Noor Malhotra
Not only was Selena Quintanilla-Pérez a beloved celebrity, but she was quite the trailblazer since she is credited for putting Tejano music on the map. So, it comes as no surprise that multiple cinematic ventures have aimed to explore the events that led to her unfortunate demise. ‘Selena’ (1997) is one such film that brings this tragic story to the silver screen, and it catapulted Jennifer Lopez’s career further into fame.
But today, we’re here to discuss Netflix’s ‘Selena: The Series,’ which presents an in-depth look into not only the life and phenomenon of the “Queen of Tejano music” but also the people she loved the most – her family. If you’ve seen the second season, then you know how significant the notion of family is in the show. While in season 1, we learn more about Selena y Los Dinos’ ascend to popularity, the next installment is all about the trials and tribulations that everyone faces at what can be considered the peak of their careers. So, if you still have some lingering questions, we’re here to answer them. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Selena: The Series Season 2 Recap
The events of ‘Selena: The Series’ season 2 pick up right where season 1 leaves things – Chris and Selena’s break up. The year is 1992, and since the couple does not have Abraham’s blessing, they essentially end their liaison. Selena and the band continue working without Chris, but the singer can’t help but feel as if she chose her career over love, and this is something that constantly plays on her mind. Despite seeing more success professionally in the form of another album and tour due to the popularity of “Como la Flor,” she feels like she has let her true love go.
But things change when Abraham agrees to hire Chris back under one condition – the guitarist must stay away from Selena. However, love always finds a way, and they reunite. Selena realizes just how important family is for her father, and if she and Chris get married, Abraham will have no choice but to accept them. So, that’s exactly what the couple does – they go down to the courthouse and say, “I Do.” Although Abraham is still processing this event, he does end up welcoming Chris into the family.
Having sorted out some of her personal ordeals, Selena now wants to focus on her career, but not the singing aspect of it. Ever the fashionista, she wants to set up her own boutique. She wants to make all her dreams come true. But everyone in the family is not too confident that she will be able to juggle running a boutique with her already lucrative singing career. Nevertheless, eventually, Selena proceeds with this venture, and the head of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar, is recruited to lessen Selena’s burden.
Around this time, José Behar finally offers Selena the chance to do the crossover album that her family has always dreamed of making. However, for this English album, she must go solo. Selena, who has always had her family at every step in her career, feels conflicted about doing it on her own. On the other hand, Bill finally proposes to Suzette, and she says yes!
With so much going on in her life, Selena has a hard time managing her time and her various enterprises. Consequently, Yolanda is given more responsibilities – she is essentially put in charge of setting up the boutique. With encouragement from Suzette, Selena signs the deal with SBK, thereby greenlighting the solo English album. Selena wants to turn all her dreams into reality, and she is definitely on the path of doing that. But with so much on her plate, she has a hard time juggling everything, and this tension also seeps into her marriage with Chris.
Selena then gets nominated for the Grammys, and when ‘Live!’ wins the best album, she does not thank Chris in her speech. Adding on to everything else that has been going on, Chris and Selena fight about their relationship. Selena’s mother, Marcella, is worried about her daughter’s marriage as well. In LA, the record label wants Selena to work with a voice coach so as to attune her voice for the pop genre. As the professional challenges keep increasing, Selena often wonders about her identity and skills, especially as a singer. AB meets with Diane Warren, and she agrees to give her song to Selena. Abraham consults Chris regarding a rock band and also comforts the latter by saying Selena needs someone level-headed (like Chris) in her life.
Despite the various challenges that Selena has faced, she and Chris resolve to work on their relationship. At lunch, Behar also tells Selena that SBK likes her voice as it is and will not require her to work on it for her English album. He even wants Selena y Los Dinos to record another live album. But just then, Selena is handed a legal summons from the County of Nueces, Texas. It turns out that she, or rather, the boutique, has not paid its vendors, and the debt is not a small one by any means.
The family also finds out that the members of Selena’s fan club are not getting what they paid for. Selena confronts Yolanda about the boutique, and the latter blames Martin. Debra, Selena’s cousin, is thereafter given a bigger role to play in the management of the outlet, much to Yolanda’s chagrin. Selena then prepares for the Astrodome show, and she talks about having kids and building a new home with Chris.
On the other hand, Abraham also talks to Yolanda about the fan club and asks for the records. As always, Yolanda does not accept responsibility and states that the people are lying. Abraham and Suzette find proof of embezzlement, and Selena is unable to understand why Yolanda would do this. Nonetheless, the singer lets the former nurse go. Later, the Astrodome show proves to be a success. Yolanda then buys a gun.
