Felizes para Sempre

Plot

The series is set in Brasília and follows five couples from the same family. Dionisio (Perfeito Fortuna) and Norma Drummond (Selma Egrei) met in 1968 amidst an anti-Brazilian military dictatorship demonstration. He was a military police officer and she was a sociology student. Despite both being in opposite political sides, they fell in love and had three children: Claudio (Enrique Diaz), Hugo (João Miguel) and Joel (João Baldasserini). Dionisio is suffering from erectile dysfunction and finds himself giving in to a past affair, Olga (Cássia Kis Magro), who is visiting the city. Meanwhile, Norma is constantly being stalked by the much younger Guilherme (Antonio Sabóia), who also teaches at her university.

Cláudio is a millionaire corrupt businessman and playboy, owner of a large engineering company, and is married to Marília (Maria Fernanda Cândido), an art restorator. They both had a son, João Cláudio, who drowned in their swimming pool at the age of five, leaving them traumatized. Marília regrets it's been long since the last time she felt any pleasure with Cláudio, and he usually cheats her with several different women, usually prostitutes. One of these prostitutes is the bisexual Denise/Simone (Paolla Oliveira), who also goes by her work name Danny Bond, in reference to James Bond. She is married to Daniela (Martha Nowill), who is initially unaware of her job as a prostitute.

Hugo is a shooting sport enthusiast and engineer who suffers from alcoholism. He works at Cláudio's company, though he doesn't get along with his brother. He is married to Tânia (Adriana Esteves), a famous plastic surgeon. Contrary to Cláudio's and Marília's situation, they have too much sex and Tânia doesn't always feel like doing it. Eventually, Tânia gives in to a past passion, David (Bruno Giordano), who offers her a position as his business partner in his prestigious clinic. Hugo and Tânia have a 16-year-old son, Hugo Jr., who takes part of political demonstrations and amidst one of them, he meets Mayra (Sílvia Lourenço), an older black bloc woman who starts dating him.

Joel is the adoptive son and also works at Cláudio's office. He starts his part in the series by announcing his amicable divorce with his wife, the personal trainer Suzana (Carol Abras), but their relationship grows more difficult every day, with Joel becoming obsessed and aggressive to her and she trying to start a new life with a local farmer called Buza (Rodrigo dos Santos).

Production

Marinho originally wanted to set the story in Niterói, but Meirelles convinced him to change it to Brazilian capital Brasília. There, places such as the Jardim Botânico de Brasília, the City Park Dona Sarah Kubitschek, University of Brasília, Praça dos Cristais, Itamaraty Palace, Palácio da Alvorada, Justice Palace and the Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park. Banker Edemar Cid Ferreira's house was used as Tânia's clinic. The characters' names are a tribute to the actors who worked at the original series.

Repercussion

The story full of sex scenes with actress Paolla Oliveira made a splash on the internet. On Twitter, seven terms related to ‘Happily Ever After?’ entered the Trending Topics in Brazil, among them #felizesparasempre (original title), #ripdannybond (in reference to the actress’s character) and #obrigadoadrianaesteves (reference to actress Adriana Esteves, who played Carminha in Brazil Avenue). The miniseries aired on Globo’s 11:00 pm time slot in Brazil, obtaining a 39% share and more than 17 million viewers.