Saturday, April 29, 2006
Friday, April 28
Remedios has used her savings to pay Maite’s bail. [There is one way in which Barrera is superior to Alborada - none of the characters in Barrera have an accent in their name! It’s so much faster to type. Between Hipólita, Cristóbal, Asunción, Andrés and Ramón, Alborada was a typist’s nightmare.] Remedios advises Maite to get out of town without her baby. Jacinta has promised to send her to prison again. Maite has to leave her baby for Remedios to care for because if she tries to leave with her she’ll have to live on the run because Jacinta will move heaven and earth to find her. Ok says Maite. ‘I have no other way out. When will I be able to see my daughter?’ Remedios says that she can come sometime when Jacinta isn’t around. Remedios will help Maite see her baby before she leaves. Maite and Remedios leave the prison.
Back at the hacienda, the maid tells Jacinta that nuns have found Adolfo dead drunk in the garden of the convent and he is in the clinic. Jacinta wants Federico to go with her to the clinic.
Federico is lounging in the office, smoking and congratulating himself that everything is going according to his plan to take over the hacienda.
At the clinic, Adolfo is apparently still drunk. He tries to stagger out to get Maite out of jail but a tiny nun hustles him back to bed saying that his family have been notified and are on the way.
Manola & her parents are reveling in Jacinta’s misfortunes. It all comes from mésalliances with riffraff like Maite. Manola says that, “Jacinta está que no la calienta ni el sol.” [Update: My Spanish teacher says that this means being very, very sad] Then Manola’s father, I think his name is Nicolas, says, “Tantos baños de pureza que se da esa hurraca and now she doesn’t know where to put her head for the shame of having such a daughter in law.” [I can translate this literally: ‘How many purifying baths has that magpie had…” and I guess it refers to Jacinta’s social pretensions but what does the literal meaning of such a phrase refer to? Update: My Spanish teacher says that 'darse baños de pureza' means to pretend to be a saint ]
Maite bids adieu to her baby and apologizes for leaving her. [Maite only has one little tear in this scene. Don’t you think that a mother forced to leave her baby would be a little more upset? Unfavorable comparisons with Marlene Favela in Contra Viento y Marea come to mind. She would have really milked a scene like this.]
At the convent, Jacinta tries to blacken Maite’s character to the Mother Superior but the nun has known Maite since she was born and Jacinta is having a hard time convincing her that Maite is evil. The nuns promise to help raise Valeria to be a decent Catholic girl. This is unlikely to succeed if Jacinta is going to be involved.
Federico tells Adolfo that he must forget Maite but Aldofo says he can’t let the mother of his daughter go. Jacinta tells Adolfo that Maite is garbage and he is going to divorce her. Adolfo says that he wants to see her and won’t leave her in jail. Federico has to help him walk.
Jacinta thought bubble: We’ll see who wins – this shameless hussy or me.
Remedios puts Maite on the bus and she gets a one-way ticket to Mexico City. Maite promises to keep in touch and Remedios promises to watch over Valeria. Remedios gives Maite some money to get started in her new life.
At the jail, Jacinta is furious that Maite has been let out on bail. In spite of the fact that Jacinta considers Maite’s crime of kidnapping her own baby to merit life in prison as a punishment, the authorities don’t see it as all that serious. The officer tells Jacinta that Remedios paid the bail.
Some gossipy ladies see Maite on the bus to Mexico City.
Jacinta confronts Remedios about getting Maite out of jail. Remedios responds sensibly that if the authorities set bail, there was no reason to keep Maite in jail. ‘Where did you get the money?’ Jacinta wants to know. ‘None of your beeswax’, says Remedios. ‘I work for you, you don’t control my personal life.’ But once Remedios tells Jacinta that Maite is gone to Mexico City, Jacinta is happy. She has won.
Adolfo tells the baby that they are alone. Maite has abandoned them.
Magdalena arrives in a brothel in Mexico City, pregnant and broke. That familiar character, the prostitute with the heart of gold, in this case named Elvira, takes her in even though she can’t service clients in her condition.
In Mexico City, Maite wanders around apparently lost and confused.
Rodrigo, Manola’s baby is baptized and Jacinta is the godmother and foots the bill for the party. Manola’s parents congratulate themselves on this social climbing move. Adolfo is not there. Jacinta says he is ‘indisposed.’
In the big city, Maite is running out of money and can’t find a job. Elvira and an associate overhear and offer her a job in the brothel. Maite declines non judgmentally and Elvira asks Maite what kind of work she is seeking. ‘I am a cook’ says Maite. The ever-helpful Elvira knows the owner of restaurant near her establishment. His name is Victor and he always needs help. Maite is grateful.
