Locked Up (TV series)

Locked Up (Spanish: Vis a Vis)^{[1][n. 1]} is a Spanish serial drama television series produced by Globomedia, initially for Spanish Network Antena 3 and later for Fox Spain. It premiered on 20 April 2015.^[2] The series focuses on Macarena Ferreiro, who is sent to prison for fiscal offenses and goes on to depict prison life and the corruption of law-enforcement bodies.

Locked Up
Spanish	Vis a vis
Genre	Serial drama Crime Thriller
Created by	Iván Escobar Esther Martínez Lobato Álex Pina Daniel Écijas
Starring	Maggie Civantos Najwa Nimri Carlos Hipólito Roberto Enríquez Berta Vázquez Alba Flores
Theme music composer	Iván Martínez Lacámara Manel Santisteban
Opening theme	"Agnus Dei" by Cecilia Krull
Country of origin	Spain
Original language	Spanish
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	48
Production
Production location	Spain
Running time	75 minutes (seasons 1–2) 50 minutes (seasons 3–4)
Production company	Globomedia
Original release
Network	Antena 3 (2015–2016) Fox Spain (2018–2019)
Release	20 April 2015 (2015-04-20) – 4 February 2019 (2019-02-04)
Related
Vis a vis: El oasis

One year after Antena 3 cancelled the show, Fox Spain announced they had picked up the series for a third season, which premiered on 23 April 2018. It became the most watched paid TV in its timeslot. A fourth and final series premiered on 3 December 2018. Additionally, Netflix also bought global streaming rights for the show.^[3][4][5]

Following the show's initial cancellation, several cast members moved on to other projects, resulting in major cast changes in seasons 3 and 4. Production also moved to a different filming location, as the previous studio became the set of another Álex Pina show, Money Heist. Maggie Civantos, who played the series' main character in the first two seasons, had her role reduced due to her commitment to another show, Cable Girls. However, Najwa Nimri, Berta Vázquez, María Isabel Díaz Lago, Marta Aledo, Laura Buena and Alba Flores returned as main cast members.

A spin-off entitled Vis a vis: El oasis was released in 2020, and focuses on Macarena and Zulema, and serves as the last installment of the series.^[6]

Plot

Macarena Ferreiro Molina is a Spanish woman who falls in love with her boss and commits embezzlement. She is accused of four tax crimes and consequently imprisoned at the Cruz del Sur Prison as a precautionary measure with a high bail set.

In prison, Macarena learns that to avoid projected seven-year sentence she will likely receive if convicted depends on changing, evolving and becoming a different person. To pay the bail, her family outside searches for a large sum of money hidden somewhere.

Series overview

Series	Episodes		Originally aired			Ave. viewers (millions) and share
			First aired	Last aired	Network
1	11		20 April 2015 (2015-04-20)	2 July 2015 (2015-07-02)	Antena 3	3.547 (19.9%)
2	13		31 March 2016 (2016-03-31)	22 June 2016 (2016-06-22)		2.431 (14.2%)
3	8		23 April 2018 (2018-04-23)	11 June 2018 (2018-06-11)	FOX Spain	0.151 (0.8%)
4	8		3 December 2018 (2018-12-03)	4 February 2019 (2019-02-04)		0.129 (0.7%)

Season 1 (2015)

Main article: Locked Up (season 1)

Framed by her lover for corporate fraud, young Macarena Ferreiro finds herself locked up in a high security women's prison surrounded by tough, ruthless criminals.

Still in denial, prison proves to be a very rude awakening for Macarena and at the end of her first day, she finds herself struggling to cope. Yolanda, her cellmate, takes Macarena under her wing, but a midnight visit from Zulema, the prison's most dangerous inmate, is about to change Macarena's life forever.

Season 2 (2016)

Main article: Locked Up (season 2)

Zulema, Saray and Macarena escape from prison. With Sandoval's (Ramiro Blas) bribery, Miranda (Cristina Plazas) imposes stricter prison rules and regulations in response to their escape. With authority from the director to use any extreme measures to discipline misbehaving inmates, some officials abuse their power on some of the inmates.

Season 3 (2018)

Main article: Locked Up (season 3)

Saray, Rizos, Sole (María Isabel Díaz Lago), Tere (Marta Aledo), Anabel (Inma Cuevas), Antonia (Laura Baena) and Zulema (Najwa Nimri) adapt to the new environment of Cruz del Norte after being transferred to the new prison.

Season 4 (2018–2019)

Main article: Locked Up (season 4)

Season four deals with the aftermath of Zulema (Najwa Nimri), Saray (Alba Flores) and Altagracia's (Adriana Paz) escape. Altagracia, who used to terrorize the woman inmates as a prison guard, is now one of them. Sandoval is the new director of Cruz del Norte.

