Botineras



Botineras was a 2009 Argentine telenovela, set in the world of football. "Botineras" is a term used for the women that seduce football players, and became rich with them. It began as a comedy, and shifted into a police procedural afterwards.

The main character is Cristian "Chiqui" Flores, who was playing in Spain and returns to Argentina to get married with his girl, Marga Molinari. He returned to the "Club Deportivo El Cristal" (fictionl). Cappa, a Spanish player rival of Flores, had been killed under unclear circumstances, so the police had to investigate him. For this purpose the agent Laura Posse arranges a secret identity as a "Botinera", helped by Giselle López (who run an agency of such women), and is renamed as "Mía".

However, as the plot advances, new cases begin to pile to the whole issue. Tato Marín had killed Flores' parent to turn into a parental figure for him and secure him as his player; the lawyer Nino Paredes was aware of this and blackmailed him with it. Vanina is killed by Lalo, who was drunk and run the car backwards instead of forwards. And several other murders, kidnappings, killing attempts, etc. In special, the murder of Giselle involved the plots for a very long time afterwards.

"Botineras" includes examples of:

 * Action Girl: Laura Posse.
 * Designated Love Interest: So, Laura is with the Agent Javier Salgado, and Flores with Marga, but Laura and Flores are "the" couple and will end toguether in a happy ending, despite of everything else, right? No! They both stayed with the people mentioned, to the end. There are too many police investigations, criminals at large and loose ends to pursuit difficult romances.
 * Genre Shift: from comedy to police procedural
 * Killed Off for Real: When Florencia Peña resigned, her character (Giselle López) was killed. Killed by someone who could not be seen, and for a long time nobody knew who did it, neither the other characters, nor the viewers, and there were hints pointing to several characters. The mystery lasted for a long time.
 * Luke I Am Your Father: Humberto Arregui, head of the police and chief of Laura Posse, found out that he was her father. She did not like it very much...
 * Secret Identity: No superheros or other weird stuff: The police Laura Posse made a secret identity to infiltrate the football world
 * Secret Keeper: Giselle López knew that "Mía" was a police all along. It couldn't be otherwise, she told her how to be a "botinera".