When Andrés Baida and Louis David Horné interpreted the second and last season of ‘Como agua para chocolate’, set in the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917), they understood that the real “revolution” did not begin with a gun, but inside the kitchens, in the hands of cooks like Tita de la Garza.
“The real revolution starts in the kitchen (…) That is the most important thing to portray in this story: to see how Tita revolutionizes everything from the inside and how she breaks those traditions that are holding this family back,” Baida told EFE about this period of the dictatorship, in which women took up arms, but also transformed customs. This is how she summarizes the end of the series ‘Como agua para chocolate’ (Like Water for Chocolate).
The character of Tita was created by Mexican writer Laura Esquivel for her novel of the same name, published in 1989. In this production headed by Salma Hayek, actress Azul Guaita plays this woman who grows up between the magic of the kitchen and the social impositions of Mamá Elena (Irene Azuela), victim of some of the most repudiatory crimes of machismo.
The end of ‘Como agua para chocolate’ is approaching
COMO AGUA PARA CHOCOLATE RETURNS TO HBO MAX
The second season of Como agua para chocolate premieres this Sunday.
The production, starring #AzulGuaita and #AndrésBaida, will feature six new episodes that will bring the plot to a definitive close.
Based on the novel… pic.twitter.com/TJriGevXMT
– 24 Morelos (@24_morelos) February 13, 2026
During the filming of the six episodes of the second part, which will premiere weekly starting February 15 on HBO Max, the male cast -Baida (Pedro Múzquiz), Horné (Juan Alejandrez) and Francisco Angelini (Dr. Brown)- stressed that the machismo of the time, often disguised as “paternalism”, persists today, and that the real “revolution” consists of eradicating it.
For their part, Horné and Baida confess to EFE that they are children of the matriarchy, since they were both educated only by women, which allowed them to have a greater “sensitivity” to understand Mamá Elena, the matriarch of the Las Palomas hacienda and one of the most iconic characters in the series, known for the violent control she exerts over her daughters.
In his case, Baida relates that he was raised by a single mother, whom he saw struggle against the same “retrograde machismo” faced by Mamá Elena and her daughters Tita, Gertrudis (Andrea Chaparro) and Rosaura (Ana Valeria Becerril) in the early 20th century.
Magic seasoned with reality
Grab the popcorn that the second season of Como Agua para Chocolate is coming soon! 🍿🎬 Which character is your favorite? 🎞️🍫 pic.twitter.com/VjUlJUq9nW
– Animal Gourmet (@animalgourmet) February 13, 2026
Much of the success of the series, first aired in 2024, and of Esquivel’s book, which topped bestseller lists around the world during the 1990s, lies in telling the passionate love story between Tita and Pedro – marked by the magic of Mexican cuisine – while showing the harsh reality of the times.
In that sense, Mamá Elena is a perfect example, notes Irene Azuela, because when “you zoom in” on this character – with whom it is “so difficult to empathize” – you realize that “she is part of a system that rewards the abuses” that she herself suffered and, moreover, “offers no alternatives”.
“Mamá Elena’s life doesn’t give her life to be aware of that,” the actress points out, reflecting on that generation of women who supported entire haciendas, but who did not have the opportunity to name in all its letters the violence of which they were victims.
With the rebellious tone of Gertrudis, Andrea Chaparro states that this system of traditions and customs, replicated by Mamá Elena, “is visible today” in the figures that seek to dictate to the world “who we should love” or who “can be free”.
“Domestic work is the basis of everything we are doing so far,” she stresses, referring to the damage done to humanity by inferiorizing this work, which profoundly influences who we are.
Filed under: Final Como Agua Para Chocolate
With information from EFE