Unlike a lot of novelas, La Sombra del Pasado didn’t turn into a Shakespearean tragedy. In its final weeks, we said goodbye to Adelina and Dr. Zapata. A couple of others also died, but I’ll save that for my recap of the finale.

As much as I enjoyed La Sombra del Pasado, the finale is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s a shame because it was well acted, but the editing of the finale was horrendous, which I’ll discuss further in my rant.

Let me start with the recap.

Recap

The finale opens with Aldonza holding a gun on Severiano. I know I said I would rant later, but this scene frustrated me to no end. Aldonza finally has the upper hand and she lets Severiano get the best of her. The tables are turned and Aldonza is crying again while Severiano holds a gun on her.

Had I written this scene, Aldonza wouldn’t have lost the gun. She would have been holding it when Candela showed up. Candela would have killed Severiano and lived to reconcile with Cristóbal. Instead, I got Candela and Severiano shooting at each other at the same time and both of them dead.

Cristóbal shows up in time for a quick reconciliation with his mother just before she dies in his arms. I guess I’m supposed to be happy that Candela saw the light and saved Aldonza. I think she could have still been the hero and lived. Frankly, I would have enjoyed seeing Candela and Aldonza deal with each other.

After Candela dies, the sun rises on a new day and a new beginning for Cristóbal and Aldonza. They work both ranches, which one they live at is unclear. I would have sold both of them because of all of the tragic memories. Anyway, life goes on. Father Jerónimo returns to Santa Lucía. Tomás goes to seminary to become a priest. Renato ends up with Silvia and Mari ends up with Patricio.

A few months go by and Aldonza and Cristóbal get married in the church. Emanuel then marries Lola and from here on out the finale falls apart.

Rant

The last 15 minutes of this finale were a chopped up mess. Two weddings and a honeymoon in less than 15 minutes. They wanted us to see Cristóbal and Aldonza happy together. It would have been fine if it hadn’t jumped from one scene to the next. At one point, Cristóbal didn’t even have his line out of his mouth before the scene was cut off. If there was that much to get in, then there should have been another episode.

We didn’t even get ending story lines for Prudencia and Valeria. Tomás found Prudencia on the street after she lost everything. What happened to her after that? Do we assume she managed to turn her life around?

Valeria had the baby, which ended up with Abelardo’s parents. She kept seeing her father’s ghost and constantly was sedated. I guess we’re supposed to assume she spent the rest of her life in prison, even though she was insane and should have been institutionalized. More of a conclusion for Valeria would have been nice. I felt the writers left everyone hanging.

In the end, I was glad to see Cristóbal and Aldonza finally together, but I think they deserved a better finale.

What did you think of the finale?

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