Cable Girls - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. 

[Constant Viewer]

Just started watching this today, not sure I like the modern music in a 1920s setting, it's a little jarring for me. I don't know anything about Spain during this time and wonder if we will get any foreshadowing to the turbulent events of the 1930s. 

Edited August 10, 2017 by Constant Viewer

[theatremouse]

I found the music jarring at first, but there were several episodes where I thought it worked well, either that or it just grew on me.

[tennisgurl]

I don't really mind the modern music, but I hope they do incorporate some period music in there as well.

Just started this on Netflix, and its pretty good so far. I'm a sucker for the 20s!

[Constant Viewer]

On 8/11/2017 at 9:50 AM, tennisgurl said:

I'm a sucker for the 20s!

So am I, which makes me a little sad they aren't incorporating real 1920s music, but it probably wouldn't be palatable to a younger crowd. At least the costumes seem relatively accurate although I'm not sure about the makeup. I'm up to episode 4 now and it's okay. I did not realize at first it was dubbed and I don't know if I would rather watch the dubbed or a subtitled version.

[tennisgurl]

I started with the subtitles, but it didn't subtitle the voice overs, so I stuck with the dubs.

[Constant Viewer]

I finished the 8 episodes on Netflix and I liked it, but I did not love it. I heard there will be a season 2 though and I will probably check it out to see what else happens.

[PRgal]

On 2017-08-13 at 2:48 PM, Constant Viewer said:

I finished the 8 episodes on Netflix and I liked it, but I did not love it. I heard there will be a season 2 though and I will probably check it out to see what else happens.

Actually, there's a part two to season one.  It supposedly drops in the fall.

[Constant Viewer]

I heard that as well. Why did they break up season one in two parts? We are getting a second season as well according to this.

[Enginerd]

I really like this show. I'm kind of a sucker for anything 1920s, but this is beautifully filmed and I find the main characters compelling. At first I found the music a little perplexing, since it seems like a great opportunity for jazz, but I do like a lot of the music they use.

I loved Yon Gonzalez (Francisco) in Gran Hotel and El Internado. He has a very different demeanor here; more prim and pinched in his expressions and tense in his body language. Whatever; he's still hot, although he'd be hotter if he weren't smoking all the time. It's interesting to me how they aren't making him either a hero or villain. He and Lidia/Alba are both complicated characters, empathetic but also up to some nefarious things. Did we not get much of their backstory, or did I just miss it? They looked SO YOUNG when they first went to Madrid. Where did they come from? What was the situation in their hometown? Does either or both of them still have family out there somewhere, or were they both orphaned? They looked a bit poor, but not like we were supposed to think they were starving or habitually homeless in the flashbacks. They looked like they were doing okay and excited for their new adventure. But they also looked like teens, not yet adults.

And in the current events, they both seem to still have a lot of fundamental decency, despite the hardness they've acquired over the intervening years. And yet, Francisco was all too willing to cheat on his wife (yet he was still quite kind to his wife and concerned about her, not callous, although she can't be easy to deal with) and he's blackmailing people. Alba has obviously been forced into a more criminal life than she wanted, and has had to learn to be scheming and put up barriers and lie, but she can also be a good friend. She seemed so happy at the very beginning when she and her friend thought they were going to get away to Argentina and start a new life. And then to be grieving, AND have that dream snatched away, AND be arrested and forced into more crime, all at the same time...well, she must be very strong to be coping as well as she is. And then to find herself once again with her long-lost love and yet feel she needs to keep her distance! How immensely frustrating. At least she has cutie Carlos to soothe her nerves...but even that can't be an uncomplicated romance; there always has to be scheming and dishonesty.

I'm looking forward to the next part.

[vavera4ka]

On ‎8‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 11:45 PM, Constant Viewer said:

So am I, which makes me a little sad they aren't incorporating real 1920s music, but it probably wouldn't be palatable to a younger crowd. At least the costumes seem relatively accurate although I'm not sure about the makeup. I'm up to episode 4 now and it's okay. I did not realize at first it was dubbed and I don't know if I would rather watch the dubbed or a subtitled version.

I remember reading about why Gatsby director used modern music. He said it was because all the swings and jazzy sound were so outrageous, breaking all the existing rules of music and harmony, that it was scandalous. There's nothing scandalous and jarring about that music now, but he wanted to keep that air the music added in 20s. So he decided to go with modern music. Maybe there was a similar goal in mind?

[Constant Viewer]

New episodes up on Netflix

[theatremouse]

Any Spanish speakers watch the show in both languages? There's something so clunky about some of the dialogue that I find myself constantly wondering if this is just that type of show (where I'm hooked due to overall plot and characters, despite some of the clunkers) or if the translation may just not be very good in some spots and that's what's leading to some of the problem I have with the dialogue.