Back at the baptism, Jacinta askes Cayetana to tell all her friends never to mention Maite’s name to Valeria. Flattered by this attention, Cayetana promises to get everyone in on the ‘Maite never existed’ act.
Adolfo is drowning his sorrows in drink. At the baptism, Manola gets rid of her baby and is canoodling with Federico when her father walks in on them. Federico leaves but is listening outside the door. Manola admits that Federico is her lover. Her father says that she is risking too much with a nobody. Manola responds that he is really worried about his own business relations with Gustavo. She says that as a nobody Federico is the perfect lover – he can never be anything more. Gustavo is a bad husband and lover. She needs a real lover like Federico. Her father says, ‘Don’t tell me that he gave you the pledge [something that was pawned? A jewel? I missed this]. ‘Of course he did’, says Manola, ‘Did you think I have lots of lovers. I’m not a prostitute.’ Manola guesses that Federico got the money to buy the expensive jewel by fiddling Jacinta’s accounts. The father suggests that the gift of the expensive jewel means that Federico wants to be more than a lover. ‘Don’t worry,’ says Manola. ‘Federico knows his place.
Federico thought bubble: They think I’m a nobody who is no threat. They don’t know me very well.
Maite goes to see the Victor, the owner of the restaurant – a kind-of (for this novela) attractive bald guy. His restaurant serves French food and Maite cooks Mexican food but no problem, he will hire her. [Don’t let them tell you that people in the big city are mean and take advantage of innocents from the provinces]
In her first day at the restaurant, Maite has a flashback to when she left her baby. She promises to return. Victor suggests that she stop day dreaming and get back to work. He goes out leaving piles of money on a table.
In Enseñada, Unibrow tells another fat ugly guy that it was a mistake to go to Aguascaliente. He ran into Maite and it was awkward. The fat ugly guy wonders about the fire – why couldn’t the women get out of the house? Fat ugly guy says it’s time to move on with life and with Nuria.
Unibrow meets with Nuria and she tells him [I think] that she is going to study to be a vet in Canada.
Back at the restaurant in Mexico City, Victor accuses Maite of taking some of the money that was on the table. She denies it but he fires her.
Meanwhile Adolfo is hitting the bottle hard. Federico comes to fetch him for Jacinta. The barkeep says that Aldofo hasn’t paid him and Federico says that he will pay.
Federico thought bubble: I like to see you in this condition because it gives me a free hand to meddle in the affairs of the hacienda.
In a post baptism coffee, Jacinta suggests to Remedios that Valeria should marry Rodrigo. Remedios says it’s a little early – they are just babies. Jacinta responds that you can start sowing the seeds early. Since Manola didn’t end up marrying Adolfo, it would be fitting for their children of such good families to marry. Remedios holds out for love. “Like Adolfo and Maite or like you and my husband?” says Jacinta with sarcasm. Those relationships turned out badly.
Flashback to a young Jacinta with toddler Adolfo confronting a young Remedios with whom her husband is having an affair. Jacinta says that Pedro will never leave her for Remedios and if she doesn’t stop having an affair with him, she will pay dearly.”
Remedios says that after that conversation she sent Pedro away. There is a flashback of this. Jacinta says that she doesn’t believe it and Remedios insists that it is true that she broke up with Pedro and has a flashback to prove it. Jacinta says that Federico is proof that they didn’t end the affair. Remedios says that Pedro came to her pueblo and begged her to be with him and she couldn’t deny her heart – it was love. It was lust and sin says Jacinta. [Why does Jacinta have Remedios in her house and be all buddy buddy with her if she had an affair with her husband? Jacinta doesn’t seem like the type to let bygones be bygones.]
Back at the restaurant, which is being patronized by the prostitutes, Victor finds the money he accused Maite of taking. He will find her and make it right.
The servants dump a pickled Adolfo on the couch and Jacinta tells them to keep quiet about it. In front of Remedios and Federico, Jacinta calls Adolfo ‘piltrafa,’ literally ‘poor quality meat’ or a wretch. Jacinta goes on to say that she is ashamed of him and wishes that he wasn’t her son. Remedios tries to intervene but is told to be quiet. Jacinta goes on to tell Adolfo that his alcoholism has diminished the prestige of the Valladolid name. He has deceived her by claiming to have graduated from the university with honors when really it was Unibrow who did that. This is where the TiVo stopped recording.
UPDATE: Lillian added "Your tivo didn't grab the cliff hanger: two thugs dragging Maite into a dark corner. I'm hoping for the bald Victor to save her. I kind of like him." I was wondering why Maite was walking alone in a dark street in the middle of the night. Poor idea.
Back at the hacienda, the maid tells Jacinta that nuns have found Adolfo dead drunk in the garden of the convent and he is in the clinic. Jacinta wants Federico to go with her to the clinic.
