The new Netflix thriller ‘Between Father and Son’ (Original title: Entre padre e hijo) stands out immediately because of its unusual format. The series tells its story across 20 short episodes, with each episode running between 7 and 10 minutes. Despite the short runtime, the show slowly builds a tense and emotionally heavy mystery centered around the wealthy Sarmiento family. The story follows Bárbara, a successful lawyer who believes she is starting a better life after becoming engaged to Álvaro. However, once Bárbara arrives at the Sarmiento family estate, she slowly realizes that the household is hiding disturbing truths beneath its polished surface.
Please note that the article contains huge spoilers ahead.
Is Fernanda still alive?
One of the biggest mysteries in the series revolves around Álvaro’s former wife, Fernanda. Everyone around Bárbara speaks about Fernanda carefully, almost as if they are hiding something. Fernanda supposedly disappeared years earlier after her marriage with Álvaro collapsed. Even Álvaro himself seems convinced that something tragic happened to her. The subject clearly makes him uncomfortable, and nobody in the family wants to discuss it openly. Bárbara immediately feels that something is wrong. The more she spends time around the family, the more suspicious she becomes about Fernanda’s disappearance.
At the same time, Bárbara unexpectedly develops a connection with Iker, Álvaro’s troubled son, played by Graco Sendel. Their attraction begins almost immediately after they meet. Bárbara and Iker seem to understand each other emotionally in a way that feels natural and effortless. However, their growing bond creates serious complications because Bárbara is already engaged to Álvaro. Despite trying to resist their feelings, they continue becoming closer throughout the series. Their relationship becomes one of the emotional centers of the story.
As Bárbara investigates Fernanda’s disappearance, she slowly uncovers the frightening truth about the Sarmiento family. Behind much of the suffering is Margarita, Álvaro’s controlling and manipulative mother. Years earlier, Margarita discovered that her husband had cheated on her. Instead of leaving him, she secretly poisoned him and made his death appear natural. Afterward, she gained complete control over the family and became willing to do anything necessary to protect her secrets.
What happened at Los Cipreses Estate?
Fernanda eventually learned the truth about Margarita’s husband’s death, which made her a danger to the family. Margarita decided Fernanda had to disappear before the truth became public. Over time, Bárbara realizes that Fernanda’s disappearance was not an accident or a coincidence. It was carefully planned. The deeper Bárbara digs into the mystery, the more dangerous things become for everyone involved.
Margarita’s actions do not stop there. A lawyer named Gloria Villaseca once attempted to investigate the Sarmiento family secrets, but she was murdered on Margarita’s orders. Later, a man named Franco also became dangerous because he knew too much about Fernanda’s disappearance and Margarita’s affairs. Margarita even attempted to frame Franco for domestic violence to distract attention from herself. When that failed, she arranged for Franco to be killed before he could reveal everything to Bárbara. Her actions are driven entirely by her desperate need to keep control over the family and protect her secrets at all costs.
Eventually, Bárbara’s search for answers leads her to the abandoned Los Cipreses estate. There, the horrifying truth is finally revealed. Fernanda is actually still alive. For years, she has been secretly held captive at the estate. Gaby, another member of the family, helped keep Fernanda imprisoned under Margarita’s influence and emotional control. Gaby had spent most of her life manipulated by her mother and raised in an unhealthy environment where she obeyed Margarita completely. Even though Gaby developed a strange friendship with Fernanda, she still could not escape Margarita’s control.
Between Father and Son (2026) Ending Explained:
Does Bárbara Choose Iker Or Álvaro?
The finale quickly turns chaotic and violent. Gaby suffers an emotional breakdown after years of guilt, fear, and manipulation. During a confrontation at the estate, she begins firing a gun wildly. Fernanda is shot first. Then Álvaro is also shot while trying to stop the situation from getting worse and protect Bárbara. At first, it is unclear whether either of them will survive. The story later jumps forward by one year and reveals the consequences of the final events. Fernanda survives and is finally able to reconnect with Leo and begin rebuilding her life after years of captivity. Álvaro, however, eventually dies from his gunshot wound. His death becomes one of the most tragic parts of the ending because throughout the series he remained mostly unaware of just how deeply corrupt and damaged his own family truly was. The show suggests that years of silence and denial helped allow the family’s problems to grow into something destructive.
After Fernanda’s rescue, both Gaby and Margarita are arrested by the police for their crimes. Even during her arrest, Margarita continues trying to manipulate others and avoid responsibility. She attempts to blame Gaby entirely by claiming her daughter is mentally unstable and responsible for everything. The series strongly suggests that Margarita spent years using her social status and influence to avoid consequences for her crimes. One of the major questions throughout the series is whether Bárbara will ultimately choose Álvaro or Iker. Although her relationship with Álvaro appears stable at first, it becomes clear that her emotional connection with Iker is much deeper. Bárbara and Iker continue supporting one another throughout the investigation and become emotionally dependent on each other while dealing with the chaos surrounding the Sarmiento family.
The ending of Between Father and Son (2026) shows that Bárbara chooses Iker. A year later, the two are still together, and Bárbara says she does not regret her decisions. Inpresents their relationship as two damaged people finding comfort in each other after surviving a traumatic experience together. However, the story also recognizes that their romance is morally complicated because of the circumstances in which it began.
