Reviews

Don't worry I will not give away the ending, I will just say that the ending ruins an otherwise charming story. To be fair this telenovela boosts a talented cast, an intriguing story and very fleshed out realistic characters. You can feel their happiness, their sadness, their concern, everything & it makes you very excited to finally reach the conclusion because the best thing about this telenovela is it's villain, Evangelina (Diana Bracho). The plot moves at a steady (at times slow) pace and you figure, "but that's okay because we're figuring stuff out along the way and by the final episode all secrets will be revealed BUT YOU WOULD BE WRONG, ITS A HUGE LET DOWN. You end up waiting 80 episodes for everyone to receive their comeuppance and your left waiting, Then they put that "FIN" and happy music as if you are to be satisfied by how everything turns out but you won't be, AND on top of that they add some extra stuff in the final five episodes that don't lead to anything. To put it in other words, imagine taking a long slow road trip to an amusement park. You pass both beautiful scenic and bleak areas and that make you fill you with either joy or sadness, and at the end, the amusement park is a single slide. ALL THAT FOR FOR WHAT!? I would have preferred for it to be the other way. You know certain telenovelas that are bland almost throughout the story but then the closer you get to the end the more excited you get. I just can't with Cadenas de amargura, I'm being fair by giving it four out of five because you should have an impactful ending not one that's dry, boring, bland.

This telenovela can get extremely slow for some. I HIGHLY suggest maybe watching another short and good telenovela while you're watching this one. The first half of the story moves at a snail pace, I'm talking literally the first fifty some episodes. Sure there are some impactful and important moments in the 1st 1/2 but they're far in between. With that being said YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT. I look back on this very fondly, probably because it did feel like work to get to the good part of this telenovela, but I cannot think of another one that had my heart beating at a faster rate the more I kept watching and getting closer to the finale. Also this was literally the first one I actually cried on two separate occasions. That slow first 1/2 weren't for nothing, they truly build the emotion and chemistry between the characters, they truly wonders with the story. Amazing piece of art it's truly a classic.

This is perhaps the best of all adaption of Delia Fiallo's Cristal. It's biggest strength is it's three main antagonists, all of which I can't decide who is the better one, the story somehow manages to at times make you feel pity for some of them despite their misdeeds, but they don't overshadow the just as talented four main protagonist actors, they all bring such greatness that there really is no right answer on who is the actual male or female lead between the four, all of which commit a few sins themselves. This is another strength of the story, the good and bad characters are not so black and white which is what I see nowadays with Mexican telenovelas. As mentioned earlier in this review, sometimes you find yourself sympathizing for the villains and at times feel let down by heroes. The only complaint is that there will come a time in the full story where about seven or some episodes are just a bunch of memories from the story, it was actually the most frustrating part and seemed like a lazy attempt to add episodes. Nevertheless I am willing to forgive them for creating a wonderful story with unforgettable characters and plot twists.