[Enginerd]

Episode 9: I'm so glad this is back but YIKES, what a way to start the season. I've only seen the first epi and a bit of the second of the second series so far and that's a heck of a dark beginning. Not that I'll miss that abusive creep, but when the ladies kept making things worse (not reporting the death, moving the body, dumping him in the river, dumping the car (with a witness), lying to police, etc.) I just kept thinking they were digging themselves into further and further trouble. I suppose in 1920s Madrid they wouldn't have had much a chance just telling the truth? The death was in fact accidental and also self-defense. But now they've definitely committed crimes.

I couldn't tell if the scenes were a bit disjointed and we skipped over a lot of stuff or if I was just too tired to track the plot. There was a lot of jumping around.  I think I need to rewatch.

[vavera4ka]

Just binged through the first season and watched first episode of the second season. 

Am I a bad person if I’m on the side of Carlos and Francisco? “Omg. How could you lie to me, seduce me and steal my project?” Dear pot, meet kettle. What a hypocritical entitled bitch! 

[theatremouse]

They're pretty much all entitled assholes. Except Marga, who is instead naive as fuck.

[Enginerd]

Yeah...none of these people are saints aside from Marga, who is a little TOO innocent. I like that about the show; that they are complex people and not written as too good to be true. But even so, I am rolling my eyes at Alba's shock that Carlos would turn around and do to her the same thing she did to him (though he suffered much greater losses when she betrayed him), and her confusion that he somehow doesn't want to marry her anymore. Perplexing!

Carlos is justifiably angry, but he's still too much of a smug entitled spoiled child for me to subscribe to a lifetime membership in his fan club. Team Francisco, and that's only 90% because I have a thing for Yon Gonzalez. Francisco has worked hard for everything. Sure, he was blackmailing people, trying to cheat on his wife, enabling theft from the company, lying to his best friend, and smoking (ew!), but he's resilient and keeps a cool head. He may prove to be the schemiest schemer of them all.

Carlota might be my real favorite, though.

[allonsyalice]

I'm done season 2 and I have a couple of things to say. Okay, I have to admit that I wasn't very excited about the big plot this season (because how many times have I seen the "core group gets involved with murder and then they cover it up" plot. Too many). But they still did a couple of things that I didn't expect, which I liked. Same thing with Lidia's pregnancy, but I wasn't expecting that ending, oh my god.

I enjoy the fact that the core four are fundamentally flawed people, and I like how they push the limits on that. Each girl has traits that are admirable and more that are not and they feel like real actual people because of that.  My favourite plot was probably the one with Miguel, Carlotta and Sara (and Carlotta, I think is my favourite of the cable girls as well.) 

I hope we never see Marisol again

I agree with @Enginerd, Fransisco might be the one to prevail over all of them. (but, hopefully with a better hair cut.) He's way smarter than he's let on .

I like Carlos because I am a sucker for a handsome, dimpled man. I thought that he would fall for Uribe's sister, and you know, I would have preferred that to this Fransisco/Carlos/Lidia love triangle thing. I'm so tired of those. 

I enjoyed these two seasons, and I'm sure I will continue to enjoy this show. I'm excited to see what type of things they do next.

(also, Lidia's black hat and coat she was wearing for a few episodes, together made her look so amazing and I am in love with her, honestly.)

[Enginerd]

I've finished season two now and I am agog that both of these men are back to being desperately in love with Lidia. What sort of powerful pheromones does she have? What's in the drinking water at the phone company?

I, too, am hoping for a better haircut for Francisco in the next season. He looks unkempt. Although his unkempt look was kind of working for me in his brief stint of manual labor.

Any insight to the man who was some former associate of Lidia's who she let into her room and he rifled through her things? Setting up the next season's arc, maybe?
I can't believe they went back and bribed the farmer who witnessed Lidia sending the car over the cliff. Originally, he wouldn't have had a close enough look to necessarily definitively ID her. Now he knows exactly what she looks like. Also, disguises, ladies, when you're up to nefarious business!

Marisol is such a drip. She needs to get some self-respect and move on, preferably off screen. She doesn't need an ex-fiance to make her look bad; she's an overachiever in that on her own. Why on earth would she or anyone want to be married to a man who didn't want to be married to her?

[theatremouse]

Yeah, I was disappointed in Lidia this season, primary because she's such a bad crook. I know she was innocent of the original crime she was accused of, but the vibe I got S1 was that she (after working with The Lady Fixer) became a pretty savvy conwoman. Based on how she handled this case, I'm surprised she ever got away with anything. She's a shitty liar and does not have the poker face I expected. The setup of S2 was made to want us to want them get away with it, because that's the whole point of a caper, but at this point I actually kind of want them to get caught because they're not being very good at covering their tracks. If you're going to be this bad at it, you should get caught.

