Varun Patel
‘The Neighbor’ is a Spanish superhero comedy television series that is available on Netflix. The show is titled ‘El Vecino’ in Spanish and is based on a series of comic books of the same name. However, more than a superhero story, the show bears a higher resemblance to the sitcom tale. While it suffers from a very slow beginning, it does pick up later, becoming more plot-driven.
Moreover, there is a major twist/revelation at the end of the season. While this turn does not save the show’s otherwise lackluster season, it does set up a promising premise for the future. The end is not a mind-f***ing revelation that makes it worth sitting through the entire season for by any means, but it still serves to be a moderately satisfying pay-off for an otherwise slow story. If you wish to find out what it entails and how that might shape the upcoming season of ‘The Neighbor,’ continue reading.
The Neighbor Plot Summary
The Spanish television series is set in Madrid and follows a bunch of characters living in the same building in a manner that closely resembles a sitcom. The protagonist is Javier, a lazy man in his twenties who has no direction or motivation in life. He is seeing (not technically dating) a woman named Lola, who is a small-time journalist for a local magazine.
The couple goes on a romantic weekend getaway only to realize that their relationship cannot work. However, a crash caused by a flying superhero alters their lives completely. It knocks both of them away as they are in the vicinity, and Lola loses consciousness. However, Javier notices that the flying man in a red superhero costume is dead.
A holographic video starts playing and shows the late man introducing himself as the protector and guardian of the cosmos and passing on the baton of that responsibility to Javier. However, the video does not seem to address anybody in particular, and Javier’s name has not been taken. Javier then takes the dead superhero’s medallion and an object next to it.
The medallion, Javier discovers, allows him to magically get changed into the red superhero costume instantly. The object, on the other hand resembles a gun with multiple rifle slots with a pill in place of each bullet. This red pill allows Javier to fly and become super strong and invincible (he can regenerate and recover from his physical injuries instantly) for some time after consuming it.
Jose, a “nice guy” who recently moved to Javier’s building, learns of Javier’s superpower after the latter accidentally crashes into his room while trying to enter his. Jose wants to concentrate on his studies but finds himself involved in Javier’s struggle to maintain his secret and figure out what to do with the superpower.
On the other hand, Lola finds herself struggling to keep her job due to her low online presence until one of her videos captures Javier flying in his costume accidentally. Immediately, she starts working on the mysterious superhero story that becomes the center of attention of the city’s media. In the process, she starts to actively investigate who the superhero could be and becomes infatuated by it.
Javier notices Lola’s obsession and becomes somewhat driven by it to win her back. Although he doesn’t really actively make decisions about this, his actions do seem to be motivated by it. However, towards the end of the show, Lola starts to suspect that Javier could be the superhero and becomes desperate to find out the truth.
The Neighbor Ending
The last episode of ‘The Neighbor’ follows Lola, who seems to be determined by her suspicion of Javier being the superhero and tries to find out. This leads to some hilarious situations as Javier desperately tries to fend her off. However, she finds out about it anyway after she twists one of his fingers and he is forced to eat the magical pill in front of her in order to recover instantaneously.
Then, Javier proceeds to tell Lola about the night during their getaway when the crash led him to the medallion and the pill-carrying object. The two, along with Jose and another building resident, Julia, watch the holographic video, which makes Lola wonder whether she could be the chosen superhero and not Javier (since she was present at the crash and the holographic video is not addressed to anybody).
Instinctively, Lola consumes one of the pills to find out and goes to the terrace to see if she can fly. Javier thinks that this is a bad idea since he has already tried making Jose eat a pill, who fell very sick because of that. But Lola starts to fly in a few minutes, indicating that she has the superpower as well.
What to Expect From Season 2?
The ending for season 1 of ‘The Neighbor’ turns out to be quite impactful as it seems to change the course of the show’s narrative. It is also somewhat open-ended. We cannot tell whether it is Lola who was chosen to get the power or if it is the both of them. Furthermore, there is also the possibility that neither of them could be the chosen ones and just have the superpower by virtue of having been present during the crash.
Moreover, does Javier lose his powers if Lola has them since there is only one medallion? However, judging from the show’s first season, it might focus on the personal lives of the characters. Lola and Javier, who do not enjoy a perfect relationship, might find themselves arguing over their superpowers. I definitely do not see them becoming Mr. and Mrs. Incredible from the get-go. One of them might want one thing from being a superhero, and the other another. Lola, who seems to be more morally resolved in comparison, might harbor philanthropic ambitions, but Javier might be more selfish.
Moreover, there are some other unanswered questions too. For instance, what happens when Javier runs out of the magical pills? Now, he might be forced to share them with Lola too. Who was the dead superhero and what killed him?
The comic books that the series is based on also portrays super-villains: a plot arc which might be introduced in the next season. While no official reports on when the second installment might be aired are available, we can speculate that it will not arrive before December 2020.
Read More: The Neighbor Review
