Snarky coverage of ‘Tormenta en el Paraiso’ continues now, with our second installment. Woo-hoo! Aymar has blossomed into quite the bodacious beach babe, with spot-on performance by Sara Maldonado. After watching Clase 406, and stealing every scene as debutante Tatiana ‘Tatis’ de Moral, I’ll watch just about anything she stars in. Her cheerfulness is infectious, and this sun-kissed beauty steals your heart with every word. Being a villager hasn’t typecast her as naïve, actually it’s quite the opposite. She’s got brains, fights for the local workers rights, manages a diving tour business, and maintains a great tan all the while. She’s the perfect rags-to-riches heroine for our story. She’s got her share of troubles, for sure, and she seems to always come out on top. She’s drugged, molested, kidnapped and left for dead on a deserted island, as a scheme by the local baddie, but survives. One sunny afternoon, she faces her destiny, as fate, or, is it the black pearl, intervenes.
Her mother, Analy, makes her living as owner of a local café. Since the unfortunate loss, times have been tough. She’s not around long, due to tragic circumstances, which stinks as she’s a great character. It seems there was one witness to the real cause of Hernan’s death, the local shark fisher, Nakuk. He saw Eliseo set the boat ablaze, and knows Eliseo for the rat he is. His lips are sealed for now, bribed by cold hard cash. He’s also got an insane lust to possess Analy. Despite her troubles, she remains positive, and is loved by their village community. Nakuk eventually goes nutzoid, and kidnaps her. Sadly, this ends in a ‘harpoon to the tummy’ scene, and it’s played several times, in slow motion, for audience shock value. Nakuk promptly vanishes.
Enter Nicolas Bravo, (cue lightning strike, once again, ugh) vacationing in Cozumel, falls head-over-heels for her, literally, slamming into her on the beach, and albeit clichéd, ruining his white cotton suit. (or maybe that’s just a cheap pirate costume from the Televisa Wardrobe Dept.) Despite my slight distaste for his jerry-curled hairdo, he’s a real hunk, and whoa!, what a set of *pearly whites*! Played by Erick Elias, and just fresh off the set of Zorro: la espada y la rosa (where he starred as Renzo, and mostly shirtless!) he’s makes for one helluva compelling hero.
What the audience knows, that our spunky heroine doesn’t, is that he’s the middle son of Eliseo Bravo, her father’s ex-partner! El Viejo Eliseo, (now sporting a leather-gloved prosthetic arm) despite being cursed by the black pearl, is the richest ranchero around, and commands the sprawling plantation and horse farm, ‘El Paraiso’, (hence the pun in the series’ title.) with an iron fist, heh. With three studly sons to takeover, his heart is at ease, for now.
Enter the ‘Bravo Brothers’. David, the eldest, is completely disinterested in his right to the familial throne. Gambling, drinking, and womanizing is his way of life, enjoying each new conquest wholeheartedly, that is, until one fateful female encounter changes his life forever. Nicolas, second-in-line, is the handsome curly-locked attorney, well-mannered and honest, he chooses to carry on the family name, and is apparent heir to the El Paraiso estate. Meeting Aymar has caused a chain of dramatic events to unfold, and new challenges must be overcome, as the curse of the black pearl sets in motion. Leonardo, the youngest, is the quick-witted young buck of the pack. He’s passionate, yet naïve, and thinks of himself as ‘useless’, when compared to his successful brothers. He is being groomed to take over the ranch and its stables. After a late night drinking binge, his pickup careens into a tractor trailer and he’s severely injured. Temporarily a cripple, he once again finds himself reinforcing his self-hatred and locked in emotional turmoil. In his quest for acceptance, one woman becomes his light and hope.
