It was worth it in Chespirito Not really on purpose, Episode 8 Review, Season Finale
Read my posts about episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4, episode 5, episode 6 and episode 7 here.
Lee esta reseña en español aquí: El Chanfle en Chespirito Sin querer queriendo, reseña del episodio 8, final de temporada: Valió la Pena
Table of Contents
It was worth it
The eighth and final episode of the first season of Chespirito Not really on purpose, titled “Valió la Pena” (It Was Worth It), available online in HBO MAX, takes us to 1978 with the creation of the Mexican film El Chanfle. This final chapter shows us the legendary work of Roberto Gómez Bolaños, along with the sacrifice of his family life.
Chespirito and Margarita fight, he feels guilty and she says that he wants to continue his relationship with Graciela, and it’s OK because she’s the wife. He argues he can’t procreate anymore and that she deserves to be a mother.
In parallel, Graciela manages (and emphasizes) Roberto’s absence in their children’s life.
The Birth of El Chanfle and the Increasing Tension
There’s a proposal to film a movie about El Chavo del Ocho. A kicked soccer ball in the garden, while Roberto spends time with Graciela and kids, leads to the birth of El Chanfle, a waterboy for a football team. Figueras offers support from Club América, Chespirito insists El Chanfle will work for Las Chivas de Guadalajara.
The filming of El Chanfle is full of goodbyes. Marcos announces his departure to start his own show as Quico, even though Roberto warned him not to be tied to a single character. Arguments between Mariano and Margarita, defended by Roberto, escalate to a physical fight. The misunderstanding between Marcos Barragán and Televisora Estelar / Canal Alfa ends in a lawsuit, all because he refused to credit Chespirito as the creator of the Quico character. His potential new show was already authorized by Figueras.
Breakups and Triumph
Ramón, affected by the atmosphere, thanks Chespirito and informs him that he has decided to leave with Marcos.
Roberto misses his 23rd wedding anniversary with Graciela. She throws him Margarita’s underwear, which she kept for a year since Chile. She says she’s tired of everything revolving around him. Roberto doesn’t answer when she asks if he’s happy there. She kicks him out of his own house.
Graciela announces to her children that Roberto will no longer live there. He moves in with his brother Francisco. A year later, Graciela calls Roberto so he picks up his belongings from the family home. He tries to reconcile.
1981, Bogotá. Roberto, characterized as El Chavo, and surrounded by his coworkers, is greeted by three million people. His kids witness the magnitude of the event on television. Graciela smiles.
Roberto tells Margarita his desire to build something with her.
The Legacy
The episode closes with scenes of the late Roberto Gómez Bolaños and a message about his global influence: 50 years of uninterrupted broadcasting in over 90 countries and 50 languages, 690 television episodes, 20 films (including El Chanfle), 3 theater plays, 3 telenovelas (soap operas), 3 books, more than 100 characters, an impact on over one billion people, and 9 million attendees at his live events.
The song “Qué bonita vecindad” (What a beautiful neighborhood), with the actors and El Chavo del Ocho entering his barrel, is the very last scene of the HBO MAX series.
My Personal Opinion
I wondered if Roberto knew, or was just pretending, that Graciela knew about his affair.
His wife had to “look the other way” for a whole year before, literally, throwing the issue in his face.
There’s this dialogue after Roberto arrives late for the 23rd wedding anniversary dinner (it’s not established that there was a formal appointment between the spouses) because he was dealing with Quico’s lawsuit and a potential counter-suit:
Graciela: Late again?
Roberto: Grumpy again?
When Roberto shows Graciela the handwritten script for El Chanfle, she doesn’t seem to get the transcendence of Chespirito’s work. She didn’t marry “just any Godínez” (in Mexico, office workers are “a Godín / Godínez”, the name of Horacio Gómez Bolaños’ character in El Chavo del Ocho).
Can creative geniuses lead a normal family life? And what about their mental health?
During my last semester of Literary Creation in Sogem Coyoacán School, some professor made us read nothing but tormented, suicidal, psychopathic writers, just to make a point about the “artist’s neurosis” stigma.
I do know a few writers who have combined family life with publishing.
Many of my generation decided not to have children. Others got married and then divorced. Many of us got paying jobs and literature became a hobby, or a side hustle, or nothing but a memory.
I left Mexico City to start a family, so I said goodbye to anything else. I’m happier with my husband and my daughter. And, instead of writing about people who don’t even exist, I earn money by reading the Tarot cards.
Would I trade what I have for having been another writer? No.
Would I trade what I have for having been a Roberta Gómez Bolaños? I don’t even want to think about that! The scene where three million people greet him in Colombia was epic. I wish the episode had ended there.
Maybe Roberto and Graciela’s love survived better nowadays. Roberto would use voice recognition to write, while Graciela plays Sudoku or Bloons Tower Defense on Netflix, or she could attend video calls for her own business.
Imagine the burden of raising six children while your husband works all day. And imagine the stress of writing with deadlines for radio, television, theater, and cinema while your wife demands you to be home. Your boss (the most powerful man in Mexico, El Tigre Azcárraga… Someone told me an anecdote about how El Tigre was wearing pants and sneakers when he met the new and elegant Mexican president, Carlos Salinas de Gortari) forces you give up any personal life because Televisa come first.
Social media bullies talk as if Roberto Gómez Fernández and Paulina Gómez Fernández created this series with a single purpose: getting revenge. “You never forgive what they did to your mother (Graciela Fernández)”. The series is a lovely tribute to Chespirito, but malicious people say it’s also a punishment to their late father for abandoning them.
I hope there will be more seasons for Chespirito: Not really on purpose. I will watch it again, and I’m pretty curious about its dubbing to English. The series was HBO MAX’s most watched show in Latin America during these eight weeks.
There’s only one question left
