Is anyone else following this novela? Telemundo airs it nightly with English language subtitles. I’ve seen clips online of the origin soap, ‘Chemical or Physical,’ so I was interested in seeing how this adaption turned out.

After watching soaps fail to produce plot over the past decade or so, it was nice to see a show know how to engage the audience with an actual storyline rather than random plot points strung together. Because it’s a youth soap, there doesn’t seem to be a single storyline that dominates most of the plot. I’m still not convinced Mauricio / Miranda are the couple we are suppose to be rooting for, which is rather impressive. On the otherhand, maybe I’m just not as up-to-date on the inner workings of a novella. I’m still hoping that J.P. / Miranda have a shot at an actual romance.

I like how I’m emotionally involved in the story. I won’t to see what happens when Sebastian learns the truth about Rodrigo’s suicide. I want to see novice educator Patty gain control of her classroom and deal with Gonzalo and Leo’s antics. I want to know what J.P.’s secret is and who is stalking him. I do miss the absence of a mother figure and a traditional villainess (though the red headed teacher may fill that void if she ever does anything but smirk and snark).

I also like how complicated everything is. Mauricio saved Miranda from being raped by Oliver only for Mauricio to lie about his age and bed Miranda. The first day of school rolls around and Miranda learns Mauricio is a student in her senior literature course. Miranda realizes Oliver, another one of her students, is the attempted rapist, but when Miranda / Mauricio threaten to press charges Oliver threatens to reveal the truth about Miranda / Mauricio. To an extent, I feel sorry for Miranda; Mauricio lied and misled her. If Miranda knew the truth, I don’t think she would have slept with him. On the otherhand, maybe she shouldn’t have jumped into bed with him. The more I think about the situation the more I realize I would feel differently if Mauricio was older. Also, I’m not completely sure that Miranda / Mauricio’s physical relationship wouldn’t have developed into an emotional one due to their shared interests.

The other major story revolves around the death of Rodrigo Aragon, a student at the school where Miranda teaches and Mauricio is a student. Rodrigo attends a party with his pal Oswaldo and ends up doing drugs with Oswaldo and Gonzalo, a hood who has been supplying drugs. Anyway, the three boys end up taking pills and blacking out the next few hours. As the novela opens, Oswaldo and Rodrigo are in a car fighting and Oswaldo smacks Rodrigo causing him to lose control of the vehicle. Rodrigo flees and Oswaldo later dies. A guilt ridden Rodrigo ends up mixing drugs and alcohol and sits on the railing of his mother’s high rise apartment. As Sebastian, his older brother, watches in horror, Rodrigo throws himself off the balcony several stories to his death. In the ensuing episodes, Sebastian has been determined to learn what drove Rodrigo to do what he did.

Besides the car accident, Rodrigo, Oswaldo, and Gonzalo did something the night of the accident that Gonzalo cannot remember. He knows the truth is on Rodrigo’s phone and convinces Leo, a preppy hacker, to conceal the truth from Sebastian. The insinuation is Oswaldo, Gonzalo, and Rodrigo had a drug induced threesome which led to the events of the car accident. While I’m not thrilled with the whole gay / suicide angle, the show balances it out with Mauricio’s mother’s acceptance of Mauricio when he says ‘law and the society will not accept my love.’ Mauricio’s mother informs him it is fine if he is gay unaware he pines for his teacher who is a decade older than him.

Hopefully, some others are watching.

I absolutely love how a naked picture of Ms. Miranda drives almost all the stories on this show.

LOL at Cassius Photoshopping pictures of all the teachers/staff. That was a clever way to get Ms. Miranda out of hot water. It was so funny watching everyones reactions. The principal

Mauricio beat Diego's ASS! That was so brutal, I thought he was dead when Mauricio slammed him on that tree! What's the history between Diego and Alex? I think I wasn't watching during their episodes yet.

The guy playing Mauricio is actually a really good actor!

Ms. Miranda and JP

I like JP but I dont know..I have a feeling he is going to turn evil or be the antagonist....I flove Mauricio....the actor sure is easy on the eyes with a hot body...I also like Sebastian...the actor is hot as well....Diego is just blah for me...lol....poor Alex if he gets stuck with him.......unless Diego really does a 180...which he was kind of very slightly warming up to Alex until he reached the emergency room....LOL when Alex said the !@#$%^&*] didnt even thank me...lol

LOL when Alex said the !@#$%^&*] didnt even thank me...lol

I was laughing when that popped up in the captions. I am not much of a fan of Diego either, I agree at this point I wouldn't want to see Alex with him. It's a long shot but I think it would be much more compelling if him & Sebastian ended up together somehow.

