La Otra

La Otra (The Other Woman) is a Mexican telenovela that was produced by Televisa and aired on El Canal de las Estrellas from 20 May through 20 September 2002. It aired on Univision in the United States from October 14, 2002 through February 28, 2003. It stars Yadhira Carrillo as both Carlota Guillen Sáenz and Cordelia Portugal, identical strangers whose lives collide upon becoming involved with Álvaro Ibáñez (Juan Soler).

"The Best Telenovela of the Year" (Premios TVyNovelas 2003)

Yadhira Carrillo has a dual protagonist/antagonist, Juan Soler is the protagonist, while Jacqueline Andere and Sergio Sendel will as the antagonists.

Plot

On a dark, stormy night, Bernarda (Chantal Andere), Leopoldo Guillen's lover, takes her two small daughters, Eugenia (Mercedes Molto) and Carlota (Yadhira Carrillo), to his funeral. Leopold's son, Roman, his wife, and the priest tell them that they are unwelcome at the funeral and Roman (Alejandro Ávila) throws them out in the mud.

Years later, Carlota and Eugenia are attending a university where Carlota studies music and Eugenia studies accounting. Bernarda favors and expects the best out of Eugenia, who is failing school. However, she disdains and expects the worst out of Carlota, whom Bernarda calls "inutil" (good-for-nothing). In reality, Carlota is the one who is successful, as she plays the piano beautifully and paints many masks, showing us that she has quite the artistic side.

Bernarda is a materialistic woman, determined to never allow her daughters to marry in order to avoid what is stated in the father's will: Upon marriage, they will take their part of the fortune. She oppresses the girls and holds them near prisoner in their own home. However, Carlota and Eugenia do not allow circumstances to stop them from being their own selves. Eugenia is secretly dating Roman and has already had relations with him. Roman has slept with her for vengeance only. He thinks that she is his half-sister. However, she is not Leopoldo's daughter. When Bernarda and Carlota discover that Eugenia is pregnant, Bernarda sends her away to a small town with their housekeeper (Tomasa Josefina Echánove). In the small town Eugenia meets Cordelia (Yadhira Carrillo), who is identical to Carlota. She also meets Santos (Ignacio Guadalupe), a man who falls in love with her; and they marry in order to give her child a name.

Meanwhile, Carlota forms a relationship with a young doctor named Álvaro (Juan Soler). He soon asks for her hand in marriage. When Bernarda finds out, she adamantly opposes and unsuccessfully tries break them up via many means. Eventually, she concedes and gives Carlota her blessing. Of course, knowing Bernarda, there is always an ulterior motive.

Eugenia gives birth but because Bernarda tells Eugenia the entire truth about everything that has happened, she instigates her own daughter's early death. During her last moments, Eugenia orders Tomasa to hide the baby with Santos and lie to everyone and say the baby died. Eugenia curses her mother with misery and guilt and dies.

When Eugenia's body is delivered to Bernarda, Álvaro asks to see Carlota, but Bernarda demands that he leave and leave her to mourn her daughter's death. Ignorant of recent happenings and of the fact that Carlota has a sister, Álvaro believes Carlota died. Bernarda does not correct him and says that Carlota died in a freak accident. She denies him access to view the dead body by lying (The lie is that Carlota's body is unrecognizable from the serious degree of the accident). Álvaro leaves for his parents' hacienda in a rural town to get over his first (and only) love. Bernarda tells Carlota that he abandoned her and that he was just using her. With the death of her sister and this terrible news, Carlota tries to kill herself, but she only kills her unborn child.

During Alvaro's grieving process, Cordelia eventually seduces Álvaro into a loveless marriage, using her appearance and her charismatic manipulation skills to her advantage.

Ten years later, Carlota is nothing more than a mere shadow of her former self, further enslaved by Bernarda, and Álvaro and Cordelia are having marital troubles, causing misery for their daughter Natalia.

Eventually, Carlota will learn to break free and become her own person...but it will take walking into the lion's den to do so. She will go to Alvaro's house and assume the position of La Otra.

Cast

Critical reception

This telenovela was a moderate success in Mexico, airing at 8pm in the summer of 2002, right before the (usually) highest-rated hour of 9pm, during which Entre el Amor y el Odio was airing. However, it proved to be a sleeper telenovela, as it won the Premio for best novela of 2002, as well as numerous other Premios. It has also grown in popularity amongst telenovela fans of all kinds, thus making it a cult classic of sorts. It has aired four times in the United States, the first time being its initial airing on Univision in the afternoon, from October 14, 2002 to February 28, 2003. It has been repeated three times afterward. The first repeat was on Telefutura in the early morning, from September 26, 2005 to January 27, 2006. The second repeat was on Univision during the Grandes Historias hour late at night, from April 9, 2007 to August 9, 2007. The third repeat currently aired during the mid-afternoon later switched to mornings on Telefutura, having started on November 22, 2010 to March 30, 2011.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• http://www.alma-latina.net/OtraLa/OtraLa.shtml
• La Otra at the Internet Movie Database