When it comes to comedy, it’s all too easy to fall into the traps of pastiche or parody rather than a sincere tribute. And the new Adult Swim showWomen Wearing Shoulder Pads— the network’s first Spanish-language original series—seems designed to imitate the aesthetic and narrative beats of aPedro Almodóvarfilm. That prompts fears that this might be mere burlesque, but with each passing episode, Gonzalo Cordova’s show proves itself to be a great series in its own right.
Women Wearing Shoulder Pads
Though it may sound ridiculous,Women Wearing Shoulder Padscan most easily be summarized as “what if Almodóvar had madeOkjain stop-motion?” There is, of course, more to it than that, as the show offers a spider web of personal and professional entanglements between the women (and precious few non-speaking men) that populate its universe. The story surrounds a rich Spanish businesswoman, Marioneta Negocios (Pepa Pallarés), who moved to Ecuador in order to turncuy(guinea pigs) from grandiose beasts to be killed and eaten into tiny household pets to be played with and adored.
Such an absurd premise and protagonist naturally bring with them a number of goofy characters. The primary stars are: Coquita Buenasuerte (Gabriela Cartol), Marioneta’s assistant, who’s seemingly willing to do anything for her; Espada Muleta (Kerygma Flores), acuymatador willing to sacrifice her career for a lover; Doña Quispe (Laura Torres) a rival businesswoman who made her career as a butcher and chef ofcuyand loathes (and/or perhapsloves) Marioneta; and Doña’s daughter Nina Quispe (Nicole Vasquez), a vegetarian who hates her mother and wants to save thecuyfrom being killed and eaten.
Playful Twists and Comedic Melodrama
That the show manages to capture everything that makes Almodovar’s films work – be it the reverence for classical melodrama, the playful use of soapy twists, the fluid and inventive filmmaking, and just the right balance of sincerity and camp – is nothing short of a miracle. But what’s even more impressive is that it also successfully stands as its own unique work.Women Wearing Shoulder Padsmanages to make the plight of these fictionalcuyand the people that seek to control them compelling, with notable quirks like the original songs featured throughout (written by Cordova and composer Kevin Smithers) and the cuts away from stop-motion figurines to the actual human hands controlling them.
One of the greatest delights to be found – for Spanish speakers, sorry to everyone else – is catching all the distinct cultural references. Cordova turns “sana sana colita de rana” into a fresh new pop jam, cites Ecuadorian painter Oswaldo Guayasamín and his politics and even names a guinea pig after Quino’s hit comic stripMafalda.Theplayful puns in the character names — like “Marioneta Negocios,” literally meaning “Business Marionette” — are delightful as well. For all the beautiful Spanish-English bilinguality emerging in comedy through shows likeLos Espookys,it’s impressive thatWomen Wearing Shoulder Padsnever caters to English speakers or sacrifices any of its decidedly Latin humor by shifting gears or providing awkward subtitles for gags that wouldn’t translate properly in English.
The queerness of the characters, as well as the overwhelming lack of men in this world, is also pleasantly never made into a joke. The relationships are as intriguing as they are lovingly presented and performed: A break-up that features acuydressed up like the show’s antiheroine is as amusing as it is devastating, thanks to the emphasis that the writing places on creating actual characters rather than archetypes. The show also reserves some of its most gorgeous bits of animation for sex scenes — one even renders nude bodies as though they’re glistening with glitter from the moonlight — strengthening our investment in the characters and their relationships.
Perfectly Imperfect Animation
The clear beauty and care that went into the animation is to be expected from Cinema Fantasma and its founders Arturo and Roy Ambriz, who helped shape the world of the series and created the ideal sandbox for the show’s creators to play in. Much like their seriesLos Sustos Ocultos de Frankelda, there’s a perceived lack of “polish” to the figurines, but that just makes them feel all the more human and real. The character designs, meanwhile, oscillate between truly original and loosely modeled after Almodovar actresses like Carmen Maura, Maria Barranco and Marisa Paredes, among others. Their costuming is often breathtaking, pulled from the fashion-school designs of Cordova’s own mother.
And even though its eight episodes add up to a feature-length viewing experience if binged all at once,Women Wearing Shoulder Padsfunctions perfectly as a series, playfully adhering to and subverting Latin soap-opera beats throughout. As inspired as it is by the works of Almodóvar or his influences (be they Sirk or Stahl or dozens of others), to call it an imitation of life would be myopic. Gonzalo Cordova has delivered a wonderfully charming series for Adult Swim with limitless potential for stories to unfold within its colorful world.
The first two episodes of “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” premiered on Adult Swim on Aug. 18 at midnight ET, and on HBO Max at 9 a.m. ET. Subsequent episodes air weekly on Mondays.
