Alright, alright!
Let’s talk about this Brazilian web series!
First of all, don’t let the name fool or scare you into not watching! Or that you’re reading subtitles!
It’s too good not to watch!
Now, onto episode one of the first season!
SPOILER ALERT!
This web series centers around Luiza and Valentina. The episode opens up with Valentina joining the other characters at a table in college. She clearly shows up right away with one goal in mind.
Annoy Luiza.
The first thing she does it toss her backpack to hit the laptop Luiza is using.
Now, I’m going to be honest with you here, I’ve watched these episodes multiple times at this point. Because reading the subtitles distracted me from catching the little nuances the actors were doing.
So, I’ve rewatched each episode to catch some details I missed because I was reading the translation.
And it’s worth it!
In the opening scene, one of the things I missed the first time through was all the looks everyone at the table was sharing while Valentina did her best to annoy Luiza.
For me, it meant this wasn’t the first time Valentina’s done this.
Especially, when she opened her mouth to question Luiza and Carol immediately turns to her boyfriend Roger to give him a look. One that said, ‘why does she have to open her mouth?’
Or the looks Igor is getting from Duda.
Or the apologetic look Igor gives to everyone else.
Which, I also notice Luiza misses.
Luiza is so consumed by Valentina’s irritations that she misses her friends and family also getting annoyed.
As I watched through the entire series and came back to this episode, I realized something – Luiza already feels something for Valentina.
In this moment, I guess she has at least a physical attraction to Valentina.
One prevalent throughout the entire series.
It’s my guess as to why she finds her so infuriating.
Or theory.
Because who else has had a crush on someone and then they say something that just pisses you off, but you’re still attracted to them. But now, you’re annoyed with yourself for the attraction, but it won’t go away.
For me, I feel like that’s where Luiza lands.
She’s annoyed that she’s attracted to someone, she feels doesn’t have the same values. Not only that but has (seemingly) values she hates.
As it is revealed that Valentina doesn’t believe a thing she said to Luiza, she only wanted to make her mad because she finds her hot when she gets pissed.
On the flip side, I feel like Valentina enjoys whatever attention Luiza bestows on her, even if it’s negative.
Because I fully believe, that Valentina is already in love before she even sits down at the table in the opening scene.
Clearly, I have though this over too much.
Moving on.
After this, we see Luiza is out too late and cannot afford a taxi. She’s forced to wait for a bus in the middle of the night and cannot get ahold of Duda or her sister Carol.
In this moment, as an audience member, we get to see who Valentina really is under her bravado.
She offers Luiza a ride when she realizes why the other woman won’t take a taxi. Valentina makes no judgment or snide comment, despite coming from a place of comfortable money.
Instead, she simply offers her a ride home.
And when Luiza won’t take it, takes a seat on the bench to wait with her so she won’t be alone in the middle of the night.
For someone, who seemingly did not care for people, she checked all the boxes of being a decent person.
And for the audience, we realize there’s more to Valentina than the ‘show’ she puts on.
Luiza – on the other hand – is stubbornly stuck wanting to hate Valentina.
However, she does accept the ride and Valentina cheekily rides a bit more chaotically. Probably to get the girl to cling to her on the bike. (I know I would.)
Then Valentina declares after dropping her off that they’ll be married one day.
Luiza scoffs at that and goes to bed.
Luiza wakes up the following morning (or what she believes to be the following morning) but is actually ten years later, in bed. With Valentina. Married. With a four-year-old son.
Yikes.
Clearly, this freaks her out. As it would anyone.
And it also freaks out Valentina and Igor who have no idea why Luiza is freaking out and accusing them of kidnapping her.
After she passes out and a doctor shows up. Luiza wants to go home to her parents’ home despite Valentina’s insistance that she is home.
To accommodate her, she takes Luiza back to her childhood home where she realizes this isn’t a joke and even her room is different. There’s even pictures and notes of her Valentina. Her little sister is all grown up and time has marched on.
From there, there’s lots of angst and sadness as each come to terms with what’s happened.
We then get the diagnosis – Dissociative amnesia.
A traumatic or stressful event – in rare cases – people to forget chunks of their life.
It can last a day, a week, a month, or even a lifetime.
To say that the two women are shocked and devastated is an understatement.
Also, one thing I noted on my rewatch was the glance between Valentina and Luiza’s mother at the words ‘traumatic event.’ So clearly, there is something we’re missing.
And I was surprised that Luiza didn’t ask what could have happened to her.
But at the same time, she has so much on her plate right now, I don’t blame her if she couldn’t take another piece of bad news.
Also, I cannot commend the actresses enough for their performance.
Buiar knocks it out of the park with her forlorn and devastated looks. Her moment in bed as she stares at a picture of her wife and son breaks my heart every time.
Not to mention the look on her face when Luiza actively shoves her hand away.
She’s so heartbroken that you can feel it through the screen despite the focus on Luiza’s feelings.
Reis as Luiza does a fantastic job of making her shock and outrage and subsequent confusion at her life believable. Every moment is filled with emotion. So many, Luiza is clearly overwhelmed.
It’s perfect.
I love the scene when she takes off her wedding ring.
At first, I thought that’s harsh.
But then… She doesn’t remember loving this woman only hating her. She feels and seems so disconnected from the world around her, it fit better than I could have thought.
Valentina’s quiet sadness as she promised to bring Luiza to her childhood home after Luiza declares she wants to go home broke me.
She’s been her home for ten years.
To hear her wife wish to be elsewhere, to hate her like that. To not recognize their son.
Ouch.
Both actresses did an amazing job conveying their emotions and making me feel for each. Not one more than the other, because both points of view really suck.
Welp, onto the next!
I’ll try to make this a Wednesday feature! So, stay tuned! In the meantime, check out Stupid Wife on YouTube!
Hit that subscribe button!
Spread the love and read on!
Leave a Reply