Summary
“Daydream” is slightly corny, but it gives audiences a whistle-stop tour of the origin of the famous singer.
This recap of Netflix’s Selena: The Series season 1, episode 1, “Daydream” contains significant spoilers.
We recapped every episode — check out the archive.
The opening
“Daydream” opens up in 1994 in Chicago; crowds are waiting to see Selena Quintanilla. The singer isn’t sure of herself, but her siblings offer her words of encouragement. Selena walks out on stage to screaming fans and sings her heart out. The Netflix series has put in an effort to demonstrate the liveliness in the crowd. She was loved and celebrated.
The day she was born
“Daydream” then flits to 1971 when Selena was born. Abraham Quintanilla jokes that they weren’t expecting a baby to his wife. Then the episode flits to 1978; Abraham Quintanilla is teaching his son AB how to play the guitar, but then he hears his daughter singing in the yard, and he is surprised. He heads outside and listens to her. A moment later, Abraham is playing the guitar while the young Selena is singing. He tells her that the song is about love and her parents describe what it means. Abraham obviously saw something special in his daughter from a young age.
Let’s play together
At a family dinner, Abraham wants to play the guitar, with AB on bass while Selena sings as a little family get-together. Abraham suggests that Suzette Quintanilla plays the drums, and although she’s against it, she takes part anyway. In 1980, they became a band named Southern Pearl. They play at the family restaurant. With the recession hitting, Abraham tells his wife he’s worried about the restaurant.
A proud man
In 1981, Abraham headed to the welfare office with his family. He’s embarrassed about his family being on food stamps. His wife tells him to stop being proud and feed the family. At the food bank, Abraham tells AB and Selena that there’s no shame in asking for help. There’s plenty to pick out in this scene; how recessions hit the financially vulnerable first. It also demonstrates how quickly you can go from stable to poverty.
Hear the music
Later on, the band does not play well together, and Abraham gets frustrated. He plays a record for them all and asks them to recognize the instruments. Suzette says she doesn’t hear it and only wants to keep to the beat. Abraham tells her that the drummer is the heart of the band.
It will pay off
The band plays at a care home, and they are told to finish early because the elderly are not impressed. AB is annoyed because a stereo replaced them. Abraham promises them that their hard work will pay off.
“Daydream” then flits to 6 months later. The family is moving, and the children are not happy about it. They go to Uncle Hector’s house. The entire family is all sleeping in the same room.
Getting creative
Despite hitting rock bottom, Abraham still believes in Selena’s ability and tries to organize events. He gets his family to create lights from peach tins; he’s being creative, so they can still do events with little money. The band sing at a wedding party and the crowd seems to enjoy it.
The ending
Abraham tells Selena that she needs to learn how to sing in Spanish as people will pay to listen to music to speak to them. Selena reminds him that she’s American, but Abraham says she is also Mexican. She agrees to give it a go. In 1986, Selena is now singing in Spanish; her siblings are still bass and drums. Selena: The Series season 1, episode 1 is slightly corny, but it gives audiences a whistle-stop tour of the origin of the famous singer.
