It’s 1588 and the time of the Spanish Armada. You know, that time when Philip II of Spain was pretty displeased that his protestant sister-in-law (Elizabeth I) became Queen of England. (where he had been a Catholic co-monarch) He supported attempts to have her overthrown. Elizabeth I listened to Sean Connery’s speech in “The Untouchables”, took careful notes while muttering, “Phil, do not even try me buddy.” She proceeded to support the Dutch revolt in Spanish Flanders and financially supported privateers who went after Spanish ships in the Atlantic. (Privateering is essentially being a pirate with paperwork from the crown saying, “it’s cool, just give us a cut.” Yes, Great Britain were total gangsters back in the day. That is how you build an empire.) Philip decided the only thing to do was to send his navy to take her out, and then he could regain control of Spanish Flanders, and the seas. This was a family feud that had gotten way out of hand.
In the port of Lisbon, a nervous/stressed man asks for information on the final list for a ship called the San Juan. He rushes to an out of the way place, quickly breaks out some modern technology to scan the list, and fax the information (with a post-it explaining how dire the situation is) while prodding the information along. Just another day as a civil servant. (because only government agencies enjoy using fax machines. Ask me sometime about when I had to sell a house abroad and government rules required faxing.)
2012: Julián’s wife is getting ready and her phone rings, Julián answers it, hands it to his wife and it is present day Julián listening. Once upon a time, nostalgia was seen as a legitimate disease in Europe. (A disease first identified during the Thirty Years War with soldiers from Spanish Flanders being sent home with el mal de corazón. Everything goes back to Spain in the end.) This man can’t stop touching his past, I am beginning suspect that he has a real bad case of nostalgia.
2015: The secretary Angustias (Francesca Piñón) chats with Ernesto and Irene over coffee and biscuits about where she might like to retire to one day. Valencia? Granada? No, she thinks that 1900 is best. A fax comes through and it appears that the great playwright of Spain’s Golden Age Lope de Vega is not on the roll of the San Juan and he may die before the textbooks say he should, which is a bit of a problem. (for my fellow English speakers this would be like finding out that Shakespeare died before he wrote most of his great work. So of course the ministry has to sort this out pronto.)
Alonso and Amelia are telling Julián he needs to stop calling his wife, and there is a debate about how one has to view the past as dead and to leave everyone be. This kind of puts everyone in an emo state. (That’s right boys, spread that manpain around.) But before they can begin writing poetry and standing in the rain; they are called in for their next mission.
Salvador (head of the ministry) asks them about their knowledge regarding the Armada and it is clear that Julián isn’t academic. He like many of his generation, loosely knows that the Armada was a complete disaster (and really what nation is going to be enthusiastic in teaching the children, “One time this island of thugs got lucky with the weather and just slaughtered us. They still talk about it to this day.”) and that Lope de Vega was some kind of writer. Thankfully we have Amelia to explain the basics to the guys. (I laughed when Amelia, speaking like an academic tells Salvador that one doesn’t know for sure that Lope de Vega enlisted on the San Juan and he replies, “Actually we do.”)
Lope de Vega had to enlist with the Armada because he kinda sorta abducted a girl. (she was about 16 years old.) The girl’s family insisted that he enlist if he was to marry her. (to get him out of the way.) Lope de Vega was incredibly prolific as an artist. He was like Prince. He wrote thousands of sonnets, (mostly about women in his life) poems, novels, and over 400 plays can be attributed to him. (he may have written more.) Also he would steal your girl, steal the girl’s best friend, and then carry on with another woman he just met. He would write a whole bunch of work about that girl, and then when things would go bad; would write all kinds of libelous poems. And like Prince he later became quite religious. Lope de Vega was that guy you could never truly break up with. He could show up at your door at two a.m. and you would invite him in. (even though you told your friends that you were through.) He was the kind of man whose facebook relationship status would always be, “It’s complicated”.
Why did Lope de Vega need to be on the San Juan? It was one of the few galleons that made it back. Their mission is to find out which boat he was now on, and get him on the right boat. And to make it more interesting the team is to be sent to Lisbon. It was under the Spanish crown then. Depending on the moment in time, the geographical reach of the ministry varies.
Now it is everyone’s favorite moment: costume time. Alonso is in his regular clothes from his period and when asked about it, says that he doubted much had changed in seventeen years. For a man of his station, and rough age -this would make sense. Somewhere fashion history people are cheering over this choice because unless you were a member of the landed gentry your mode of clothing wasn’t going to change a great deal over your lifetime. If his cape was a bit long or a bit short, no one would really bat an eye because he may have acquired it as a young man and it had to last.
