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| Image from Cable Girls, streamed via Netflix |
It was 1928 Madrid, and women were at the forefront of a major technological advancement. At a telephone exchange company was an all women team of operators. Alba (Lidia) was a former prostitute, there to rob the safe and free herself from the blackmail of a corrupt policeman. Marga was a small town girl intimidated by life in the big city. Angeles was the best, most experienced telephone operator whose husband wanted her to quit her job and stay at home to take care of their child. Carlota was a wealthy aristocrat rebelling from her parents who refused to allow her to work.
As when I recapped another Spanish series, Gran Hotel, I decided not to watch ahead, to write these recaps as I see each episode. So, though Netflix has been recommending Cable Girls to me since it first came out last year, I genuinely have no idea where the story is going. What I do know is how excited I am to watch a show that is focused on women, at a time when women were viewed simply as daughters, wives and mothers when many if not most longed to be more.
Ten years ago, Alba was a young girl headed to Madrid to chase her dreams with her first love, Francisco. At the train station, her luggage was stolen. When she tried to get her luggage back, she was arrested by policemen. She and Francisco were separated that day. When they next met, they were already living vastly different lives.
Alba became a prostitute who, with her friend Gimena, robbed parties so they could finance their move to Argentina and toward their new lives. When Gimena's lover caught them and held them at gunpoint, Alba tried to fight him off. Both he and Gimena were shot and killed. Alba would have gone to trial for murder had it not been for a corrupt cop who made a deal with her. He wanted her to steal money from a telephone company.
Alba stole a female applicant's identity and, by flirting with the company owner's son Carlos, managed to get a job as one of the telephone operators. It was there that she met Francisco again, now the manager and son in law of the company owner. During a highly publicised event, the first intercontinental call between the King of Spain and the President of the United States, Alba (or Lidia, as she was now known) intentionally messed up so she could excuse herself from the task. She used the distraction of the important call so she could rob the safe. Francisco, however, was waiting for her. He recognised her the moment he saw her and did not believe the cover identity she gave herself.
Independence always comes at a price, Alba mused as she robbed the safe. This pilot episode introduced four intriguing female characters navigating a time that was not at all friendly toward their ambitions. I look forward to seeing the rest of the series and I will post recaps as often as I am able.
Strays
■ I am so used to seeing Yon Gonzales as Julio of Gran Hotel that it was startling at first to see him in his managerial garb.
■ Francisco was practically proclaimed the heir by his future father in law.
■ A thief snatched Marga's purse on her way back to her boarding house. A man got her purse back. She ran away before they could be properly introduced.
■ Carlota's boyfriend was Miguel Pascual. He asked her to marry him.
■ Carlota's father threw her suitcase out the same window she used to sneak out to party. She went to Marga's boarding house.
■ Angeles' husband Mario was the new chief technician for the telephone company. He claimed it pained him that he was not able to give his family what they deserved, that Angeles had to work. He did not want a stranger to raise their daughter. Of all the arcs of the four female leads, I am most interested in seeing Angeles'.
■ When Angeles told her husband that she did not want to leave her job despite his promotion, he got angry. He was also upset that she went out for a drink with her friends. He left their house and stayed out all night.
■ Mario is full of sh-t. Marga saw him sh-gging Francisco's secretary Carolina during the party.
■ Carlos chose Lidia as the telephone operator in the first intercontinental call. Lidia messed up the call and Angeles had to take over.
Independence always comes at a price, Alba mused as she robbed the safe. This pilot episode introduced four intriguing female characters navigating a time that was not at all friendly toward their ambitions. I look forward to seeing the rest of the series and I will post recaps as often as I am able.
Strays
■ I am so used to seeing Yon Gonzales as Julio of Gran Hotel that it was startling at first to see him in his managerial garb.
■ Francisco was practically proclaimed the heir by his future father in law.
■ A thief snatched Marga's purse on her way back to her boarding house. A man got her purse back. She ran away before they could be properly introduced.
■ Carlota's boyfriend was Miguel Pascual. He asked her to marry him.
■ Carlota's father threw her suitcase out the same window she used to sneak out to party. She went to Marga's boarding house.
■ Angeles' husband Mario was the new chief technician for the telephone company. He claimed it pained him that he was not able to give his family what they deserved, that Angeles had to work. He did not want a stranger to raise their daughter. Of all the arcs of the four female leads, I am most interested in seeing Angeles'.
■ When Angeles told her husband that she did not want to leave her job despite his promotion, he got angry. He was also upset that she went out for a drink with her friends. He left their house and stayed out all night.
■ Mario is full of sh-t. Marga saw him sh-gging Francisco's secretary Carolina during the party.
■ Carlos chose Lidia as the telephone operator in the first intercontinental call. Lidia messed up the call and Angeles had to take over.
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