“La Malquerida” is a telenovela built on loss, jealousy and a love that takes decades to surface. Based on Jacinto Benavente’s 1913 play, the series follows Cristina, played by Victoria Ruffo, whose daughter Acacia, played by Ariadne Díaz, rejects the man her mother marries after her father dies. The show runs 117 episodes across one season, airing from June 2, 2014 through November 11, 2014 on Las Estrellas.
The Story Of Loss And Marriage
Cristina becomes a widow when her husband Alonso dies in a horse-riding accident. She discovers her late husband had mortgaged the family estate to cover farming debts, and sells the property to escape the debt. Before the sale closes, Esteban, a worker at the hacienda played by Christian Meier, steps in to rescue it. Cristina and Esteban then spend years rebuilding the estate together, a process that stirs a growing affection between them.
Their daughter Acacia, barely a girl at the start, cannot accept the arrangement. She leaves the hacienda and returns ten years later as a grown woman, determined to reclaim the land her mother sold. Esteban does not recognize her at first, and Acacia makes her position clear: she is now the owner of the Benavente farm. Between them, a buried love begins to surface, driving Esteban to chase away any man who approaches Acacia, earning her the nickname “La Malquerida.”
The plot also touches on prostitution, a subplot involving Alejandra, played by África Zavala, though the source text cuts off mid-sentence there. The show’s producers, Ximena Suárez and José Alberto Castro, adapted the play for Televisa, and the result stretches the original material across a vast number of episodes.
A Long Season, A Short Play
The play “La malquerida” is a single work of drama. The telenovela expands it into a sprawling 117-episode arc, spanning months of broadcast and a decade of story time within the narrative itself. That expansion is the show’s central challenge: the source material is brief, the destination is clear, and the path between them is long.
| Episode | Broadcast Date |
|---|---|
| 1 | June 2, 2014 |
| 117 | November 11, 2014 |
The pacing suffers in places. Some arcs drag, and the show leans heavily on melodrama to fill its runtime. But the core dynamic — a daughter rejecting the man who saved her family’s ruin — remains potent throughout.
What Works, What Doesn’t
The performances carry the weight. Ruffo plays Cristina with warmth and grief, while Díaz brings a sharp, wounded intensity to Acacia. Meier anchors the show as Esteban, a man who hides his love beneath anger and suspicion. The ensemble around them, including África Zavala, Guillermo García Cantú and Brandon Peniche, fills out the world of the hacienda without overwhelming the central triangle.
The show’s three alternative endings were added in response to audience reaction, a nod to the power the central romance held over viewers. That audience engagement is evidence of the story’s emotional grip, even when the pacing falters.
A Solid Foundation, A Long Journey
“La Malquerida” is a competent adaptation of a classic play, stretched thin across too many episodes. The performances are strong, the core story is compelling, and the adaptation honors the original material’s themes of love, loss and family loyalty. Where it falls short is in pacing and scope, with 117 episodes stretching a short play far beyond its natural length.
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