PremiumLand of Women Episode 1-2 review: Eva Longoria leads rom-com that feels very familiar
The new show on Apple TV+ has all the hallmarks of a good romantic comedy. Hopefully, it will hold up in the coming weeks
Last Updated: 07.12 PM, Jun 26, 2024
Land of Women story: Gala (Eva Longoria), an upscale New Yorker of Spanish descent, finds out that her husband Fred (James Purefoy), has gone AWOL, and owes a loan shark 15 million dollars. Scared that these dangerous people Fred’s been in business with will do her and her family harm, Gala decides to flee with whatever little money she has left, with her aging mom, Julia (Carmen Maura) and teenage daughter in tow.
Julia’s nondescript hometown La Muga in Spain would be the perfect hideout, or so thinks Gala. It’s when they get there that several family secrets spill out
Land of Women review: Apple TV+ today dropped the first 2 of the 6-episode long new series Land of Women, led by Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria. The show is based on award-winning author Sandra Barneda’s best-selling novel from a decade ago, La Tierra de las Mujeres. It also stars veteran Spanish star Carmen Maura, debutante Victoria Bazua and Santiago Cabrera, among others.
Although the show has been described as a comedy drama thriller, there’s more of comedy and drama than thriller elements so far. Yes, Eva as Gala takes her mom and daughter and flees New York at the first sign of financial trouble brought on by her husband, but from thereon, it treads familiar paths. It borrows a little there a little here from the gazillion Valentine’s Day rom-coms that come out every year.
From the struggle to drive a stick shift car to the troubles of walking in high heels through a small town, the ‘accidental’ encounter with the hot guy who just so happens to now own their family home and more – all the regular tropes of a rom-com are there so far. And it’s not only Eva who gets romance, by the looks of it. Victoria as Kate, is a young transwoman with a girlfriend back home, but it seems there are sparks between her and the girl fixing up their car. As for Carmen’s Julia, well, she was quite the heart-throb back in the day, with the men from her generation, still fond of her.
Eva as Gala feels like Gabriella Sollis 2.0, and the saving grace so far have been Carmen Maura and Santiago Cabrera. It’s still early days to judge this show, but even if you are not familiar with Sandra’s novel, after the first 2 episodes you kind of get a drift of how the narrative will play out in the next four. It’s familiar turf if rom-com is a genre you don’t mind indulging in every now and then.
Land of Women first impression verdict: If it’s light-hearted entertainment you are looking for on Apple TV+ this might just be it.