A new Chilean Netflix series is called Chromosome 21. In other words, it’s a crime thriller production that’s in Spanish. The first episode of the series opens with the police being dispatched to a murder scene.

There a young man with Down’s syndrome is found. They take him under arrest because he’s the only person present and he has blood on him. The term comes from Chromosome 21, which is extra in people with Down syndrome.

An especially uncommon premise for a murder investigation. Tomás (Sebastián Solorza), a young man with Down syndrome, is discovered covered in blood at the crime scene when the series opens.

When the cops approach him and tell him to put his hands up, he also grabs a metal rod. But do not worry; once they find out he has down syndrome, the arrest goes pretty well. It is also very compliant.

However, it’s more challenging to get him to talk. Not because he cannot, but because the first of many questions to be answered is whether PTSD or something else is keeping him from telling what happened.

The judge becomes uncertain and asks for an announcement from the suspect, Tomás (or Tommy, as he goes by). Mariana Enriquezthe lead murder detective, attends a theater troupe called “Down UP” early on, and all the players have Down syndrome.

Valentina Muhr plays Mariana. She is quickly reminded by the teacher, Sufan (Claudia Di Girolamo), that people with Down syndrome have distinctive personalities.

Exactly like everybody else. She learns positive and terrible things about Tommy after she starts chatting with the other artists in the group. as expected when you ask about someone. But there’s nothing that screams “murderer” or suggests any guilt.

Explaining the end of Chromosome 21: was it a dramatic story?

Chromosome 21
Netflix

The last episode of Chromosome 21 explains how the events on the night of the murder were reconstructed. While Beckham waits for him to arrive, Orlando accompanies Tommy to the plant. Beckham shows off the loot.

Also, Zavala is there (unlike Kowalski, who is not, despite what a muddled Tommy says during the police reconstruction). When Orlando starts hitting Beckham and seems ready to kill him, Beckham leaves the riches and asks Tommy to come back. Tommy kills Orlando by picking up the gun from the ground just in time.

Beckham tries to chase after Zavala, but Tommy struggles to move freely. Beckham leaves before the police show up, and Tommy is discovered in the workshop by the police.

The events are challenging to trace for a wide range of reasons, including Tommy being reluctant to talk at first because he’s afraid of Zavala, who has threatened to kill both Tommy and his brother Beckham if he tells the reality to the authorities.

In addition, Mariana, Durán of the colleague of the main investigator, who is a corrupt policeman and works for Zavala, falsified the evidence presented for the case. Mariana only succeeds in proving Durán’s corruption at the very end.

Chromosome 21 ends with a public defense explaining what happened during the trial. Durán killed Beckham to keep Zavala safe.

Fortunately, Tommy feels safe now and tells the reality, corroborating Mariana’s evidence detailing what happened and how the presence of corrupt elements compromised the inquiry.

In this way, the judge can decide that Tommy had every right to be terrified (Zavala’s hands had reached the police), that he acted in self-defense, and that he lied out of fear. Therefore, he can’t be held legally responsible for the crime.

The corrupt cops are detained, and Zavala is sentenced to jail in Chromosome 21. Tommy won’t spend time in jail, but will receive special therapy to help him understand serious crimes.

We often see Mariana and Tommy with her daughter Amanda, indicating that their connection with her daughter is improving. Mariana is a famous investigator and she seems to watch out for Tommy.