The universal truth about divorce is it always makes things harder for the child. I’m not saying it doesn’t affect the two people who are parting ways—they’re obviously emotionally drained in most cases—but the kid has to suffer the most, especially if it’s a little one. The term ‘shuttlecock’ is often used to describe the situation of a child when their parents are divorcing, which is a very sad thing. I am obviously saying all this in the context of Shared Custody, Disney+’s first Spanish series. Not every couple who is ending their relationships is the same, but we are only focusing on Christina, aka Chris, and Diego here. The series handles the story quite well by adding a quirky comedy angle to it, which makes it an easy watch—unlike something like Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story. Sure, Chris and Diego keep fighting over their daughter, Cloe, and many other things throughout the show, but it is very evident that these two are not over each other. It’s a very ‘will they, won’t they (reconcile)’ sort of situation, and no matter how cheesy and generic that seems, it is what keeps the show going. It does leave us on a cliffhanger, though, but I thought there was enough of a hint about what could happen after this. Let us summarize things a bit and discuss Shared Custody’s ending and what it means in this article.Â
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Show?
Chris and Diego are seeking a mutual divorce, and they plan to stay friends with each other—for the sake of their daughter, Cloe, who’s probably about five (they don’t reveal the age, but I’m taking an educated guess). Their respective sets of parents—Susana and Alberto (his), Carmen and Felipe (hers)—don’t take the news too well. The concerns are drastically different, though. Felipe genuinely loves his son-in-law and can’t accept that he’s not going to be a part of the family anymore. Alberto, on the other hand, appears to be bothered by Diego moving in with them. Diego’s family is rich—Alberto and Diego’s siblings, Mario and Jilena, are all lawyers, but our lead guy is the black sheep, who never cared about completing his law degree. Now working as a social media manager, Diego is not doing particularly well. Chris, on the other hand, is quite the achiever. She is a civil engineer working for a big company that pays quite well. But she has to sacrifice a lot to make it work—that includes giving up on a lot of family time. It becomes quite clear that it was Diego who was mostly a stay-at-home dad for Cloe while Chris was busy providing for the family. The reason for the divorce is not revealed right away, but it is not exactly hard for you to realize what went wrong. As you’d expect, ego and miscommunication played the spoilsport here, which is quite common in the case of a lot of divorces.
How does the divorce affect Chris and Diego?
The best thing about Shared Custody is the makers of the show don’t attempt to go overboard with it. What we see is not unrealistic—Chris having trouble with getting Cloe ready, then dropping her at school before taking the train to reach her office in time. Diego, on the other hand, finds out that his credit card is blocked while trying to buy some clothes for Cloe. These things are only normal considering they used to take care of each other with these things before. The consequences of the new normal are more severe for Chris than Diego, though. Thanks to missing her train to the office, she now has to travel to Germany and has to rely on her parents to take care of the child. Diego does have to deal with the constant humiliation he receives from his father for not being a man who provides for his family, as well as an overbearing mother who keeps interfering in everything he does. Obviously for him it’s best to move out of his parents’ house, but he is unable to do that on account of not having a stable job. Chris’ parents are still better than Diego’s in comparison, but they’re not necessarily good at taking proper care of their granddaughter. They also have to look after two other grandchildren—twins Martina and Leo, who are quite the menace. These two are Chris’ elder sister Lucia’s kids. Lucia is a single mother who runs their family-owned cafe – named after Carmen.
After the initial hiccups, though, things slowly start falling into place. With the two of them not living together, the daily bickerings over silly things automatically stop, and since they are still attracted to each other, things gradually get better between the former couple. That’s only short-lived, though, as they soon have a bad fight over Chris wanting to pick Cloe up from her school on a day when Cloe is Diego’s responsibility. Not that Diego himself was going to get Cloe, as he has to attend an interview with a potential client; it’s his parents who were going to do it. But the guy is scared of them (especially Susana), so he fights with his ex-wife instead, which escalates to the point where both of them decide to bring lawyers into the equation. Following that, the process of drafting a proper agreement of custody begins. But the bad blood between Diego and Chris also fades away when they see each other again at a barbeque party at a common friend’s house, where Cloe gets stuck inside the bathroom. Realizing their actions—constant arguments and fights—are impacting Cloe in a bad way, the two of them decide to put a full stop to that.
