After an extremely, extremely long wait of almost a year and a half, fans of the Netflix series Money Heist (La Casa de Papel in the original Spanish title) finally got the next installment of the series on September 33rd, 2021.
I’m a huge fan of the series myself and guys, let me tell you – it was definitely well worth the wait!
Unsurprisingly, we’ve emerged from the end of volume 1 of part 5 with more questions than answers, making the wait until the series’ culmination on December 3rd this year just seem like a whole lifetime away.
So many thoughts were running through my head while I watched all five episodes in one sitting; it was seriously a “don’t blink or else you’ll miss it” 5-hour binge session.
Before we get into all of the things that we absolutely need to have resolved in volume 2, here’s a quick recap of what went down in volume 1!
Warning: there will be spoilers!
If you haven’t seen the first volume of part 5 yet, you’re going to want to head to Netflix right now and do that first!
Unless you’re completely fine with spoilers – in which case, carry on!
Money Heist part 5 volume 1 recap
We ended part 4 with an incredible cliffhanger on all fronts.
Lisbon had been rescued from her trial and potential prison time and ingeniously snuck into the Bank of Spain. Meanwhile, the Professor’s celebration of this feat is cut off by the appearance of former inspector Alicia Sierra, who has found his hideout and nearly fatally shot him.
Part 5 picks up right where this left off, with a few more details about Lisbon’s rescue and Alicia slowly creeping up on the Professor in his headquarters.
We know that Sierra is operating on her own now, outside of the jurisdiction of the national police. Now that she’s got the Professor (and later Benjamin and Marseille as well) backed into a corner, it seems like she’ll do anything to take him down.
Of course, we start to see her plan unravel when Colonel Tamayo throws her under the bus with fabricated evidence against her, and oh boy is she pissed.
By the end of part 1, the Professor is free, she has a beautiful baby girl, and the animosity is definitely more subdued.
Meanwhile, things really began to heat up inside the Bank of Spain – figuratively and literally.
Attacks came from both inside (with Arturo and the hostages’ failed attempt at a takeover) and outside (from Colonel Tamayo and Army Special Forces group he brought in under their commander, Sagasta).
Helsinki is blown away and is teetering between life and death, Bogotá and his team literally crank the heat up on their furnace and melt the gold down into inglots, and Rio and Tokyo reignite the flames of their relationship.
On the other hand, Denver and Stockholm’s marital issues continue and are made even more complicated by what happened with Arturo – given that he really might be the only one who could take care of Cincinnati when the heist ends.
On top of all that, the flashback format continues with another story arc for Berlin – this time the first heist he ever pulled with his son, Rafael, along with Marseille, Bogotá, and his then-wife Tatiana.
Burning questions Money Heist needs to answer in part 5 volume 2
Now that we’ve recapped the essentials, here are all the things we’re hoping to have resolved by the Money Heist series finale!
Is Tokyo really dead?
Without a doubt, this is one of the most pressing concerns on every fan’s mind right now.
I know I wasn’t the only one left sitting with their mouth wide open, just staring at their screen while distant screaming was sounding off in their head, when that last scene played out.
Although we don’t actually see her dying – unlike with Nairobi’s execution or Berlin’s final stand – it seems pretty impossible that she could have survived that. Not only was she shot multiple times but she also had several grenades strapped to her body, and we definitely heard those go off.
HOWEVER. Remember what she said about Lisbon’s “death”? She asked the Professor, “Did you actually see her die?” and, well, we know how that’s going.
Maybe this was foreshadowing about Tokyo’s supposed demise, too, and this is all part of some grand plan. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on my end because I can’t imagine the show ending without its narrator seeing the heist through to the end, but who really knows with Money Heist at this point?
Anything can happen, as it’s proven time and time again.
On top of that, were Gandía, as well as Sagasta and his team of criminal mercenaries casualties in the explosion as well?
Will Alicia Sierra switch sides and become an accomplice?
There’s just something about Alicia’s character that draws you in; you want to hate her and her investigative methods, but you can’t help but admire how truly intimidating, headstrong, and just straight-up awesome she is.
That being said, when she found the Professor’s headquarters it felt like a mix of “OH NO” and “WAIT, is this when she finally ends up on their side?”
By the end of volume 1, it certainly looks like it’s headed in that direction.
As soon as Tamayo held that press conference that ruined Alicia’s reputation, it began to slowly seem more and more likely that she would end up an ally. After all, if the police are convincing the public that she was a co-conspirator all this time, why not just actually become one, right?
But again, we need concrete answers!
Alicia may have shared a tear-jerking moment with the Professor and Lisbon when she named her child Victoria, but there was also a moment of mystery when she slipped into the bathroom. What did she do inside?
How do the flashbacks of Berlin’s life play into all of this?
Despite dying at the end of part 2, Berlin’s character features heavily throughout the rest of the series to date.
Parts 3 and 4 showed his part in planning the heist into the Bank of Spain, his history with Palermo, and his marriage to classical pianist (and fellow thief) Tatiana.
Now, Part 5 reveals that he has a son, who he manages to recruit as the security hacker for a heist to steal 12 kilograms of gold.
The question is – why do we keep learning more about Berlin’s history as a thief?
As utterly impossible as it seems, many fans have theorized that he isn’t really dead and will make a comeback before the series concludes.
These rumors were further flamed by Pedro Alonso himself, who plays the character, when he responded to this theory with “Be careful what you wish for!”
I just want to know how Berlin’s story is really going to end, and how significant of a part he really plays in the grand scheme of things.
Let’s not forget Tatiana – how does she tie into everything?
There are also many theories about who Tatiana really is, outside of being Berlin’s fifth wife.
The most popular ones are those that speculate any kind of connection to Alicia. Given the obvious similarities in the two women’s appearances, some fans think that the two might be sisters, or at the very least blood-related in some way.
Even though we know Tatiana and Berlin divorced at some point (Berlin mentions in the first heist that he has been married and divorced five times), did Tatiana have Alicia avenge his death by catching them in the second heist?
Another theory goes as far to say that they might even be the same person!
On the flip side, there are also speculations that looking alike is a mere coincidence; that the only similarity the two women share is being in love with the same man. Alicia mentions the recent death of her husband – was she Berlin’s sixth wife?
Since she’s pregnant, however, that theory would of course mean he did survive the shootout years prior, and perhaps it was his terminal illness that eventually killed him.
Either way, is Tatiana making a comeback with the final installment? It seems like there’s been too much buildup around her character for that not to happen.
Finally, is Arturo ever going to get what’s coming to him?
Funny how the least likable character in the entire franchise isn’t even one of the criminals pulling off the heist, although Arturo Román is a criminal in his own right.
He had an affair, he lied about his survival story for fame, and he sexually assaulted a fellow hostage, not to mention the psychological games he played with Denver and Stockholm just to get under their skin and save his own.
What happens to Arturo is probably one of the more minimal plot points of the series but personally, I just want to know if all of his dirty laundry is finally aired to the public.
It would only be fair to see him punished for everything he’s done.
I need answers! I’m sure all of you fellow fans out there have got thoughts and questions of your own, so now all we have to do is wait.
Money Heist part 5 volume 2 comes out on Netflix on December 3, 2021!