“The Three Sides of Ana” is a telenovela built on a simple trick: three identical women, each carrying a different version of the truth about their past. The show, created by Juan Carlos Alcalá, ran for one season on Univision and Las Estrellas, with 123 episodes stretching from May 23, 2016 to February 8, 2017. It follows triplets Ana Laura, Ana Leticia, and Ana Lucía, whose lives are torn apart by a car crash beside a river, leaving both parents dead, Ana Laura missing a leg, and Ana Lucía lost to the current. Only Ana Leticia, the one who caused the accident, walks away whole.
The show’s central deception is that Soledad, a woman whose daughter died, finds Ana Lucía in agony and takes her in, letting her believe Soledad is her mother. Everyone else declares Ana Lucía dead, but her grandmother Ernestina and her uncle Ramiro refuse to accept it, spending years searching for her. The twist is that Ana Lucía has lost her memory of the accident and her family, so she plays along with Soledad’s lie. That setup drives the entire series, and it earns a 7.1 out of 10.
The Setup
The premise is a classic telenovela move: a woman raised as someone else’s daughter, a secret identity, a search that spans years. What sets “The Three Sides of Ana” apart is the triplets themselves. Each sister carries a distinct burden. Ana Laura wears a prosthetic leg. Ana Leticia is the one who caused the accident. And Ana Lucía is the one who disappeared, her identity buried beneath a new name and a new family.
The show spends its early episodes establishing the crash, the aftermath, and the split families. Angelique Boyer plays all three sisters, a demanding role that asks her to carry the emotional weight of three separate stories. The supporting cast includes Sebastián Rulli as Marcelo, David Zepeda as Ramiro, Susana Dosamantes as Ernestina, Ramiro Fumazoni as Mariano, Ana Bertha Espín as Remedios, Roberto Ballesteros as Tadeo, Leticia Perdigón as Doña Chana, and Lucero Lander as Miranda.
The show’s network presence on Univision and Las Estrellas gave it a wide audience, and its 123-episode count reflects the genre’s tendency toward long-running serialized storytelling. This is not a tight, self-contained narrative. It is a slow burn that trusts viewers to stay with the characters across months of weekly installments.
The Three Sisters
Boyer’s performance anchors the show. She plays Ana Laura as the survivor, her life changed by a missing limb and a guilt she cannot escape. She plays Ana Leticia as the guilty one, the sister who caused the crash and now hides behind a mask of normalcy. And she plays Ana Lucía as the lost one, a girl raised by strangers who has forgotten everything about her past.
The contrast between the three is the show’s engine. Ana Laura is the public face of tragedy. Ana Leticia is the private face of shame. Ana Lucía is the blank slate that everyone else tries to fill. The show moves between their perspectives, jumping between the present day and flashbacks that slowly reveal what happened on that fateful night by the river.
“Everyone declares Ana Lucía is death.”
That line captures the show’s central tension. One sister is presumed dead while the other two live, each with a fragment of the truth. The audience knows what happened, but the characters do not, and the show lets that gap drive the drama.
The Deception
Soledad’s decision to raise Ana Lucía is the show’s hinge. She finds the girl in distress and takes her in, letting her believe she is her mother. The show does not explain why Soledad chooses this path. It simply presents it as a fait accompli, a choice made without much thought.
The memory loss is a convenient plot device, but it is also the show’s moral center. Ana Lucía is not complicit in the deception. She believes the lie completely. That distinction matters because it means the girl is not a villain. She is a victim twice over: first of the crash, then of the woman who saved her.
The show handles this with a light touch. There is no heavy-handed lecturing about the ethics of adoption. The story simply unfolds, showing Soledad’s kindness and the consequences of her actions. The result is a character study rather than a polemic.
The Search
Ernestina and Ramiro are the show’s persistent figures. They refuse to accept that Ana Lucía is dead, and they spend years trying to find her. Their search is the thread that connects the past to the present. Without it, the show would collapse into three separate narratives that never meet.
The show tracks the search across multiple episodes, showing the couple’s determination and the obstacles they face. The search is not resolved quickly. It is a slow, patient arc that mirrors the passage of time in the show’s world.
The show’s 123-episode count allows for this kind of pacing. Shorter formats would rush the search into a single episode. Here, it becomes a character-defining journey. Ernestina and Ramiro are not just relatives looking for a niece. They are people whose lives have been defined by loss, and the search is their attempt to reclaim meaning.
The Twist
The show’s biggest twist is the reveal that Ana Lucía survived the crash and was found by Soledad. It is a clever inversion of the typical telenovela setup. Usually, the heroine is presumed dead and then revealed to be alive. Here, the show tells everyone that Ana Lucía is dead, then reveals that she is very much alive.
The twist works because the show builds it carefully. For most of the series, Ana Lucía is off-screen, a ghost whose existence is debated by the other characters. Then she appears, and the world shifts. The show’s structure—jumping between the three sisters—prepares the audience for this moment. By the time the reveal arrives, it feels earned rather than abrupt.
The twist also raises questions about identity and memory. If Ana Lucía has forgotten her past, is she still the same person? The show does not answer this question directly. It leaves the ambiguity intact, letting the characters grapple with what it means to be someone else’s daughter.
The Verdict
“The Three Sides of Ana” is a solid entry in the telenovela tradition. It is well acted, well paced, and built on a premise that rewards patience. The 7.1 out of 10 score reflects its strengths while acknowledging that it never quite reaches the heights of the genre’s best work.
The show’s weaknesses are those of the genre itself. The pacing is slow by modern standards, and some episodes feel padded. The resolution, when it comes, is tidy in a way that feels slightly artificial. These are minor complaints, though. The show’s core is strong enough to carry its flaws.
The show’s strength is its ensemble. Boyer carries the weight of three roles, and the supporting cast gives her ample room to play. The show also benefits from its network reach, broadcasting on Univision and Las Estrellas to a broad Spanish-language audience.
Ranking the Sisters
The three sisters each deserve a ranking based on their impact on the story:
- Ana Lucía — the heart of the show, the girl whose fate drives the entire narrative.
- Ana Laura — the survivor whose tragedy defines the present-day storyline.
- Ana Leticia — the guilty sister whose secrets fuel the tension between the two worlds.
This ranking is not a judgment of who is more likable. It is a measure of who matters most to the story. Ana Lucía is the one whose fate hangs in the balance. Ana Laura is the one whose life we see most clearly. Ana Leticia is the one whose actions set everything in motion.
The show respects this order. It gives each sister her moment in the sun, but it always returns to Ana Lucía. Her story is the one that matters, and the show knows it.
Final Word
“The Three Sides of Ana” is a well-crafted telenovela that rewards attention. Its premise is clever, its cast is strong, and its pacing is steady. It is not a perfect show, but it is a good one.
The 7.1 out of 10 score reflects that balance. It is a solid entry in the genre, one that fans of the format will enjoy without being blown away. For viewers looking for a long, character-driven saga with a twist, this is a worthy pick.
The show’s legacy is tied to its network presence and its massive episode count. It is a production that demands commitment from its audience, and it delivers on that commitment. It is a show about identity, memory, and the lies we tell ourselves to survive.
It is also a show about family. The search for Ana Lucía is not just about finding a missing person. It is about reconnecting with a past that everyone wants to forget. The show’s final stretch brings the three sisters back together, and the resolution, while tidy, feels earned.
For anyone who enjoys soap operas, “The Three Sides of Ana” is a worthwhile watch. It is a show that understands its own rules and plays them well. It is a show that knows how to hold a secret and how to deliver a payoff. It is a show that deserves its reputation as a quality entry in the genre.
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