by Alfredo Galindo.

It’s no surprise that maybe the busiest Mexican actor in the past two years has been Guillermo “Memo” Villegas. Although his film debut goes back 15 years ago to the critically acclaimed “Sin nombre” (Cary Joji Fukunaga), it took him more than a decade to be recognized by his peers with a well deserved Ariel nomination (the Mexican Academy Award) for Best Supporting Actor of 2021 for Tatuana Huezo’s “Noche de Fuego”, the Mexican entry for Best International Film of 2022. The wait was worth it as leading projects came along, from romantic comedies such as “Casando a mi ex” and “Nada que ver”, both from 202, ,to the hit series from Prime “Harina” (2022-2023).

The first weekend of June his latest project, also in the comedy genre, is again a TV SERIES for the Televisa/Univision streaming service VIX titled “Profe Infiltrado” (“Undercover Teacher”), and although we’ve seen Memo played uplifting and emphatic teachers in great movies in the past years such as the mentioned “Noche de Fuego” or last year’s “El último vagón”, by Ernesto Contreras alongside Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza, the teacher he plays on this story gives educational leaders and institutions a bad name. In “Profe Infiltrado” Memo plays Julián, a petty thief from a big smuggling organization led by Rafael Ochando (Alejandro Cuetara), who unfortunately In one of his runs falls into the hands of the underfunded anti-smuggling of the police and its superior, Maldonado (Sebastian Zurita), forces Julian to work undercover in the school of the teenage daughter where they think it’s a base of operations for the organization.

It’s true that, sadly, the way corruption and crime have increased in Mexico may not be a surprise in real life has reached schools, as in some areas of the country teachers have to ask their students to get down on the floor for cover for shootings from drug cartels, but more sad is to use that violence in a satirical. For example, Ochando’s form of torture of “waffling” the fingers of people, meaning to burn them or cutting them for confession. But back to Memo’s Julian, since the way he “becomes” the new Physical Education teacher of Ochando’s daughter the teachers profession gets demeaning in general from the mention that “anybody can do that job” to valid wrong facts from Mexican history on times Fake News can be so harmful by the “pretty teacher” on the staff, Miss Sofia (Natalia Téllez), just in the name of fun.

Unlike “Profe Infiltrado,” Villegas struck comedic gold in the series “Harina.” Both seasons are currently on Prime.

We’ve seen Memo Villegas grow and shine as an actor even doing a character like Julian who can be charming and funny most of the times he’s on screen, but seeing him in the last episode dressed as an undercover teacher turned super hero isn’t exactly the Mexicans or Latinos need at this point of history. We better stick to uplifting heroes from the Academy Award nominee “Stand and Deliver” to the latest “Blue Beetle”.

You can watch “Profe Infiltrado” streaming on VIX.