Spain is fighting the Spanish Civil War. Torcuato Ferreira and Bruno Salvat are fellow soldiers, despite Bruno being rich and Torcuato poor. They make a deal: if something happens to Bruno in battle, Torcuato would look after his sister Julia and his business. They survive a lethal blitzkrieg that kills all the rest of the unit, and then Torcuato shoots Bruno. He lefts him for dead in the battlefield, takes control of his fortune, and escapes the country at war to settle in Argentina instead. But Bruno survives, and returns home after some months of recovery. When he finds out what has happened, he sets to Argentina, to get his revenge.
He meets Aldo Moretti, who sells ship tickets to Argentina to the desperate emigrants, and manages to sneak into the ship. They become friends, as Moretti understands his situation. Moretti falls in love with Raquel, a woman with an arranged marriage with an argentine lord. He found it suspicious, so he followed her when they landed. He discovered that she was actually scamed by a human trafficking network, led by Traumman, that forced her to work as a prostitute in a brothel.
Bruno finds out that Torcuato is now a powerful lord.
Tropes
- Abhorrent Admirer: Alicia Ferreira, sister of Torcuato, fell in love with Aldo. Torcuato forced him, with threat of death, to be her boyfriend, and even get married and have sons if it comes to that.
- Trauman to Raquel.
- Also Rodolfo to Lucía.
- Absurdly Spacious Sewer: There is a network of sewers below the city that the gang uses to go around the city. There's enough space in it for several people walking side by side.
- Accidental Misnaming: Alicia keeps called Francesca as "Francisca", even when everybody tells her that she got it wrong (and even if they told her just 15 seconds ago).
- Artistic License – Linguistics: Bruno discovered that the journalist "Juan de Marzo" (which is a pseudonym of an unknown journalist) is Lucia, because the name is a translation to Spanish of Jo March, a character of Lucia's favorite novel, Little Women. Problem is, Jo is a shortened form of Josephine, not Joan. The journalist should have been called "José de Marzo" to use this explanation.
- Back for the Dead: After returning from military service a few episodes ago, Nino is shot by one of Truman's henchmen.
- Beleaguered Boss: Trauman is constantly whining that everyone in the brothel (Madame Ivon, the girls, the guards) are all a bunch of useless people who can not follow any simple instructions. Of course, being forced prostitutes the girls have absolutely no interest in any of that, and only follow orders for their own security. But, as for Ivon, she considers herself a Beleaguered Assistant in turn, and complains that Trauman gives nonsensical orders and follows his random impulses rather than good sense.
- Betty and Veronica: In Libertad eyes, Torcuato is the Betty and Bruno is the Veronica to Lucia's Archie.
- Francesca is the Betty and Lucia is the Veronica to Bruno's Archie.
- David is the Betty and Alí is the Veronica to Sara's Archie.
- Camp Gay: Paco Jamandreu who is a fashion designer and openly gay. Also Malek who likes fashion, listening radio theater and cinema.
- The Cat Came Back: Alicia always has an habit of showing up unannounced and get into whatever Aldo is doing.
- Common Tongue: Averted, in spades. We have Argentines who speak Spanish, Spaniards who speak Spanish, Spaniards from Catalonia who speak Catalan, Italians who speak Italian, Polish Jews that speak in Polish, etc. But the series is made in Argentina, for an Argentine public, so everyone speaks Spanish, right? No! Many characters make full rants in foreign languages, which are not translated. This results in a blend of Bilingual Dialogue (we can infer what was said because of the other guy's answers), Translator Buddy ("he has just said that..."), You No Take Candle (the foreign character tries to speak the common tongue, with very poor results), plain Language Barrier (the other guy simply does not understand a word that has been just said), etc.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: When Aldo suspects that something happened to Raquel, he took a gun and headed to the brothel. He ordered the guy in security to leave, and asked Trauman about Raquel with a gun on his face. He got completely demoralized when he heard that she died, and left. In the conventillo, he said that he should have done this from the begining (show up with weapons and take Raquel out by force), and Raquel may still be alive.
- Desk Sweep of Rage: Trauman gets out of prison and returns to the brothel, to find out that his wife had been killed by a rival mobster. He took his anger with everything lying over a furniture.
- Distant Prologue: The first episode starts during the Spanish Civil War, when Torcuato betrayed Bruno, left him for dead on the battlefield, and took his fortune as his own. Some years later, Torcuato left war-torn Spain and settled in Argentina, where he became a powerful lord. Bruno is liberated from the prison where Franco's loyalists had him, tracks Torcuato to Argentina... and that's where the action begins.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: José Pablo and Libertad are having a marital discussion. Libertad mentions that she used to be engaged to a rich man, and regrets having left him; José Pablo reminds her that this man left her after "the incident". Gabriel, who was nearby, heard it all. Everything is clear for him: some rich man left Libertad pregnant out of wedlock, and left her because of the scandal. Which means that he's the son of a rich man. After some days of investigation, he finally finds the man that used to be engaged with Libertad, and arranges a meeting with him. Yes, he was engaged, but they did not had sex, he never even touched her before marriage. As for the "incident"... he broke the engagement when he discovered that Libertad was gay.
