Although Telemundo did not renew the series for a second season, the final episode of the series ended without the respective phrase "End" or "to be continue".[3] Finishing the series with an open ending possible to produce a second season.[3]
The first season of the series became available for streaming on 10 December 2019 on Netflix.[4] On Netflix the series has a total of 64 episodes.
Plot
Carmelo Alvarado (Erik Hayser) is 45 years old. He was born in a rural family in northern Mexico. Amancio Alvarado, Carmelo's father, came from a humble family in the state of Chiapas. When Amancio’s
mother died, he went looking for her, not knowing that he would be caught in the middle of the Zapatista Conflict, in which he would die. Carmelo saw his father’s picture in a newspaper and decided to go look for his body. He was then 20 years old and never found his father.
This is how Carmelo’s journey started, the rural young man who came to work on television and who
thanks to his character and intelligence, became a leader, and later, the independent candidate for the
presidency. And although he neither looked for it nor wanted it, he got it. Carmelo assumed the
presidency with two groups pressuring him: the Grupo Impala (wealthy men, real owners of the country),
and the narcos. As president, Carmelo was toughening his speech with the simple goal of being useful in
"a splendid country that could provide to all, what it denies to almost everyone."
A millionaire fraud was disclosed by Pía Bolaños (Mariana Seoane)—a journalist with many followers but low moral values—who was responsible for publishing all the false story, shaking the government and leading the Prosecutor
to bring a formal accusation against the President of the Republic. The complaints were adding up, all of
them prefabricated in a scenario that allowed them to be credible, to grow and multiply. This led to the
arrest and imprisonment of the president. But the arrest and imprisonment of Carmelo achieved much
more in society than his alleged corruption. The people reacted angrily in defense of their president, now
imprisoned. With this, Carmelo became more dangerous to his enemies. Carmelo now must fight for his
life, his freedom and take revenge against those who conspire to destroy him.
The series was presented and announced during the Telemundo Upfront for the 2018–2019 television season as Prisionero número uno.[5] And later announced at the 2018 LA Screenings.[6] The production of the series began on 29 January 2019 on the beaches of the Municipality of Villa de Allende.[7] 200 extras were summoned to go to the production, which culminated on 2 February 2019 in that town to later continue in other states of Mexico.[7] Filming was supervised by the director of Argos Comunicación Terry Fernández Rivas, together with Irving Aranda Ocampo.[7] It is a production of Telemundo Global Studios, co-developed with Keshet International, creators of the successful series Prisoners of War, on which Homeland is based.[8] The production is written by Luis Felipe Ybarra, directed by Pitipol Ybarra, Javier Patrón Fox and Javier Sola. In addition, executive production was provided by Marcos Santana, Mariana Iskandarani and Marcel Ferrer by Telemundo,[8] and Dror Mishani with Shira Hadad, Avi Nir, Karni Ziv and Kelly Wright as executive producers for Keshet International.[8] The series that was stipulated to have 60 episodes, was filmed entirely in Mexico City, and its surroundings.[9] They even used the old Senate headquarters, in the Historic Center, for the series.[9]
The series was created based on venturing into a new television genre such as political thriller and changing the direction of the "narconovelas",[10][11]Erik Hayser, Arturo Peniche and Alejandra Ambrosi explained the need for new [heroic figures] to appear in the small screen.[11] The story shows the beginnings of the protagonists with political activism since the Zapatista Revolution of 1994 in the Mexican state of Chiapas, and develops the action in different parts of Mexico and the United States.[11]
Subcomandante Marcos (left) and Ernesto Guevara (right) they were some of the political figures that were inspired to create Carmelo Alvarado.
Erik Hayser, who had subsequently filmed the series trailer, was chosen as the main protagonist of the series, and for the creation of his character he was inspired by political figures such as Eduardo Galeano and the Subcomandante Marcos.[12] Although it is not the first time that Hayser plays a Mexican president, he had already played a president in the Netflix series Ingobernable, along to Kate del Castillo.[13] Regarding his participation in the political drama, the actor emphasized the governors of different countries and commented that: "It is difficult to believe that now the audience is about to meet an [innocent President] who ends up in jail and that therefore he ends up looking like a hero, something hard to believe and far from a current reality".[13] According to Hayser, the series shows a different hero from those already known on Telemundo's screen as drug traffickers as are Aurelio Casillas of El Señor de los Cielos, and Teresa Mendonza of La Reina del Sur.[13]
For the preparation of Carmelo Alvarado, Hayser read several books about the history of Mexico and subsequent presidents.[14] He also prepared himself by reading the story of Ernesto Guevara, better known as Che Guevara, and the history of the Cuban revolution.[14] In addition to Hayser, Arturo Peniche who had been away from Telemundo for 10 years, since his last telenovela Victoria,[15] returned to the network as part of the main cast of the series playing Pedro Islas, whom the actor described as "A character full of nuances because it is dark, transparent, manipulative, egocentric, superb".[15]
Music
The main theme of the series is "Como te extraño mi amor" by singer Leo Dan.[16] It is the second production generated in Mexico where a tribute is paid to the artist born in Atamisqui Station. The previous one was Roma, an award-winning film by Alfonso Cuarón.[16] The song is performed by Pedro Fernández, who had been away from the [melodramas] for years, since his last participation in Hasta el fin del mundo.[17]
The series premiered with a total of 1.33 million viewers,[18] being the most watched show at 10 pm/9c on Telemundo. And surpassing its closest competition Sin miedo a la verdad of Univision.[20] Although the series debuted with a good average, it failed to exceed the 2 million audience that had its predecessor La Reina del Sur.[20] Despite having had a successful premiere occupying the number 1 spot in the network,[21] the series failed to average a good audience during its first month on the air.[21]
