'Valeria' Season 3 Netflix Review: Stream It Or Skip It?

Informally known as "the Spanish Sex and the City," Valeria (now on Netflix) returns for its third and final season of the sex-dramedy shenanigans of four women in Madrid. It's not quite a total ripoff of the breakaway late-’90s/early-’00s HBO hit – I mean, sure, it's about a writer and her three urbanite besties who enjoy the finer things and talk frankly about their sex lives, but the key difference is, one of them is gay, blowing up the heterocentricity of the formula. Nobody will say it's original, but the series isn't without its charms, ranging from its steamy sex scenes to the chemistry among the main cast, both of which continue into this final stretch of eight episodes.

Opening Shot: In closeup, Valeria (Diana Gomez) stares directly into the camera and says, "Why do we always have to define ourselves romantically?"

The Gist: Val plays narrative catch-up re: her relationship with Victor (Maxi Iglesias): It's complicated, because of course it is. The sex is good. Scratch that – it's great. They do "couple things" but they’re not really a couple. We see them in the throes of ecstasy; we see them at the movies, where Victor gets them each a bucket of popcorn. He's not what you’d call a romantic, not in the least. They’ve decided to have a no-strings-attached affair, and she insists she's OK with that. The joke here is, all this relationship rigamarole spills out when she's faced with the daunting prospect of checking the "single" box on her ID renewal application. At this point, we shift away from montage-flashbacks to real-time f—ing. Victor lets loose a postcoital "wow" that confuses Val, and then, after he leaves and she's getting dressed, she finds someone else's bra on his couch. No strings attached, my ass – she's pissed.

Meanwhile, Val's principal friend trio deals with their own life malarkey. Carmen (Paula Malia) deals with future mother-in-law conflicts as she starts losing control of planning her own wedding. Lola (Silma Lopez) fears she's losing her mojo because it's been literal weeks since she bedded a dude, and the only guy who hit on her looks like he just shed the nub of his mother's umbilical cord. And Nerea (Teresa Riott) is frustrated because she can't find a decent woman to settle down with and have kids and a dog and a house and all that. Is anybody happy here? Sorta maybe yes/no? Sure. All of that.

The Thing for this episode is Carmen's bachelorette party. It’ll be just the four of them, and they surprise her at the airport with a trip to Amsterdam – except the airline dicks them over and says the flight is overbooked (still don't know how that happens and how airlines can get away with it) so they impulsively board the next flight out and find themselves in Asturias in northern Spain. And then a bridge collapse is keeping them in the middle of nowhere interesting, taking the nearest accommodation they can find, a tiny cabin next to a playground. Sad trombone! But they still have each other, and they share their feelings and bond and talk and have drinks and end up at a formalist historical dance in period dresses. And whaddaya know, they end up enjoying themselves after all.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Valeria is a lot like And Just Like That if its cast was 30ish.

Our Take: Originality has never been Valeria's strong suit, but it's well-written and -performed, and by now, the core foursome has earned and established a comfortable, genially appealing rapport. The season-three debut isn't silly or over the top, but it's nevertheless funny. The primary conflicts aren't trite or weighty, but the perfect average of the two, ripe for the comedy and pathos give-and-take that finds these women bantering and bickering with each other, but ultimately being honest with and accepting of each other.

The episode sets up character arcs for the season, and they’re likely to include some forward movement, and almost certainly a fair amount of the back-and-forth and in-and-out movement that's a series staple. Naera will start dating, Lola might set aside her prejudice against younger guys, Carmen will deal with pre-wedding stress and – well, what will become of this Bruno character introduced in the very last shot? He smells like a replacement for Victor, who smolders between the sheets but is too chilly for other locales. Anyone who's in for a penny at this point in the series will be in for a pound, especially if it finds Val pounding a new guy. Guess you’re gonna have to stay tuned!

Sex and Skin: A fair amount of T and A in some thrusty, medium-rare sex scenes.

Parting Shot: A couch that fell off a truck during the bridge collapse (it's more convoluted than that, but I won't get into it) ends up at a man's house, and that man's name is Bruno Aguilar, which we see on the signed invoice on his coffee table. Anyone want to take a nickel bet he ends up in bed with one of our two available hetero principals?

Sleeper Star: Silma Lopez has the most spirited performance and character among the primary supporting cast – although as the horndog of the group, I have to say Samantha would have put that young gent in a hot dog bun, smothered him in relish and eaten him alive.

Most Pilot-y Line: The note Val left for Victor on his table next to the Bra of the Unknown Partner: "Don't say it's your sister's, you shit-eating jerk."

Our Call: STREAM IT. Valeria is by no means groundbreaking, but it's slick and enjoyable entertainment that fans will likely be sad to see go.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.