Children of the Church Steps is a poignant series loosely based on the real-life massacre that took place in Rio on the 23rd of July 1993, in which 6 minors and 2 adults were brutally killed by police personnel. The show uses four fictional children to set up the events 36 hours before the dreadful incident. The 4 kids are Douglas, 18-year-old Seven, Popcorn, and Jesus. Each episode retells the events from the point of view of each of the kids leading up to the point of the massacre. The 4-part series focuses on the children’s wishes and dreams rather than the massacre itself. It simply wants us to realize how an act of violence can permanently ruin the lives of many. With that said, let’s quickly jump into all the important things that take place in Children of the Church Steps. Each kid is fictitious, but the stories are inspired by those of survivors.
Spoiler Alert
Episode 1: Douglas
Douglas is the first of the kids we’re introduced to. He’s the lynchpin of the plot that’s about to take place 36 hours from now. Douglas watches as his adoptive dad, or rather father figure, is buried in the dirt with no proper coffin or gravestone. This upsets the young boy deeply, and he decides he’ll do everything in his power to make sure his old man will have a proper burial. When Douglas was younger, his parents were shot dead in their home, and he ended up in foster care. The 4 children escape the abusive care system together when a fire breaks out. This is how they know each other and stick to each other like glue, always ready to help. Douglas is already traumatized by the events of his parents’ death, and after stepping into the world as a homeless child, he decides to choose a life of crime. Douglas also uses drugs at such a tender age, and he’s quite a mess. However, Paulinho essentially saves the kid, and though he isn’t able to take him in, he becomes the father Douglas always wanted.
Anyway, 36 hours before the massacre, Douglas tells his friends he needs money for a proper burial for Paulinho. Jesus comes up with the idea of breaking into a chocolate factory. Jesus plans on staying with the guard while Douglas and Seven are supposed to get the money, and Popcorn is supposed to keep watch. Unfortunately, there’s a mishap, and the guard gets shot in the process. The next day, Douglas tries to steal money from a bookie and gives it to a coffin maker. This man also steals the money from the kids, leaving them broke too. Still, since it’s stolen money, he stays hopeful, never giving up on the perfect burial. Here we learn that the reason the kids are removed from the church steps on that day is because a TV personality and a businessman are getting married there that same night. During the wedding, the kids steal from the wedding guests, and finally, Douglas has his money. He hands it to Paulinho’s biological daughter and admits to her that he wanted to be his son. They hug it out, and it’s quite a tender moment. She then feeds him before he heads off to sleep at the church. He dreams about a massive party he’ll set up for Paulinho, dancing and singing in fresh white clothes with everybody. When he opens his eyes, a gun’s pointing at him, and he screams for Seven to wake up and run.
Episode 2: Seven
Seven’s gay and has a sugar daddy of sorts named George. When the incident in the chocolate factory occurs, Seven’s face is plastered all over the news. He’s worried he’ll get locked up and there’ll be no way out for him, so he decides to get away and take Popcorn along with him. He looks after her like she’s his sister; it’s rather adorable. When he was younger, Seven’s white stepdad had beat him up for being a “sissy,” and he was thrown out of his home by his own mother. Now an adult, Seven somehow managed to survive. On the day of the wedding, Seven nearly gets arrested, but the rest of the kids manage to help him escape. This is when he calls George again and asks him to help him get out, but the guy hangs up on him. So Seven shows up at his shop with a gun and steals all his money by blackmailing him. I suppose Seven was in love with George, but he cared for his freedom more, which is a great decision. When Seven’s leaving the place, he encounters his stepdad again, as the driver of the taxi he sits in. His real name is Gustavo, and his stepdad insults him yet again. Seven gets angry and beats the old man up, leaving him bleeding in the street. Seven always wanted to join the navy, so that’s what he dreams of after telling Popcorn that they’re going to get away together. However, he’s unable to run with Popcorn when the armed men show up.
Episode 3: Popcorn
Popcorn’s the youngest of the lot, and I suppose that means she has the brightest future of them all too. Popcorn’s the most hopeful of the kids too, because her mom left her in child care and told her she’d come back for her, though we can’t really be sure how real this is. Popcorn hopes she can get to speak to the TV host who’s getting married at the church, so she can be on TV and show herself to her mother. On the other hand, Popcorn also asks Jessica to go model with her so that they can make some money. However, when they get to the agency, they learn they need to pay. The photographer is a white pervert who asks them to stay back till the end and promises to shoot them for free. All he wants to do is force himself on Jessica. But Popcorn is able to save her, and they both escape. We know that Popcorn is tremendously loyal and very afraid of abandonment, and so it’s especially sad that the one person she truly cares for is gone for good because of the massacre. Popcorn dreams about reuniting with her mother.
Episode 4: Jesus
Jesus was left in the garbage at 6 months. He plans the break-in at the chocolate factory because the security guard is the same man who beat him up in childcare. Jesus has a good-natured conscience and always hopes to do right, despite being in the “criminal” world. He ends up killing the security guard to save Popcorn, and that could be one of the triggers of the massacre (only in the show). Jesus is the guy who brought the kids to the church steps for their new home. He finds himself inside the church on the day of the massacre because he wants to steal Mother Mary’s crown for Jessica because he really likes her. However, Jesus encounters a priest who gives him fresh clothes and sends him to shower before the big wedding. A small act of kindness before the big storm. Jesus ends up hiding in the church until the wedding’s over and then steals the crown. He then goes to the bell tower, getting locked inside for the night. He watches over his friends, almost godlike, from above before drifting off into a deep dreamy slumber. Jesus wishes for freedom from all of this mess; all he really wants is to be able to reach the sky and be with Jessica.
In the end, Douglas is shot, and Seven is killed while saving Popcorn. Just before Jessica is shot, Jesus rings the church bells, saving her from being shot too. The three of them run away because there’s nothing else they can do for their friends. I guess at the end of the show we’re left hoping that Jesus, Popcorn, and Jessica get the bright futures they deserve. What’s sad is that the show ends with text that tells us that the convicted felons were released soon after, I suppose because the kids were homeless and nobody really cared. It’s an absolutely shameful situation. But the show gives us a more positive conclusion, i.e., the hope of a better life for 3 of the 5 kids we rooted for.