Federico is lounging in the office, smoking and congratulating himself that everything is going according to his plan to take over the hacienda.
At the clinic, Adolfo is apparently still drunk. He tries to stagger out to get Maite out of jail but a tiny nun hustles him back to bed saying that his family have been notified and are on the way.
Manola & her parents are reveling in Jacinta’s misfortunes. It all comes from mésalliances with riffraff like Maite. Manola says that, “Jacinta está que no la calienta ni el sol.” [Update: My Spanish teacher says that this means being very, very sad] Then Manola’s father, I think his name is Nicolas, says, “Tantos baños de pureza que se da esa hurraca and now she doesn’t know where to put her head for the shame of having such a daughter in law.” [I can translate this literally: ‘How many purifying baths has that magpie had…” and I guess it refers to Jacinta’s social pretensions but what does the literal meaning of such a phrase refer to? Update: My Spanish teacher says that 'darse baños de pureza' means to pretend to be a saint ]
Maite bids adieu to her baby and apologizes for leaving her. [Maite only has one little tear in this scene. Don’t you think that a mother forced to leave her baby would be a little more upset? Unfavorable comparisons with Marlene Favela in Contra Viento y Marea come to mind. She would have really milked a scene like this.]
At the convent, Jacinta tries to blacken Maite’s character to the Mother Superior but the nun has known Maite since she was born and Jacinta is having a hard time convincing her that Maite is evil. The nuns promise to help raise Valeria to be a decent Catholic girl. This is unlikely to succeed if Jacinta is going to be involved.
Federico tells Adolfo that he must forget Maite but Aldofo says he can’t let the mother of his daughter go. Jacinta tells Adolfo that Maite is garbage and he is going to divorce her. Adolfo says that he wants to see her and won’t leave her in jail. Federico has to help him walk.
Jacinta thought bubble: We’ll see who wins – this shameless hussy or me.
Remedios puts Maite on the bus and she gets a one-way ticket to Mexico City. Maite promises to keep in touch and Remedios promises to watch over Valeria. Remedios gives Maite some money to get started in her new life.
At the jail, Jacinta is furious that Maite has been let out on bail. In spite of the fact that Jacinta considers Maite’s crime of kidnapping her own baby to merit life in prison as a punishment, the authorities don’t see it as all that serious. The officer tells Jacinta that Remedios paid the bail.
Some gossipy ladies see Maite on the bus to Mexico City.
Jacinta confronts Remedios about getting Maite out of jail. Remedios responds sensibly that if the authorities set bail, there was no reason to keep Maite in jail. ‘Where did you get the money?’ Jacinta wants to know. ‘None of your beeswax’, says Remedios. ‘I work for you, you don’t control my personal life.’ But once Remedios tells Jacinta that Maite is gone to Mexico City, Jacinta is happy. She has won.
Adolfo tells the baby that they are alone. Maite has abandoned them.
Magdalena arrives in a brothel in Mexico City, pregnant and broke. That familiar character, the prostitute with the heart of gold, in this case named Elvira, takes her in even though she can’t service clients in her condition.
In Mexico City, Maite wanders around apparently lost and confused.
Rodrigo, Manola’s baby is baptized and Jacinta is the godmother and foots the bill for the party. Manola’s parents congratulate themselves on this social climbing move. Adolfo is not there. Jacinta says he is ‘indisposed.’
In the big city, Maite is running out of money and can’t find a job. Elvira and an associate overhear and offer her a job in the brothel. Maite declines non judgmentally and Elvira asks Maite what kind of work she is seeking. ‘I am a cook’ says Maite. The ever-helpful Elvira knows the owner of restaurant near her establishment. His name is Victor and he always needs help. Maite is grateful.
Back at the baptism, Jacinta askes Cayetana to tell all her friends never to mention Maite’s name to Valeria. Flattered by this attention, Cayetana promises to get everyone in on the ‘Maite never existed’ act.
Adolfo is drowning his sorrows in drink. At the baptism, Manola gets rid of her baby and is canoodling with Federico when her father walks in on them. Federico leaves but is listening outside the door. Manola admits that Federico is her lover. Her father says that she is risking too much with a nobody. Manola responds that he is really worried about his own business relations with Gustavo. She says that as a nobody Federico is the perfect lover – he can never be anything more. Gustavo is a bad husband and lover. She needs a real lover like Federico. Her father says, ‘Don’t tell me that he gave you the pledge [something that was pawned? A jewel? I missed this]. ‘Of course he did’, says Manola, ‘Did you think I have lots of lovers. I’m not a prostitute.’ Manola guesses that Federico got the money to buy the expensive jewel by fiddling Jacinta’s accounts. The father suggests that the gift of the expensive jewel means that Federico wants to be more than a lover. ‘Don’t worry,’ says Manola. ‘Federico knows his place.
