"Rebeca" (2003) TV series

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Directors:

Yaky Ortega
Freddy Trujillo

Writers:

Haydee Ascanio (adaptation)
Alberto Gómez (story)

Release Date:

2 June 2003 (USA)

Cast

Mariana Seoane	...	Rebeca Linares
Ricardo Álamo	...	Eduardo Montalbán
Pablo Montero	...	Martín García
Víctor Cámara	...	Sergio Montalbán
Gaby Espino	...	Princesa Izaguirre Zabaleta
Ana Patricia Rojo	...	Niurka Linares
Katie Barberi	...	Regina Montalbán de Santander
Pablo Martín	...	Tony Izaguirre Zabaleta
Leonardo Daniel	...	Adalberto Santander
Elluz Peraza	...	Sara Santos
Jorge Luis Pila	...	Nicolás Izaguirre Zabaleta
Susana Dosamantes	...	Matilde Linares
Adrián Delgado	...	Liborio Sánchez Gómez
Anna Silvetti	...	Dionisia Pérez
Adolfo Cubas	...	Natalio Gil Gómez

Runtime:

45 min (150 episodes) | USA:60 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Company:

Fono Video Productions

Soundtrack:

Rebeca

It was a great premise, but...

...it was not handled well, resulting in lower prime time ratings than the network expected. That was why it ended up in daytime.

Having seen Mariana Seoane before in AMOR GITANO, I thought she was a logical choice for this novela. What I couldn't imagine until I saw it was how illogically her character behaved; what were the writers thinking?

Were the writers also getting lazy when instead of really giving the audience a run for its money they prejudiced the script too heavily in Eduardo's favor? Of course it is equally likely that this happened because the audience fell in love with the "Swept Away" relationship between Martin and Princessa long before the last "chapter" of the story had been written.

Gaby Espino was definitely a stand-out as the trust fund brat who unwillingly falls in love with a headwaiter. The dream sequence in which she sees herself as a mermaid being caught in Martin's fishing net is a hilarious moment in the early part of this series. We want her to fall in love with Martin because by doing so she is hoisted on her own petard. She finally wants something she cannot have and certainly doesn't deserve... the love of a real man with principles. Not quite hidden under black hair dye, the worst haircut I've ever seen on him, and gallons of tanning cream, the very princely Pablo Montero gives the most consistent performance of the cast as the mature and very protective Martin. Most Mexican viewers probably were hoping that Rebeca would come to her senses and see that he was worth a dozen Eduardos or Sergios.

Not to mention that having a father and a son as rivals over the same woman usually leads to major grief.

The female villains of this story -- and there were too many -- were quite over the top and there were the obligatory cat-fights between them, the most amusing of which were between the more mature female characters who were fighting over Sergio.

I suspect that they shot three different finale episodes; it would be interesting to know whether other audiences saw an alternate version.