Merlí

Plot

Season 1 (2015)

The main character of the series is Merlí Bergeron, an unemployed philosophy teacher who after being evicted from his apartment is forced to live with his mother. He also will have to take care of his son Bruno, who until then was living with his mother, Merlí's ex-wife. After Bruno arrives, Merlí is hired in Àngel Guimerà High School. There, with his unpredictable and unorthodox methods, Merlí will make the students think and express their opinions, and also will help them with their problems, even in a censurable way. He will not only explain about Socrates, Schopenhauer, Hume or Nietzsche, but also will apply their ideas and teachings to solve the problems he finds.

His students, whom he dubs "peripatetics", are a very diverse group that must face all kinds of situations: Pol, a repeater that soon gets along with Merlí; Berta, a student who does not like Merlí at first; Marc, a friendly, nice guy; Ivan, a boy who suffers from agoraphobia and does not dare to leave home; Tània, an extroverted girl and Bruno's best friend; Gerard, a boy who is prone to fall in love and will ask Merlí for advice; Joan, a studious, shy boy with a very strict family; Mònica, a new, very mature student; Oliver, another new boy; and finally, Bruno, Merlí's son and his most difficult student.

Season 2 (2016)

The second year of Batxillerat begins at Àngel Guimerà High School. The students happily welcome Merlí as he enters the school full of energy. The "peripatetics" have matured a bit, but in essence they are still the same happy, insecure teenagers we met in the first season. There is also a new student, Oksana, who will create new relationships inside the group.

In the teachers' room, however, Merlí is not so warmly welcomed. Although Eugeni is waiting for him and wishing to quarrel, both find a common adversary, Coralina, the new history teacher and head teacher. This strict, disciplinarian, 60-year-old professor is determined to impose her standards and will clash with the entire staff. Meanwhile, Merlí teaches in ways even more unorthodox than during the first season. He even takes the class outside of school. Any setting, even the mall, can help him explain the Cynic philosophers, the Stoics, Descartes, Hobbes or the Presocratics. New philosophers are featured this season, such as Hipparchia of Maroneia.

Season 3 (2017–2018)

After the Christmas holidays, the students return to class. The second year of Batxillerat (last year of high school before university) continues for Merlí and the "peripatetics". Everyone is aware high school is ending and the Selectivitat exam (necessary to enter university) and university are approaching.

In the classroom, some of the plots from the previous season continue: Pol and Tània will have to define their relationship, Joan and Gerard have become close friends, Marc must decide whether his father can return home, and Óscar, Pol's elder brother, will become involved in Oksana's motherhood.

In the teacher's room, there will be changes. Eugeni is the new director, and new teachers arrive. Gabi is the new Spanish literature teacher, but Merlí is more interested in Silvana, the new history teacher, who is very well received by the staff. Merlí is thrilled by the arrival of the new teacher, who is as creative as he is, but after he sees that his students think highly of her, he becomes jealous. Nevertheless, Merlí will continue to teach philosophy with his peculiar style, gaining the esteem of the "peripatetics". The philosophers featured in this season include Hannah Arendt, Kierkegaard, Albert Camus, Karl Marx and Augustine of Hippo.

Characters

The characters in the series can be divided into three groups: students, teachers and family.

Teachers

Francesc Orella as Merlí Bergeron. 55 years old, Merlí is a philosophy professor with his own set of ethics and a promiscuous sex life. After being thrown out of his apartment and forced to live with his mother, he finds employment working as a teacher in the Àngel Guimerà Institute, where his son Bruno studies. He is shown to have a dark sense of humor and a taste for irony, which the other teachers tend to find irritating, but the students adore him. They find him original, fun, and stimulating. Merlí has a son, Bruno, who is 16 years old. When Bruno's mother goes to live in Rome pursuing her career and love life, she leaves Bruno to live with his father, and the two find themselves having to reconcile despite their arguments and differences. Merlí's tendency to speak his mind and to do things his own way causes many around him, including his son, to be uncomfortable.

Pere Ponce as Eugeni Bosc. Eugeni is the Catalan Literature and Language professor and is the chief of studies. He is around Merlí's age, and he considers himself a remarkable teacher – until Merlí comes along and leaves Eugeni in his shadow. Eugeni is Merlí's antithesis: He is a traditional teacher who does his job in a conventional way – the complete opposite of Merlí. Eugeni's students do not get along well with him, dubbing him “Hitler”, due to his strict nature and harsh relationship with his students. Eugeni can't stand Merlí and is jealous of his charisma and popularity as well as of his ability to get away with anything. In the second season, Eugeni is replaced by Coralina as chief of studies, and his and Merlí's mutual dislike for her leads to a sort of alliance between the two former enemies.

