I could not stop watching! I have never liked soaps, especially Latin American "telenovelas" because of their empty plots and bad acting, but this one was just different. A well adapted story line, based on a true story, and good production efforts put this soap on a category by itself. I have seen the full series twice now and loved it. The theme song is great, too - it summarizes the core of the drive of these characters.If we ever needed an eye-opener of everyday life in small towns all around Latin America, this is it. Every country has their own "pre-pagos", "sicarios", "duros", etc. This is the reality of our people and we should not forget it, no matter were we are.

This telenovela stimulates every human emotion. It's the type of drama that sucks you in, makes you watch during any free moment you have, and keeps you thinking about it when you can't watch it. The characters are real and tangible as if John Irving himself created them. True, it gives close insight into an unsavory part of Colombian society and history that we would rather forget, but it also serves the purpose of reminding everyone-- Colombian and other-- how destructive greed and vanity can be. Learn Spanish and watch it. Aside from the above, men, you'll love the hot women and women, you'll love the hot men. In fact, according to my mother who was in Colombia when it was airing and everyone was addicted, most of the actors are not really actors. They are simple people themselves with little to no acting instruction taken from the barrios of Medellin. Their accents are genuinely paisa and they are authentically Colombian.

I was excited at first because of the reviews I read here but soon after I started watching this series I was completely disappointed. the acting was terrible and you can only compare it to high school drama club - very poor -- you can see actors repeating the lines of the other actors they are having a conversation with so as not to miss their turn. The story line does not add up. Repeatedely, characters mention certain things that are forgotten on the next scene. The main character Catalina is extremely naive (so much it is hard to believe there are people like her) and the other characters are made to look very stupid and without any common sense. overall the story line was repetitive and it drags on. I only watch the first chapter!! it was painful to watch.

Last year, when the production was premiered, there were a lot of expectation about it, when its first chapter ended, all of these expectations were filled, after that, many people stayed home between 7-9 p.m. every night waiting the 20-minute chapter. You could hear people on the street commenting the last one. There have been several productions, films and soap-operas, that have showed us one part of our society, but no one like this. I'm 28, I swear I didn't know many things about these "pre-paid". Chapter by chapter you could find emotion, drama, action and a lot of good thing for not miss even a second. Really this production was amazing, a good direction, a excellent cast, and a great plot. This has been one of the best "seriados" ever made in our country.