I was laughing when that popped up in the captions. I am not much of a fan of Diego either, I agree at this point I wouldn't want to see Alex with him. It's a long shot but I think it would be much more compelling if him & Sebastian ended up together somehow

Yeah I want that too but slowly it looks like Diego is going to be more in Alex's orbit.

Sebastian and Diego....I stll say Diego is ewwww....lol

It has English subtitles

Edited February 12, 201213 yr by Soapsuds

La Casa del al lado ended on Monday with a 8.9 rating for its last show.

Relaciones Peligroasas started ok on Tuesday for it's first episode but have dropped every since. It's averaging a 4 in the ratings...not very good considering how well La Casa del al lado and other soaps in that timeslot did. I think the reason people are turning out is because of all the racey stories going on. I guess people aren't ready for them whether it's on daytime or primetime.

From my understanding, most novelas go up in the final episodes. Looking at Media Life's overnights, 'Caso del al Lado' averaged a .6 / .7 for most of December / January. Right now, 'Relaciones Peligrosas' is averaging a .4, and occasionally hitting the .5. For 'RP,' the network may be looking at the demos as I would assume they are expecting the show to skew younger. I know in the press release about the premier they talked about one of the demographics being up.

Mauricio beat Diego's ASS! That was so brutal, I thought he was dead when Mauricio slammed him on that tree! What's the history between Diego and Alex? I think I wasn't watching during their episodes yet.

Diego wasn't introduced with the rest of the group. He appeared after the aftermath of Rodrigo's suicide, which happened at the end of episode one. During football practice, Alejandro is changing in the lockerroom when Diego accidentally dropped his towel right in front of him. Diego gave a Alejandro a dirty look, but I don't think he made a big deal about the situation until on the field. Diego knocked Alejandro out, which lead to Sebastian chatisizing Diego for his behavior. Later, in the showers, Diego spotted Alejandro staring at Sebastian.

I like JP but I dont know..I have a feeling he is going to turn evil or be the antagonist....I flove Mauricio....the actor sure is easy on the eyes with a hot body...I also like Sebastian...the actor is hot as well....Diego is just blah for me...lol....poor Alex if he gets stuck with him.......unless Diego really does a 180...which he was kind of very slightly warming up to Alex until he reached the emergency room....LOL when Alex said the !@#$%^&*] didnt even thank me...lol

I, too, like J.P., but I agree he'll probably turn out to be a villain.

J.P.'s slicked back hair in the flashbacks to his marriage gave off a swarmy vibe. I think there will be more to the story with the sister-in-law. I don't think J.P. killed his wife, but I think we'll eventually learn she wasn't as paranoid as we were lead to believe. I'm on team J.P. / Miranda and team Yesenia / Mauricio. In the end, I suspect Mau may leave for Columbia alone, which would be fine with me.

I was laughing when that popped up in the captions. I am not much of a fan of Diego either, I agree at this point I wouldn't want to see Alex with him. It's a long shot but I think it would be much more compelling if him & Sebastian ended up together somehow.

See, I don't find Sebastian / Alejandro compelling as an end game couple. I like Sebastian / Nora and appreciate how they have embraced Alejandro. Also, it would negate Sebastian's stance on his sexuality by pairing the two. He doesn't mind kissing Alejandro because he is comfortable with who he is. I think the audience will want Alejandro with someone who is comfortable with their sexuality, but will this provide the most conflict? In a way, it would have been more dramatic to have Sebastian confused, and Nora a raging bitch, but I find the current situation refreshing. I just think it's a shame they haven't maximized the potential set up into an actual storyline.

I was hoping the show was going to go the Gonzalo / Alejandro route with all the conflict provided from Gonzalo's role in Rodrigo's death. This would have kept the Sebastian / Alejandro relationship at the center of the drama and allowed Sebastian something to do while Nora is off romancing some other guy trying to get over the Aragon brothers.

I like the contrast of Diego / Alejandro. With Alejandro, I think he is comfortable with being gay, but not comfortable with how society will perceive him. Diego's homophobic rants seem to come from self-hatred; he isn't comfortable with himself. I have less problems with Diego's homophobia than with Leo / Gonzalo's racism.