Cast and characters

While the show initially focused on the character of Macarena Ferreiro, portrayed by Maggie Civantos, it became an ensemble show.^[7]

Cruz del Sur female inmates

• Maggie Civantos as Macarena Ferreiro: A young woman sentenced to prison for seven years due to embezzlement. (season 1–2, Oasis; Recurring: season 3–4).
• Najwa Nimri as Zulema Zahir: Known as the queen of prison due to her criminal records and illegal activities even while incarcerated. (season 1–4, Oasis).
• Berta Vázquez as Estefania "Rizos" Kabila: A young prisoner in prison for four years due for auto theft. (season 1–4).
• Alba Flores as Saray Vargas de Jesús: A young woman sentenced for assault. (season 1–4, Guest: Oasis).
• Inma Cuevas as Ana Belén "Anabel" Vila Roig Garcés: A woman sentenced to 9 years for prostitution and drugs. (season 1–3).
• María Isabel Díaz Lago as Soledad Núñez Hurtado: A prisoner who burned her husband and mistress to death. (seasons 1–4).
• Laura Baena as Antonia Trujillo Díez: The prison cook, must serve 5 years.
• Belén Cuesta as Yolanda Montero

Cruz del Sur employees

• Roberto Enríquez as Fabio Martínez León: A hot-tempered prison guard and former police officer. (season 1–2, Guest: 3).
• Ramiro Blas as Carlos Sandoval Castro: The prison doctor of Cruz del Sur and director of Cruz del Norte. (season 1–2,4, Guest: 3, Oasis).
• Cristina Plazas as Miranda Aguirre Senén: The director of Cruz Del Sur. (season 1–2).
• Alberto Velasco as Antonio Palacios Lloret: A friendly prison guard.(season 1–2,4).
• Harlys Becerra as Ismael Valbuena Ugarte: An antagonistic chief prison guard. (season 1–2).
• Ana Labordeta as Paloma Garrido "Governor": The head prison guard. (Recurring season 1).

Macarena's family

• Carlos Hipólito as Leopoldo Ferreiro Lobo: Macarena's father and former police guard. (season 1–2).
• María Salgueiro [es] as Encarna Molina: Macarena's mother. (season 1–2).
• Daniel Ortiz as Román Ferreiro Molina: Macarena's older brother. (season 1–2, Guest: Oasis).

Cruz del Norte inmates

• Ruth Díaz as Mercedes Carrillo –A mother and a politician in the local district that was sentenced to prison due to corruption. (season 3; guest: 4).
• Huichi Chiu [es] as Akame: Leader of the Chinese gang in Cruz del Norte and antagonistic towards the newly transferred inmates from Cruz del Sur. (season 3).
• Ana Marzoa as Prudencia Mosqueira: Soledad's friend in prison. (season 3).
• Itziar Castro as Goya Fernández: One of the self-proclaimed leaders of Cruz del Norte and a drug dealer. (season 3–4, Oasis).
• Abril Zamora as Luna Garrido –A transgender inmate who befriended the Cruz del Sur inmates, also a drug addict. (season 3–4).

Cruz del Norte employees

• Javier Lara as Álex Moncada: Director of Cruz del Norte. (season 3).
• Luis Callejo as Andrés Frutos: A prison guard who secretly trades with the Chinese inmates. (season 3).
• Adriana Paz as Altagracia Guerrero: An ex-prisoner and an antagonistic prison guard, Zulema's accomplice. (season 3–4).
• Cristina Marcos as Magdalena Cruz: Owner of Cruz del Sur, del Norte, del Oeste, and the newly planned del Este. (season 4).
• Benjamín Vicuña as Antonio Hierro: A strict prison guard assigned to monitor Zulema. (season 4).
• Zaira Pérez as Nuria Millán: Prison guard in Cruz del Norte. (Recurring season 3–4).

Police

• Jesús Castejón as Inspector Damián Castillo: The head detective of the police force. (season 1–4, Guest: Oasis).
• Hugo Guzmán as Camilo Jalapeño: Inspector Castillo's partner. (Recurring season 2).
• Verónika Moral as Helena Martín: An undercover cop in prison.(season 2).
• Jose Javier Domínguez as Inspector Pipiolo: Inspector Castillo's partner. (Recurring season 2).
• Irene Anula as Inspector Nerea Rojas: Inspector Castillo's partner, Rizos' love interest. (Recurring season 3).

