The Last Hours Of Mario Biondo is a three-part docuseries that examines the 2013 death of Biondo, an Italian camera operator and the husband of popular Spanish TV presenter Raquel Sánchez-Silva. On May 30, 2013, he was found hanging from a bookshelf of the Madrid apartment he and Sánchez-Silva shared since their 2012 marriage, and the death was at first ruled an accidental suicide.
Opening Shot: We hear a woman say “My son was murdered.” Then, in archival news footage, that woman is seen saying, “I won’t be at peace until my son’s murderers are in prison.”
The Gist: The first episode discusses the relationship between Biondo and Sánchez-Silva, who was close to a decade his senior. Because of her fame, their relationship and wedding was covered heavily by Spanish tabloids and entertainment websites. Less than a year later, the couple was going through a rocky period, due to the drug-addiction-induced fertility problems he was having. On the night of his death, Sánchez-Silva had left the apartment after an argument, and Biondo snorted cocaine and Googled whether drugs impaired fertility. He was found hanging the next morning.
The episode tries to retrace his steps on his final night via evidence gathered from his phone, CCTV, other tech evidence, and eyewitness accounts. The medical examiner somehow concluded that Biondo accidentally killed himself performing autoerotic asphyxiation, but none of Biondo’s family — most prominently, his mother, Santina D’Alessandro — believes that to be true.
The idea that he purposely killed himself made no sense to them, because he was excited about his new job on the Spanish version of MasterChef and his still-new marriage to Sánchez-Silva. And the autoerotic asphyxiation theory felt like a story that Sánchez-Silva and her management made up to cover something up. Biondo’s family was determined to prove that he was murdered, and took to Spanish and Italian media to make their case.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Last Hours Of Mario Biondo is similar to highly speculative docuseries like The Price Of Glee.
Our Take: One of the most telling things about the series The Last Hours Of Mario Biondo is that Sánchez-Silva isn’t interviewed. We’re guessing that she was asked but refused.
Near the end of the first episode, we see all of the members of Biondo’s family speculate that the way she reacted during her husband’s funeral was perplexing to them: In obvious distress when cameras and people were around, scrolling through her phone when they weren’t. Then they talk about the trip she went on shortly after the funeral, and the smiling pictures of her and her friends she tweeted out.
That’s the level of speculation we get in this series, with Biondo’s family shooting their suspicions all over the place. It’s understandable, of course; their son and brother died under mysterious circumstances and to this date they haven’t gotten the satisfaction of seeing someone being brought to justice. But we felt a bit squinchy near the end of that first episode when we heard these accusations against Sánchez-Silva start flying.
What the series should be about is how Biondo’s family was able to get the case opened back up and get authorities to reverse the ruling that it was a suicide. That by itself should be enough to fill the show’s 3-episode run. But because the case has been closed once again, without any definitive idea of who actually killed Biondo, it is patently unfair to have such a one-sided view of who might have done it. Sure, Sánchez-Silva’s manager represents her side of the story, but the filmmakers decided to really lean on Biondo’s family. In doing so, though, they end up making such an unbalanced view of the case that it’s really hard to figure out just which parts of what’s presented are indisputable facts and which are just guesses.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: In archival TV interview footage, D’Alessandro says “I have very clear ideas” about Sánchez-Silva’s involvement in her husband’s death.
Sleeper Star: D’Alessandro is the clear star here, because she’s been the one most upfront in the media coverage of Biondo’s murder.
Most Pilot-y Line: Sánchez-Silva’s manager tries to say that she said Biondo’s self-asphyxiation “accident” was like the kind of game they would have played when they were kids. Even the most gullible person wouldn’t believe that line of reasoning.
Our Call: SKIP IT. The Last Hours Of Mario Biondo documents a case that has never really come to any kind of conclusion, and it feels like it’s going to be a 120-minute exercise in frustration for the viewer.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.