The Five Juanas Drama Isabel & Manuela Couple Review

『Desire, Blood, and the Unexpected Love That Blooms Within Truth』

🎥 Drama Overview

🎬 Title: The Five Juanas (Original Title: La venganza de las Juanas, 2021)
🌍 Country: 🇲🇽 Mexico
🎞️ Genre: Revenge / Mystery / Psychological Drama
🗓️ Production & Release: Netflix, 2021, Total 18 Episodes / 1 Season
📢 Directors: Alejandro Bazzano, Carlota Martínez Pereda, et al.
🖋️ Writers: Jimena Romero, Bernardo Romero Pereiro, et al.
📺 Platform: Netflix

👩‍💼 Cast: Zuria Vega – Juana Manuela (Manuela “Manny”)
Paulette Hernández – Isabel
Oka Giner – Juana Valentina

🧩 Deep Story Exploration (Spoilers)

🐟 “Temporary Refuge” and Sexual Exploration

Juana Manuela (“Manny”), a former club dancer, is a woman with a strong exterior yet haunted by past trauma and complicated emotions toward her father, Simón Marroquín. Isabel appears briefly in Manny’s life, and their relationship carries the following features:

• Expression of Bisexuality: Manny, who has previously dated men and becomes involved with Camilo during her revenge plot, openly reveals her bisexual identity through her relationship with Isabel. This adds non-conformist depth to her character.

• Escape and Healing: Isabel exists outside Manny’s revenge narrative. Through her, Manny experiences a momentary break from vengeance and trauma — a form of ordinary deviation and rest. Isabel becomes a sanctuary who provides Manny with emotional stability and feminine intimacy.

• Powerful Chemistry: As mentioned early in the show, there is a strong sexual tension and magnetic chemistry between the two women. This suggests their connection is not a mere “experiment” but born from genuine attraction.

🍎 From “Love” to “Instrument”

While Isabel enriches Manny’s character, their relationship also reveals the narrative limitations within the telenovela structure.

• Constraints of the Main Romance: The drama fundamentally follows a heteronormative romance arc typical of telenovelas. Manny’s central romantic relationship ultimately leads back to Camilo. Her bond with Isabel serves as a narrative device to explore Manny’s inner complexity and sexuality but does not evolve into the “endgame” partnership.

• “Bury Your Gays” Concern: The way Isabel exits the story intensifies Manny’s emotional turmoil and paves the way for her return to a heterosexual relationship with Camilo. This framing risks reducing their relationship to a narrative “tool,” echoing tropes like “Queerbaiting” or the “Sacrificial Lamb” — where queer love becomes a temporary detour for the straight lead’s growth.

• Subsumed by the Revenge Plot: Manny’s overarching mission — avenging her father and bonding with her half-sisters — overshadows her relationship with Isabel, which becomes merely a brief emotional respite rather than a lasting goal.

✨ Vulnerability and Defense Mechanisms

The most profound impact Isabel leaves on Manny is the experience of acknowledging her own vulnerability.

• Fear of Love: Scarred by past trauma — particularly the loss of a former lover (a woman from Spain) — Manny fears committing to a new, genuine relationship. Isabel momentarily dismantles Manny’s emotional defenses, but Manny withdraws, afraid of being hurt again.

• Emotional Confusion: Manny’s internal conflict between Camilo and Isabel is not merely about sexual orientation but rather a struggle between stability and passionate escape. While Camilo represents “family restoration” and a return to normalcy, Isabel embodies “fiery deviation” — a temptation from the past that cannot be sustained in her future.

⚡ An Unfinished Story of Fiery Passion

The relationship between Juana Manuela and Isabel remains one of the most compelling and electrifying subplots in The Five Juanas.

Though praised for portraying female sexuality and trauma within a mainstream telenovela, the storyline also faces criticism for reducing the relationship to a disposable subplot serving the main heterosexual narrative (Manny–Camilo).

Ultimately, Isabel teaches Manny how to love and be honest with herself, yet in the drama’s final arc, that lesson gives way to more “acceptable” values of family and stability. What remains is a beautiful but fleeting memory of a love that challenged and healed her, even if only for a while.

🎯 Personal Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥♥♥
⭐ Overall Rating: ★★★★