Cast summary

Characters
Actor	Character	season
		1	2	3	4	Oasis
Maggie Civantos	Macarena Ferreiro Molina	Main		Recurring		Main
Najwa Nimri	Zulema Zahir	Main
Carlos Hipólito	Leopoldo Ferreiro Lobo	Main
Roberto Enríquez	Fabio Martínez León	Main		Guest
Cristina Plazas	Miranda Aguirre Senén	Main
Berta Vázquez	Estefanía Kabila Silva "Curly"	Main
Alba Flores	Saray Vargas de Jesús	Main				Guest
Inma Cuevas	Ana Belén "Anabel" Villaroch Garcés	Main			Guest
María Isabel Díaz	Soledad "Sole" Núñez Hurtado	Main
María Salgueiro [es]	Encarna Molina	Main
Ramiro Blas	Carlos Sandoval Castro	Main		Guest	Main	Guest
Alberto Velasco	Antonio Palacios Lloret	Main			Main
Marta Aledo	Teresa "Tere" González Largo	Main
Daniel Ortiz	Román Ferreio Molina	Main				Guest
Harlys Becerra	Ismael Valbuena Ugarte	Main
Laura Baena	Antonia Trujillo Díez	Main
Jesús Castejón [es]	Inspector Damián Castillo	Recurring		Main		Guest
Ruth Díaz	Mercedes Carrillo			Main	Guest
Huichi Chiu	Akame			Main
Javier Lara	Álex Moncada			Main
Ana Marzoa	Prudencia "Pruden" Mosqueira	Guest		Also Starring
Luis Callejo	Andrés Frutos			Also Starring
Adriana Paz	Altagracia Guerrero			Also Starring
Itziar Castro	Goya Fernández			Recurring	Main
Abril Zamora	Luna Garrido			Recurring	Main
Georgina Amorós	Fátima Amín				Recurring
Cristina Marcos	Magdalena Cruz				Also Starring
Benjamín Vicuña	Antonio Hierro				Also Starring
David Ostrosky	Víctor Ramala					Main
Lucas Ferraro	Cepo Sandoval Castro					Main
Ana María Picchio	Ama Castro					Recurring
Isabel Naveira	Laura "La Flaca" Ros					Also Starring
Lisi Linder	Mónica Ramala					Also Starring
Claudia Riera	Triana Azcoitia					Also Starring
Alma Itzel	Kati Ramala					Also Starring
Fernando Sansegundocomo	Matías "Mati"Maneses					Also Starring
Iván Morales	Javier Colsa					Also Starring
José de la Torre	Pérez					Also Starring
Almagro San Miguel	Diego Ramala					Also Starring
Lolo Diego	Apolo					Also Starring
Pablo Vázquez	Julián Quintanilla					Also Starring
Natalia Hernández	Elena					Also Starring
Paula Gallego	Virginia "Vivi" Quintanilla					Also Starring
Ismael Palacios	Lucas					Also Starring

  = Lead character

  = Macarena Ferreio's relatives

  = Inmates

  = Prison staff

  = Police inspectors

  = Oasis Characters

International broadcast

Season 1 started broadcasting in the United Kingdom on 17 May 2016 on Channel 4's Walter Presents video-on-demand service.^[8] In 2017, Prime Video acquired the first two seasons for the United States, and in 2018, Hulu acquired the first four seasons for Japan.^[9] In Greece, the series premiered on 27 November 2018 on ERT.^[10] Netflix bought the rights for international distribution in 2017.

The series is also available for a limited amount of time on the online streaming service 'VTMGO' by the Belgian broadcaster VTM.

Reception

Critical response

Critics praised the cast's acting and fast-paced storyline. "The acting is strong throughout, the characters engaging and believable, the script is fast-paced and captivating, and it looks beautiful on screen with some creative and imaginative camerawork."^[11] Rebecca Nicholson from The Guardian says that the show is "tremendously silly and fantastically taut thriller that carries itself at a breathless pace".^[12]