Federico thought bubble: They think I’m a nobody who is no threat. They don’t know me very well.
Maite goes to see the Victor, the owner of the restaurant – a kind-of (for this novela) attractive bald guy. His restaurant serves French food and Maite cooks Mexican food but no problem, he will hire her. [Don’t let them tell you that people in the big city are mean and take advantage of innocents from the provinces]
In her first day at the restaurant, Maite has a flashback to when she left her baby. She promises to return. Victor suggests that she stop day dreaming and get back to work. He goes out leaving piles of money on a table.
In Enseñada, Unibrow tells another fat ugly guy that it was a mistake to go to Aguascaliente. He ran into Maite and it was awkward. The fat ugly guy wonders about the fire – why couldn’t the women get out of the house? Fat ugly guy says it’s time to move on with life and with Nuria.
Unibrow meets with Nuria and she tells him [I think] that she is going to study to be a vet in Canada.
Back at the restaurant in Mexico City, Victor accuses Maite of taking some of the money that was on the table. She denies it but he fires her.
Meanwhile Adolfo is hitting the bottle hard. Federico comes to fetch him for Jacinta. The barkeep says that Aldofo hasn’t paid him and Federico says that he will pay.
Federico thought bubble: I like to see you in this condition because it gives me a free hand to meddle in the affairs of the hacienda.
In a post baptism coffee, Jacinta suggests to Remedios that Valeria should marry Rodrigo. Remedios says it’s a little early – they are just babies. Jacinta responds that you can start sowing the seeds early. Since Manola didn’t end up marrying Adolfo, it would be fitting for their children of such good families to marry. Remedios holds out for love. “Like Adolfo and Maite or like you and my husband?” says Jacinta with sarcasm. Those relationships turned out badly.
Flashback to a young Jacinta with toddler Adolfo confronting a young Remedios with whom her husband is having an affair. Jacinta says that Pedro will never leave her for Remedios and if she doesn’t stop having an affair with him, she will pay dearly.”
Remedios says that after that conversation she sent Pedro away. There is a flashback of this. Jacinta says that she doesn’t believe it and Remedios insists that it is true that she broke up with Pedro and has a flashback to prove it. Jacinta says that Federico is proof that they didn’t end the affair. Remedios says that Pedro came to her pueblo and begged her to be with him and she couldn’t deny her heart – it was love. It was lust and sin says Jacinta. [Why does Jacinta have Remedios in her house and be all buddy buddy with her if she had an affair with her husband? Jacinta doesn’t seem like the type to let bygones be bygones.]
Back at the restaurant, which is being patronized by the prostitutes, Victor finds the money he accused Maite of taking. He will find her and make it right.
The servants dump a pickled Adolfo on the couch and Jacinta tells them to keep quiet about it. In front of Remedios and Federico, Jacinta calls Adolfo ‘piltrafa,’ literally ‘poor quality meat’ or a wretch. Jacinta goes on to say that she is ashamed of him and wishes that he wasn’t her son. Remedios tries to intervene but is told to be quiet. Jacinta goes on to tell Adolfo that his alcoholism has diminished the prestige of the Valladolid name. He has deceived her by claiming to have graduated from the university with honors when really it was Unibrow who did that. This is where the TiVo stopped recording.
UPDATE: Lillian added "Your tivo didn't grab the cliff hanger: two thugs dragging Maite into a dark corner. I'm hoping for the bald Victor to save her. I kind of like him." I was wondering why Maite was walking alone in a dark street in the middle of the night. Poor idea.
Labels: barrera
Catherine on Nutrias and also on Luis
I thought this was very funny. She's referring back, I think, to my first recap where I pointed out that my subtitles had mistakenly called Unibrow's new love interest "Nutria" instead of "Nuria." Thanks, Catherine...
Technorati Tags: Telenovela, Novela, Humor
Nutria comment! If you are ever in New Orleans, go to the zoo. In their swamp exhibit they have about ten nutria rats in an enclosure. It's like the biggest rat you've ever seen in your life. I actually came across some in a meat case at the local Meat and Seafood store. They had it in the meat case. Apparently they are a popular dish. ewwww. It looked like a skinned cat to me. Confirms my suspicions that no animal is safe in Louisisana! I always ask before I eat anything ! What animal is this?
I am hoping that the real, handsome, Luis is somewhere in a hospital with amnesia and this ugly guy hit him with a rock and stole his life. He will awake, regain his life and his amor and we'll finally have somebody to drool over.
I am hoping that the real, handsome, Luis is somewhere in a hospital with amnesia and this ugly guy hit him with a rock and stole his life. He will awake, regain his life and his amor and we'll finally have somebody to drool over.
