The Longest Night is the newest Netflix TV series coming from Spain. The action-thriller is set in a prison, sieged by a number of mercenaries looking to take a prison away, Simon, a notorious serial killer. Simon is more than that, though, as it becomes clear that the mercenaries don’t want Simon to liberate him. What answers to which questions are hidden inside the mind of this monster? These are just some of the mysteries that propel the story forward.
While the premise is quite compelling, the series is filled with too many characters that stretched the running time of the story to six full-length episodes, when 3 or 4 could have been enough. The actors all do a great job with the material given to them, and the series is very well, shot. However, the series could have been so much better if it managed to be a bit more focused. And also a bit more forward with the plot revelations, as the audience will manage to be way more informed than the characters for almost the entire season.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for season 1 of The Longest Night.
What Do The Police Want With Simon?
For a big part of the season, the main conflict of the show is Hugo’s dilemma. He goes through a bidding struggle as he could avoid multiple deaths if he just surrenders Simon to the mercenaries, who are later revealed to be policemen. Hugo could deliver Simon and save the lives of the patients, prisoners, guards, and medics throughout the entire installation. However, there is a big issue. Simon has kidnapped Laura, Hugo’s oldest daughter, and if he released him to the mercenaries, then Laura will die.
The life of his daughter against the lives of his co-workers, and people who really deserved to be punished, real criminals who have done some horrible things. For Hugo the decision is quite easy, he chooses to follow Simon, and protect him against the mercenaries. He will not deliver him, no matter what. So when Mateos, the new guard in the prison decides that she has had enough, and tries to deliver Simon to the mercenaries, Hugo deals with it, in the only way he can. He pushes Mateos from the roof to her death.
Simon takes the responsibility for Mateos death, and Hugo prepares to make the call to the kidnappers so that they know Simon is still alive. Meanwhile, Laura and Rosa, one of her kidnappers, discover that none of them know what is really happening, they don’t know who Simon is. It is suggested that Rosa and her husband, have kidnapped Laura because Simon has done something to them, probably the same thing he is doing to Hugo.
Meanwhile, Cherokee, one of the main prisoners in the show, is preparing to escape the facility and leave Hugo and the guards to their fate, as they face the mercenaries. Hugo begs him not to leave, but the group of prisoners is adamant to do it. Cherokee also almost kills Espada, a doctor that was raping some patients. The police are prepared to do anything to get Simon back. The reason is because, Simon knows who they have killed, and he has also killed in their name. They are being sent by powerful politicians and rich people.
If Simon talks, then a whole web of corruption is going to be displayed to the entire country, and many of those powerful people are going to have a very bad time.
Who Is Behind The Attack To The Prison In The Longest Night?
The man behind the attack on the prison is a character played by actor Alejandro Tous. The name of the character is still a mystery, but it is clear that he is a high-ranking official in the government. Possibly an attorney general. He receives regular reports from Lennon, the leader of the mercenaries. Batos, one of the guards, makes a deal with one of the mercenaries, and they deliver Simon to Lennon.
However, Hugo comes to the rescue and drives over the mercenaries with a car. He then runs to the highest point in the prison to make the phone call that will save his daughter’s life. Rosa is having Laura at gunpoint, but the phone call comes through, and they cry as they hear the name Valentina coming from Hugo’s mouth. Their daughter Valentina has also been kidnapped by Simon, and they are being forced to do what they are doing.
Hugo cries as he hears Laura having a heart attack over the phone. Lennon arrives at the roof, and they punch each other until Hugo reveals that he has called the police. Now the mercenaries have two choices, they can stay and fight the police officers coming, or they can make a deal and let Hugo tell them how to escape. Lennon and Hugo come to the conclusion that someone is helping Simon from the outside, and that they are both being used.
The series ends with a close-up of a picture inside Rosa’s house where we see Hugo, Rosa, and her husband alongside the mysterious man running everything from outside. Everything is connected.
