The Dead Girls Episode 1 recap: A murder in Mezcala sets the stage

Sayan
The Dead Girls Episode 1 (Image via Netflix)
The Dead Girls Episode 1 (Image via Netflix)

The Dead Girls Episode 1 aired on September 10, 2025. Airing on Netflix, this miniseries is based on the 1977 novel by Jorge Ibargüengoitia of the same name.

It opens in June 1960 in Mezcala, where a girl is stabbed to death. In 1964, brothel madam Serafina arrives in town with armed escorts, targeting her former lover Simon, a baker. After an attack on his bakery, both are arrested and recount their tangled past to a journalist.

Simon recalls helping Serafina cover up the dead girl’s murder, while Serafina insists she shaped his life before he betrayed her. The case takes a turn when detectives use the murder from 1960 to pressure Simon. During questioning, Simon inadvertently implicates himself in the earlier crime. The flashbacks comprise arrests, bribes, and the conclusion of their doomed romance in Veracruz, with Simon abandoning her.

This revelation shifts the narrative from a simple act of revenge to a deeper mystery involving their past. The murder, though initially detached from their personal dispute, becomes the link that ties Simon and Serafina back together in prison.

It is in custody where they begin recounting their stories to a visiting journalist. The killing in Mezcala, which seemed like a closed tragedy, becomes the centerpiece of their entangled lives and frames the rest of their testimonies.


The Dead Girls Episode 1: A relationship retold in conflicting stories

The Dead Girls Episode 1 (Image via Netflix)
The Dead Girls Episode 1 (Image via Netflix)

In The Dead Girls Episode 1, both Serafina and Simon recount their past to a journalist, but their versions differ sharply. Simon insists that in 1960, they were secretly meeting, and a simple change in their routine led them to trouble. After spending the night together, he drives Serafina home, where he meets her sister Arcangela.

According to Simon, the sisters bring him a prostitute’s body to dispose of after a client kills her, convincing him that reporting the crime would shut down the brothel. He says he helps dump the body, then lives with Serafina for six months before leaving her.

Serafina, however, gives a different account. She describes Simon as shy and insecure, a man she took under her wing in 1952. She claims she introduced him to her world, taught him how to dance, and supported him financially. Her version paints him as jealous, unwilling to accept her success, and resistant to working in her trade.

These conflicting narratives not only highlight the unreliability of their testimonies but also the layers of their volatile bond. Each insists the other is to blame for the spiral that followed, leaving the truth uncertain and placing the journalist at the center of competing recollections.


The Dead Girls Episode 1: The Dead Girl’s Body Changes Everything

The Dead Girls Episode 1 (Image via Netflix)
The Dead Girls Episode 1 (Image via Netflix)

The central turning point of The Dead Girls Episode 1 comes when Simon recalls the day Serafina and Arcangela returned with a corpse. He claims it was the same prostitute from Serafina’s brothel who had been killed by a client. Faced with the threat of exposure, the sisters persuade him to help move the body. They travel to Mezcala, where the dead girl is left behind.

This act in The Dead Girls Episode 1, meant to shield the brothel from closure, binds Simon directly to Serafina’s world. His involvement is not born of loyalty but out of pressure, according to his testimony. Serafina, meanwhile, disputes the details, refusing to accept that he was merely an unwilling participant.

The body becomes a defining marker in their history, not only connecting them to the 1960 murder but also serving as the point where their relationship turns into something impossible to untangle. From this moment, Simon is no longer just a lover or companion; he is part of a cover-up that carries consequences.

What began as an illicit romance is transformed by the burden of secrecy. The dead girl’s presence ensures that neither Simon nor Serafina can escape the shadow of the crime, regardless of how their stories diverge when retold later in prison.


The Dead Girls Episode 1: Betrayal in Veracruz ends the affair

The Dead Girls Episode 1 (Image via Netflix)
The Dead Girls Episode 1 (Image via Netflix)

The relationship between Serafina and Simon comes to an end during their trip to Veracruz in December 1960. Serafina organizes the getaway with her own money, hopeful that they can finally move forward. She confesses her love, promises to leave prostitution, and even plans to buy Simon a bakery.

At first, the trip seems like a fresh start, but tensions rise in the heat. When she admits to bribing a captain to punish Simon for deserting the military, his anger simmers beneath the surface. Despite appearing calm, Simon takes her to a bar, steals her wallet, and abandons her. He leaves the hotel with her belongings and sticks her with the bill.

Alone and devastated, Serafina searches for him in vain. The betrayal cuts deeper than their earlier quarrels, breaking any chance of reconciliation. Returning without him, Serafina spirals into despair, her thoughts consumed by revenge.

This moment in Veracruz closes the chapter of their romance, shifting her from a woman dreaming of a new life to one set on retaliation. What began as a romantic escape concludes with loss, setting up the events that bring both of them back into conflict years later in Mezcala.

Created by Luis Estrada, The Dead Girls is now streaming on Netflix.


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Edited by IRMA