Eva Lasting – Season 1 Episode 10 “The Teachings of Don Juan” Recap & Review

The Teachings of Don Juan

Martin almost hits Luisa in front of everyone as episode 10 of Eva Lasting starts, when she doesn’t reveal the author of the letters. He goes into the classroom and starts comparing the writing with the notebooks of his classmates. Luisa comes in and stops him. Eva takes the lead and confesses the letters belonged to her and she had asked Luisa to save them. When Martin cross-checks if she knows the contents, Eva recites every line, because she had read them. Hearing the lines read out loud gave a bad impression on Camilo. It made him sound like someone who takes advantage of other people’s feelings.

What makes it worse is that Camilo took solace in the possibility that Eva was so touched by the writings, she knew them by heart. Eva arranges a meeting between Camilo and Luisa. She says she will be in love with him for a long time. And shockingly asks Camilo to stop thinking about Eva as she might have to leave school soon and that her life has a lot of problems. She will never fall in love with Camilo. He is heartbroken. Luisa’s mother threatens to shift her to another school if she does not tell the truth. Luisa is nonchalant about it and still doesn’t give the name away. At home, Jose and Ana discuss the government’s new law to legalize the smoking of marijuana in certain doses. While the former is against it, the latter supports it by saying that it will get the government a lot of revenue.

Martin informs everyone that Luisa has been sent to Popãyan. He even cites Eva as a bad influence, to which she takes offence. Martin says she is the one breaking up the group. Before her, they were united in everything but now, they have divided opinions. Eva walks away despite Camilo’s support. Rodrigo and Camilo admonish Martin while Alvaro supports him. Camilo is torn between the two: his friends and the woman who was transforming his feelings and also his surroundings. The next day, Camilo confronts the group and says that Eva is the person who has brought all of them together with things of culture like books, movies, the dance, the choir, and the newspaper. Camilo apologizes on behalf of Martin, calling him a misunderstood person, who is good at heart. The boys apologize to Eva by dancing to the same song that she taught them the first time. Eva accepts their apology.

Eva hosts a reconciliation party at her house. Girls from Eva’s previous school are invited too. But the boys are either too intimidated or cautious about approaching them. The girls think they’re weirdos and the boys do their best to keep up their impression.

Camilo gathers them and says if the Acunas can talk to them, they can too. Camilo and Eva work together – with Spanish music and alcohol – to get the party going. Their efforts are quite enabling. Alvaro sees Angelica and Camilo flirt together but he gets too drunk to spoil the party. His act sees the party end and the girls leave. Eva sees the funny side of Alvaro’s rant and says the real party will start with marijuana. But the boys had preconceived notions about marijuana, primarily a part of their Christian upbringing and the voodoo perception of drugs in society.

But Eva knows them too well by now. She pushes the right buttons of provoking their male egos and the boys participate. And then something shocking happens. Camilo finally has the guts to express his feelings toward Eva. Just as they’re about to kiss, the telephone rings. Camilo finds Eva crying and talking to her father. She says she doesn’t want to leave and doesn’t want to see him again. An even bigger shock awaits him in the kitchen where he finds Gustavo sodomizing Martin. But he doesn’t say anything and leaves.

The next day at school, Camilo still hasn’t got his answer from Eva; he has no idea when she might vanish from school, and Martin is totally upset with Gustavo. He even rejects the idea of working with the group for an assignment. While playing football, Martin almost takes off Gustavo’s legs with a challenge. Camilo tells everything to Eva – about Gustavo and Martin. She isn’t judgmental but is shocked. He asks for her help to come up with a plan. But swears her to secrecy. They don’t realise that Octavio, the school bully, has heard everything from the next stall.

Camilo is worried that his admission of love might be a hallucination given Eva’s lack of reaction. Octavio has made a caricature of the two (Martin and Gustavo) doing the act in the student square. When Martin sees it, he tries to hit Octavio. But the bully asks Camilo to confirm it as he saw them doing it. Martin tried to justify that he was drunk and taken advantage of by Gustavo but everyone laughs at him. In his temper, he badly punches Gustavo and keeps beating him till he starts to bleed. Martin confronts Camilo about something after school.

The Episode Review

Gustavo is the kind of character whose patience and resilience can be easily mistaken as being a pushover. His lack of speech in certain moments, especially at this episode’s ending, can be annoying. But the choice remains true to his character. The weed did its magic. We got two moments, possibly the most exciting of this series, because of it.

Eva’s reaction makes it clear that a part of her has feelings for Camilo. But her practical side is too dominant and does not let the other come out on top. There is still some confusion over what is her relationship with her father. Luisa’s departure was heartbreaking. It also showed how delusional Camilo was at the time like most teens are.

Having someone truly love you is a rarity. Very select few find it in their lives but some are stupid enough to let it slip away. But, perhaps doing what one’s heart wants takes courage as well. This episode will make you realize how Eva Lasting has settled you into its rhythm. It will be difficult to say goodbye to these characters and the representation of Colombian life.