Locked down & loved up
There’s passion and other problems behind bars for criminal superstar Yolanda and the two men in her world.
Prisoners Of Love Weekdays (from Monday 5 February) Telemundo (*118) 21:00
If there’s one thing Yolanda Acosta (Ludwika Paleta) does better than crime, it’s wriggling her way out of prison time. And that’s going to come in handy with new telenovela Prisoners Of Love (2016- current). The escaped convict’s run from the law ends in episode 1 on Monday 5 February when Detective Gerardo (Michel Brown) catches up to Yolanda, ’cuffs her and drags her back to the slammer. But that isn’t Yolanda’s main worry: this time round, she is being shipped off to infamous men’s prison San Fernando. “Luckily”, the maximumsecurity facility is also home to 15 other very dangerous and bad women who could always use another set of hands in their fight against the male inmates.
“This is an incredible story,” explains Ludwika, adding that “it’s about more than just a criminal being locked up. Yolanda is trying to get to freedom to get to her daughter. And she doesn’t care how she gets there.” That plays into the hands of drug-lord prisoner El Centauro (Humberto Zurita), who falls for the newcomer and forgets that he has a wife on the outside. “Yolanda is his new mistress and that gives her privileges,” adds Ludwika, “like access to El Centauro’s escape plan. She is the ‘queen’ of San Fernando.” Her stay won’t be long – by Wednesday 15 February, freedom is within arm’s reach, but it’s going to come at a price and force Yolanda into a tight spot: continue El Centauro’s plan or accept Gerardo’s offer…
PRISONER ROLL-CALL
El Centauro runs the prison from his cell. He gets what he wants, when and how he wants it. Even the guards fear the druglord’s wrath and that is why he’s been allowed to get away with literal and proverbial murder while he serves his sentence. He’s in love with Yolanda the second he sees her, but it turns out it’s more lust and her being useful to him than actual love… Tania Munoz (Irene Azuea) is Yolanda’s main rival in San Fernando. She is young, beautiful and determined, just like Yolanda. Tania also knows how to get what she wants from the guards and she steps things up when she sees her title as “the belle behind bars” under threat. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a human side – it will just take a lot of digging to find it. Vicente (Pablo Abitia) is a conflicted prison guard who admires El Centauro. Vicente also misuses his position of power to control female prisoners. He’s rude, crude and lewd on the outside, but Tania sees him for more than that and she uses his love for her to her advantage, especially if it means getting one up on Yolanda.
THE OUTSIDERS
Detective Gerardo runs towards trouble rather than away and he shoots first, then asks questions. That approach serves him well as a cop by day, but by night he is a lot more careful with his detective work. He has spent the last seven years hunting his brother’s assassin and thanks to Yolanda coming into his life, he’s that little bit closer – but that doesn’t mean getting revenge from El Centauro is going to be easy. Cristina Acosta (Arantza Ruiz) is Yolanda’s “entire world” as her 13-year-old daughter. The teenager has been living with her grandparents for the last six years while Yolanda was in prison before escaping and that is something Yolanda can’t stand because her mother is like “the evil queen in a fairytale story,” laughs Ludwika. Mariela Acosta (Carmen Madrid) is Yolanda’s mom. They don’t have the best relationship: Yolanda grew up being Mariela’s punching bag after her two older siblings were murdered and Mariela even tried to sell off “the daughter she didn’t want,” explains Ludwika. “Yolanda wants her daughter back and there is very little she won’t do to get her back from Mariela.”
SPLIT STORIES
Unlike other single-season telenovelas, Prisoners Of Love has two. Season 1 is the first 51 episodes, while season 2 has 90, with the storyline focussing on El Centauro wanting revenge on Yolanda for betraying him. All 141 episodes will air in one run on Telemundo.