t like at all. Rebecca’s presence, I believe, calmed him down. The woman too had been through a lot in the past, and she knew how Milo must feel in those moments. Rebecca’s mother suffered from a terminal illness, which she later passed away from. She also had these past traumas, but she was able to deal with them much better.
Why was Mauricio Navarro killed by the abductors?
There was a reporter by the name of Mauricio Navarro, an extremely shrewd man, with whom the abductors got in touch. The perpetrators gave him exclusive footage of the victims, i.e., Edward Pinto and Felix Torrens, getting tortured that he released on the news channel where he worked. This man launched a smear campaign against Milo and called him mentally unfit and incompetent to lead the investigation. Also, Mauricio got to know about details of the case, which meant that he had an informant inside the police department. There were a bunch of really powerful people who didn’t want Pinto and Torrens’ illegitimate activities to come to light. The two abductees were portrayed as leaders who wanted to uplift the downtrodden and do anything to help the cause of common people. But obviously they weren’t the visionaries and noble men they were purported to be. They were capitalists who just looked out for their own benefit. When Mauricio released Torrens’ video and the country got to know how he was locked in a cage and being tortured, Judge Susana decided to issue an arrest warrant against him. Mauricio, after he was released from police custody, made a huge fuss about his arrest too. Mauricio was a party to all the corruption happening in the city, and he was clearly a beneficiary. He might have portrayed himself as an honest journalist, but he only chased viewership, and he could stoop to any low for it. The abductors called him one last time to give him more exclusive footage. They then killed him in the same manner as their victims, though they didn’t record his video and make it public. Probably they wanted him to die in obscurity without giving the media an opportunity to sensationalize his death and make him into a martyr.
Why Were Helena And Hector Killing People?
Just before killing Mauricio, the abductor took off his mask for the first time and exposed his real face. He was a young man who had endured so much pain and trauma that he had turned into a killing machine. Hector and Helena, who were siblings, were sent to a juvenile facility called La Ferradura that was run by Felix Torrens’s trust. They loved their father, and they came from a rather privileged background. But after their mother’s death, their father just couldn’t deal with the trauma, and he ruined his life. Then in 1992, the Olympics were to be held in Barcelona, and the authorities wanted to revamp the entire city. A “cleanup plan” was initiated, and Edward Pinto’s company won the bid to carry out all the major construction. Pinto decided that a coastal ring road would be constructed and the slum dwellers living in that area would be asked to vacate their houses. All the houses in that area were demolished, and within a few hours, the individuals living here became homeless for no fault of their own. The worst part was that the government didn’t even care to relocate them, and they were left to die on the streets. Hector and Helena’s father died when the bulldozer came to demolish their house. He wasn’t able to survive the trauma of his bereavement, and so both the kids were orphaned and sent to the juvenile facility. Things still could have come back on track if they would have gotten proper care at the facility. But they were tortured by Mr. Torrens and physically absurd too, because they treated them like abominations who didn’t deserve to live in civil society. Torrens’s favorite punishment was to put the kids in solitary confinement in an underground bunker and not give them food and water for days. I believe he also sexually abused the female wards, not caring about the trauma he would give them for life. So when Helena and Hector captured Pinto and Torrens, they made them suffer in the exact same manner as they had been tortured in. They wanted revenge not only for themselves but also for all those people whose lives had been destroyed by them. Hector and Helena also blamed the state for caring about its own people, and that was why they harbored a very strong anti-establishment sentiment. And why wouldn’t they? All their lives they had been made to suffer for no fault of theirs. Moreover, the state never considered it as a travesty to justice and, in fact, patted its own back for remodeling Barcelona and building some world-class infrastructure. An apology was all they needed, but they never got that. In fact, they were made to feel that they never existed and their cries, the atrocities, didn’t matter. The pope was coming to consecrate Sagrada Familia, which was one of Gaudí’s unfinished works and was considered to be a symbol of Barcelona. Now, it was believed that if the monument’s staircase was constructed, then the poor people living in that area would once again lose their homes. Also, it was considered to be one of the biggest events of the country since the hosting of the 1992 Olympics. Helena and Hector wanted justice, and they felt that the Pope’s presence was the best opportunity they would get to make the world hear their voice.
Did Helena and Hector get caught?
Judge Susana was the last victim to be abducted by Helena and Hector. They tortured her because she was the one who had sent them to the juvenile facility in the first place. Now, Susana was a good woman, and she would have never sent them there if she had known what Torrens was up to. Milo and Rebecca started researching Torrens’ juvenile facilities, as they felt that there could be some hidden detail there. Moreover, La Ferradura, where Helena and Hector stated they were held, was burnt down in 1992, a fact that made them even more suspicious. They met with a worker from La Ferradura, and she told them about how Torrens treated the kids. The moment she said that the children were kept without food and water, Milo and Rebecca knew that the perpetrator was one of the students there, as that was exactly how they tortured the victims. The worker they talked to told them about a particular boy and his sister, who were often punished by Torrens. After doing their investigation and research, Milo and Rebecca found out that it was Helena and Hector Guitart who were killing the people.
At the end of City of Shadows, Milo and Rebecca were able to find the siblings. While Hector was at the ceremony organized to welcome the pope, Helena was in Torrens’ office. They both had gasoline on them, and the plan was to cause widespread chaos at the ceremony and destroy the entire building. But before that could happen, the authorities were able to spot Hector, who burnt himself alive in front of the entire crowd. Helena had to wait for the sirens, and then she had to set herself on fire to destroy Torrens’ building. But she wasn’t able to destroy it. In fact, Milo and Rebecca found her just in time and asked her to not do anything stupid. But it was a bit too late. The wounds, her trauma, and the pain had already killed her, and there was nothing left for her to look forward to. Helena also burnt herself alive and jumped from Torrens’ building. Milo and Rebecca were able to rescue Susana, who was trapped inside the Guitart family mausoleum. In the end, one was left to ponder upon whose fault it was that two orphaned kids turned into such killers. Obviously they weren’t born that way. They were tortured by the system and oppressed by the people they put their faith in. Imagine the kind of wounds they must have had; they waited and prepared for more than 2 decades for the right moment to arrive. Imagine the kind of homelessness the so-called leaders would have pushed them to, that they didn’t have an ounce of expectations from anybody. When fascists strip hope from ordinary people, they do not merely break their spirit; they change them into something evil and make them so desperate that they lose their will to live. It was a tragic end to what should have been a beautiful life.