- Due to the Dead: When Trauman thought that Raquel died, he instructed the rabbi to organize a funeral for her. He refused. No funerals for prostitutes. Not even if Trauman himself requests it.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Thinking that Raquel was dead, Trauman requested Alfreda (the woman that got her in Europe), to bring her 10 years old sister from Europe as well. He had the intention to adopt her, as an homage to Raquel. But, as he forgot to mention that, Alfreda openly refuses: she will not force a 10 years old girl into prostitution!
- Ivonne is a manipulative woman that forces women into prostitution, but she worked hard to make money for her family from a young age, accidentally liberated a prostitute and shows Raquel some kind of empathy, stopping Trauman from raping her.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Torcuato is a rapist, a manipulating criminal and overall the Big Bad of the show, but he loves his sister unconditionally and is genuinely in love with Lucia. It seems to the viewer that they are the only people he cares about.
- Faux Affably Evil: Alicia is fun, wih her antics and comic relief, but when she finally got her hand on Raquel, the elusive lover of Aldo... she returned her to the brothel.
- Five Philosophy Ensemble: The brothel girls. Raquel is the realist, Dina is the optimist, Helga is the cynic, Edith is the conflicted, and Ivonne is the apathetic.
- Four-Temperament Ensemble: Bruno and Francesca are melancholic, Aldo is choleric, Cordoba and Gallo are sanguine, and David is phlematic.
- Toro was eclectic.
- Gayngst: Malek and Libertad, who are understandably afraid of acknowledging their orientation considering how gay people was treated in that time
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Torcuato is acting as a madman, so that he's inside a bedlam house rather than a prison. Of course, he gets routine visits from therapists. One of them started asking about his father, that Torcuato hates... and he attacked him. There was a scandal, and once he was alone with Mercedes, she had to make things clear for him: he's not really crazy, he's only acting, and shouldn't take the acting too far. Because dangerous madmen get another treatment: they get a straitjacket and are locked and forgotten in some hole somewhere, with no visits and no gifts from visits. Even actual prison time would be better than that.
- Gone Horribly Right: Libertad got insane. Gabriel wanted to place her in a bedlam house, and Lucia to look after her at home, so Torcuato tried to get points by taking her at home. But now she's even more annoying than when she was sane, so Alicia starts complaining to Torcuato that he's pathetic by being so submissive. Initially he tried to explain himself, but as Alicia insisted... he pushed Libertad through the stairs, and told her to call Lucia and Gabriel and report the "tragic accident".
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Bruno is living in a conventillo, one block away from Torcuato's house. As long as he avoids being seen by him face-to-face, he's fine.
- Hometown Nickname: Raquel is named "The Polish", because she's from Polland, and her lack of fluency in the Spanish language is evident for anyone that meets her.
- Incurable Cough of Death: José Pablo used to cough all the time because of his Tuberculosis.
- Informed Attractiveness: Raquel is an eye-catching beauty. Nearly everyone that meets her remarks on how beautiful she is.
- Insanity Defense: When the crimes of Torcuato became clear, he acted as a rambling madman (and did so some days in advance), so he taken to a bedlam house rather than a prison.
- It Will Never Catch On
- The bad guys usually mock concepts like universal suffrage, women's suffrage and women's rights, which are commonplace nowadays but not back then.
- Inverted in the finale. Trauman asks Raquel if she truly thinks that, say, a century in the future (meaning, roughly modern-day) there won't still be brothels and Traumanes. And yes, there are. But Raquel answered that perhaps there will be, but there will also be women with rights opposing them. Women who will vote, who will have political and civil rights, who will even be in the Congress, in the Judiciary and even presidents, who will write books, who will write in the press... and if there are still brothels and Traumanes by then, it won't be so easy for them.
- It's Personal: Discussed. When Alfreda killed Basualdo, Trauman organized a big revenge, because he loved Basualdo like a son, and he was going to get married with his daughter Carmen... and then he was interrupted by Ivonne. She pointed that he's talking nonsenses, that he always treated Basualdo as dirt as he does with everyone else, and that the "marriage" was just another one of his crazy projects that he started while being drunk and that he would probably have stopped anyway before it could have gone too far. But Trauman insisted: it's personal because he needs it to be personal, because which is the point and the fun of avenging someone that he doesn't care about?
- Left for Dead: Torcuato shot Bruno in the war, and left him among the dead soldiers. He was completely sure that it would be the end for him.
- Like Brother and Sister: Bruno and Francesca's friendship. They did try to be a couple but it failed since Bruno needed to get over Lucia and Francesca was still grieving over her fiancee.
- The Lost Lenore: Toro became this for her fiancée Francesca. His death is the reason she joined the gang.