Through the door they go and find themselves on a boat. And for the first time we see Alonso overcome with anxiety. Sure he has been in battle and experienced some wild things but a boat is too much. (What kind of trauma did Alonso experience on the sea?) In his agitated state he pulls a weapon on the civil servant who is there to assist them. It’s Gil Perez (the faxing man at the beginning of the episode) who makes the best argument for having a door lead to a boat. (It is mobile!) Julián questions why they have such a tight deadline to find Lope de Vega, it is explained that the embarkation lists are very last minute because that is when pay is approved. And there is the other truth, “And what kind of Spaniards would we be if we weren’t able to do all our work at the last minute?” (Have you ever tried to make plans with a Spanish person? Nothing will be decided until the last possible moment. NOTHING.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJputZcKi3c?rel=0
As they make their way to the Armada offices to look through paperwork, The three have such distinct responses to seeing Lisbon. For Julián and Amelia this is an unfamiliar place that touches different parts of them. For him, it is the place where he went on his first holiday with his wife. He recognizes nothing but a piece of his heart that remains here. Amelia sees a dream come true -to witness a city that did not even exist even in her time. In 1755 an earthquake hit Lisbon, (Experts think it was close to 9.0 on the richter scale.) followed by a great fire, (candles had been lit for a feast day) and a massive tsunami. The city was no more. For Alonso that time and place was familiar and didn’t require so much emotional labor to pass easily among the people. He relaxes into the scenery and takes himself off to some bars to get intel from fellow soldiers.
The only way to track down Lope de Vega is to go through each list and find out which ship he is now on. (Which will then tell them how much time they have to locate him.) This scene where Julián makes a case for Excel being of value here does bring up some questions and thoughts. Would Spanish archives have this sort of information digitized or even on microfiche (for historical research purposes.) Would those archives have the old version of the lists or this new one? Of course it helps to have that physical eye on things to catch the mistake in the first place. I would love to have a librarian or archivist weigh in on this subject. Thankfully due to the rules of television, they find the ship Lope de Vega is enlisted on. (a ship that does not have a happy ending and is leaving in the morning.) It is then they notice that Alonso’s name on the manifest. Play the dramatic music of your choice here.
Back at the ministry the secretary Angustias is appearing emotional over photos while publicly claiming a cold. Ernesto ever on the job gently pokes a bit to see what might be going on with her. He isn’t a good cop/bad cop kind of man, he is more of the patient cop waiting for something out of the ordinary to catch his eye.
There is a wonderful discussion between him and Salvador where they contemplate whether someone did something to Lope de Vega to make sure he ended up on a different ship They consider how a human foe is easier to manage and find than chaos. Chaos can shift several times in a single moment.
The trio are in a pub trying to work out how Alonso ended up on the list (again, trying to figure out if a person did this on purpose, or if this is just random chance). They are distracted by the live entertainment that is beginning. (aka a bar fight!) A man has taken another man’s woman, and now that thieving man is throwing some insulting (and clever) lines at the man who is keen on a duel. It is Amelia who recognizes the lines – “Orlando Furioso” (a work brought up in her very first scene). Cantos aren’t tossed around in casual conversation in most bars -even in the 16th century. It just might be Lope de Vega.
Alonso steps in, throws some shade at Lope de Vega and walks the other man away to help him calm down. (None of the men are a fan of Lope de Vega.) It is confirmed that it is Lope de Vega when he has his arms around another woman, and is flirting heavily with Amelia at the same time. The audacity is impressive. Amelia knows a lot about his work, and there is nothing more flattering to an artist with this kind of ego than to be told how great they are.
Lope de Vega drops the woman he is holding and goes to chat with Amelia. The conversation is intense and poetic. (Yeah, I would totally buy Lope de Vega’s line. We already know about my Lord Byron problem.) All the while Julián is looking over and thinking, “Seriously now? This guy will not shut up.” Julián is showing a bit of jealousy and irritation which seems a little odd. He tries to join in on all of the poetic talk by quoting a few lines of the Leño song, “Maneras di vivir” (which if you look up the lyrics, kind of applies to his present emotional state). It does not leave anyone impressed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEZ2oNiwGqI?rel=0
He goes to speak to Alonso and there is that philosophical question about why Lope de Vega’s life is worth more than the drunken soldier in front of them who has dreams of getting a bit of land and starting a family once he comes back, and whether they should intervene with fate. Amelia joins them and her plan is that she gets Lope de Vega alone, knocks him out and then they hold him until he can get on the right boat. A simple plan but the men have their reservations. (and not just because they think that Lope de Vega is a total hound -which he is.)