***

I finished my weekend marathon (Wed-Fri) of ‘Relaciones Peligrosas.’ I’m enjoying the characters and the stories, but I do wish the plotting was less ‘let’s introduce a plot point and forget about it for a few episodes and then pick it up again.’ The flow is a bit choppy. There was so much emphasis in the first few episodes about Rodrigo’s death and what Gonzalo did that night, but that has all been sort of swept under the rug. Then, there was some good movement in the Nora / Sebastian / Alejandro story early in the week, but, other than the dinner on Thursday, there has been nothing. No real follow through.

The Oliver plot is a bit of a nuisance and the writers seem to be trying to figure a way to back out of the situation. I like how Yesenia’s brother is tied into all of it, and, through the brother, so is Yesenia. I think the constant threats will get old, but I worry how all of this is going to be resolved without making the characters look bad like Leo and Gonzalo do with their racial comments.

Did anyone else catch the hint that Leo Maximo’s father is the head of the drug cartel? I figured this was a thread the show would follow when Orlando, Sebastian’s father, said he planned on finding who was at the top of the drug ring, but I didn’t think it was going to be Andres Maximo.

I like Jeannette Lehr, the actress playing Teresa. She was so over the top as the psychic in ‘El Cuerpo del Deseo,’ and I just love the relationship between Teresa and Ricardo. I’m looking forward to the fight between Ana / Teresa over directorship of Cervantes. I like both women because, even though Ana seems to be a villain, Teresa is grasping at straws by keeping Miranda as Mauricio’s tutor. I’m disappointed that this element has been used to create more natural conflict in the relationship.

Miranda / J.P. at the after school program was so sweet and a nice change of pace. I hope they feature that a bit more to keep things grounded.

I like how they set up Miranda’s break in. I believe Miranda would think Mau was behind it based on all the information she had been fed, but I still don’t see why Mau doesn’t tell her about Oliver’s threats. I’m not too thrilled with Mau trying to make J.P. look bad.

The Cassius / Gonzalo / Leo stuff is hard to watch. It’s so banal. Also I don’t like some of Cassius’ mannerisms. It all feels so juvenile.

I wonder what will happen once Violeta realizes this is not a fake. She was analyzing the photo Friday and I bet she sees Mauricio’s reflection in the wine bottle.

I find it interesting they are continuing this Mauricio’s parents think he might be gay subplot. If Alejandro was more involved, I could see the purpose as it might motivate Alejandro to stay in the closet. For now, it just seems like a rather bizarre choice to make, but I guess it highlights how judgemental and narrow minded Manuel Blanco is for the impending Sofia / Cassius storyline.

Santiago’s comments about having a better body than the doctored photo were humorous as were his comments to J.P. about Miranda.

I don’t like how they haven’t picked up on Wednesday’s cliffhanger, or one of its final threads, with J.P. meeting with Marta, his former sister-in-law.

Edited February 12, 201213 yr by dc11786

From my understanding, most novelas go up in the final episodes. Looking at Media Life's overnights, 'Caso del al Lado' averaged a .6 / .7 for most of December / January. Right now, 'Relaciones Peligrosas' is averaging a .4, and occasionally hitting the .5. For 'RP,' the network may be looking at the demos as I would assume they are expecting the show to skew younger. I know in the press release about the premier they talked about one of the demographics being up.

What you mention is the 18-49 demos. The 8.9 is the total HH number for Casa de al Lado last show. They were averaging 6.0-7.9 ratings during its run...that is HH numbers. It debut with a 9.1 HH rating when it first premiered. RP had a 5.2 rating it's first episode and then went down to the 4's in HH.

What you mention is the 18-49 demos. The 8.9 is the total HH number for Casa de al Lado last show. They were averaging 6.0-7.9 ratings during its run...that is HH numbers. It debut with a 9.1 HH rating when it first premiered. RP had a 5.2 rating it's first episode and then went down to the 4's in HH.

Thanks for clarifying. I hadn't seen it mentioned in the Media Life articles that they were using the 18-49 demographic. I just assumed it was head households.

Diego wasn't introduced with the rest of the group. He appeared after the aftermath of Rodrigo's suicide, which happened at the end of episode one. During football practice, Alejandro is changing in the lockerroom when Diego accidentally dropped his towel right in front of him. Diego gave a Alejandro a dirty look, but I don't think he made a big deal about the situation until on the field. Diego knocked Alejandro out, which lead to Sebastian chatisizing Diego for his behavior. Later, in the showers, Diego spotted Alejandro staring at Sebastian.

