Critic Reviews

“Selena: The Series” covers a lot of ground and does it with empathy, authenticity, humor and just the right amount of pride.

In the end, “Selena: The Series” pulls enough poignancy from Selena’s legend—we know she’ll never get to design those clothes or even turn 25—and the creators counteract the looming tragedy with silly, earnest, and heartfelt storytelling that gets you from one cumbia to the next.

All in all, Selena: The Series is pleasantly diverting, but it feels like a missed opportunity.

Though the series offers a deeper exploration of the lives of Selena’s siblings, it still fails to take a new approach at retelling a retelling; much of the expository trajectory is identical to that of the film [1997's Selena]. What is presented in Part One feels rushed and crammed into nine episodes.

Should stir curiosity among her fans but which proves so light on substance as to make watching the initial nine-episode run a slog with few high notes.

The series refuses to go beyond the surface and instead shifts the focus back to tracking her career milestones. Though a cultural icon, Selena was, after all, a human being, and it’s this that the series never seems to grasp for more than a few minutes.

Viewers never get to the bottom of who Selena is, what drives her or what holds her back, because she’s never afforded the same amount of attention or character development as the men behind her career. ... When Serratos hits the stage as the singer, the series lights up. ... Other issues with the series include clunky dialogue, corny jokes and family scenes that feel overly engineered to promote a wholesome household and business picture.

Unfortunately, creator Moisés Zamora squanders this opportunity to reintroduce Selena (played by Christian Serratos) to a new generation, both as a Chicana icon and an ambitious teen still searching for a sense of self. Even for a Netflix show, the narrative bloat is startlingly egregious.

Selena: The Series takes lazy writing to another level. ... It would be unfair to blame Serratos for the deficits of Selena: The Series; while her mere competence can’t save the show, even a Lopez-level performer would likely struggle to salvage such stiff dialogue, aimless plotting, flat characters and blah direction.

Selena consistently skims the surface, landing occasionally on such shallow revelations as “I don’t always know who I am … until I am,” before skittering away again into shocking scenes like Now Her Hair Is Even Shorter. Selena is barely a character; her sister Suzette (Noemi Gonzalez) and her mother Marcella (Seidy López) are even less so.