Technorati Tags: Telenovela, Novela, Humor
Anybody watching "La Fea" want to recap it?
Hi,
We're getting a few requests for recaps of La Fea Mas Bella, is anybody who's watching it game to catch the fans up?
We're getting a few requests for recaps of La Fea Mas Bella, is anybody who's watching it game to catch the fans up?
Labels: fea-e
Friday, April 28, 2006
Readers: THANK YOUR RECAPPERS!!
Hi Everybody,
I am GIDDY with delight to be just 1/5 part of the team recapping Barrera for your enjoyment! If you haven't tried it, you don't know how time-consuming it is to do these recaps! So if you like them - and want them to continue - please leave grateful comments to your faithful servants. Comments = the only thanks we get!
Team - THANK YOU.
-- Melinama
PS: I just added a cute picture of young FC marrying Maria in Kay's synopsis of Maria la del Barrio..
I am GIDDY with delight to be just 1/5 part of the team recapping Barrera for your enjoyment! If you haven't tried it, you don't know how time-consuming it is to do these recaps! So if you like them - and want them to continue - please leave grateful comments to your faithful servants. Comments = the only thanks we get!
Team - THANK YOU.
-- Melinama
PS: I just added a cute picture of young FC marrying Maria in Kay's synopsis of Maria la del Barrio..
Labels: announcements, barrera
Barrera de Amor: April 27
Thursday April 27
My VCR records the last few minutes of La Fea Mas Bella before Barrera starts. After watching a little bit of that telenovela it occurred to me that Barrera is just another chapter of La Fea called El Feo Mas Bello. Could Antonio be any more ugly for a male lead?!
Thursdays episode begins with Federico telling Maite that Antonio still loves her! Surely it is because of her letter (that never got to Antonio). Antonio wants to get back together with her. Antonio is leaving tonight at 8 pm on a train for the North. Federico says Antonio wants her to run away with him. Do it Maite! Federico tells her to take her baby, leave Adolfo and get back with Antonio. Federico reminds her how she met Adolfo - that it was all an evil plan of Adolfos - how at the dance Adolfo wanted to separate Maite from Antonio so Adolfo invented the story that there was a sick cow, sending Antonio out to leave her alone with Adolfo. Then Adolfo promptly drugged her drink. "And who rescued you?" He queries Maite, and before she can answer he replies "Magdelena." Then he goes on to say that Magdelena has also been a victim of Adolfo. Federico reasons with Maite that Adolfo will return back to his bad ol mean self or worse. She deserves to be happy. She no longer has her aunt so she should take this opportunity and go. His argument is convincing and Maite tells Ferderico he is the best, crying as she lays her head on his chest.
Thought Bubble: Antonio thinks how Maite now has made her own life, she has her daughter and Adolfo. He should put an end to what they had. He doesnt know how he will do it, but he has to forget her.
Enter Manola like a cat stalking her prey. Antonio tells her that he is leaving. She is shocked and says that she believes he will return. She goes on to say that she wants to continue a friendship with him. Antonio tells her that he appreciates Don Gustavo and respects her. He realizes that with marriage she had matured. She tells Antonio that at the beginning she didnt love Gustavo pero by Gustavos side she has found that he is a good man with a lot of affection. Antonio very diplomatically says goodbye.
Adolfo finds Magdelena walking alone in the town center (zocalo). He complains that he looked for her and she didnt leave word in Santa Maria that she had come to Aguacalientes. She blocks his inquiries saying "So what? Stop looking for me. Someone like me doesnt fit in your life." Adolfo says "Let me decide that. I don't love you but I appreciate you. Let me help you. I want to protect you. At the least let me know how you are, to see you." She agrees and he grins at her weirdly. (Pervert I say.)
Gustavo and Antonio walk through the quinta (ranch house) saying goodbye to each other. Antonio wants Gustavo to only call him in a case of emergency. Antonio says he will help find a college to be Gustavo's vet. Upon being asked what his plans are Antonio answers the only sure thing is that he is going to stay in the North and that he has to break definitively with his past although it hurts him.
Flash to Federico Thought Bubble: Without a doubt love (ataranta) dazes/stuns people. "Maite se cayo redondita." - Great descriptive word phrase here meaning she collapsed/slumped in a heap. " She believed everything I told her. I hope she does what I told her to do. Without Maite Adolfo is going to fall apart. He will start drinking once again. I will then be able to get my hands on the money. Adolfo, little by little, you are going to pay me back." (Evil smirk.)
Meanwhile Adolfo is told of another disgrace happening by Remedios. Flash to Maite praying to God for guidance on what to do. Flash back to Remedios as she fills Adolfo in on what has been happening at the ranch and gives him support for his new self. He complains. She encourages Adolfo that Maite will see that he is trying to change, that he has to show his changes are sincere. She says he doesnt need to compete with Antonio or anyone......
