AppleTV+’s Spanglish show Land of Women has the premise of your run-of-the-mill fish-out-of-water story, but I suppose it’s still quite fun and stars a delightful cast of TV actresses who can certainly hold their own. The show follows Gala, a woman who lives a lavish, dream life in New York City, but her life’s about to get in deep soup because of a mistake made by her dear husband, Fred. Gala has a daughter named Kate, who goes to boarding school, and a mother who lives at an old age home. The first two episodes set up the basis of the show: why Gala has to move to Spain with her daughter and why it wasn’t the best decision she could’ve made. It’s humorous, sweet, and, I suppose, will get wholesome at some point in time. Expect every trope in trope-land to hit you in this one. But with that said, let’s get straight into it.
Spoiler Alert
Where does Gala take her family?
Gala’s life is perfect. She has a loving husband, a beautiful and smart daughter, and she lives in NYC, where she’s just about to start her own wine business. However, on the day of the launch, an overjoyed Gala is hit with the shocking news that her husband has borrowed $15 million from some sort of criminal organization and has to flee the country immediately without notice. He also tells her that it’s best if she takes their daughter and her mother away for a bit, too, until he can handle things. Now Gala’s big dreams have turned into nightmares because not only is the business that she created doomed thanks to her business partner, who is a criminal (the money was invested in the wine business), but she’s also got to figure out where to hide so her family isn’t in immediate danger.
Gala’s big solution is her mother’s hometown, a quaint countryside spot in Spain. Gala lies to the women, saying that they’re going off on a special women’s trip. She tells her daughter Kate that her grandma is dying and this is her last wish, so she can’t really say anything but come along, and they set off to sunny Spain. Oh, and if you were wondering, Gala’s gathered some cash by selling off a bunch of her expensive jewelry and strapping it on her body like armor. Somehow, that works in the airport. The idea of the small hometown came up because Gala’s mom, Julia, always spoke about how she missed her home and how half of it was hers and the other half was her sister’s. So naturally, Gala thinks they’ll have a safe place to stay, and everything will be glorious, even if a little bit different for a bit, until she can return to her luxurious life.
Gala quickly learns that her mom wasn’t telling the whole truth. They try to get to La Muga in an almost non-functional car because Gala’s credit cards aren’t working, and she has to do cash transactions. On the way, the ladies get into a big fight of sorts, specifically because Kate’s just worried about her mother and the situation, and her father isn’t really responding to her calls or texts. They end up crashing into a tractor hauling grapes, and the whole produce is ruined, leaving Gala the enemy of the town (whoops).
Who is Amat?
The man driving the tractor happens to be from La Muga and offers the women a ride despite Gala’s rudeness. I mean, she was the one who crashed into the tractor and ruined the grapes, so why? In the middle of this, Julia ends up jumping into a lake nearby because she is suffering from mild dementia, and it takes her back to a memory from when she was young. The girls try to get her out, but she pulls them in, too, and Gala’s money gets all wet. Seeing all this cash really confuses the heck out of Kate now. Anyway, they gather their things, and Amat drives them on his tractor, but it turns out that the house that Gala planned on staying in now belongs to this guy. It turns out Julia’s been estranged from her sister for the last 40 years, and she sold the house to Amat. But Gala only knows about the selling part and claims it’s illegal because Julia’s alive and well. At the end of Land of Women episode 1, Gala tells the ladies a half-truth—that they’ve lost all their money that Fred didn’t invest properly—and decides to go to the house anyway. With Julia’s help, they’re able to break in and even eat some of Amat’s delicious lentils before he shows up and calls the cops. The old man cop is actually one of Julia’s ex-lovers. Obviously, in prison, there’s an endearing moment between the three women about how they’ll support each other. So, at the end of the day, Gala has to take care of everything herself.
What happened between Julia and Mariona?
In Land of Women episode 2, we learn that Julia lied to Gala her whole life. This web of lies begins with the death of her father; apparently, he’s still alive and well. It seems Julia made the difficult decision of leaving her small town back in the day because she’d have been ostracized for getting pregnant, and anyway, everybody hated her general promiscuous nature. However, the reason Mariona, her sister, considers her dead is that she promised to call her wherever she’d end up, but she didn’t even bother to send her a letter. There’s certainly some fixing to be done there. On the other hand, Julia had hidden their money in Amat’s house, but when they go back for it, it’s missing because he’s taken the money as a payment for the ruined grapes the previous day.
What Does Maggie Have To Do With Any Of This?
Kate splits with the ladies to go get the car, which is at the mechanic’s. Kate’s trans and is seeing a girl named Maggie, so she’s eager to get back to her. What she doesn’t realize is that it is, in fact, Maggie’s father that Fred borrowed money from. Unconventionally, the two families met after learning that the two girls were seeing each other. I say unconventionally because it seems quite early. Interestingly, Kate meets another girl in La Muga, who seems to pique her interest. She’s the mechanic’s daughter, and at first, Kate asks her to help her with the car. But Kate ends up calling Maggie and asking her for help because she thinks her mother is acting completely strange, and it’s not fair for her to simply leave her life behind because of something like this. At this point, Kate obviously doesn’t know it’s a dangerous situation; all she’s thinking about is how her mom doesn’t quite understand her. Additionally, Gala’s always been skeptical about Maggie, and at the moment, I suppose Kate feels like she’s her enemy. However, in a flashback, we do see Fred telling Kate about how her mother was the one who was completely supportive of her transition and how she got Fred on board with it, too. On the other hand, after a difficult conversation with her mom, Gala learns that her daughter has decided to run away without saying a word. On top of that, Julia doesn’t quite like Fred and thinks he’s definitely made a blunder to put them in this situation, which is true.
At the end of Land of Women episode 2, Gala makes it to the airport and purchases a ticket with the money that Amat stole from her and let her borrow it back. She tells her daughter that the situation is dangerous and that the guys that Fred owes are very scary-looking. She also assures her that her father is okay, but he’s not responding to her, and it would not be right for her to go back home now. Seeing the desperate situation Gala is in, Amat offers her a place to stay in Julia’s old room, and it seems they’re finally able to feel at home in La Muga. Specifically for Julia, though, a lot of work needs to be done to fix whatever’s broken here. Additionally, Gala says she’ll make their wine better, so she and Amat are going to be like business partners because she’s a connoisseur and he’s a farm boy. On the other side of the world, Maggie tells her dad that Kate never made it back to NY, and she worries, but it seems Maggie’s basically aiding her father to find Gala so that he can get his money back. Yikes.
