‘Old Dog, New Tricks’ (2025) Netflix Series Review - A Comedy of Errors With Better Potential

For Anton, life hasn’t been easy. He is a vet who hardly gets paid for his job in cash. Rather, all he gets paid is in kind, and to be more specific, he gets paid in crates of “eggs”. This isn’t sufficient to pay for gas, electricity, water, and food. So what does he do instead? He is forced to join Kawanda, a pet store, as its vet, run by Uxía, his niece, much to his reluctance. And from here, we see a comedy of errors happening. Clearly, Anton, who is known for his soft attitude towards animals and a blunt tongue towards the owners, deals with the “pet parents” who won't let him perform his duties to his expertise. Together, Uxía and Anton become a team, even though they have contrasting personalities.  Uxía tries to convince other staff members to go a little soft on Anton. What adds a slightly different touch to Anton's characters is that he is portrayed as being selfish.  For example, he even abandons Kawanda in order to prove to his neighbors that he is a suitable vet for them. On the other hand, Uxía is the kind of person who believes in team efforts.  Will the two get together and run the boutique smoothly?

While the plot is fun to watch, there are many episodes in which it falters. This leaves us with nothing new to watch and feels incomplete. The humor also feels repetitive as it ends up following a pattern. For example, the show is filled with Anton dealing with pet parents who act bizarrely overprotective when it comes to their pets. That thing goes on episode after episode, which in turn becomes boring.  This also makes it overlap in terms of themes. The fact that all the pet owners expect Anton, a qualified pet, to work as per their directions is what the whole and main premise is filled with.  I also feel that rural Spain could have been explored well enough, but it wasn’t. Except for a few farms, and the fact that Anton’s house hardly gets an adequate warm water supply, doesn’t really portray the Spain they wished for us to see.

The acting, however, is a saving grace. The entire cast, including Luis Zahera and Lucia Caraballo, is fantastic with their comic timings and waves of emotions that their characters demanded. It’s a pleasure to watch them bring to life the characters of Uxía and Anton. I feel it is because of their acting that one can ignore those flaws to watch the show. So overall, viewers, the show is a good watch. For your weekend, it's short and sweet. We get to see rural Spain and weird pet owners, which does make your funny bones tickle. It might not leave a lasting impact on you to watch, but for sure it will make a good watch to forget all your week blues. Don’t expect something grand. In fact, the victory of watching this show lies in the small scenes that make you laugh.

Final Score- [6/10]
Reviewed by - Neerja Choudhuri
Follow @NeerjaCH on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times