Ensenada - B.C. Who are these people? Another pretty woman (Nuria) and an ugly man (Unibrows assistant). They discuss how she should be happy about Antonios return. The woman says its because Antonio is still in love with Maite and that he wants to see Maite to fix things. The man says Maite is married. What can Antonio and Maite fix? Isnt she (Nuria) in love with Antonio? Then Nuria doesnt need to worry about these things.
Adolfo comes to talk with Maite in her bedroom where she is lying down resting from her poisoning. He tells her she is not alone and he will always protect her. He tells her he loves her. She replies that she doesnt love him and she feels all alone. Adolfo is offended and complains that everything that he has done is useless. They fight about how it is that she became married to him. She asks for him to free her. Adolfo tells her to go to Antonio then. Go! Vete!
Thought Bubble of Maite: Should I stay or should I go? Money isnt everything...... She remembers Federico saying "He (Antonio) still loves you."
Flash to Antonio leaving on a train. Flash back to Maite leaving a letter for Adolfo as she picks up her bags and her daughter to leave. Federico is shown watching Maite leave then he runs to Jacinta and Adolfo telling them about her departure. Flash back to the train station where Maite is figuring out that the train has left when Adolfo and Jacinta arrive with the police. Jacinta tells the policemen that Maite is kidnapping her granddaughter. She demands the police arrest Maite and Jacinta grabs the child. (Actually Maite just handed the baby over.) Maite says this is my child. But Jacinta is louder and meaner and says "You bad ungrateful, after everything we have done for you! You will never see her again!" Maite screams for Adolfo to help, to intervene but he, Jacinta and the baby just walk away. Maite screams Forgive me!
Thought Bubble of Antonio on the train: I will do the same thing I did with Maite. I will remake my life. I did it before when my wife died and I will do it again.
Maite is thrown in jail. Oddly she is not crying. Federico arrives at the jail with bread and a blanket. He asks why Maite didnt go with Antonio. Maite asks why Federico told her the wrong time for the train (he told her the wrong time by an hour). He acts innocent saying that is the time that Antonio told him the train would leave. Federico lays the blame on Antonio, saying perhaps Antonio stood her up out of revenge for what she did to him. Maite wonders why Antonio left without her especially if her aunt told Antonio everything in her letter (that darn letter again). Federico snows Maite some more with false words of encouragement and sympathy. Maite feels sure after talking with Federico that Antonio acted in revenge. The only good thing Federico does is say he is sure Antonio never intended Maite to loose her daughter from this. He promises to help Maite as best as he can.
Back at the ranch Jacinta and Remedios tell Adolfo not to let this destroy him. Jacinta says Maite doesnt deserve not one of Adolfos tears. Remedios says he has to survive this, but perhaps Maite acted with out thinking... Adolfo cries like a baby which makes Jacinta mad and she yells that Adolfo can never let Maite come near Valeria again!
Thought Bubble: Federico is happy waiting for Adolfo to fail. He is enjoying the idea of Adolfos pain. He surmises that this love thing is the most direct way (road) to the heart of the ranch!
Flash to a table with Manola, Gustavo, Nicolas and his wife talking about how they heard what happened to Maite. They talk about Maites reputation before she got pregnant and how it is not surprising that a woman of her class would do such a thing. I cant imagine! Jacinta arrives as they are talking about the scandal and she smirks.... Flash to Magdelena who is seen in a room talking to herself saying she is pregnant by Adolfo. She knows that the father of her child is Adolfo. She hasnt been with anyone else lately so there is no doubt that Adolfo is the father.
Flash to a courtroom where Maite is talking with a judge. She admits writing the goodbye note to Adolfo and tells where she had planned to go with the child. The judge asks her if she abandoned the home and she doesnt deny that either. The judge rules that Valeria will remain in the custody of Adolfo and her grandmother who can financially and morally provide for her better. The judge tells Maite that the way things stand that he doubts Maite could handle any part of custody of Valeria. Maite gets upset saying Why!? Why?! The judge divulges that Jacinta declared that Maite is (mentally?) ill and not a person who could take care of her own child. The judge also states that Maite fell down the stairs endangering her child as one of the reason for Jacinta claiming that Maite is ill. The judge tells her until a doctor can check her over she will remain in jail.
Magdelena thought bubble: She worries what Jacinta will do to her when she finds out her child is Adolfos. She is afraid that Jacinta will hurt her, so she decides she will hide herself and the fact of who the father is.