Of course, then there'd be no show.

But if they get away with it due to others' incompetence/luck it's so much less satisfying.

[Enginerd]

The aggravating thing is that they were INNOCENT originally! Yes, he died, but it was accidental and a clear case of self-defense. So if they'd immediately screamed for help and told the police exactly what happened, we could still have had a season of their dealing with the fallout, the police not believing them or trying to coerce them into other things like what the original guy did to Lidia but in new and different ways (Angeles still could have seduced the officer), the public trying to dig up every bit of irrelevant dirt.

But now they're actually criminals, and it would be more satisfying if they were better at it.

I wonder where it goes from here. Lidia sitting in prison while Carlos hires a nanny for his new baby isn't much of a story...maybe Francisco's habit of eavesdropping and blackmail will come in handy?

[Barlowe]

On 12/28/2017 at 4:30 PM, Enginerd said:

Episode 9: I'm so glad this is back but YIKES, what a way to start the season. I've only seen the first epi and a bit of the second of the second series so far and that's a heck of a dark beginning. Not that I'll miss that abusive creep, but when the ladies kept making things worse (not reporting the death, moving the body, dumping him in the river, dumping the car (with a witness), lying to police, etc.) I just kept thinking they were digging themselves into further and further trouble. I suppose in 1920s Madrid they wouldn't have had much a chance just telling the truth? The death was in fact accidental and also self-defense. But now they've definitely committed crimes.

I couldn't tell if the scenes were a bit disjointed and we skipped over a lot of stuff or if I was just too tired to track the plot. There was a lot of jumping around.  I think I need to rewatch.

As we saw when the feminist gathering was raided, women were just thrown in jail without much say and then stuck there unless someone was able to bail them out. Which was so frustrating when Carlota or Marga would suggest protesting or confessing, seeing as they'd never stepped foot in a prison.

Edited January 20, 2018 by Lilacly

[Yesjude]

So, does anyone know what ever happened to Ángeles's daughter??

Last time we saw her was the day after Mario's death I think, but in the end when she runs away, she doesn't have her daughter with her!

i feel like i missed something??

[theatremouse]

I'm pretty sure she left her with her mother (the child's grandmother).

[viajero]

I thought Season 2 was pretty good, though not quite up to the level of the first season.  I think it was mostly because I couldn't stand the Marisol subplot.

On 1/8/2018 at 2:18 PM, Enginerd said:

I've finished season two now and I am agog that both of these men are back to being desperately in love with Lidia. What sort of powerful pheromones does she have? What's in the drinking water at the phone company?

I found it at least somewhat believable because Lydia is absolutely stunning.  Her sex appeal is off the chart and she knows how to use it.  She may not be a master criminal, but she's a pro at handling men.  Having said that, I think Carlota is my favorite among the women due as much to her personality as her looks.  Marga is my least favorite.  She's the one character that is too much of a stereotype.  Pretty much half of the old Mexican telenovelas have someone just like her.

On 12/27/2017 at 11:04 PM, theatremouse said:

Any Spanish speakers watch the show in both languages? There's something so clunky about some of the dialogue that I find myself constantly wondering if this is just that type of show (where I'm hooked due to overall plot and characters, despite some of the clunkers) or if the translation may just not be very good in some spots and that's what's leading to some of the problem I have with the dialogue.

I started watching this show with my mother while she was visiting over the holidays with the English dubbing.  I also thought the dialogue was kind of clunky in places.  I convinced her to try it in Spanish with English subtitles so she could follow along.  It made a huge difference.  The dialogue works quite well in Spanish - very authentic. But I can see why it would be tough to translate without losing something in the process. 

[Barlowe]

13 hours ago, viajero said:

I thought Season 2 was pretty good, though not quite up to the level of the first season.  I think it was mostly because I couldn't stand the Marisol subplot.

I found it at least somewhat believable because Lydia is absolutely stunning.  Her sex appeal is off the chart and she knows how to use it.  She may not be a master criminal, but she's a pro at handling men.  Having said that, I think Carlota is my favorite among the women due as much to her personality as her looks.  Marga is my least favorite.  She's the one character that is too much of a stereotype.  Pretty much half of the old Mexican telenovelas have someone just like her.

I started watching this show with my mother while she was visiting over the holidays with the English dubbing.  I also thought the dialogue was kind of clunky in places.  I convinced her to try it in Spanish with English subtitles so she could follow along.  It made a huge difference.  The dialogue works quite well in Spanish - very authentic. But I can see why it would be tough to translate without losing something in the process. 

I watch the English dub with subtitles and its so confusing. The characters will be saying one thing and the subtitles will be saying something completely different. I also don't like Carlotta english voice actress, I finally listened to the original voice and it gives a completely different perspective of the character.

