There is never an easy moment in Alicia’s life; she is a chaotic force who struggles to make definite choices. Just Alice (original title: Simplemente Alicia), as the title suggests, revolves around the protagonist, who prefers living a double life to undergoing the pressure of having to stick with only one option. Alicia was in love with a writer, Alejo, and a priest, Pablo, at the same time. The men were polar opposites and perhaps that was all the more reason why Alicia didn’t have the heart to make a choice. There were certain qualities about Alejo that she appreciated, and she liked the person she became when she was around Pablo. Alicia was married to Alejo when she crossed paths with Pablo, and instead of deciding if she loved one more than the other, she chose to marry Pablo as well (it was a church wedding, and presumably they didn’t sign any marriage document).
Romantic dramas about love triangles are not unique; from literature to films, it is probably one of the most obvious plots one can think of. In Just Alice the dilemma is not limited to loving two men but also maintaining two complete separate lives. Pablo thought Alicia was a stewardess, but in reality she was the campaigning head of a presidential candidate. Alejo knew about Alicia’s actual profession, but she had to repeatedly lie to both men to accommodate them in her life. As you can already anticipate, this results in misunderstanding, madness, emotional breakdowns, and just constant stress. The series arrives at the idea that Alicia was a bigamist, and through the course of 19 episodes, she came to not just accept herself, but also advocate for women who didn’t believe in conventional relationships. The series takes a feminist, progressive stance, and while that plays out as a desperate attempt to redeem an overdone plot, I don’t think it radically elevates the series.
Alicia is a complex character, who comes with her own set of flaws. She refused to bow down to societal expectations, especially when it came at the cost of her own happiness. Honestly, good for Alicia, but the way the show tries to justify her actions felt ridiculous! The plot is essentially wafer-thin and extremely predictable. Also, you don’t need 19 episodes to narrate such an obvious story! For the longest time, the plot barely progressed. It was frustrating to watch the constant oscillation between “will the men find out the truth or will Alicia come clean before things got any worse” for over ten episodes! Maybe it works as a TV soap since the audience is not expected to watch all the episodes at one go, but considering the show has been released on Netflix, the length of the show is definitely the biggest red flag. Even if one is interested in the genre and actually considers giving a light romantic comedy drama a go, 19 episodes is a massive commitment that I believe the Netflix crowd would hesitate to make. The script was meant to be funny, but it is just annoying. Since I’ve already binged the show, I honestly don’t think it’s worth your time.
Loving two individuals at the same time is not wrong, as long as the people involved in the relationship know about one another. There’s no denying that infidelity is a common practice, and it’s only normal for films and shows to explore the complexity of romantic relationships where things aren’t always black and white, but instead of presenting a neutral perspective, the show gets awkwardly defensive about Alicia’s feelings and decisions. Alicia was a bigamist, but the men weren’t, and they deserved to know the truth. I don’t think one can justify Alicia’s decision to marry Pablo and build two separate lives by saying that men have been doing that for centuries. It’s unfair to the people involved regardless of their gender. No one deserves to be on the blind side. Although women often are subjected to harsher criticism than men, the discussion had to be more nuanced to be taken seriously. Of course, the men in question weren’t pious either, they’d hidden secrets from Alicia and that too wasn’t fair! At the end of the day, call a spade a spade. Love is not meant to be so calculative, it just happens, and I agree, but marrying someone while being already married is not a random decision one makes! Alicia is a morally gray character, and that makes her an interesting subject, but the attempt to turn her into this revolutionary figure was a stretch. Then again, a controversial take always helps in piquing interest, and it’s expected that the show will instigate some in the audience enough to create a buzz and that will positively impact the show’s popularity.
This is the era of the hot priest!—spearheaded by Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s iconic Fleabag (where Andrew Scott plays the hot priest), the complexity that comes with falling in love with a man devoted to religion seems to have become an essential element in romantic dramas. Most recently, Nobody Wants This used the same formula but with a ‘hot rabbi.’ In Just Alice Pablo, a deeply religious man who had devoted most of his life to becoming ordained had to choose between his religious calling and being with the woman he fell in love with, and the decision wasn’t an easy one. While the complexity is the same, I don’t think any show has done justice to the character like ‘Fleabag.’ The struggle doesn’t feel as authentic, and it’s just something that is occasionally brought up in passing just to add to the drama. Alejo’s character isn’t entirely unique as well. He was a writer who was deeply inspired by his wife and when their relationship started to fall apart he lost interest in writing altogether. He was also hiding a secret from Alicia, and both of them lacked the courage to come completely clean to each other.
The ending of Just Alice is way TOO exaggerated! This is a spoiler-free review, so I’m not going to delve into the details, but it’s safe to say that the revelations in the end were too soapy to be remotely believable. The good part is that Alicia compensates her lovers heavily for the damage that she caused, and she learns to be herself unabashedly. The overall performances are adequate, Verónica Orozco carries the show on her shoulders and she aptly captures the chaos that is Alicia. Just Alice is a predictable and highly dramatized show that you must only commit to if you have the time and is only worth considering as a second-screen guilty pleasure watch.