I, too, like J.P., but I agree he'll probably turn out to be a villain.

J.P.'s slicked back hair in the flashbacks to his marriage gave off a swarmy vibe. I think there will be more to the story with the sister-in-law. I don't think J.P. killed his wife, but I think we'll eventually learn she wasn't as paranoid as we were lead to believe. I'm on team J.P. / Miranda and team Yesenia / Mauricio. In the end, I suspect Mau may leave for Columbia alone, which would be fine with me.

See, I don't find Sebastian / Alejandro compelling as an end game couple. I like Sebastian / Nora and appreciate how they have embraced Alejandro. Also, it would negate Sebastian's stance on his sexuality by pairing the two. He doesn't mind kissing Alejandro because he is comfortable with who he is. I think the audience will want Alejandro with someone who is comfortable with their sexuality, but will this provide the most conflict? In a way, it would have been more dramatic to have Sebastian confused, and Nora a raging bitch, but I find the current situation refreshing. I just think it's a shame they haven't maximized the potential set up into an actual storyline.

I was hoping the show was going to go the Gonzalo / Alejandro route with all the conflict provided from Gonzalo's role in Rodrigo's death. This would have kept the Sebastian / Alejandro relationship at the center of the drama and allowed Sebastian something to do while Nora is off romancing some other guy trying to get over the Aragon brothers.

I like the contrast of Diego / Alejandro. With Alejandro, I think he is comfortable with being gay, but not comfortable with how society will perceive him. Diego's homophobic rants seem to come from self-hatred; he isn't comfortable with himself. I have less problems with Diego's homophobia than with Leo / Gonzalo's racism.

***

I finished my weekend marathon (Wed-Fri) of ‘Relaciones Peligrosas.’ I’m enjoying the characters and the stories, but I do wish the plotting was less ‘let’s introduce a plot point and forget about it for a few episodes and then pick it up again.’ The flow is a bit choppy. There was so much emphasis in the first few episodes about Rodrigo’s death and what Gonzalo did that night, but that has all been sort of swept under the rug. Then, there was some good movement in the Nora / Sebastian / Alejandro story early in the week, but, other than the dinner on Thursday, there has been nothing. No real follow through.

The Oliver plot is a bit of a nuisance and the writers seem to be trying to figure a way to back out of the situation. I like how Yesenia’s brother is tied into all of it, and, through the brother, so is Yesenia. I think the constant threats will get old, but I worry how all of this is going to be resolved without making the characters look bad like Leo and Gonzalo do with their racial comments.

Did anyone else catch the hint that Leo Maximo’s father is the head of the drug cartel? I figured this was a thread the show would follow when Orlando, Sebastian’s father, said he planned on finding who was at the top of the drug ring, but I didn’t think it was going to be Andres Maximo.

I like Jeannette Lehr, the actress playing Teresa. She was so over the top as the psychic in ‘El Cuerpo del Deseo,’ and I just love the relationship between Teresa and Ricardo. I’m looking forward to the fight between Ana / Teresa over directorship of Cervantes. I like both women because, even though Ana seems to be a villain, Teresa is grasping at straws by keeping Miranda as Mauricio’s tutor. I’m disappointed that this element has been used to create more natural conflict in the relationship.

Miranda / J.P. at the after school program was so sweet and a nice change of pace. I hope they feature that a bit more to keep things grounded.

I like how they set up Miranda’s break in. I believe Miranda would think Mau was behind it based on all the information she had been fed, but I still don’t see why Mau doesn’t tell her about Oliver’s threats. I’m not too thrilled with Mau trying to make J.P. look bad.

The Cassius / Gonzalo / Leo stuff is hard to watch. It’s so banal. Also I don’t like some of Cassius’ mannerisms. It all feels so juvenile.

I wonder what will happen once Violeta realizes this is not a fake. She was analyzing the photo Friday and I bet she sees Mauricio’s reflection in the wine bottle.

I find it interesting they are continuing this Mauricio’s parents think he might be gay subplot. If Alejandro was more involved, I could see the purpose as it might motivate Alejandro to stay in the closet. For now, it just seems like a rather bizarre choice to make, but I guess it highlights how judgemental and narrow minded Manuel Blanco is for the impending Sofia / Cassius storyline.

