Santa Diabla (literally: Holy Devil, English title: Broken Angel) is an American telenovela written by José Ignacio Valenzuela, and produced by United StatesâÂÂbased television network Telemundo Studios, Miami. It stars Gaby Espino, Carlos Ponce, Aarón DÃÂaz, Ximena Duque and Lincoln Palomeque.
Telemundo aired the serial as part of its 2013âÂÂ2014 season. On August 6, 2013, the network began broadcasting Santa Diabla weeknights at 10pm/9c, replacing El Señor de los Cielos. As with most of its other telenovelas, the network broadcast English subtitles as closed captions on CC3.
Santa Diabla is the story of Santa MartÃÂnez (Gaby Espino), a woman who seeks revenge for the murder of her husband Willy Delgado (Lincoln Palomeque). Santa's revenge includes marrying Humberto Cano (Carlos Ponce), a powerful attorney in Marrero. Humberto hired Willy Delgado to give piano lessons to Humberto's niece Daniela Milan (Ana Osorio) at the Cano family's home, until Bárbara Cano (Wanda D'Isidoro), Daniela's mother and Humberto's sister, accused Willy of harassment and attempted rape of her daughter. Blaming the Canos for the unjust death of her husband, Santa intends to destroy the Cano family, but as she tries to complete her mission, she meets and falls in love with Santiago Cano (Aarón DÃÂaz), Humberto and Bárbara's brother. All the while Inés Robledo (Ximena Duque) who is a rich and evil woman uses her power and influence to try and keep Santiago and Santa apart because of her obsession with Santiago.
Although Humberto is portrayed as the evil brother for most of the series, in a shocking twist, it is revealed that it is Santiago who is the evil brother. Everyone finds this out when it is revealed that Santiago was responsible for the murders occurring in Marrero. Santiago's mental disorder, dissociative identity disorder, causes him to kill people at will. It is also revealed that Humberto was aware of this, but kept it secret to protect his brother. Another reveal is how Santiago found a picture of Santa when he and Willy were in prison, and planned to make Santa his wife. Flashbacks recall that everything Santiago did was calculating and conniving.
In the end, Santa chooses Humberto, even though everybody thinks he's evil (she knows he is good). In the final episode after a dramatic scene, Humberto is killed by Santiago, and Santa never tells him that she is pregnant with his child. Santiago ends up in a mental asylum and it is left unclear if he escapes.
Santa Diabla marks the return of Gaby Espino years after participating in Más Sabe el Diablo and Ojo Por Ojo. The telenovela also marks Carlos Ponce's and Ximena DuqueâÂÂs first antagonist roles, and the Telemundo debut of Aarón DÃÂaz who signed an exclusivity agreement with Telemundo in 2013. Carlos Ponce and Aarón DÃÂaz composed both the lyrics and music of the theme song of Santa Diabla, and they also performed the theme song for the telenovela. Filming of the telenovela began in late May 2013, and ended in December 2013.