Locked Up (TV series)

Season 1 (2015)

Manipulated by her lover into committing corporate fraud, Macarena Ferreiro finds herself locked up in Cruz del Sur prison. Yolanda, her cellmate, takes Macarena under her wing, but a midnight visit from Zulema, the prison's most dangerous inmate, changes Macarena's life forever.

Season 2 (2016)

Zulema, Saray and Macarena escape from prison. Following Sandoval's recommendations, Miranda imposes stricter prison rules and regulations in response to their escape. With authority from the director to use any measures to discipline misbehaving inmates, some officials abuse their power over the inmates.

Season 3 (2018)

Saray, Rizos, Sole, Tere, Anabel, Antonia, and Zulema adapt to the new environment of Cruz del Norte after being transferred to the new prison.

Season 4 (2018–2019)

Season four deals with the aftermath of Zulema, Saray, and Altagracia's escape. Altagracia, who used to terrorize the inmates as a prison guard, is now one of them. Sandoval is the new director of Cruz del Norte.

Vis a vis: El Oasis (2020)

El Oasis is a spin-off that servers as the fifth and final season of the series. It focuses on Macarena and Zulema's life outside of prison, concluding their story.^[1][2]

Cruz del Sur female inmates

• Maggie Civantos as Macarena Ferreiro: A young woman sentenced to prison for seven years due to embezzlement. (season 1–2, Oasis; Recurring: season 3–4).
• Najwa Nimri as Zulema Zahir: Known as the queen of prison due to her criminal records and illegal activities even while incarcerated. (season 1–4, Oasis).
• Berta Vázquez as Estefania "Rizos" Kabila: A young prisoner in prison for four years due for auto theft. (season 1–4).
• Alba Flores as Saray Vargas de Jesús: A young woman sentenced for assault. (season 1–4, Guest: Oasis).
• Inma Cuevas as Ana Belén "Anabel" Vila Roig Garcés: A woman sentenced to 9 years for prostitution and drugs. (season 1–3).
• María Isabel Díaz Lago as Soledad Núñez Hurtado: A prisoner who burned her husband and mistress to death. (seasons 1–4).
• Laura Baena as Antonia Trujillo Díez: The prison cook, must serve 5 years.
• Belén Cuesta as Yolanda Montero

Cruz del Sur employees

• Roberto Enríquez as Fabio Martínez León: A hot-tempered prison guard and former police officer. (season 1–2, Guest: 3).
• Ramiro Blas as Carlos Sandoval Castro: The prison doctor of Cruz del Sur and director of Cruz del Norte. (season 1–2,4, Guest: 3, Oasis).
• Cristina Plazas as Miranda Aguirre Senén: The director of Cruz Del Sur. (season 1–2).
• Alberto Velasco as Antonio Palacios Lloret: A friendly prison guard.(season 1–2,4).
• Harlys Becerra as Ismael Valbuena Ugarte: An antagonistic chief prison guard. (season 1–2).
• Ana Labordeta as Paloma Garrido "Governor": The head prison guard. (Recurring season 1).

Macarena's family

• Carlos Hipólito as Leopoldo Ferreiro Lobo: Macarena's father and former police guard. (season 1–2).
• María Salgueiro [es] as Encarna Molina: Macarena's mother. (season 1–2).
• Daniel Ortiz as Román Ferreiro Molina: Macarena's older brother. (season 1–2, Guest: Oasis).

Cruz del Norte inmates

• Ruth Díaz as Mercedes Carrillo –A mother and a politician in the local district that was sentenced to prison due to corruption. (season 3; guest: 4).
• Huichi Chiu [es] as Akame: Leader of the Chinese gang in Cruz del Norte and antagonistic towards the newly transferred inmates from Cruz del Sur. (season 3).
• Ana Marzoa as Prudencia Mosqueira: Soledad's friend in prison. (season 3).
• Itziar Castro as Goya Fernández: One of the self-proclaimed leaders of Cruz del Norte and a drug dealer. (season 3–4, Oasis).
• Abril Zamora as Luna Garrido –A transgender inmate who befriended the Cruz del Sur inmates, also a drug addict. (season 3–4).

Cruz del Norte employees

• Javier Lara as Álex Moncada: Director of Cruz del Norte. (season 3).
• Luis Callejo as Andrés Frutos: A prison guard who secretly trades with the Chinese inmates. (season 3).
• Adriana Paz as Altagracia Guerrero: An ex-prisoner and an antagonistic prison guard, Zulema's accomplice. (season 3–4).
• Cristina Marcos as Magdalena Cruz: Owner of Cruz del Sur, del Norte, del Oeste, and the newly planned del Este. (season 4).
• Benjamín Vicuña as Antonio Hierro: A strict prison guard assigned to monitor Zulema. (season 4).
• Zaira Pérez as Nuria Millán: Prison guard in Cruz del Norte. (Recurring season 3–4).

Police

• Jesús Castejón as Inspector Damián Castillo: The head detective of the police force. (season 1–4, Guest: Oasis).
• Hugo Guzmán as Camilo Jalapeño: Inspector Castillo's partner. (Recurring season 2).
• Verónika Moral as Helena Martín: An undercover cop in prison.(season 2).
• Jose Javier Domínguez as Inspector Pipiolo: Inspector Castillo's partner. (Recurring season 2).
• Irene Anula as Inspector Nerea Rojas: Inspector Castillo's partner, Rizos' love interest. (Recurring season 3).

Cast overview

  = Lead character

  = Macarena Ferreio's relatives

  = Inmates

  = Prison staff

  = Police inspectors

  = Oasis Characters

Critical response

Vis a Vis received critical acclaim in Spain and internationally.^{[11][17][18][19]} The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating for the second season of 100% based on 11 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.0/10. The website's critical consensus states, "The badass ladies in yellow face new and higher stakes in a second season injected with an extra dose of tension, a sharp plot and awardable performances."^[20]

Martin Howse of Entertainment Focus wrote, "The acting is strong throughout, the characters engaging and believable, the script is fast-paced and captivating, and it looks beautiful on screen with some creative and imaginative camerawork. This is violent – brutally so – and very graphic in its portrayal of life in a women's prison. But utterly brilliant at the same time."^[21] Rebecca Nicholson from The Guardian described the first two seasons as "a tremendously silly and fantastically taut thriller that carries itself at a breathless pace".^[22] Tim Dowling of The Guardian called the series "gripping and gritty", complimenting its cinematography, Spanish dialogue, and "sense of alienation [that] is only heightened by [its] foreignness: the violence; the casual wear the guards walk around in; the idea that your cellmate might keep a pet scorpion."^[23] Writing for El País, Natalia Marcos deemed the series as risk taking and praised the direction, the character of Zulema, and the cast performances.^[24] In The Evening Standard, Ben Travis wrote that it is "intense ... violent, and graphic" and "you'll be so caught up in the fray of the drama that you'll forget about the subtitles within minutes".^[9] Gerard O'Donovan of The Daily Telegraph commended Vis a Vis's performances, sophisticated script, and moral ambiguity, adding that its "ongoing involvement with the world outside the prison walls" elevates it above other series in the prison genre, favorably comparing it to Breaking Bad.^[25]

Accolades