The Secret Score (La Partitura Secreta) – Episode 1 Recap & Review

In The Key of Chaos

Episode 1 of The Secret Score starts with Maya playing the Saxophone at home while her friend, Nati, sits comfortably on the sofa listening to her. After she is done practising, the two best friends bicker for a while before Maya sits watching a video from Leo and then complains that Leo did not respond to her messages after he sent the video. Maya’s mother arrives home soon after and hands her a package sent by Leo. Inside is Leo’s necklace, which makes Maya worried because he never takes it off since it is his father’s necklace. The address on the box is from a place they call the Conservatory, where Nati wanted Maya to join her for summer school, but she turned down the offer. With Leo missing and the package from the same place, Maya changes her mind and gets her mother and little brother to drop him off at the Staqui Institute. 

Nati meets Maya and starts to show her around the institute. Maya enjoys listening to the senior’s band playing on stage, and the sound of someone playing the violin draws her into the washrooms. They find Max inside playing the violin and listen at the door as Nati explains to May that Max is the best violin player in the school. When Max notices them listening with the door open, he gets angry, saying that opening the door ruins the acoustics. Maya does not like how he talks to them, so she bangs on the door and walks out.

Nati continues to show her around the school, and along the way, they run into the boy on whom Nati has a crush, Rafa. They then run into Andy and start asking about Leo. Andy says that Leo is a loner and has not seen him around since the beginning of the semester. He directs them to ask Tenoch, the only person Leo talks to at the school. Tenoch tells them that the only place Leo hangs is at the school’s museum, an old building that housed the school founder’s office. He says they can only find creepy old things and musical instruments inside. Maya wants to go to the museum, but the bell rings for the start of lessons, so Nati and Tenoch rush to class while the matron shows Maya to the dorms.

Later, Maya joins the other students in Dod’s class, where they learn about silence. Teacher Dod pairs them for the upcoming music project, and Maya is paired with Max. They are unhappy about the pairing, and Andy offers to switch partners with Max after class. Meanwhile, Maya asks Tenoch and Nati to take her to the museum, and she feels something eerie in the atmosphere inside. She walks into the inner section of the museum, so Tenoch and Nati have no choice but to follow her. Meanwhile, Andy and Max arrive at the museum intending to tell Nati about the swap, but they end up following the rest into the inner chamber of the museum, where Maya accidentally opens up using Leo’s necklace. 

The five of them head up the stairs to an old, untidy office. Maya finds an ancient music score on the floor, which she takes a picture of. Downstairs, Connie and Paulina are looking for Max but only find Maya’s pen on the floor. Connie has a crush on Max, so she follows him when she sees them enter the museum. Max finds an old piano upstairs and starts to play the old music score. The friends upstairs and downstairs are in a daze as he plays and begin to have weird experiences after he is done playing. 

Maya can see the past when she touches something. In the old room, she touches the floor and sees what happened in the room. Max can communicate or read other people’s thoughts through texts on his mobile phone. Maya and Max bicker for a while in the room as the phones keep sending their thoughts to each other. Tenoch wants to escape the room instantly, so he teleports when the others start heading down the stairs. The friends leave the museum, and teacher Gael watches them go. 

In his room, Max’s phone keeps sending messages nonstop about people thinking about him or situations related to him. he complains to Andy about it, and they start talking about Maya. Suddenly, Andy transforms into Maya, and they both freak out and run to look for Nati and Maya. Elsewhere, Maya tells Nati about seeing the past, but she does not believe her until she touches the desk in the room. She tells Nati precisely what happened when her mother dropped her off in the room. 

Max and Andy rush into the room to tell them about the weird things happening since they came out of the piano room. While Nati wonders why she is the only one without powers, Tenoch teleports in and out of the room. The four friends realise they may have magical powers and discuss keeping it a secret from everyone else. Meanwhile, as Rafa arrives, Connie can hear their conversation and tells Paulina about it. She shows immense interest in whatever is happening to Connie. After he hears from his sister about hearing voices, he calls someone on the phone to tell them about the development. 

Later, in Gael’s class, Max accidentally starts sending his thoughts to all the students. Gael takes Tenoch’s phone and reads the message, which tells him to retire. He gets scared and teleports from his seat to the front of the class, to some beach and some desert before appearing back in class. The class ascends into chaos, confused about what is happening to them. When the school principal, Catalina, walks into the room, she suddenly faints when Andy transforms into her. At the end of the episode, Maya touches the photo of  Leo on her sax case and hears him calling out for help. 

The Episode Review

The first episode introduces us to an exciting premise combining music and magic. It sets the expectations relatively high since it gives a unique feeling and an interesting cast. The hate relationship between Max and Maya is quite interesting. Will it grow into something more? The fact that Maya already has a boyfriend, Leo, draws the viewer in to see what will happen next. Everyone who hears the magical music note has some power, but Nati has not yet gotten her powers. What is Rafa up to, and who did he call?