The three separate for their own adventure with promises to convene later in the evening. Alonso and Julián seek the other Alonso, and Amelia takes in the city lost to time, and catastrophe. She doesn’t get very far when she is nearly attacked by a couple of men, but who should show up on the scene to save the day but one Lope de Vega. How handy. He even has clever words for them. Amelia finds this amusing because she realizes the dude hired some actors to recreate a scene from a play she has seen. She calls him out on it and it floors him. Yes Lope, women can know things and see through your game.
Alonso and Julián end up in the right bar that just happens to have this other Alonso who is a young man who was born around the time of original Alonso’s “death”. It is his son, and his son is young, scrappy, and hungry, and keen to experience the glory of battle. Alonso who has seen a few things finds little glory in battle and gets real about it. Julián chooses to leave and wait at the Armada offices. (and takes a sudden interest in the literature of the Golden Age.)
Amelia attempts to employ her free agency. She knows exactly who he is (a talented and intensely libidinous man who has some solid lines) and she also knows that she is a thirsty woman who has come across the enticing oasis that is Lope de Vega. (Let’s cheer for this woman wanting to have sexy good times on her terms.) Unfortunately Julián shows up at the wrong/right moment and interrupts the potential good time. (he also beans Lope de Vega out of consciousness. At least things are sort of going according to plan, si?) Amelia and Julián have a fight about this interruption. They show how much they care for each other as team-members and people. He has genuine concern for her safety (and the judgement he makes is less about her wanting sex and more about the practical sides of getting involved in the past.) He is also vulnerable with her about his own emotional state.
Now they must go and sort out Alonso who was last seen drinking everything in the bar. They find him maudlin and drunk and the only way to remove him is to also knock him into an unconscious state. What a night. While Julián may not be academic, he does know a few things about his culture that apply at nearly any point in Spanish history. For all the talk there is about honor -money will always be more appealing to the certain people, and sometimes you have to employ some unorthodox tactics to get things done. And in the end he will always be devoted to the safety of his colleagues. When the team speaks to Gil Perez about the choices they made and asks for his confidence he is sympathetic and understands everything. (especially as a long time member of the ministry.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0je0DYJG1I?rel=0
Ernesto catches Angustias in her secretive state and finds that she is just at heart a widow who misses the complicated man that was her husband, and on occasion she likes to touch pieces of his existence but not the man himself. Which brings us around to the theme of this episode. The chaos that Salvador and Ernesto spoke of, is born out of everyone wanting to doing things for their own purpose. The brief appearance by the Marquis of Ensenada showed a man who wanted to prevent a piece of reform because he liked his form of dress and wanted to interfere with history.
When Alonso passes a civil servant who mutters to himself, “Atapuerca again. I hate this job.” (Atapuerca is a site in Spain where the evidence of the first hominids in western Europe have been found.) it became crystal clear, that this chaos goes all the way back to the beginning. The ministry must constantly tinker with things to get history back in place all of the time. No matter how much tinkering is done -as long as there are people, the chaos will continue. Some of the choices people make are out of love, a desire for fairness, and plain old selfishness. (human reasons.) The ministry is aware of it but one could argue that it provides a form of security for many people. (especially people who may not fit in elsewhere.)
Hey, a super Spanish cultural reference: Julián jokes with Gil Perez about the two great questions that have never been answered at the ministry. One being Ernesto’s origins, and the other being how did Di Stéfano play for Real Madrid, even though he had signed with Barcelona. Alfredo Di Stéfano was this legendary football player from Argentina and over the years there have been a number of conspiracy theories about how it happened. (and how much Franco had been involved.) Or maybe it was just someone at the ministry who wanted him for their own club. Chaos eh?
Genevieve Jenner
Latest posts by Genevieve Jenner (see all)
- El Ministerio Del Tiempo Season 1: Episode 6 - July 8, 2019
- El Ministerio Del Tiempo Season 1: Episode 5 - July 24, 2018
- El Ministerio del Tiempo Season 1: Episode 4 -Una negociación a tiempo (A deal in time) - May 24, 2018
I love these! I hope you have more of this series! We’re watching it too!
Our short term plans are to cover all the episodes in the first season, and then eventually to cover the entire series over time. Such an entertaining series, and a great way to learn some Spanish history as you watch! We should the fourth episode of season 1 coming to you soon.