Remedios visits Maite in jail, asking her what happened to her letter to Antonio. Remedios scolds Maite for having everything and throwing it away. Maite says she had everything but love. Maite asks for Remedios help to make sure Valeria doesnt forget her mother, and Remedios agrees. Flash to Adolfo and Federico talking. Federico tells Adolfo that he wont stop loving Maite. Then Federico tells Adolfo that Maite left the same night that Antonio did... That they had planned to run away together. Federico says Antonio and Maite would have been making fun of Adolfo now which gets Adolfo angry. Flash to Remedios trying to reason with Jacinta to let Maite see Valeria or to let Maite out of jail. Remedios tells Jacinta that Valeria will be upset to find out that her grandmother threw her mother in jail. The guilt trip doesnt work on Jacinta. Later Jacinta thanks Federico in helping with what happened with Maite. He says his thanks is seeing her happy.
Adolfo goes looking for Magdelena only to find out that she has left. He gets increasingly upset when he cant find Magdelena so he finds some tequila. The next day he is found by Nuns on a park bench. The nuns recognize him. Show ends with Maite being let out of jail. Remedios has paid the fine but she tells Maite to leave town immediately.
My VCR records the last few minutes of La Fea Mas Bella before Barrera starts. After watching a little bit of that telenovela it occurred to me that Barrera is just another chapter of La Fea called El Feo Mas Bello. Could Antonio be any more ugly for a male lead?!
Thursdays episode begins with Federico telling Maite that Antonio still loves her! Surely it is because of her letter (that never got to Antonio). Antonio wants to get back together with her. Antonio is leaving tonight at 8 pm on a train for the North. Federico says Antonio wants her to run away with him. Do it Maite! Federico tells her to take her baby, leave Adolfo and get back with Antonio. Federico reminds her how she met Adolfo - that it was all an evil plan of Adolfos - how at the dance Adolfo wanted to separate Maite from Antonio so Adolfo invented the story that there was a sick cow, sending Antonio out to leave her alone with Adolfo. Then Adolfo promptly drugged her drink. "And who rescued you?" He queries Maite, and before she can answer he replies "Magdelena." Then he goes on to say that Magdelena has also been a victim of Adolfo. Federico reasons with Maite that Adolfo will return back to his bad ol mean self or worse. She deserves to be happy. She no longer has her aunt so she should take this opportunity and go. His argument is convincing and Maite tells Ferderico he is the best, crying as she lays her head on his chest.
Thought Bubble: Antonio thinks how Maite now has made her own life, she has her daughter and Adolfo. He should put an end to what they had. He doesnt know how he will do it, but he has to forget her.
Enter Manola like a cat stalking her prey. Antonio tells her that he is leaving. She is shocked and says that she believes he will return. She goes on to say that she wants to continue a friendship with him. Antonio tells her that he appreciates Don Gustavo and respects her. He realizes that with marriage she had matured. She tells Antonio that at the beginning she didnt love Gustavo pero by Gustavos side she has found that he is a good man with a lot of affection. Antonio very diplomatically says goodbye.
Adolfo finds Magdelena walking alone in the town center (zocalo). He complains that he looked for her and she didnt leave word in Santa Maria that she had come to Aguacalientes. She blocks his inquiries saying "So what? Stop looking for me. Someone like me doesnt fit in your life." Adolfo says "Let me decide that. I don't love you but I appreciate you. Let me help you. I want to protect you. At the least let me know how you are, to see you." She agrees and he grins at her weirdly. (Pervert I say.)
Gustavo and Antonio walk through the quinta (ranch house) saying goodbye to each other. Antonio wants Gustavo to only call him in a case of emergency. Antonio says he will help find a college to be Gustavo's vet. Upon being asked what his plans are Antonio answers the only sure thing is that he is going to stay in the North and that he has to break definitively with his past although it hurts him.
Flash to Federico Thought Bubble: Without a doubt love (ataranta) dazes/stuns people. "Maite se cayo redondita." - Great descriptive word phrase here meaning she collapsed/slumped in a heap. " She believed everything I told her. I hope she does what I told her to do. Without Maite Adolfo is going to fall apart. He will start drinking once again. I will then be able to get my hands on the money. Adolfo, little by little, you are going to pay me back." (Evil smirk.)
Meanwhile Adolfo is told of another disgrace happening by Remedios. Flash to Maite praying to God for guidance on what to do. Flash back to Remedios as she fills Adolfo in on what has been happening at the ranch and gives him support for his new self. He complains. She encourages Adolfo that Maite will see that he is trying to change, that he has to show his changes are sincere. She says he doesnt need to compete with Antonio or anyone......
Ensenada - B.C. Who are these people? Another pretty woman (Nuria) and an ugly man (Unibrows assistant). They discuss how she should be happy about Antonios return. The woman says its because Antonio is still in love with Maite and that he wants to see Maite to fix things. The man says Maite is married. What can Antonio and Maite fix? Isnt she (Nuria) in love with Antonio? Then Nuria doesnt need to worry about these things.
