Girls From Ipanema (Coisa Mais Linda) is season 2 of what was called Most Beautiful Thing in season 1. Those are English titles. The Portuguese title is Coisa Mais Linda in both seasons. It’s a Brazilian drama streaming on Netflix.
Girls From Ipanema (Coisa Mais Linda) begins soon after the murderous cliffhanger that ended season 1. Season 1 was the story of 4 women friends. I didn’t want to spoil the ending of season 1 when I reviewed it, but I will now.
Jealous husband and wife beater Augusto (Gustavo Vaz) came running up to the women as they were on the beach. He shot and killed his wife Lígia (Fernanda Vasconcellos) who had a promising career ahead of her as a singer. He wounded Malu (Maria Casadevall), who was the owner of a music club in Rio.
When the season opens, Malu is in the hospital just waking from a coma. Her friends Thereza (Mel Lisboa) and Adélia (Pathy Dejesus) are there.
The series is soapy with twists and surprises worthy of that genre. But the women are strong-minded, feminist, and overcome any difficulty. I liked the women characters even though the material was full of clichés. The bond and friendship between the women is the strength and attraction of the series.
Adélia’s younger sister Ivone (Larissa Nunes) becomes more prominent this season. She dreams of becoming a singer, so is a good replacement for the murdered Lígia in the group of friends.
These women have constant problems to overcome. They get discouraged, but they find the strength to go on. They had to dislodge Malu’s husband Pedro (Kiko Bertholini) from the club. He returned to steal the business while Malu was in the hospital. They had to get through Augusto’s sham of a murder trial. They had to deal with their love lives. (There were love triangles all over the plot.) Malu had to outsmart a city councilman in a #MeToo storyline.
Adélia had a health scare, a wedding, and a couple of other things I’ll keep spoiler free. Thereza, who was grieving over her possible breakup with Nelson (Alexandre Cioletti), consoled herself by making out with a beautiful and famous movie star. Thereza’s the most militantly feminist of the friends. She’s like a 1960 narrator from 2020.
Season 2 ends with another cliffhanger, so perhaps a 3rd season is coming. Wonder what they’ll call season 3?
The series is in Brazilian Portuguese. There are women creators, writers, and directors. Bonus points for that! I enjoyed the season.
The season 2 trailer has no subtitles, but you will find subtitles on everything at Netflix.
Did you watch the first season of this series? Are you going to watch season 2?