Los Simuladores

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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"They are the kind of people that can solve any kind of problem"

{{quote|" Why should you stop solving problems, when you know you have a gift for it?" |Mario Santos, [[Insufferable Geniu] }}

[[Los Simuladore] is one of [[Argentin]'s greatest TV shows (having a 9.4/10 rating on IMDB.co), with excelent acting, outstanding scripts, and awesome production. Also, [[Needs More Love|you probably never heard of i.

Los Simuladores ({{smallcaps|[[Blind Idiot Translation|lit: The Simulator]}}, or more accurately {{smallcaps|[[Woolseyism|The Pretender]}}) are four-man secret organization that can "solve all kinds of problems"... for a fee. And no, they're not the bad guys.

This group helps people who are desperately in need, by doing something they call drills (lit: simulations - hence the group's name) which involve complex [[Plan|plan] that one way or another solve the problem. This may or may not involve deceiving the person with said problem, and always involves deceiving a whole bunch of other people.

The sufferings of the person in need range from "owning money to the mob" to "having to introduce your family to your future in-laws", but could still ruin their life. Then some former client has to tell him/her how to contact [[Los Simuladore], who in turn will see if his/her problem is worth their time. Said person is usually charged a huge sum of money for the drill (twice the costs), but the group is willing to help those who can't pay it. Also, since those people are now in debt with [[Los Simuladore], they might have to provide help in future drills, which is an awesome resource of [[Continuity Nod|continuity nod].

A comedic action/adventure show with moments of psychological drama, it is a [[Cult Classic|cult serie] in Argentina. Here you can see the article (which is really complete) on [[The Other Wik] [https://web.archive.org/web/20161229041328/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_simuladore.

Not related to [[The Pretende].