- Lovable Rogue: Aldo is an expert in small scams, but he's trying to liberate a woman that is held prisoner and forced to work as a prostitute, so he has the full support of the audience.
- The Masochism Tango: Torcuato and Agatha, they are constantly insulting and threatening each other, yet they cannot resist each other. However their own pride brings out the worst part of them.
- Naturalized Name: When he leaves the ship, Bruno Salvat says that he is from Filgueras. The official got it all wrong, and registered him as "Bruno Filgueras". After the initial complaints, he accepted the stroke of luck: having a new name, Torcuato may not know that he is alive.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The workers in the factory are making a strike for better labor conditions. Torcuato makes a proposal: a raise in wages of $5, wortime of 12 hours a day (instead of 18), and one free sunday per month. After some deliverations, the workers reject the proposal, and insist with their initial request: a raise of $100, worktime of 8 hours and all sundays free. When he is informed, Torcuato tells his underlings to accept everything. They are surprised by his sudden generosity, but then he completes the idea: accept everything, and tomorrow make an "accidental" fire that burns the factory to the ground and kills all the workers inside. The insurance will pay him for the factory, and he will simply get new desperate immigrant workers.
- Open Secret
- Initially, the "band" is just Córdoba and Gallo, and Bruno joins them when he finds about it, to redirect it from random robberies to robberies against Torcuato. Then, one by one everybody else in the conventillo find about it, with only Serafina being kept in the dark.
- When he was jailed, Trauman revealed that Ana's son is still alive, that he stole and sold him. He's willing to reveal his location, if Raquel dropped the charges against him. Everybody in the band knew it, but nobody told Ana: they were not sure if they could trust him, or if Trauman was simply trying to fool them, and did not want to give Ana false hopes. Of course, when she finds out, and then finds out that everybody knew already, she was angered.
- Outlaw Couple: Agatha and Torcuato. Both of them orchestrated the kidnapping of their opponent's son. Later, Agatha tried to persuade Torcuato to become her partner in crime.
- Persona Non Grata: Trauman is a Jew, and the Jewish community knows it all about who he is and the things he does. They may not have the power for countering all the mafias and dirty cops that allow him to work, but they do something they can still do: have him shunned from the community, an outcast for any other Jew.
- Revenge by Proxy: Ingrid is stabbed by a henchman sent by Roinstein's wife because he was killed by Trauman. It worth noting that Ingrid wasn't completely innocent since she helped her husband while he was in jail.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Toro has been killed by the mafia. Everybody in the conventillo is devastated by the loss... and Alicia shows up. Aldo never has time for her shennigans, but now is the worst moment, so he forces her to leave immediately, and do not even bother to make up a credible excuse.
- Together in Death: The police has captured Torcuato and Alicia. There's no way out this time. There is too much proof of their crimes, and no money to bribe anyone. Torcuato drinks a poison to commit suicide, which he prefers to the prison. Alicia start giving him a passionate kiss... and gets poisoned as well.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Francesca and Ana, the sisters of Aldo. Francesca smokes, supports women's rights (voting, working, driving cars, etc), wears trousers made by herself, and does not need her brother or boyfriend to "defend" her from bullies. Ana, on the other hand, simply fell into the femenine archetypes of the era.
- Too Dumb to Live: The refuge is swarming with Torcuato's and Trauman's hitmen, who want to kill everyone. Alambre shoots one of them down, and then walks casually and relaxed in the hall, boasting that he should be included in the band, as if the fight was over. Alas, it was not over, and Torcuato shot him down, killing him.
- Unperson: Part of the problem for liberating the prostitutes is that they are completely unpersoned upon arrival. For the law, they do not exist, there are no records of them. Not even when they die, they are simply discarded as NN corpses.
- Villain Protagonist: Bruno decides that the best way to take vengueance against Torcuato was to join a criminal gang and commit crimes against him.
- War Is Hell: Before the betrayal neither Torcuato nor Bruno enjoyed the war at all. Bruno was waiting for it to end and go back home to continue the family business, and Torcuato disliked it just as he disliked his pre-war life.
- Weddings for Everyone: In the final episode, Raquel gets married with Also, in a Jewish wedding. And when they're done they move to a Christian church nearby, for the wedding of Bruno and Lucia. Then there is a shared party for both weddings.
- With a Foot on the Bus
- When he finds out that Aldo is trying to liberate Raquel, and suspects that he may use money stolen from Torcuato, he sold her to a brothel in the distant Patagonia to avoid trouble. Raquel managed to escape from the pimps during the journey.
- With Raquel finally free, Aldo escapes with her to the United States. They never got there: the ship was stopped shotly after leaving Buenos Aires, and they were sent back to Buenos Aires.
- You No Take Candle: Raquel is Polish, and has a very limited understanding of the Spanish language. His dialogue is made by things like "Yo Raquel, mi no querer burdel, mi querer Aldo".
