Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Luis Estrada, ‘The Dead Girls,’ originally known as ‘Las Muertas,’ is a Mexican crime drama that follows two sisters, Serafina and Arcangela Baladro, who define an entire era in Mexico with the creation of their brothel empire. While the former struggles to juggle her romantic life with her professional, the latter has sorrows of her own, largely about the legacy she will leave behind. However, the holes within their system soon begin to leak, ultimately leading to a series of deaths that haunt the entire narrative. The question from thereon out becomes one of culpability, and the sisters are forced to confront their darkest choices and what they lead to. The finale, titled ‘Enter the Police,’ brings this theme to a climax, exploring the intricacies of the power dynamics that often take root in such complex scenarios. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Dead Girls Recap
The show begins with a woman making her way to the quiet town of Tuxpana Falls. Upon locating a baker named Simon Corona, all hell breaks loose, and a fierce shootout ends with his entire shop exploding. Simon survives his injuries and explains to the police officers exactly who is behind this attempt on his life: Serafina Baladro. A series of flashbacks provides contradictory accounts of the duo’s shared past; however, the common facts remain that they were briefly in a relationship but separated during their trip to Veracruz. Serafina still holds a grudge over his betrayal, but that belies some of the secrets they share. In the past, Simon helped Serafina and her sister, Arcangela, in covering up a mysterious death at their brothel. When that body is eventually discovered, a formal investigation into the two sisters begins to take root.
We learn that Serafina and Arcangela initially ran a simple bar business, which was unable to make any profits. From there, they began a prostitution ring and have been running it successfully since. With the business booming, the duo decides to open another branch, but soon run into problems when “Morality Laws” are introduced, bringing every brothel to a close. In the meantime, Arcangela’s son, Beto, gets embroiled in the heroin trade and is subsequently killed. As bad news keeps piling up, the sisters create a hideout where all of their workers are forced to stay together. As time passes, however, cracks start to appear in the group, starting with Blanca, whose botched abortion results in a life-threatening paralysis. The Baladros’ right hand, Skeleton, tries to intervene by burning Blanca’s body to bring sensation back, but the plan backfires, and she dies.
Blanca’s death triggers a chain reaction that results in conflicts ranging from microaggressions to active infighting. When two of the workers try to steal the same set of valuables, they get into a fight that ends with their accidental deaths. As punishment, Arcangela tightens the screws on the girls’ living conditions, prompting a small group to plot an escape. When that plan fails, they assume that a girl named Rosa snitched, which prompts them to brutally attack her as punishment. When the women try to escape once again, they are shot at, and two of them lose their lives in the process. This harrowing cycle of death eventually intersects with Serafina’s attempt at Simon’s life, which leads to an investigation into the Baladro sisters and all of their business operations, both legal and illegal.
The Dead Girls Ending: Why are Serafina and Arcangela Baladro Arrested?
While the story gives away the Baladro sisters’ eventual capture in the first episode itself, the rest of the story dials back and retraces the events that led up to it. We learn that Serafina’s attempted assassination of Simon was merely the first step, and her failure to finish the job ends up triggering a chain reaction that blows the lid off her darkest secrets. With Inspector Cueto leading the charge, the police raid the Baladros’s bar cum brothels, and although the sisters try their best to ward off any suspicion, they end up fueling it instead. A second investigation digs deep into their abusive practices, and before long, their hideout comes to light, and all the women trapped inside are rescued. Serafina and Arcangela try their best to flee the scene, but are caught. In the riveting criminal proceedings that follow, the duo is prosecuted and eventually incarcerated for their crimes.
Although Serafina and Arcangela are direct participants in the shady ends of their operations, having facilitated violence and bloodshed within their ranks, the exact nature of their involvement is not as simple. Over the course of the episodes, we learn that the string of murders that falls upon the brothel and its members is caused by a mix of internal and external factors. While the sisters do create an environment of depravity, harmful enough for tragedy to rear its head again and again, the rifts between the women also lead to some of the murders. Nonetheless, as the creator and chief enabler of the brothel, the Baladro sisters should bear the responsibility for birthing such cruel circumstances in the first place. Additionally, their greed and selfishness taking over all humane and moral concerns seals the deal on their fate, leading to a compelling case for their conviction.
Following the Baladro sisters’ arrest, the entire group of women is rescued, and several other players in the game are caught by law enforcement. A thorough reenactment process, coupled with interviews with the abuse survivors, leads the police to the locations within the Ranch that have served as unceremonious burial grounds. One by one, most cases of Serafina and Aracngela’s cruelty come to light, with enough evidence behind each to nail the sisters. The trial eventually culminates in a guilty verdict, and the duo is sent to prison for a 35-year life sentence. This essentially spells the end of the sisters’ lives of freedom, and this leaves them visibly shaken. In the epilogue to the story, we learn that the sisters have established their stronghold within the prison, having collected enormous sums by lording over many of the prison functions. However, this is still a far cry from their golden days, and that fall from a height marks a bitter end to their life of crime.
Are The Girls Freed? What Happens to Them?