Pau Durà as Toni. (Seasons 1-2) Toni is the director of the Àngel Guimerà Institute. He is a widower, is responsible, and likes his job. Toni aims for the institute to work smoothly and to have as few conflicts as possible between the students, teachers, and parents. The teachers’ complaints about Merlí, his methods, and his personality make it difficult for Toni to keep peace in the institute. Toni is also a math teacher and is generally well-liked by the students. He makes an effort to appreciate every teacher and to respect their differences.

Pep Jové as Santi. (Season 1) Santi is the professor of Spanish Literature and Language. He is about 50 years old and is portrayed as a likable and kind teacher who appreciates his job and is welcoming to everyone. It is in the institute that he met his wife, Glòria, an art teacher. He likes Merlí a lot and finds him interesting and original. Santi is overweight, and he is verbally bullied by some of the students, especially Bruno. However, Santi always wears his weight with pride. At the end of the first season, he dies from a heart attack, leaving Bruno filled with regret and guilt.

Students

David Solans as Bruno Bergeron. Bruno is Merlí's son. For him, it is complicated having his father in class teaching in front of his friends. He is an extroverted kid, with a sense of irony inherited from his father and grandmother. He has also learned from his father to be non-conforming and to complain about things, so he forgets discretion. Bruno starts a new life when his mother moves to Rome and leaves him to live with his father, with whom he has a complicated relationship. Bruno is gay and in love with Pol, a good friend of his. He gets along well with the majority of the students, especially Tània, his best friend. They are inseparable and trust each other with everything. Bruno feels like he can be himself around Tània. After talking to Oliver at the end of the first season, he comes out of the closet and begins a new life being openly gay.

Carlos Cuevas as Pol Rubio. Pol is 18 years old and has repeated two courses. He is the popular guy at school, and all the girls seem to want to be with him. He is also somewhat cold and manipulative, saying he has never been in love and does not plan on it, but using relationships for sex, as is the case with Berta Prats. Pol has many issues with his home life. He lives with his grandmother, father, and brother in the majority of the first season. His family doesn't have a lot of money, and Pol suffers from having a bad relationship with his brother and father as well as missing his mother, who died when he was young. After getting involved with Bruno on numerous occasions, his sexual orientation begins to be discussed and questioned.

Candela Antón as Berta Prats. Berta is an extroverted girl uninterested in her classes. She is the ultimate attention-seeker, willing to do anything for the spotlight to be on her, even if it means morally ambiguous actions. She often feels alone, but acts strong. She spends her classes drawing on her desk, and it seems to be the only thing she's interested in. Berta's a smart girl, daring and misunderstood. She feels a lack of love from her family, and looks for it in relationships with boys like Pol Rubio. Like all other teenagers, she's searching for her place in the world.

Albert Baró as Joan Capdevila. Joan is a kindhearted and shy teenage boy dealing with immense pressure from his family, particularly from his father. He lacks a sense of self-confidence, and his shyness is evident from the way he talks and moves. He is mild in every sense of the word, humble, attentive, calm, and responsible. It seems like nothing he does is enough to satisfy his father, and gains the help of Merlí to try to change the way he is perceived and treated. He admires Merlí and his classes.

Family

Anna M. Barbany as Carmina Calduch, Merlí's mother and Bruno's grandmother. She is a well-known actress, having worked in movies, television, and, especially, theatre. It is while acting that she feels genuinely happy. Everybody knows her as “La Calduch”.

Marta Marco as Gina Castells, Gerard's mother, and Merlí's eventual love interest.

Jordi Martínez as Jaume Capdevila, Joan's overprotective and somewhat obsessive father. In the first season, we learn that he has cancer.

Victòria Pagès as Aurèlia Bonet, Joan's mother, who makes more of an effort to understand and help him than Jaume does.

Anna Ycobalzeta as Míriam Blasco, Ivan's mother. She gets involved with both Merlí and Pol during the second season. She loves her son more than anything else in the world and runs a bar.

Marta Domingo as Elsa García. Elsa is Berta's mother. She seems to always show a preference for Berta's sister, which takes a toll on Berta. She is a hairdresser and owns her own salon.

Marta Calvó as Bàrbara, Bruno's mother. She moves to Rome in the beginning of the series.

Asunción Balaguer as Pol and Óscar's grandmother.

Oriol Pla as Óscar, Pol's brother. Óscar prefers to take his dad's side over his brother's. He is a hard worker who was forced to abandon his studies to provide for the family when his mother died.

Carlos Vicente as Enric, Oliver's father.

Boris Ruiz as Alfonso Rubio. He is Pol and Óscar's father. He is 55 years old and bitter over the loss of his wife. He forces his sons to work to pay the bills.

Episodes

Spin-off

A spin-off series titled Merlí: Sapere Aude, centering on Carlos Cuevas' character Pol Rubio attending university, premiered on Movistar+ on 5 December 2019.