Although I don't speak Spanish, with the aid of close captions and a dictionary I was able to follow much of it. As I tuned in about three quarters of the way through the episodes, I purchased the DVD with English subtitles so that I could fill in the episodes I missed and figure out who was who. Sadly, the DVD was more like watching a one hour season recap of LOST without the explanatory pop ups. Had I not seen the last part in full, I would never had known what was going on. Some characters popped up without any explanation: e.g. the liberated woman who dressed as a man did not appear until she proposed to Renato Piquet (who was Renato anyway?). If only the copious extras had included a full synopsis and character biography list. This show was FAR too good to throw away in a four hour version.
The extras showed the enormous effort which had gone into making the show, the HUGE cast, thousands of period costumes, and a specially built set which would make a "Colonial Mexico" them park. I can only hope that the show will be repeated in full some time in the near future so that I can tape every episode, or that an extended version could be brought out on DVD.
95 episodes, minus commercials and chapter bookends last about 35 minutes each, which adds up to slightly over 55 1/2 hours, which would fit on 10 DVD's, or even 5 double sided.
To get to the story. This show was one of the most spectacular romantic series every. It had everything, beautiful women, handsome men, passionate love, intrigue, scheming, power grabs, gorgeous settings, cheating, star-crossed lovers, family loyalties, family secrets, a revolution - a real feast for the eyes, and for one who lives in the US, a refreshing change to see the way the Mexicans see themselves rather than the caricatures usually portrayed by Hollywood films. I cannot wait to see it shown again.
My only gripe was Matilde's constant snivelling got on my nerves. Not only did she cry enough to fill a bathtub, but the men were at it too. As little Manuelito said to his father, "Men don't cry"! Well they did in this show, by the bucket.
