By Georgia Koutsiopoulou
Giorgos Kapoutzidis returns to Serres with a second season that looks more like a homecoming than a series continuation.
From the very first scene, you feel that the series has matured. Odysseus - now in a more peaceful phase of his life - chooses to stay in Serres, opening a cafe that becomes a place of acceptance and community and the characters around him take on a new dimension. Aunt Stamatina, his father, friends and new acquaintances all seem to carry something more substantial. As if they too went through their own reconciliation process, as we did in the meantime.
A series full of emotions
The script remains daring without becoming didactic. Kapoutzidis continues to write with that simplicity that hides a deep understanding of people, and the humor works as it always does: it softens the truths. I would dare to say that one of the strengths of the series is hidden in the changes of its emotions. You laugh, and before you can recover, you're moved. A scene begins with humor and ends with a tear, and yet nothing seems out of place.
This is what Kapoutzidis does with Serres: he sets up an emotional pendulum that does not tire you, but cleanses you. It makes you feel like it's okay to laugh and cry almost at the same time; that the two aren't opposites, but parts of the same thing. Your truth.
The direction that leaves room for people
The direction of Stamatis Patronis works in the most discreet but essential way. Every shot seems to have been carefully designed, from the morning city lights to the glances around a table. And so the Serres acquire a visual calmness that fits perfectly with Kapoutzidis' rhythm and theme: people trying to be loved as they are.
Aunt Stamatina and the bravest television step
*contains spoilers*
If there is one element that the second cycle will leave in the history of Greek television, it is the revelation of Aunt Stamatina's identity as an intersex character. This is a rare and extremely sensitive issue, which Kapoutzidis approaches with respect, humor and humanity - without fuss, without "statements", only with the truth and with any embarrassment, emotion and dignity. Stamatina owns a large part of the second cycle of the series, in a quiet and brave way.about:blank
Loss and continuity
The second season also carries the silent absence of Panos Natsis, an absence that is not overlooked, but becomes part of the overall narrative. Giorgos Zygouris brings a calm, a mature, an "after" energy and when he appears in the life of Odysseus, you don't feel a replacement but a continuation, as if someone came to continue a story that was left in the middle. As we all do when we love someone who is no longer here.
And of course, none of this would work if there weren't people around Odysseus who "keep" him in his life, such as Lena Drosaki and George Gallos. Their performances have this naturalness that makes you forget you're watching a series. Like just watching people living their lives.
And one last thought: Maybe Serres is a mirror of how we learn to love, forgive and grow through our relationships, and a resounding YES to the eternal question "can we be ourselves and be loved for it"?
The main actors of the 2nd season of the series "Serres" include Giorgos Zygouris, Giorgos Gallos, Marilou Katsafados, Ioulis Tsagarakis, Lena Drosakis, Lena Ouzounidou, Alexandros Piechoviak, Vassilis Michas, Stratis Hatjistamatiou, Irini Valatsou, Giorgos Vouvakis, Konstantinos Moutaftsis and Louisa Pyriochou.
Every Tuesday at 22:30 through the frequency of ANT1. Both cycles are available on ANT1+.
Source: Savoir Ville
