Netflix’s Unspeakable Sins season 1 established the fact that Claudio’s empire was built on a foundation of lies and deceit. There were many characters whose actions directly or indirectly had an impact on the Martinez family. Some were here to help them out, and some just wanted to see their golden palace reduced to ashes. So let’s find out more about these characters and understand their motivations and intentions.
Spoiler Alert
Claudio
Claudio, the hotel magnate, was a complicated man, and I believe that his own attitude became the reason for his downfall. I agree that an influential man has to strong-arm people, as he can’t let others dictate terms to him. But that didn’t mean he had to be rude and arrogant to everybody who came his way. Apart from his daughter, Livia, Claudio didn’t treat anybody with respect. Certain people stood alongside him, but that was out of fear. He must have also known that the moment they got the opportunity, they would turn against him. Using people for his own benefit and then discarding them was Claudio’s modus operandi. He got kidnapped by somebody he had wronged in the past, and even after that, he didn’t learn his lesson. He kept walking the same old path, and he refrained from introspecting. As a result, Claudio was killed by his own wife, Helena. Had it not been Helena, somebody else would have murdered him, because he really tested the patience of people and made their lives a living hell.
Helena
Helena knew that her decision to get married to Claudio was probably the biggest mistake of her life. But she was a fierce woman who wouldn’t give up until she brought her life back on track. Helena loved her son, and she was ready to go to any extreme for him. I will not deny that, at the beginning of Unspeakable Sins, I felt that Helena was a very deceptive individual who couldn’t be trusted at all. Probably staying with Claudio brought out the worst in her, but she was not who people perceived her to be. Yes, she was shrewd enough to understand how the world functioned, and she knew she had the potential to turn the odds in her favor. Also, I felt that she was an extremely courageous woman who didn’t mind risking her own life to get what was best for her and her son. Helena loved Ivan with all her heart, and she proved to him that she was worthy of being trusted.
Ivan
Ivan, the innocent young man who worked as a male escort, fell in love with Helena. He didn’t know what he was signing up for, but once he realized that his feelings were reciprocated, he decided to stand by her side no matter what. Ivan had had a tough life, and he had decided to become a male escort because he wanted to provide for his family, and he didn’t know what else to do. Deep down, Ivan was a good man, which was why Helena fell for him. For Ivan, being honest was paramount to everything else in his life. That’s probably why, when Livia told him that she liked him, he did not mislead her, and he told her quite bluntly that he could never betray Helena. Had he wanted to, he could have played with Livia’s feelings, but he didn’t do so. It felt like everything worked out for Ivan in the end, but there were some unknown people spying on him, and I believe if there is a season 2, he will once again find himself in deep trouble.
Octavio
Octavio was Claudio’s son, and he was very clear that he would be heir to his father’s empire. Claudio didn’t think that Octavio was capable enough to lead his company, and he did not miss any opportunity to belittle the man. Octavio might not have had the business acumen of his father, but deep down, he was a good man. All his life, he had just craved that one sentence of encouragement from his father, but till the very end, he didn’t get it. Octavio ultimately decided to lead the company with his sister, Livia, and it seemed that after everything he had endured, his life would come back on track. But I don’t think that it will be smooth sailing for him, and in the near future, he will face certain conflicts, as there are many out there who don’t want him to thrive.
Livia
Livia was Claudio’s daughter from his first wife, Cristina. Claudio loved Livia, and he had a lot of faith in his abilities. Unlike Octavio, Livia actually loved her father, and she was quite attached to him. Nobody knew about it, but Livia had had an affair with Claudio’s security chief, Antonio, and she didn’t know how obsessed the man was with her. Later in season 1, Livia fell in love with Ivan. She loved his simplicity and the fact that he was such a genuine person. Livia realized that Ivan could never be hers, and that she had to move ahead in her life and focus on her work. It was possible there were things about Livia that nobody knew. Livia could end up taking some extreme steps in order to get Ivan back in her life.
Fedra and Ximena
Fedra, a rich and influential woman, used to be a part of the elite circle of the town. She used to be invited to Claudio’s parties, but they shared an amicable relationship. Things changed between Fedra and Claudio after the former realized that her son, Ariel, was in love with Claudio. Claudio didn’t want a relationship, and Ariel couldn’t cope. Ariel took his own life, and Fedra blamed Claudio for the loss. I believe that Fedra’s decision to kidnap Claudio and leak his secret videos into the public forum changed the entire power dynamics. Fedra’s daughter, Ximena, stood alongside her, and together they planned to destroy Claudio and make sure he paid for his sins. Ximena met her fateful end after the district attorney’s wife, Arcadia, shot her dead. Fedra obviously felt shattered as she lost both her children, and she felt that she had nothing to look forward to in her life. Though Fedra was put behind bars, I believe if there is a season 2, she will have a crucial role to play.
