''Metástasis'' is a Colombian
telenovela
A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar Drama (film and television), drama genres around the w ...
series, a
Spanish language
Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...
remake of the American
crime drama
Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
''
Breaking Bad
''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...
'' that transposes the events of the original from the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
. It follows the storyline for all five seasons of ''Breaking Bad'', with alterations to its pacing, visual style, and subplot elements.
The series premiered on June 8, 2014 until September 18, 2014, airing a total of 62 episodes.
It has been broadcast in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
,
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
, the United States,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
and
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, among other countries, by
Fox Latin America.
Plot
Walter Blanco is a frustrated high school chemistry teacher, married to his unexpectedly-pregnant wife Cielo Blanco, and father of his disabled son Walter Blanco Jr. Walter also works in a car wash in the afternoons. When he was diagnosed with terminal
lung cancer, he wonders what will happen to his family when he dies.
Witnessing a raid by the
Anti-Narcotics Police organized by his brother-in-law Henry Navarro, Walter recognizes a former student of his: José Miguel Rosas, whom he contacts to manufacture and sell methamphetamine and thus ensure the economic well-being of his family. But the approach to the world of drugs and dealing with traffickers and mobsters contaminates Walter's mind, making him gradually abandon his straight and predictable personality to become someone without too many scruples when it comes to getting what he wants.
Production
The idea for a Spanish remake of ''Breaking Bad'' was originally conceived due to how
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
is not common in Latin America.
The episodes were individually shot in an average of two and a half days, compared to eight for its American counterpart.
Some changes were made to adapt aspects of ''Breaking Bad''s American elements to ''Metástasis'' Colombian setting. The outdoor scenes of ''Metástasis'' were shot in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, which has a colder and more mountainous environment compared to the deserts surrounding
Albuquerque,
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
.
Pest exterminators are uncommon in the region, so the main characters pose as demolition experts in the latter half of the fifth season. Saúl Bueno (the show's equivalent of
Saul Goodman) demonstrates his legal services on a television
talk show
A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...
rather than through commercials, as legal services cannot be advertised in Colombia.
The iconic
recreational vehicle which Jesse and Walter use to cook meth is replaced by a
school bus, as RVs are rare in Latin America.
Cast
*
Diego Trujillo –
Walter Blanco
* –
José Miguel Rosas
*
Sandra Reyes –
Cielo Blanco
*
Julián Arango –
Henry Navarro
* –
Saúl Bueno
* Diego Garzón –
Walter Blanco Jr.
*
Manuel Gómez –
Gustavo Cortéz
*
Frank Ramírez –
Héctor Salamanca
*
Damián Alcázar –
Tuco Salamanca
*
Edgardo Román -
Mario Arboleda
Distribution
In Mexico,
Televisa's Channel 5 broadcast the series Monday through Friday at midnight; in the United States, the series aired on
UniMás
UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. ...
, with a debut simulcast on UniMás,
Univision, and
Galavisión on Sunday, June 8, 2014.
Series overview
Reception
Vince Gilligan, the original creator of ''Breaking Bad'', praised ''Metástasis'' creators for being able to create the original series' entire runtime much faster and on a smaller budget.
References
External links
*
Series page on Teleset website (in Spanish)''Metástasis'' on UniMás
{{Sony Pictures Television Latin America Productions
Breaking Bad
2010s Colombian television series
2014 Colombian television series debuts
2014 Colombian television series endings
Colombian television series based on American television series
Spanish-language television shows
Television remakes
Television shows set in Bogotá
Television series by Teleset
Sony Pictures Television telenovelas
Television shows remade overseas
Caracol Televisión telenovelas
Spanish-language telenovelas
Colombian television series
2014 telenovelas
fr:Breaking Bad#Adaptation latino-américaine