In the season finale, Selena finds out that Yolanda has not given her all the records for the business. Yolanda incessantly keeps calling Selena, and the latter finally picks up the phone to ask Yolanda about the paperwork. Yolanda claims that she was attacked by some men, and the next day, Selena takes her to the hospital. The doctors, however, mention that they found no evidence of trauma on Yolanda’s body, thereby indicating that she is lying.
Selena: The Series Season 2 Ending: Why Does Yolanda Kill Selena?
Yolanda and Selena head back to the inn so that the latter can pick up the records and perfume samples that she needs. However, just then, the service staff hear the fatal gunshot that kills Selena. The police indicate that a motive isn’t determined, but obviously, Selena’s passing affects her family and fans deeply. The Quintanilla family listens to her English song, “Dreaming of You,” and grieve in their own ways.
Six months later, Suzette goes to a high school and talks about the importance of education, just like Selena had done previously. AB has moved on with a new band called the Kumbia Kings. At this juncture, the credits start rolling. While we know that Yolanda has been embezzling from the business and Selena, there remains one question – why did Yolanda, who claimed that she would never hurt Selena, shoot her?
Well, at various points in the season, we see Yolanda’s obsession with Selena silently creep its way to the forefront. As the head of Selena’s fan club, Yolanda is sought to help the singer ease her burden. Initially, that is exactly what the nurse does. Yolanda even voluntarily offers to take on a bigger role and oversee the boutique’s setup. Selena is ever so thankful, and it’s like Yolanda lives to hear praise from Selena.
Evidently, Yolanda is obsessed with Selena, but the family still trusts Yolanda. Not only is she put in charge of the boutique, but she is also a bridesmaid at Suzette’s wedding. In just a few short months, Yolanda has definitely cemented her position in Selena’s life. But at the same time, she gets visibly irritated when she thinks that Selena is “ignoring” her contributions. We see this in the scene where the boutique finally opens up, and later, Yolanda even passes negative comments about Martin Gomez, Selena’s designer and friend.
These feelings of possessiveness and the blatant obsession that Yolanda has with Selena are most likely why Yolanda chooses to embezzle funds from the singer. Selena is a very trusting person who always chooses to see the good in people. What is most important to her is family, and while Yolanda is an important part of Selena’s business, the nurse is ultimately not family. Due to this, Yolanda probably has latent feelings of anger, rejection, and annoyance bubbling in her head. Enough red flags have been planted in the series to help us understand the events that actually took Selena’s life.
Yolanda feels like she has done a lot for the singer, but she does not feel she is being “rewarded” the way she should have been. The fan club’s president wants Selena’s approval and attention all the time, and when Yolanda feels like she is not being “appreciated” enough for her work (even though she is), she decides to take matters into her own hands. She starts stealing from Selena, the person she has deified, and finds some justification for these actions.
But when Selena and the family find out the truth, they rightfully fire the nurse. Yolanda’s whole life has revolved around the singer, but when Abraham, Suzette, and others find out about her actions, Yolanda’s life, as she knows it, starts falling apart. Maybe in a bid to feel like she is still in control, Yolanda, in the heat of the moment, kills Selena. In real life, the nurse did state that she was attempting suicide and shot Selena accidentally.
However, ‘Selena: The Series’ puts enough evidence to prove that the Texas native‘s death was definitely murder. When Yolanda knows she can no longer be a part of Selena’s life, she spirals out of control, leading to the fatal confrontation. But don’t just take our word for it. Carlos Valdez, who was the lead prosecutor of the murder trial, said, “Yolanda wanted to kill Selena because Selena was firing Yolanda. She wouldn’t exist if she didn’t have Selena. And if she didn’t work for Selena, she didn’t want to work for anybody.”
What Happened to the Real Yolanda?
In real life, after an almost 10-hour stand-off with the police, Yolanda was eventually charged and convicted for Selena’s murder. She told the police, “I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean to kill anybody,” and claimed that the gun just “went off.” She even claimed that she had bought the gun to kill herself and not Selena. At the trial, however, the prosecution put forth the fact that Yolanda, who was a trained nurse, did not bother calling 911 or helping Selena.
The prosecution also noted that it was no accident as that specific gun requires 11 pounds of pressure on the trigger, thereby indicating that the shot had to have been intentional. The gun would not have just “gone off.” Valdez recalled, “The fact that Yolanda Saldivar came out of the room immediately after the shooting with a gun in her hand, pointed it at Selena…and then calling her a ‘b—-‘ as [Selena] was running away: all that indicates an intentional act. If it had been an accident, the reaction would’ve been completely different.”
Selena’s last words also implicated Yolanda since the star named her shooter before passing. With this and more evidence presented at the trial, a jury eventually found Yolanda guilty of first-degree murder, and she was handed the maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. According to prison records, she is at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas, and will be eligible for parole in March 2025.
Read More: Fact vs. Fiction: How Much of Selena: The Series is True?
