6 Novelas that stopped Brazil in the last chapter

On January 6, 1989, Brazil only wanted one answer: who killed Odete Roitman? The question became famous during the screening of “Vale Tudo”, marked by the villain played by Beatriz Segall. It was not a unique case. When television was the main entertainment for Brazilian families, some soap operas managed to stop the country and become the only topic of discussion.

O incredible.club selected six of these soap operas that, for different reasons, entered the popular imagination forever. Do you remember or have you heard of them? Come with us!

This is the secret of the success of most soap operas on our list: a crime whose unfolding runs through the soap opera. In this case, the victim was Salomão Hayalla (Dionísio Azevedo), a businessman who died in the opening chapter of the plot. The car accident was the means for the murder and it is discovered in the last chapter that the author of the crime was Felipe Cerqueira (Edwin Luisi), Salomão’s wife’s lover. Astro even had a second version, in 2011, in which Hayalla was played by Daniel Filho.

The soap opera by Dias Gomes was a resounding success in the 1980s. Full of parallel plots, it placed in the history of teledramaturgy the title character, played by José Wilker and who was dead (but not), Sinhozinho Malta (Lima Duarte) and the Widow (of the dead-who-did-not-die) Porcina (Regina Duarte). Although the trio of protagonists was, of course, the center of the plot, the soap opera still had several outstanding characters, such as Zé das Medalhas (Armando Bógus), Beato Salu (Nelson Dantas) and Cego Jeremias (Arnaud Rodrigues). The plot was a great satire on the political and commercial exploitation of popular faith.

Eleven years after Salomão Hayalla’s death, another crime became famous in the popular imagination. “Who killed Odete Roitman?”, the iconic villain of the plot written by Gilberto Braga, Aguinaldo Silva and Leonor Bassères and played by Beatriz Segall. The mystery came to an end in January 1989, in the last chapter of the eight-month soap opera, when it was discovered that she had been murdered by Leila (Cássia Kis), who did not know she was killing Odete. The mystery lasted only 11 chapters, between crime and outcome. But it was even enough for a cake promoted by a brand of chicken broth to be made. Another striking villain was Maria de Fátima (Glória Pires), daughter of Raquel Accioli (Regina Duarte).

During the telenovela, which had an average of 51 rating points, a murderer promotes several deaths and the viewer, of course, only found out who was the man who was driving a black Opal in the final chapter. The villain was Adalberto (Cecil Thiré), who had disappeared after having spent all his wife Carmela Ferreto’s (Yoná Magalhães) money. The plot by Silvio de Abreu was also known for being a pioneer in showing a gay couple, formed by Sandrinho (André Gonçalves) and Jefferson (Lui Mendes).

One of the great villains in the history of telenovelas in Brazil. Renata Sorrah was Nazaré, who in her youth was a prostitute who stole Lindalva (Carolina Dieckmann), the baby daughter of Maria do Carmo (Susana Vieira). During Aguinaldo Silva’s soap opera, she also committed other crimes and became famous for pushing people down the stairs. “Senhora do Destino” was then the highest rated telenovela since “O Rei do Gado”, in 1996.

Is it villain you want? So here’s another one: Carminha (Adriana Esteves) already shows what she came to in the first chapter, when she abandons her 11-year-old stepdaughter in a dump and the girl, of course, grows up (played by Débora Falabella) with a thirst for revenge. The success of João Emanuel Carneiro’s work was such that even the international press highlighted the phenomenon. The English newspaper “The Guardian” reported that then-president Dilma Rousseff changed her agenda so as not to coincide with the last chapter. The BBC and the “Washington Post” also cited the soap opera.

And you, which of these soap operas impressed you the most? Do you have any others that are not on the list? Leave your comment, we want to know more!