Summary
Baby Bandito takes an interesting approach to the heist genre, but it’s hamstrung a little by an odd structure and occasional adherence to cliché.
The endlessly popular heist thriller and true-crime genres collide in Baby Bandito, a Chilean Netflix original inspired by the 2014 robbery of a Santiago airport. The eight-episode series plays fast and loose with the facts, instead spinning an original, character-focused narrative from the real-life case. It’s an admirable effort, too, though admittedly one let down slightly by adhering too closely to familiar plot beats and character turns.
Baby Bandito Season 1 review and plot summary
It’s obvious that Baby Bandito exists in a post-Money Heist streaming climate, but it’s a very different show underneath. The heist takes place early on; the planning is skimmed through, and the rest of the drama is devoted to detailing the fallout, which is all dependent on the actions each character takes based on their own situation and experiences.
Kevin Tapia, the protagonist, isn’t some kind of career grifter, even though an ill-advised “You’re probably wondering how I got here” opening gives that impression. He’s just a kid. His dad is in prison, his mother is flirting with criminality to make ends meet, and when he meets Genesis, a girl from a well-to-do family, he quickly realizes that he can only impress her by going beyond his means. The decision to steal several billion pesos from an armored vehicle at an airport is such a sudden development that it’s a miracle his hastily-assembled team, which includes Genesis and his friend Panda, as well as a couple of others, pull the scam off at all.
But again, this isn’t the point. What does a kid do with virtually limitless wealth? How carried away does he get, and how quickly? How susceptible is he to the increasingly elaborate desires of his new girlfriend, and at what point will the bonds of friendship and family fray when he’s continuously making selfish decisions that impact everyone? These are the questions that Baby Bandito is interested in answering.
It’s also, in its way, a scathing critique of vapid social media “influencing”; a reminder of that quote about people spending money they haven’t earned on things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like. Kevin’s actions throughout the series are almost unjustifiably stupid, but this isn’t bad screenwriting – most kids his age are stupid, and having too much money or a girlfriend with expensive taste is only likely to make them more stupid still. All Kevin wants, fundamentally, is validation.
Thematically, then, Baby Bandito is an intriguing take on the heist genre. But it’s a mess in most other respects. The structure and pacing are bizarre, with the intended focus on the heist’s aftermath making the build-up to and execution of it far too fast and easy. Kevin’s gang consists of more children than experts, and yet through plot necessity they outwit and escape hardened career criminals and law enforcement at almost every turn.
The focus is also imbalanced. Almost every character here is interesting in their own way, but Kevin and Genesis get so much of the screen time that the others don’t just feel shortchanged but sometimes actively forgotten about. Kevin’s friend Panda has a complete reinvention of his look and personality that occurs off-screen; there are personal and familial relationships between other crew members that are barely touched upon. The takedown of one villain involves a completely out-of-left-field liaison with a cop we barely know. It all feels a little weird.
A reasonable but flawed take on the heist genre
Don’t let me put you off. Baby Bandito is entertaining enough and is executed at a reasonably competent level. It’s just much more interesting as a thought exercise than a piece of television.
While the conclusions the show arrives at are obvious – money can’t buy happiness; human connection trumps materialism, et al – they’re still valuable reminders, especially within a genre that often glamourizes the heroes getting away with the spoils. However, the way the show arrives at these conclusions can often be frustrating, or even silly. Mileage will vary, but Baby Bandito is a respectable effort in a saturated genre.
What did you think of Baby Bandito Season 1? Comment below.
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