Dame Un Beso
We begin part 1 episode 2 of Selena: The Series with Selena Y Los Dinos performing in 1986, inspiring those in attendance including a young child watching in the wings. Afterward, an excited Selena receives a flower from that very same girl and her Mother, while Abraham remains grounded and tells her she was just “ok” in her performance. It turns out the bad have bigger problems though and AB senses this. Abraham refuses to let AB look at the takings, instead deciding to rest the future of the band on the weary and worried shoulders of this boy. They need a new record and a record producer – and right now it’s do or die. At school, Selena’s sacrifices for the dream continue as she rejects her friend’s invitation to a party given all the rehearsals and gigs they’re doing. Back home, Abraham’s car fails to start outside, prompting Marcella to hand over a stack of cash from their safety allowance tin. She’s worried that things could blow up in their faces but remains cautiously optimistic over this dream. A new guitarist called Roger joins the group and after going over the rules, Abraham tells him to take a break while he briefs the family. Selena however, happens to be upstairs practicing her kissing technique with her hand. Suzette sneaks up and teases her sister, telling Selena she has no time for boys given the career she has before her. Downstairs, Abraham gathers the family and tells them all a really important life lesson, “If you wait for something to fall in your lap, you’ll be waiting your whole life.” This rousing pep rally stems from AB’s desire to bring a talented promoter called Luis Silva onboard to help the band’s fortunes. While Abraham remains loyal to Manny as their producer (despite him telling Abraham he doesn’t have the promotional budget for a band their size), AB does his best to try and track down Silva at the Tejano Music Awards. Both of these characters together run into problems but do their best to give a rousing elevator pitch for Selena and the band. AB and Abraham work incredibly hard and manage to snatch at a glimmer of hope going forward. Selena’s teacher meanwhile remains concerned about Selena’s poor attendance at school, despite her continuously achieving good grades. Unfortunately this ends with Selena being pulled out and homeschooled instead. Back home, AB and Abraham do their best to try and find a single for Selena to play. This hits a snag though when Luis Silva changes his mind and decides against giving them the songs in favour of another band. AB is under a lot of pressure to get this right and remains holed up in his room believing nothing is going their way. Selena understands this struggle and speaks to her brother through the door, telling him she’s here if he needs her. Abraham eventually heads in to speak to his son, hearing first-hand that AB feels like he’s let the family down. All he wants is one hit song and he doesn’t feel like he can give that. Abraham sighs and smiles knowingly, giving AB some encouraging words and convincing him to do his best to write a song himself. As AB heads out to get some inspiration from the local bands, he remembers his Father’s words about each of the instruments working individually and finally understands what he meant. A smile crosses his face as a slick shot shows spot lit instrument players. It’s do or die for AB and he works hard to try and craft a song from scratch for the band to play. With AB orchestrating the group, each of the instruments work in-sync together to produce a Tejano record worthy of a hit, complete with keyboard chords courtesy of Ricky getting involved in the band. It seems to work too and as we cut forward in time once more, people chant Selena’s name while the record makes its rounds on the radio. Selena becomes a star overnight and Marcella talks to her daughter, telling Selena she wants to make sure she’s happy with all this. Meanwhile, AB hears the band’s song playing on the radio and excitedly tells Abraham what he’s heard. He doesn’t seem too enthused though and outright asks where their next hit is coming from.
The Episode Review
With another episode of struggles and overcoming adversity, the big stand-out moment here comes from Abraham telling the kids to chase after their dreams. Seeing the similarities between Abraham and AB as they both fight to get what they want is a nice touch and reinforces that Abe is grooming his son into becoming an image of his own. There’s dangers that this could implode though, especially if the scenes at the end are any indication. AB just wants to get his father’s approval and this tough love angle may well be pushing him to breaking point. Given the history though, it’s a little disappointing that this episode hasn’t tackled the numerous rejections Selena had across Texas. I know she had some issues last episode but not seeing some of the rejections from different clubs could have helped spur this one on and made the hit song moment at the end that much more powerful. Still, Selena delivers another good episode here as this biographical drama continues.
