O Outro
O Outro is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo. It premiered on 23 March 1987 and ended on 10 October 1987, with a total of 173 episodes. It's the thirty seventh "novela das oito" to be aired on the timeslot. It is created by Aguinaldo Silva and directed by Fred Confalonieri.
Plot
The plot unfolds between the different worlds of two physically identical men in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Businessman Paulo Della Santa is a man tormented by a family and business in crisis. His futile younger wife, Laura, struggles to keep the marriage together, despite Marília and Pedro Ernesto, Paulo's children, cheering her on. Laura's brother, the unscrupulous João Silvério, also does everything he can to get his hands on his brother-in-law's money.Dealer Denizard de Mattos, the owner of a junkyard, is a simple figure from the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. A bronco widower and the father of young Zezinha, he has a love affair with his secretary, India do Brasil. Denizard's partner, Nininho Americano, and his partner, the thug Vidigal, want to turn the junkyard into a place to dismantle stolen cars, against the wishes of Denizard, an incorruptible man.
Paulo and Denizard, who live unaware that they are look-alikes - even though they live in the same place, Avenida Atlântica - end up meeting in the bathroom of a gas station, moments before the place explodes and catches fire, with Vidigal being the only one to witness the scene. Rescued in Paulo's place and mistaken for him, Denizard ends up taking the place of the businessman and, even after his secret is discovered, the farce is maintained in the interests of his adversaries who wanted to seize power from his double. However, taking advantage of the change of identity, Paulo decides to fight his way back and regain his rightful place.
Paulo, who has disappeared, is presumed dead, and Denizard, with amnesia, takes his place in the family and business, without anyone suspecting his true identity. On one side is Denizard's family, worried about his disappearance; on the other is Paulo's family, trying to reintegrate a man with no memory into everyone's life.
The change of identity of the look-alikes is no secret to the hippie Glorinha da Abolição, a young woman who sells handicrafts on the Copacabana promenade and ends up falling in love with Denizard while he is under the identity of Paulo. She is the daughter of the housekeeper Vilma and doesn't even imagine that she is the biological daughter of the real Paulo, a secret kept under lock and key by her mother, who is desperate to believe that Glorinha is getting involved with her own father.
In the Sobre as Ondas building, located in Copacabana, other characters from the plot cross paths: the beautiful Dodô and Dedé who are mother and daughter; the gym teacher Cordeiro de Deus ; the moralistic landlord Demerval ; the foul-mouthed ex-vedete Dona Liúba ; and the couple who live like cats and dogs, Edwiges and Genésio. There is also a mystery surrounding the identity of Perfumado, a figure who stalks women around the neighborhood at night. In the end, it turns out to be Gato, owner of the bar where the characters used to meet.