The end of the Baladro sisters’ reign of terror also brings along with it the prospect of the sex workers being freed from their state of abuse. However, while things are running smoothly on the surface, the ending sheds light on the grayer aspects of society and how it affects the survivors. Initially, all of the women are treated as co-conspirators in Serafina and Arcangela’s nefarious actions, but a closer look soon reveals the truth of what happened. However, what obfuscates the situation even more is the girls’ decision to mix lies with truths in order to make their case stronger. As such, their often augmented narratives worsen the sisters’ fate, and in turn uplift theirs. This delicate exchange points to the deeper dilemmas that plague all the characters, forcing them to take on dishonest measures as a way of safeguarding their future.
Serafina and Arcangela’s conviction serves as a joyful occasion for the rescued girls, and they all receive government compensation for the trauma they had to endure. This sharp scene plays on the ironic elements of this practice, as the government ceremony ends with patriotic chants, mirroring the politicians’ rallying for patriotism at the opening ceremony of Casino del Danzon, the brothel. This can be interpreted as a commentary on the thinness of the justice that was given to the girls, in how they are still trapped in a system that can look away at the drop of a hat. While the case creates a media uproar, much of it is concerned with bringing the evil out to the front, along with the faces behind it. The generalization of the suffering that took place, in all of its shades, only strengthens the show’s thematic points.
In the days following their rescue, the women are taken to a church ceremony, where a priest prays for their salvation. This scene operates on two levels, at once summarizing the harrowing experience that they have to go through, while also being critical of the narrative that is imposed upon the women. This is substantiated once again by the imagery mimicking a priest cleansing the girls during the creation of the Los Angeles Ranch. This reiterates the point about the flimsy nature of moral and ethical codes and how easily they can be stripped down to perpetuate untold horrors. In the epilogue of the story, we are given a glimpse into many of the characters’ lives since the proceedings, but the freed women are pointedly left out. This is likely an intentional creative decision, as the show explains that all of the women likely went their own ways, leaving their tragic past behind.
What Happens to Skeleton, Simon, and the Other Accomplices?
While Serafina and Arcangela are undoubtedly the brains behind the nefarious crimes, they are not the only ones who take part in them. Instead, a wider circle of criminals takes shape over the course of the episode, each playing their part in completing the hellish picture. Juana Cornejo, more commonly known as Skeleton, becomes the sisters’ chief assistant and confidante, creating a bridge between the madams and their workers. However, in doing so, Skeleton gradually turns to violence, resulting in a twisted assertion of power. In addition to maintaining order, Skeleton is also responsible for avoiding unwanted pregnancies within the brothel, often resorting to unsafe methods of abortion. To that end, her darkest shades come to light in how she eventually kills Blanca. To that end, she is held accountable in court and given a life sentence of 20 years.
Although Simon is not a major player in the game, his readiness to dispose of a body shows his disregard for human life. This results in his eventual punishment, which is 6 years in prison. Captain Bedoya, who is on the same footing as the sisters in the creation of the brothel and its secrets, is held accountable for his crimes and given a life sentence of 25 years. However, fate seems to have different plans for him, as the epilogue reveals that he reigns over his fellow inmates in prison, still exerting considerable power. Teofilo Pinot and Eulalia Baladro, along with Eustiquio Natera AKA Ticho, also play a part in the murders at the Los Angeles Ranch, and are accordingly put behind bars for 20, 15, and 12 years, respectively. The sisters’ chauffeur, Fulgencio Perez, along with Nicolas Perez, completes the list of criminals, and they are subsequently given a sentence of 6 years each.
Who Killed Ernestina? What Was Her Real Name?
While most of the narrative of ‘The Dead Girls’ is wrapped up by the end of the criminal proceedings, one lingering plot thread remains in the form of the mystery behind Ernestina’s death. Given that hers is the first murder within the story, her thread is quickly swept up in the larger currents. However, the show’s epilogue brings a new dimension to the fray, revealing the exact events that led to her demise. A flashback shows Ernestina reaching out to one of her long-time clients. Here, we learn that her real name is not Ernestina, or Helen, or Elena, as it has initially been presumed. Instead, she reveals that her real name is Maria. This detail only adds to her ultimate tragedy, as, not long after, that same client kills her and flees. Chronologically, the client is never shown after this, which only highlights how perpetrators can often slip through the cracks, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction.
Maria’s true identity also has a symbolic meaning in the story, as at the very start, Serafina similarly forgets her worker’s real name, and echoes the phrase, “Ernestina, Helen, or Elena.” This points to a saddening reality of how Maria’s identity is erased both at the hands of her clients and her boss, which charts the entire spectrum of abuse that she is forced to endure. Furthermore, the sequence of events also plays a part in the visual storytelling, as Maria’s journey is contrasted with Arcangela’s enjoying her growing success. As the scene continues, more of Maria’s co-workers fall into the frame, including familiar faces such as Blanca. However, while the scene chronologically takes place prior to any of the chaos, the context at hand puts things in retrospect, bringing out the pain and horror that hide behind quiet smiles.
Read More: Is Netflix’s The Dead Girls Based on a True Story?
