“The Mafia Dolls” puts five young women in the middle of a drug empire and watches each of them die, flee or rot in jail. The Colombian telenovela ran one season of 58 episodes on Caracol TV, debuting September 28, 2009, and ending November 1, 2010. It was created by Andrés López López and Juan Camilo Ferrand, who also wrote the scripts and adapted their book “Las Fantásticas.”
The show follows Brenda, Olivia, Violeta, Renata and Pamela, five friends who live in the fictional town of El Carmen. They fall in with Braulio Bermudez, a capo played by Fernando Solórzano, and his lieutenants. The plot moves fast, and the endings move faster.
Five Friends, One Drug Town
Brenda, played by Angélica Blandón, gets pregnant by Braulio and never sees him again once he is sent to a U.S. prison. Olivia, Caterin Escobar, ends up in jail after a fake wedding with Braulio, a scheme that nets her some of his property. Violeta, Alejandra Sandoval, dies when the two cartels fighting over El Carmen agree to stop the war.
Renata, Yuly Ferreira Angarita, dies in the most brutal way. Erick González, played by Julián Román, forces her to carry drugs in her stomach across the border to repay a debt. Because she has no identification, none of her loved ones ever learn what happened to her.
Pamela, Andrea Gómez, flees to the United States to escape trouble and be near her father, a pilot who ended up in prison after the DEA caught him flying cocaine to the U.S. She lands as a maid and tells Brenda she is happy, even though she is not.
“This is a very exiting story to see and it shows how easy life is never a good choice, might be nice and easy at the beginning but some day all ends.”
The Capo and His Lieutenants
Fernando Solórzano plays Braulio Bermudez as a veteran actor, and the show leans on his presence to sell the danger. Giovanni Rosales, played by Lincoln Palomeque, is one of Braulio’s lieutenants. Norman Alberto Zarama, played by Diego Vásquez, takes over Braulio’s operation while Braulio is in jail.
Uña, played by Julián Caicedo, and Mugre, played by Jairo Ordóñez, round out the criminal side of the story. The show treats the cartel as a machine that grinds down anyone who stands still.
What the Book Says
“Las Fantásticas” is the novel on which the series is based. López López and Ferrand wrote both the book and the scripts, and the show draws directly from their original material. The telenovela version adds new details, like Renata’s death by forced smuggling and the cartel treaty that kills Violeta.
The show’s revival, announced October 10, 2017, brought the story back for a second season. That season aired on Caracol Television from July 8, 2019 to September 30, 2019, and was produced by Caracol Televisión for Netflix.
Why the Endings Work
The show’s strength comes from its willingness to punish its leads. Most telenovelas let their stars survive. “The Mafia Dolls” does not. By the final episode, four of the five main characters are dead or in prison, and the fifth is lying about her happiness to keep the peace.
That is a bold choice. It also means the show never lets its audience forget how dangerous the world it has built is. The contrast between Pamela’s cheerful lies and the grim fate of her friends is the show’s central tension.
A Dark Lesson
The show’s message is simple: easy choices lead to bad endings. Brenda’s pregnancy with Braulio, Olivia’s fake wedding, Violeta’s death in the treaty, Renata’s forced smuggling, and Pamela’s lie — all of these come from decisions made in pursuit of comfort or status. The show suggests that neither lasts.
The show’s tone is dark, but it is not subtle. It is a cautionary tale dressed as soap opera, and it delivers on that promise.
The Verdict
“The Mafia Dolls” is a well-made, punishing telenovela that earns its grim ending through consistent plotting and strong casting. The show’s willingness to kill off its leads sets it apart from the genre’s usual soft landings.
It is not perfect. Some of the plotting runs together, and the pacing can drag during the middle episodes. But the final stretch, where the fates of Brenda, Olivia, Violeta, Renata and Pamela converge, is genuinely affecting.
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