The heartwarming saga of Acapulco concludes with its fourth & final season
Much like Las Colinas, the bold pink resort on Apple TV+ comedy Acapulco, the Mexican-American comedy itself was often in need of saving. The show that premiered in 2021 was birthed in COVID, and every season renewal thereafter felt like a gift to its cast and crew. “We never knew when the end was going to come,” says Camila Perez, who plays hotel employee Julia, girlfriend of series lead Máximo (Enrique Arrizon) in 1984. “We thought it was going to be after season one, and then it wasn’t. Every season we were like, ‘Oh my God, we get to do this again!’”
With its fourth and final season, the staff of Las Colinas have the opportunity to bid its fans a proper farewell. In the earliest of the show’s two timelines, during the 1980s, this means hopefully returning the hotel to former owner Diane (Jessica Collins), rather than forever surrendering it to new proprietor Alejandro Vera (Jaime Camil). “He’s a cutthroat businessman,” says Camil. “Whatever decision he makes he doesn’t take it personally. That makes him kind of a jerk.” But much like the actor turned egotistical soap star Rogelio de la Vega into a lovable character on Jane the Virgin, Camil has made the villain of Acapulco hard to detest. “I like to play villains and make them endearing,” he says. “All of a sudden you feel for him, but you don’t know why. That’s the beauty of having a character with many layers.”
At the end of last season, Alejandro put Maximo in a tough spot where, rather than stand up to his new boss, he accepted the role of Head of Operations. “As the new head of operations, he is between Mr. Vera and the staff,” explains Arrizon. “He thinks he has everything under control, but present-day Máximo is the one that is struggling with all the consequences.” In present day, millionaire Máximo (Eugenio Derbez) has finally acquired Las Colinas and asked his former love Julia (Carolina Gómez) to help him restore it to its former hot pink glory. “For the audience to finally get to see them together and see if they’re going to work out or not, it’s really beautiful,” says Perez. “I think it’s such a real and raw part of the show.”
While we know that Las Colinas eventually lands in Máximo’s possession, the biggest question of the final season is what will happen between Máximo and Julia, in both timelines. “Of course, we all knew that at a certain point they had to separate, but we didn’t know when,” says Arrizon. “That leaves a lot of tension for the audience.” The resolution is one that will surely not disappoint. “I just got to see the whole season and I was sobbing like a little girl,” says Perez. “The way it was edited, the music — it was just so beautiful. But even at the table read, when we read the finale, we were all like, ‘Wow.’ Because for us to wrap up the story, what a blessing.”
The experience has been a unique one for its actors since the beginning. “Set in my Mexico, with this very authentic character that has a lot of layers, and the opportunity to shoot in this amazing atmosphere, this doesn’t come very often,” says Arrizon. “Of course, we all took advantage of that and gave our everything.” This includes a musical episode in the final stretch. “The story has a lot of twists and the musical episode gave us the chance to explore all that in a very fun and light way,” says Arrizon. “We had so much fun recording our voices, singing and doing the choreography with amazing dancers.
It’s a completely different episode.”
Camil praises his co-star for doing what could come hard to many: finding and portraying the essence of one of Mexico’s most famous comedians. “What Enrique does is incredible because he needs to take Eugenio’s humor and personality and bring it to a young Máximo,” he says. “When you see Enrique acting, you truly see Eugenio. It’s incredible. I mean, what he did as an actor is just beyond belief.” Arrizon describes the process as an honour. “It was always a joyful challenge,” he says. “I grew up watching Eugenio. He is a big, big, big star, so I thought I knew him. I also watched the movie, How to Be a Latin Lover, again and again, to capture his mannerisms, gestures, tone and how he plays with his body, trying to blend it with my essence. Since we have the same amazing scripts, we had the chance to unconsciously connect with each other.”
Although their road now comes to an end, this doesn’t mean new viewers can’t discover the joyful resort. “I hope they watch the series many, many times,” says Arrizon. “We all deserve shows like this, where you can unite the whole family to watch a comedy that blends heart and drama. And since Latin culture has become more prominent, not just in the States, but in the entire world, people want to know us more. Comedy is a very easy way to show how we love, how we think. These amazing writers really wrote how we are. That’s the biggest opportunity that we had.”
Acapulco, streaming on Apple TV+