Tropes used in Los Simuladores include:
  • [[Air Vent Passagewa]: to help a boy pass an [[Apathetic Teache]'s one-mistake-and-you're-screwed exam.
  • [[Amazingly Embarrassing Parent]: The team has a plan to make them look likable.
  • [[Asshole Victi]
  • Badass Normal: If they aren't, they pretend so.
  • [[Balanced Hare]: Ravenna in the second season, altough it isn't a major plot in the series. He lives with three beautiful (and highly intellectual) women, who are deeply in love with him. However, he seems not to have the same feelings for them.
  • [[Bank Robber]: They help foil it {{spoiler|(and the [[Dirty Cop|commissioner's plan to silence the crook])}}.
  • [[Batman Gambi]
  • [[Bittersweet Endin]: At the very end of the series, Lamponne organized a meeting where, for the first time, they opened up emotionally to each other. Consequently, the group decided to separate and stop their activities until further notice. Medina couldn't help expressing his feelings, eventually he breaks into tears after telling his fellows, one by one, that he loves them. Much to [[Men Don't Cry|Lamponne's sham], of course.
  • [[The Bull]: The team helps a young comic-book lover resist one.
  • [[Catch Phras]: All by Mario Santos:
    • Stay calm
    • Be punctual and go alone
    • Comes in 3, 2, 1...
    • Got a light?
    • First, we plan an operative. Then we make a budget for it and you would pay exactly the double, for logistics and labor.
  • [[Celebrity Impersonato]: The guys pick two [[Paul McCartne] impersonators (one look-alike and one sound-alike) to help a woman leave her post-divorce depression. Hopefully she'll never find out about having given a blowjob to a lucky butcher.
  • [[Chekhov's Gu]: Subverted. Through the entire second season, one of the members of the secondary brigade wears a black glove on his left hand. When asked about it in the finale, he just answers he hadn't realised the other glove was missing.
  • [[Cleopatra Nos]: Maybe one of the reasons why Ravenna is so popular with women.
  • [[Cliff Hange]: The original first season finale.
  • [[Con Artist|Con Artist] (siding with fairness, though)
  • [[Continuity Por]
  • Credits Jukebox: The closing credits feature real songs which are related to each episode. The song for the first [[Season Final] is "[[Title Drop|The Great Pretende]".
  • [[Dark and Troubled Pas]: Santos
  • [[Darker and Edgie]: Most stories deal with daily problems, however, there are episodes which deal with bigger and significantly darker issues than the rest:
    • "An Involuntary Job" (13x01, in which the team is hired by a mobster who wants to free his partner from jail, responsible for the deaths of children in meal centers by buying spoiled food, and Santos decides not to take the case, only to be stabbed in the leg and kidnapped, to force the rest of the team to work against their will, or else Santos would be executed).
    • "The B Brigade" (07x02, where the team infiltrates the FBI to free their fellow partners of the B Brigade who where captured by U.S agents who took them for actual terrorists and brought them under prolonged interrogation and torture).
    • In the second season, there's the B plot of Milazzo trying to find the four protagonists to get revenge for what they did to him in "The Last Hero". Altough the second season has lots of comedy, there are small segments showing Milazzo and his tireless search for the team, all this in a very dark tone with noir/thriller elements.
    • The fate of the original Máximo Cozzetti (which name Ravenna uses as a pseudonym), who's in a mental hospital believing there's a Soviet robot out there to kill him.
  • [[Dirty Cop|Dirty Cop]: Both authentic and fake.
  • [[Dub Name Chang]: OK, this trope only applies fully for the Russian version, but...
    • In Mexico, Ravenna is called Vargas, and Lamponne is called López.
    • In Spain, Ravenna is called Jota, and Lamponne is called León.
    • In Chile, Lamponne is called Lorca, and Mario Santos is called Ernesto Santos.
  • [[Exactly What It Says on the Ti]: The final episode of the Argentine version is called... [[Shaped Like Itself|Final Episod].
  • [[Foreign Remak]: For [[Chil], [[Mexic] and [[Spai]. Oh, and there is one remake for Russia as well, called [[Kings of the Gam].
  • [[Jerkas]: generally the victims of the drills, like in "The Last Hero", "The Spanish Witness", "Unemployment Insurance", "Z 9000" or "The Social Debilitator".
  • Four-Man Band:
    • [[The Smart Gu]: Santos (Logistics and Planning)
    • [[Only Sane Man|The Normal Gu]: Medina (Research)
    • [[Loveable Sex Maniac|The Perver]/TheCasanova: Ravenna (Characterization)
    • [[The Big Gu]/The [[Butt Monke]: Lamponne (Technics and Transportation)
      • The original project included a fifth member (the Token Girl).
  • [[Good Smoking, Evil Smokin]
  • [[I Have Your Wife|I Have Your Leade]: Santos is kidnapped by mobsters in the first season finale, forcing the team to unwillingly help them for free.
  • [[The Matchmaker|The Matchmaker]: In the very first episode.
  • No Export for You: Not only it was never translated to English, but it was barely exported to other Spanish-speaking countries ([[Fridge Logic|no one knows wh]). Instead, remakes were made.
  • [[Needs More Lov]
  • [[Once an Episod]: Santos gets his cigar lit up just after a plan is sucessful (usually by an unsuspecting victim or a client). With a few crucial [[This Is Gonna Suck|exception].
  • [[Our Vampires Are Different|Our (Fake) Vampires Are Differen]
  • [[The Pla]
  • [[Picky Eate]: Cultured and refined people may have selective tastes in food, but Santos takes this to the extreme. The only tea he drinks is Earl Grey, and his water must be non-carbonated and sodium-free, among other quirks. But he's picky not only with food, but aestethically too. When he works on a plan, he's specific at such extremes as the type of wood and style of the chairs he sits on and the format and recording company of the music he hears.
  • [[Tear Jerker|Tear Jerker]:
    • Mariana's emotional breakdown on "The Social Debilitator", after being exposed psychologically in the middle of the court.
    • Santos remembering his father [[Manly Tears|in tear].
    • Manzione's crying because of {{spoiler|the failure of his "big night", immense frustration, the nostalgic memories of his childhood (induced by a TV advertising of [[Heid], which makes the scene even sadder), and the the regret for not wanting to be with their loved ones at Christmas.}}
    • The last reunion, in which the group decided to separate, followed by a montage of scenes and flashbacks, sad music included.
  • The Power Of Music: Frequently used to trigger mental states and emotions in unsuspecting "victims".
  • Power Walk IN THE RAIN!: The opening and closing credits.
  • [[Product Placemen]: Very well integrated, mostly businesses and vehicles.
  • [[Pseudony] / [[Nom De Guerr]: In the simulations, the guys use names taken from their past victims (like "Máximo Cozzetti", always used by Ravenna), or even names from the show's crew (like "Juan Carlos Cabral").
    • In the second season we learn that Mario Santos' name is a pseudonym too. His real name is Francisco de Aguirre.
  • [[Real Song Theme Tun]: Astor Piazzolla's "Cité Tango", [[Theme Tune Cameo|which the team uses as their rington].
  • Reality Show: The guys arrange a fake, [[Survivo]-like reality show {{spoiler|to send certain antagonist to the jungle, living for himself for one full year. [[Back for the Finale|Then he return] and they deceive him again by sending him to kill Osama bin Laden.}}
  • [[Refuge in Audacit]: The script calls for very seldom gay kisses or blowjobs.
  • [[Regular Calle]: Santos
    • Coupled with quirky [[Day in the Lif]-style sequences from the other 3 guys.
  • [[Reverse Cerebus Syndrom]: Could apply in the very last episode. First we got the conclusion of Milazzo's story arc; a thriller/suspense plot where he is determined to take revenge on the team. The opening scene is quite intense with a creepy atmosphere, flashbacks, distorted sounds. Milazzo is not only a very inmoral guy, he's very skilled with weapons and martial arts (what makes him extremely dangerous too) and because of the team, he's erased from existence; he doesn't have an identity, home or belongings, and of course he's pissed as fuck. But this story doesn't last too much, really; once the team gets rid of him (again), the episode goes through a tone shift, becoming a comedic Christmas special which deals with family ties and nostalgic childhood memories. This does not mean it is bad, in fact, is an excellent episode and great series finale.
  • [[Special Edition Titl]: The series finale.
  • [[Starfish Aliens|Starfish (Fake) Alien]
  • [[Team Pe]: Betún (Lamponne's dog) in the second season, an Almost Normal Animal.
  • [[The War on Terro]: Terror Alert Level ranging between Blue and Yellow.
  • [[Those Wacky Nazis|Those Wacky (Fake) Nazi]
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Lamponne tends to this.
    • After "saving" a (deceived) mobster's life, the thankful wiseguys offer repaying the favor to him (who's disguised as a doctor). He asks them to have a talk with the sexually harrassing boss of his girlfriend.
    • In the second season, after hearing about a particularly gross case of domestic violence, {{spoiler|he asks "But didn't she cheat on him?" Cue collective [[Stunned Silenc]. "...What's the matter? I'm just asking, not justifying it!"}}
    • Later, he finds a man who bullied him in middle school and points a gun to his head. A "BANG" flag gun just to scare him, but still the guy didn't know it.
    • The B-brigade sub-leader tells Santos about a male kindergarten teacher who beats the kids. Santos considers the case's not worth a plan, and instead he {{spoiler|sends a [[Big Gu] nicknamed "Satan" to threaten him.}}

[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 2000] [[Category:Argentine Serie] [[Category:Action Adventure Serie] [[Category:Dramed] [[Category:Los Simuladore] [[Category:Western Animatio]

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