'Girls from Ipanema' Season 2 Preview: Rebrand sees Brazilian drama move to ‘60s after Malu and Ligia survive
Adaptations of foreign language series usually do better in the US than direct imports as the success of 'Jane the Virgin' and 'Homeland' shows. However, sometimes sipping from the source is a pleasurable exercise once you get over any reservations around subtitled fare.
Worth a watch is the rebranded comedy-drama 'Most Beautiful Thing' (a direct translation of its Brazillian title), now named 'Girls from Ipanema' for Season 2 after the hit song for better audience recall. If you like period dramas like 'Mad Men' or comedies like 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel', this show might just be up your alley. What's more, it will give you a taste of what the 50s and 60s were like in societies not as conservative as the US at the time. Taking a dive into the musical heritage of Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, Season 1 serves an entry point into the city' bossa nova past with an added dose of woman-power. The series' stars are its four women leads with women writers and directors crafting the show's narrative.
The story starts with rich, white Maria 'Malu' Luiza (Maria Casadevall) who dreams of starting a bossa nova club after her husband abandons her but her father cuts her off when she decides to go after this dream. Her romantic subplot involves a singer, Chico. It is he who inspires her to start the music-themed club in the first place. We are also introduced to Malu's childhood friend, Lígia (Fernanda Vasconcellos), who harbors secret ambitions to be a singer. But her ambitions are curtailed by her abusive husband, Augusto, a politician.
Ligia's sister-in-law, Thereza (Mel Lisboa), a bisexual writer is a second-wave feminist. Both support Malu and in the process transform their own lives. Last but not the least, is Adélia (Pathy Dejesus), a black carioca maid, who rescues Malu in their first encounter after Malu sets the belongings of her absconding husband on fire. Adélia represents the community in which the bossa nova culture emerged. Malu seeks her help to set up the music club in segregated, patriarchal Rio, breaking all conventions to carve out their own futures.
In the finale of Season 1, we saw the four women jumping on the waves at the beach after midnight to ring in 1960, the new year. It is a perfect moment of happiness where all four women acknowledge how they transformed each other's lives. Ligia is making plans to go to America on a singing tour with George the saxophonist,
Thereza has decided to go to Paris without Nelson because he wants to stay in Rio and be part of his daughter's life. Malu and Adélia are over the moon about how successful their club has turned out to be. But their happiness is shattered by Augusto, who has just found out that Ligia aborted their baby. He fires a gun at Ligia and then at Malu, who he holds responsible for corrupting his wife. While we see Malu regain consciousness, she is still gravely wounded and we have no idea of Ligia's fate.
On June 19, Season 2 will pick up after that awful cliffhanger. In the trailer for Season 2, we see that both Malu and Ligia survive the shooting but when the girls visit Malu, they have some news for her. What that news is probably going to kick off the new season. We see Chico on tour in America from where he calls Malu regularly. However, long-distance relations can be tough and we see Malu give in to temptation in the Season 2 trailer.
Meanwhile, even though Thereza (Mel Lisboa) chooses to dedicate her life to taking care of her family and her house, she soon realizes that she misses having a career, which she finds at a radio channel. The synopsis of the upcoming season also tells us that Adélia (Pathy Dejesus) will try to make a fresh start with Capitão (Ícaro Silva), even as she is haunted by her childhood and her father, Duke (Val Perré).
Adélia's sister Ivone (Larissa Nunes) is also all grown up now. With Malu's encouragement, Adélia's sister Ivone (Larissa Nunes) goes from a typical teenager to a talented aspiring artist. Get ready for the 60s Rio as the girls step into a new decade.
The series premieres on June 19, 2020.