Record’s Apocalipse is a sprawling, ambitious soap opera that turns the Book of Revelation into a decades-spanning family saga. Created by Vivian de Oliveira and written with Alexandre Teixeira and Maria Claudia Oliveira, the series premiered on November 21, 2017 and ran until June 25, 2018, airing 155 episodes across one season. It stars Igor Rickli, Juliana Knust, Sérgio Marone, Paloma Bernardi, and Fernando Pavão, with a cast that runs dozens deep.
The show follows four young friends who meet in New York in the late 1980s: Alan Gudman, Susana Aisen, Adriano Montana, and Débora Koheg. Their relationships split cleanly: Alan and Susana fall in love gently, while Adriano and Débora marry unhappily, their bond darkened by a mysterious and somber force. The second phase picks up in 2001, when Adriano and Débora’s son Ricardo returns to New York with them, reigniting old friendships and setting the stage for the show’s central conflict.
The Four Friends
Alan and Susana are the show’s moral center. Their marriage is happy, stable, and unremarkable, which makes them a sharp contrast to the other couples around them. Adriano and Débora, by contrast, are toxic from the start. Their unhappiness is not just personal drama; the show casts it as a shadowy, supernatural force pulling them apart, a framing device that sets the stage for the larger biblical prophecy to come.
The show’s early episodes spend a great deal of time establishing these characters as fully formed individuals. Alan is American, Susana is Brazilian, Adriano is Italian, and Débora is Israeli, and the show leans into those cultural differences without ever feeling heavy-handed about them. The young quartet explores Manhattan together, building a bond that the series promises will hold even as the world around them falls apart.
Ricardo as the Antichrist
The story shifts dramatically when Ricardo returns to New York as a grown man. He is the son of Adriano and Débora, and the show builds him slowly into the Antichrist, a role played by Sérgio Marone. The transformation is gradual, which is a smart choice. Rather than arriving fully formed as a villain, Ricardo starts as a wounded, resentful man whose resentment grows into something far darker.
Ricardo’s arc is the engine of the entire series. His rise to power depends on the scientific discoveries of his childhood friend Benjamin, played by Igor Rickli. Benjamin is a brilliant scientist whose work gives Ricardo the tools he needs to dominate the world. That partnership is the show’s central antagonism, and it drives the final stretch of the story.
The Biblical Frame
Apocalipse is the fourth biblical telenovela produced by Record TV, and it leans heavily on the Book of Revelation as its source material. The show touches on several major apocalyptic prophecies, setting scenes in Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Jerusalem, and New York itself. The September 11 attacks are woven directly into the narrative, giving the show a historical anchor that grounds its spiritual storytelling.
The show’s ambition is clear from the start. It wants to cover the end of the world, and it does so by following individual families through decades of change. That scope is both its strength and its weakness. The series spans so much ground that some threads inevitably feel rushed, especially in the middle stretch.
The Cast Holds It Together
The ensemble is large, and the show manages to keep most of its leads in focus over the course of its run. Juliana Knust plays Zoe Santero, and her scenes are often the emotional core of the episodes. Fernando Pavão plays César Sardes, and his quiet presence gives the show a steady hand in its more chaotic moments. Paloma Bernardi plays Isabela Aisen Gudman, and her arc takes a surprising turn later in the series.
Sergio Marone’s performance as Ricardo is the standout. He carries the weight of the Antichrist role without ever tipping into caricature, and his scenes with Igor Rickli as Benjamin are some of the sharpest in the series. The chemistry between the two actors sells the tension between a brilliant scientist and the man who uses his work for evil.
The Middle Stretch Stumbles
The middle portion of Apocalipse is where the show loses some of its momentum. The pacing slows in the 2001 phase, and some subplots that were set up earlier in the series get less attention than they deserve. The show also introduces a dizzying number of new characters in this stretch, which can make it hard for viewers to keep track of who everyone is.
Despite this, the show manages to maintain its overall quality. The production values are high, and the writing remains committed to its central themes of faith, hope, pain, and anguish. Even when the middle episodes drag, the show never loses sight of why it matters.
The Third Phase Converges
The third phase brings the story to the present day, and the stakes finally converge. Ricardo’s rise to power is complete, and the biblical prophecies that have been hinted at throughout the series come to pass. The show delivers on its promise of showing the best and the worst of human beings, and the final scenes tie together the show’s decade-long story into a single, dramatic conclusion.
The show’s commitment to its themes remains consistent even when the pacing flags. The resolution lands with weight.
The Verdict
Apocalipse is a worthy entry in the biblical telenovela tradition. It is ambitious, well-cast, and visually striking. The first and third phases are stronger than the middle, but the show’s commitment to its themes remains consistent even when the pacing flags.
The show spans decades, moves between cities, and touches on some of the most significant events of recent history, all while keeping its central families at the heart of the action. That approach is what separates it from other entries in the genre.
Apocalipse is a show that rewards patience. Its highs are very high, and its lows are forgivable within the context of its scale. For viewers willing to sit through the slower middle stretch, the payoff is substantial. It is a telenovela that respects its source material while making it its own, and that balance is rare in the genre.
The show’s central question — what happens when faith meets the end of the world — is answered with sincerity rather than spectacle. That sincerity is what elevates Apocalipse above its competitors.
Key Facts
- Premiere: November 21, 2017
- Last episode: June 25, 2018
- Episodes: 155
- Seasons: 1
- Network: Record
- Creator: Vivian de Oliveira
- Writers: Alexandre Teixeira, Maria Claudia Oliveira
- Starring: Igor Rickli, Juliana Knust, Sérgio Marone, Paloma Bernardi, Fernando Pavão
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