"This is violent – brutally so – and very graphic in its portrayal of life in a women's prison. But utterly brilliant at the same time. It is dark with a constant air of threat and menace running through it. I love it." from Martin Howse of Entertainment Focus.^[13]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominees	Result	Ref.
2015	Ondas Awards	Best Actress	Female Cast of Vis a Vis	Won	[14]
	FesTVal de Televisión y Radio de Vitoria	Discovery of the Year	Vis a Vis	Won
	Premios MiM	Best Drama Actress for Television	Maggie Civantos	Won
2016	Spanish Actors Union Awards	Best Female Lead Performance	Maggie Civantos	Won	[15]
			Najwa Nimri	Nominated
		Best Male Lead Performance	Roberto Enríquez	Nominated
		Best Female Performance in Supporting Role	Alba Flores	Nominated
		Best Female Performance in Minor Role	Inma Cuevas	Won
			Marta Aledo	Nominated
	Premios Iris	Best Actress	Najwa Nimri	Nominated
		Best Actor	Carlos Hipolito	Nominated
		Best Fiction	Vis a Vis	Nominated
		Best Production	Cristina López Ferrar, Juan López Olivar	Nominated
	Fotogramas de Plata	Audience Award for Best Spanish Series	Vis a Vis	Nominated
	Festival de Luchon (France)	Best Spanish Fiction	Vis a Vis	Won
	Premios Paramount Channel	Best Villain	Najwa Nimri	Won
		Best Upcoming Actress	Berta Vázquez	Won
	Premios MiM	Best Drama Series	Vis a Vis	Won
		Best Direction	Vis a Vis	Nominated
2017	Spanish Actors Union Awards	Best Female Lead Performance	Maggie Civantos	Nominated	[15]
			Najwa Nimri	Nominated
		Best Male Lead Performance	Roberto Enríquez	Nominated
		Best Female Performance in Supporting Role	Alba Flores	Won
		Best Female Performance in Minor Role	Inma Cuevas	Won
			Maria Isabel Díaz	Nominated
	Feroz Awards	Best Drama Series	Vis a Vis	Nominated
		Best Lead Actress	Maggie Civantos	Nominated
			Najwa Nimri	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Alba Flores	Nominated
			Inma Cuevas	Nominated
	Fotogramas de Plata	Audience Award for Best Spanish Series	Vis a Vis	Won
		Best TV Actress	Najwa Nimri	Nominated
	Premios Fenix Awards	Best TV Ensemble	Vis a Vis	Nominated
2018	Premios Iris (ATv)	Best Actress	Alba Flores	Nominated	[15]
		Best Director	Jesus Colmenar, Sandra Gallego, David Molina Encinas, Jesus Rodrigo	Nominated
	Premios MiM	Best Drama Series	Vis a Vis	Nominated
		Best Drama Actress	Najwa Nimri	Nominated
2019	Spanish Actors Union Awards	Best Male Performance in a Minor Role	Jesus Castejon	Nominated	[15]
		Best Female Newcomer	Abril Zamora	Nominated
	Feroz Awards	Best Lead Actress	Najwa Nimri	Nominated
	Fotogramas de Plata	Best TV Actress	Najwa Nimri	Won
	The Platino Awards for Iberoamerican Cinema	Best Actress in Mini series or TV Series	Najwa Nimri	Nominated
	Spanish Audio Visual Award	Best TV Show Music	Manel Santisteban, Ivan Martinez Lacamara	Nominated
2020	Spanish Actors Union Awards	Best Male Supporting Performance	Alberto Velasco	Nominated	[15]

Spin-off

A spin-off series titled Vis a vis: El Oasis premiered in April 2020. The show focuses on Macarena and Zulema teaming up together. The spin-off serves as the last season for the series.^[6][16]

Notes

1. Meaning 'Face to face [meeting]' and more specifically '[private] prison visit' / 'conjugal visit' in Spanish

References

1. Jabonero, Daniel (22 January 2015). "Antena 3 se monta su propio 'Orange is the new Black' en 'Vis a Vis'". Bluper (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
2. "El estreno de 'Vis a vis' se impone por 300.000 espectadores al regreso de 'La que se avecina'". Te Interesa (in Spanish). 21 April 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
3. "Fox vuelve a meter a las mujeres de 'Vis a vis' en la cárcel". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
4. El Confi TV (4 April 2018). "'Vis a vis' estrenará el 23 de abril su tercera temporada en Fox España". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Titania Compañía Editorial, S.L. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
5. "Vis a vis: temporada 4 comienza grabaciones en España y confirma regreso de estas actrices". La Prensa (in Spanish). 8 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
6. "Vis a Vis confirma su spin-off". La Cosa Cine (in Spanish). 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
7. "Personajes de 'Vis a Vis'". Antena 3 (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 August 2015.
8. Mayorga, Emilio (15 May 2016). "MipTV: Spanish 'Locked-Up' Jail Thriller Clinches U.K. Sale". Variety. Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
9. Pecino, Manuel (15 October 2018). "'Vis a vis': Hulu Japón adquiere los derechos de emisión de las cuatro primeras temporadas". FórmulaTV (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 October 2018.
10. "Vis A Vis στην ΕΡΤ1" (in Greek).
11. "Walter Presents:Locked Up Series 3 preview – a violent but brilliant drama". entertainmentfocus.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
12. "Locked Up review-tremendously silly and fantastically taut". theguardian.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
13. "Walter Presents:Locked Up Series 3 preview – a violent but brilliant drama". entertainment-focus.com. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
14. Redondo, David (28 October 2015). "Las chicas de Vis a Vis y El ministerio del tiempo triunfan en los premios Ondas". Los 40 (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 October 2018.
15. "Vis a Vis Awards and Nominations". IMDB. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
16. Vis a vis el oasis capitulo 3 online temporada 5: a qué hora, cómo y dónde ver en vivo

External links

• Official website
• Locked Up at IMDb
• Locked Up at Rotten Tomatoes