[Enginerd]

I wonder if this is why the show isn't catching on better. I think it's absolutely fantastic and have recommended it to lots of people I know, but if they can't understand Spanish and are listening to the English dub, maybe they are put off. One friend told me she tried the first episode but the dialogue was so bad she didn't want to keep watching. She said the same thing as viajero: CLUNKY. I suggested she try with the subtitles instead.

It's too bad the dub isn't better. I can understand Spanish, so I've just been listening to the original and think the dialogue is fine.

[Slider]

Went back to rewatch season 2, because I couldn't remember certain things, and FINALLY picked up on the fact that Victoria has Francisco's cigarette case from when Beltran was murdered.  So who killed Beltran? Was it Victoria?  And is that going to come up again?

[Sally]

On ‎2018‎-‎02‎-‎09 at 10:32 AM, Slider said:

Went back to rewatch season 2, because I couldn't remember certain things, and FINALLY picked up on the fact that Victoria has Francisco's cigarette case from when Beltran was murdered.  So who killed Beltran? Was it Victoria?  And is that going to come up again?

I totally missed that detail, and was wondering what happened to that subplot. Presumably yes, it will come up again.

I need to rewatch, I binge watched with English dubbing, now will go watch with subtitles only.

[Constant Viewer]

4 hours ago, Sally said:

I need to rewatch, I binge watched with English dubbing, now will go watch with subtitles only.

Are you watching this on Netflix? How do you watch with subtitles? I don't know enough Spanish to keep up, and don't like the dubbers. I keep wondering what the actors' real voices sound like.

[Slider]

4 hours ago, Constant Viewer said:

Are you watching this on Netflix? How do you watch with subtitles? I don't know enough Spanish to keep up, and don't like the dubbers. I keep wondering what the actors' real voices sound like.

You can change the dubbing language and the subtitles language on Netflix. its in the individual episode settings. 

[sas616]

Just finished Season 3.   And I'm in tears.   OMG.   Should have seen it coming, though.

[Lies]

19 hours ago, sas616 said:

Just finished Season 3.   And I'm in tears.   OMG.   Should have seen it coming, though.

It looks like he's dead but I'm not convinced. I think it's a fake-out to keep us hanging. 

[Enginerd]

He can't be dead! I would be so upset! And season 4 wouldn't be nearly as good without him.

Poor Lidia...both of the men she loves get shot in the same day, while she's trying to recover her missing baby and her workplace is blown up. That's...a lot.

How could Marga possibly even consider liking Julio?! He raped her! Yes, she enthusiastically had sex with him, but he knew she thought he was her husband and didn't disclose that he wasn't. That is one million percent not okay. Creep.

At least Carlos's horrible mother is in handcuffs, finally. I swear, for the first half of the season I kept forgetting who she was and every time I saw her, I thought she was the whorehouse madam. She looks so tarty and cheap in her showy furs and jewelry.

[Constant Viewer]

Got a notification from netflix that season 4 is now available

[sas616]

As much as I love this show, this season is a bit too much.  I preferred when they concentrated on working as telephone operators.   Goodness, I hope someone isn't about to die.

[sas616]

Watching Season 5 and what a bunch of crap.   I've been there from the beginning, so I'll hang in until the end.  But the writers sure ruined a good show.   Surprised Yon Gonzalez signed up for this.   They really should have wrapped it up in Season 3.

[Enginerd]

I did not like the last set of episodes. Maybe all the doom and tragedy was realistic for the time, but it was not enjoyable to watch. In the first seasons, there was intrigue and danger and sadness, but it was interspersed with fun and romance and the thrill of newfound freedoms and technology. The last series was just relentless torture and trauma and one roadblock after another and death, with no relief. BLEH.

Also, Carmen's turnaround was not believable at all. I didn't care about her in the first place and certainly didn't want to see so much of her up until the end. I don't care if she tried to redeem herself. Too little, too late.

Also thought it was odd that when they went to Elisa for help, the concern was mainly that she didn't like Lidia, without really even acknowledging that Francisco had been married to her.

I also wondered why, since they had a prison nurse mole, they didn't try to, like, put knockout drops in the tea of all the prison staff so they could all make an easy exit and be to the ship or the border by the time they woke up.

I wanted a triumphant ending, not a noble sacrifice. Sigh.

[Constant Viewer]

I just finished it. I was hoping for more of a buildup of events leading to the Spanish Civil War since that was not something covered much in our history classes in the US. I'm not sure I will watch the whole series again any time soon, but even though it is not the ending I wanted, I am glad I watched. 

For those who haven't seen it yet, make sure to watch the ending credits as they have drawings done by (what I'm assuming are) fans.

I would like to know how this season was received in Spain, since the civil war is still sensitive subject over there.