Antonio
Antonio was Claudio’s right-hand man, and the latter had never imagined that he would go against him. I don’t know why Claudio thought that, because he had treated Antonio’s father in the worst possible manner, and he should have known that a son would feel hurt seeing his father insulted. Antonio loved Livia, and that was also one of the reasons why he decided to help Fedra kidnap Claudio. Antonio, at the end of season 1, met his fateful end in Claudio’s hands, and he could never fulfill his dream of being with Livia. I believe that even if he had been able to overpower Claudio, Livia wouldn’t have ended up with him. That said, the man made some reckless choices, and he ended up paying for them in the end.
Fer
Fer had a difficult choice, and somewhere he had to pay a huge price for the choices her mother made. That said, it didn’t mean that Helena didn’t love her boy, but before entering into a relationship with a man like Claudio, she should have known the impact it could have had on her son. Claudio tortured Fer, and he was the one who made him addicted to drugs in the first place. Fer had accidentally killed Cristina, Claudio’s first wife, and the shrewd man had recorded the entire act, as he knew that if Helena ever tried to leave him, he could use it as leverage. Fer did find out who his biological father was at the end, and it took him some time to make peace with that fact and work towards making things better. Fer loved his mother, and he knew that no matter what happened, he would never leave her side.
Arcadia and Pablo
Pablo was the district attorney who, it could be said, was on Claudio’s payroll. Pablo did whatever he could to help Helena after Claudio was kidnapped, and apart from the fact that he shared a good relationship with the Martinez family, there was another reason for him being so helpful. Helena and Claudio had recorded videos of all influential men and women who came to their underground dungeon and indulged in all sorts of activities to satiate their carnal desires. Pablo felt that Helena was in possession of those videos, but knew that even she didn’t know who was leaking them. After Pablo’s video was leaked, he tried to kill Helena and felt driven to take his life, and Arcadia, his wife, just couldn’t deal with the loss. When Arcadia got to know that Fedra and her daughter were behind everything, she couldn’t control her anger. She came for her revenge, and she needed to kill Ximena, Fedra’s daughter. Fedra used her influence to make sure that Arcadia ended up in her cell in prison. I believe so long as Fedra is in prison, she will make Arcadia’s life a living hell.
Magic and the Lawyer
Magic was a dangerous man, and he was involved in all sorts of illegal activities. The man was feared by many, as he had the reputation of going to extreme lengths to get what he wanted. Magic conspired with Octavio, or it would be better to say that he forced Octavio to fake Claudio’s death, in order to get access to his bank accounts. Magic was killed in season 1, and even his right-hand man, who was referred to as the Lawyer, was killed by Octavio in self-defense. Till the very end, Octavio and Livia believed that it was the Lawyer who had killed their father and that they had taken their revenge by killing him. Octavio and Livia were oblivious to reality, though that might not be the case in season 2.
Rafael and Dora
Rafael, the politician, was Fer’s biological father. The man had abandoned Helena and Fer, as he didn’t want his public image to get spoiled. Rafael might have made some objectionable choices, but deep down, he was not entirely a bad man. At least he wanted to make things better: he accepted that he had committed some mistakes, and he was ready to apologize to the concerned parties for it. Rafael fell in love with a transwoman named Dora, and he bore the guilt of not being able to make his relationship public. He knew that the conservative society would ostracize him if they got to know that his partner was a transwoman. But in the end, Rafael had a change of heart, and he decided to let his heart lead the way. Not only did he tell the people about Dora, but he also accepted that Fer was his son and that he didn’t have the courage in the past to be there for him.
Sofia
Sofia, the pregnant police detective who was handling the entire investigation, had a very long-standing association with the Martinez family. Claudio had apparently stolen her ancestral land, and considering he was such a powerful man, she or her family members weren’t able to do much about it. But she was quite attached to Christina, as seen in a flashback scene, and Christina rightfully wanted to return it to her family. I believe that Sofia will play a critical role in the next season, as she was the only one who felt that it was possible that the Lawyer didn’t kill Claudio. She knew that there wasn’t any evidence present to substantiate any other theory, but that didn’t mean nobody else could have killed Claudio.