The kid is not doing alright
It is admirable how Shared Custody puts the focus on Cloe and raises the most important question here—how’s the little one dealing with it? And you realize how difficult it is for her. Because, like most kids, Cloe also wants her parents to be together. For her, that’s the ultimate sign of happiness. Meanwhile, both sets of Cloe’s grandparents keep pampering her so much that it becomes a headache for Chris and Diego. They’re both called to Cloe’s school because the kid has hit a fellow classmate who was heckling her. Apparently, Carmen and Felipe are the ones who have taught her to do so. However, this is nothing compared to Cloe accidentally posting a photo of herself stuffing her mouth with sugary condiments from Diego’s account. Given his client happens to be the National Diabetic Association, it lands him into trouble. Thanks to the post going viral, Diego gets a lucky break, but that doesn’t last long as internet trolls start making derogatory memes with Cloe’s photo. With no other choice but to come clean to his client, Diego tells them everything and ultimately loses them. From there on, he keeps struggling with his professional career until he finally decides to pursue law again.Â
Dating other people and the side effects of it
While Shared Custody has a strong start and finish, the show kind of hams it up in the middle. The reason behind that is it not getting the dating angle right. It is only normal that at some point both of them would be trying things out with other people, but isn’t it too much of a coincidence that the man and the woman they take a chance with just happen to be another couple who are on the verge of divorce? I understand the show’s purpose is to prove that Chris and Diego, despite everything, are soulmates, but these kinds of subplots are very tropey.
Even if we cut the makers some slack for this, the entire partying plot involving Diego’s friend Cristobal as well as another younger pair of sisters, who Chris and Lucia meet at a club, has no point. Other than Chris and Diego realizing the kebab place where they had their first dates is no more—which adds a sentimental value to the story—these things have not much relevance. Of course we know for a fact that both the dating and clubbing are filler story arcs to ultimately make way for Diego and Chris getting physically intimate, which always complicates things. For the couple, it makes complete sense, though. They are still very much attracted to each other, so it was always going to happen.
Do Chris and Diego reconcile?
I suppose we all were wondering whether the couple was going to get back together from the very beginning. There’s no denying that these two have quite the chemistry, but what can’t also be ignored is that things did become so terrible that they had to call it quits at one point. So without sorting out the issues they already had, there was no point in giving them a hasty reconciliation just for the sake of a happy ending. I was relieved to see the show not taking that route and doing things the hard way. The inclusion of Chris’ lawyer Francesca, an older lawyer with an alcohol problem and a lot of sass, turns out to be a great move, as she brings a lot to the table. She’s also a nemesis of Alberto and used to teach all three of the siblings—Diego, Mario, and Jimena—when they were in law school.
With the couple finally getting it over with, the custody signing was just going to be a formality—at least that’s what they thought. But in reality, things go very wrong with ugly truths coming out and the couple slinging mud at each other. It’s only natural for Chris to get mad after knowing that Diego couldn’t stand up against his mother when the old woman baptized Cloe without Chris’ knowledge. So is Diego finding it hard to digest that Chris once terminated a pregnancy because she thought their relationship was over already. Despite locking themselves inside a room, the couple fails to contain the argument. This is where things get really ugly as all the anguish, guilt, and blame start pouring in. He’s hurt because she has no time for him and Cloe because of her job. She can’t accept him not backing her and trying to be there for her when she was already feeling guilty about not being a good enough mother. There’s nothing new here, but it’s good that the show firmly keeps itself firmly rooted in realism.
The custody sharing agreement remains unsigned in the middle of all this chaos, which is a given. Shortly after, as Cloe’s birthday is about to arrive, we find Chris and Diego fighting over who gets to be with the child on the auspicious day. It just happens to be Chris’ day, but then the sky falls on her in the guise of an unavoidable work emergency. The moment she plans to take it on and decides to balance both the work and her daughter’s birthday, you smell disaster coming, and it goes exactly as you’d imagine. Meanwhile, Diego is finally able to tell his mother that her interference has always been a hindrance for him. We also realize it comes from the place where Susana herself was never happy in her own marriage. Her wanting a divorce from Alberto out of the blue is actually a sign that she has actually listened to Diego. On the other hand, Carmen and Felipe finally muster the courage to tell their daughters that as much as they love the grandchildren, raising them is not their responsibility, as they deserve to spend their old age relaxing. The news of her parents buying a new apartment and moving away from them for a quiet life comes as quite the shocker for Chris, but it also makes her realize certain things. Finally demanding work-life balance from her boss only suggests that Chris has had enough. Obviously, this is a huge step to positivity. Cloe getting sick on her birthday ultimately turns out to be a hoax, as she was only doing it to make her parents come together. That works out after all, given Chris and Diego both reaching the point of realization.
Shared Custody ends on a happy note, as the couple takes their daughter for an ice cream treat at the same place where the kebab joint earlier existed. The happy ending seems earned here, which is a very good thing. However, I’m not certain about the pregnancy hint—as Chris gets an alert that her period is late—which can only mean she and Diego are going to be parents again. She doesn’t tell him that, but she’s pretty sure he’s going to be elated when he finds out. Does that warrant a second season of this show? Not necessarily in my opinion, but I wouldn’t also mind seeing more of these characters in the future.