Santiago’s comments about having a better body than the doctored photo were humorous as were his comments to J.P. about Miranda.

I don’t like how they haven’t picked up on Wednesday’s cliffhanger, or one of its final threads, with J.P. meeting with Marta, his former sister-in-law.

I love your analysis of everything. I am still trying to figure out who is who. It's hard when i dont care about some stories I do but the characters cross paths and stories. I guess thats a good thing though....I too find it odd how Maurico's dad keeps asking if he is gay....lol...gawd I wish he was....lol...I like the casting of the dad....I've seen him in other novelas..he sure has aged though..I remember him as a younger lead. As for Alex....I wouldnt mind seeing him with Leo....if I am correct he is the one being beaten by his father??

I love your analysis of everything. I am still trying to figure out who is who. It's hard when i dont care about some stories I do but the characters cross paths and stories. I guess thats a good thing though....I too find it odd how Maurico's dad keeps asking if he is gay....lol...gawd I wish he was....lol...I like the casting of the dad....I've seen him in other novelas..he sure has aged though..I remember him as a younger lead. As for Alex....I wouldnt mind seeing him with Leo....if I am correct he is the one being beaten by his father??

Thanks. I've been watching 3 or more episodes on the weekend. It makes it easier to remember who is who.

The only reason I can figure for the Mauricio is gay comments are they want to show the father as a bigot. This should come into play when Sofia brings Cassius home. He probably won't be happy if his daughter is dating a black man, which is disappointing because I didn't get the bigot impression when the issue came up during dinner. The father does look familiar. I think I saw previews for La Viuda de Blanco, which he was in.

Leo is the one who's dad beats him. Leo / Sofia will surely break up since they are heavy on Sofia / Cassius. If I were in charge, I would pair Nora / Leo because they are at least hinting Leo's father, Andres Maximo, is the drug lord. This would cause conflict because of the drug involvement in Rodrigo's death. I was sort of hoping the show was going to pair Ale / Leo when they kissed during the ice game.

RELACIONES PELIGROSAS M-F

TEL

5.0

Ratings for last weeks episodes.

Edited February 15, 201213 yr by Soapsuds

I'm still reeling from all the WTFery from Monday's episode. I realize the original was a weekly drama, but this stuff was too much.

Mild mannered, musician Gilberto has a fantasy about Santiago and his wife and goes off threatening to ruin Ana / Santiago. I actually liked the original set up of Ana / Santiago. Santiago made a valid point regarding Ana; she says what she believes. If she had in fact been racist, it wouldn't have been a secret. On the otherhand, I thought GIlberto's point about Ana being harsh was also interesting and spot-on. I wish they used Violeta to faciliate the split before having Gilberto jump to conclusions at the drop of the hat.

I like how J.P. thinks it is Jaime Oliveras, his former father-in-law, who is stalking him. This was a nice beat to play and allowed me to tolerate Oliver's plot a little bit more.

The Sofia / Leo break up came sooner than I than I thought, but I'm glad it's all over. I wish they would give the actress playing Sofia and Mauricio's mother more to do. The actress does a lot with a little, and I really wish both of the Blancos were well developed for the impending Cassius / Sofia relationship. I thought the pool scene between Max and Gonzalo was going to become a bit homoerotic especially as they were discussing Sofia / Leo. I like both characters separately, and I enjoy their friendhsip at times. I wish they would move them into another story.

I was sorry to see Yesenia's brother being beaten in prison. It bothers me that the show doesn't feature characters fighting back. The scene with Cassius at the laundrymat left me with a similar feeling.

Of course, out of nowhere, the Nora / Sebastian / Ale story has made a 180 and is now about a bitter Nora, a clueless Sebastian, and a judgemental Ale. Ale's comments about Sebastian / Nora were so left field I was left spinning. Ale knew Sebastian liked Nora; Nora knew Ale was gay. Why is all of this suddenly a problem? The last scenes we had of them together were at Nora's family dinner. What suddenly changed? At times, I feel like we've missed several beats of the story, which is unforgiveable on a nightly series. Maybe they could have cut down on some of the endless "Stop talking to me Mauricio" scenes and developed this a bit further.

I'll probably end up finishing up the rest of this week's episodes this weekend.

Hmmmm...I haven't seen this weeks episodes. I will catch up this weekend.