Adolfo comes to talk with Maite in her bedroom where she is lying down resting from her poisoning. He tells her she is not alone and he will always protect her. He tells her he loves her. She replies that she doesnt love him and she feels all alone. Adolfo is offended and complains that everything that he has done is useless. They fight about how it is that she became married to him. She asks for him to free her. Adolfo tells her to go to Antonio then. Go! Vete!
Thought Bubble of Maite: Should I stay or should I go? Money isnt everything...... She remembers Federico saying "He (Antonio) still loves you."
Flash to Antonio leaving on a train. Flash back to Maite leaving a letter for Adolfo as she picks up her bags and her daughter to leave. Federico is shown watching Maite leave then he runs to Jacinta and Adolfo telling them about her departure. Flash back to the train station where Maite is figuring out that the train has left when Adolfo and Jacinta arrive with the police. Jacinta tells the policemen that Maite is kidnapping her granddaughter. She demands the police arrest Maite and Jacinta grabs the child. (Actually Maite just handed the baby over.) Maite says this is my child. But Jacinta is louder and meaner and says "You bad ungrateful, after everything we have done for you! You will never see her again!" Maite screams for Adolfo to help, to intervene but he, Jacinta and the baby just walk away. Maite screams Forgive me!
Thought Bubble of Antonio on the train: I will do the same thing I did with Maite. I will remake my life. I did it before when my wife died and I will do it again.
Maite is thrown in jail. Oddly she is not crying. Federico arrives at the jail with bread and a blanket. He asks why Maite didnt go with Antonio. Maite asks why Federico told her the wrong time for the train (he told her the wrong time by an hour). He acts innocent saying that is the time that Antonio told him the train would leave. Federico lays the blame on Antonio, saying perhaps Antonio stood her up out of revenge for what she did to him. Maite wonders why Antonio left without her especially if her aunt told Antonio everything in her letter (that darn letter again). Federico snows Maite some more with false words of encouragement and sympathy. Maite feels sure after talking with Federico that Antonio acted in revenge. The only good thing Federico does is say he is sure Antonio never intended Maite to loose her daughter from this. He promises to help Maite as best as he can.
Back at the ranch Jacinta and Remedios tell Adolfo not to let this destroy him. Jacinta says Maite doesnt deserve not one of Adolfos tears. Remedios says he has to survive this, but perhaps Maite acted with out thinking... Adolfo cries like a baby which makes Jacinta mad and she yells that Adolfo can never let Maite come near Valeria again!
Thought Bubble: Federico is happy waiting for Adolfo to fail. He is enjoying the idea of Adolfos pain. He surmises that this love thing is the most direct way (road) to the heart of the ranch!
Flash to a table with Manola, Gustavo, Nicolas and his wife talking about how they heard what happened to Maite. They talk about Maites reputation before she got pregnant and how it is not surprising that a woman of her class would do such a thing. I cant imagine! Jacinta arrives as they are talking about the scandal and she smirks.... Flash to Magdelena who is seen in a room talking to herself saying she is pregnant by Adolfo. She knows that the father of her child is Adolfo. She hasnt been with anyone else lately so there is no doubt that Adolfo is the father.
Flash to a courtroom where Maite is talking with a judge. She admits writing the goodbye note to Adolfo and tells where she had planned to go with the child. The judge asks her if she abandoned the home and she doesnt deny that either. The judge rules that Valeria will remain in the custody of Adolfo and her grandmother who can financially and morally provide for her better. The judge tells Maite that the way things stand that he doubts Maite could handle any part of custody of Valeria. Maite gets upset saying Why!? Why?! The judge divulges that Jacinta declared that Maite is (mentally?) ill and not a person who could take care of her own child. The judge also states that Maite fell down the stairs endangering her child as one of the reason for Jacinta claiming that Maite is ill. The judge tells her until a doctor can check her over she will remain in jail.
Magdelena thought bubble: She worries what Jacinta will do to her when she finds out her child is Adolfos. She is afraid that Jacinta will hurt her, so she decides she will hide herself and the fact of who the father is.
Remedios visits Maite in jail, asking her what happened to her letter to Antonio. Remedios scolds Maite for having everything and throwing it away. Maite says she had everything but love. Maite asks for Remedios help to make sure Valeria doesnt forget her mother, and Remedios agrees. Flash to Adolfo and Federico talking. Federico tells Adolfo that he wont stop loving Maite. Then Federico tells Adolfo that Maite left the same night that Antonio did... That they had planned to run away together. Federico says Antonio and Maite would have been making fun of Adolfo now which gets Adolfo angry. Flash to Remedios trying to reason with Jacinta to let Maite see Valeria or to let Maite out of jail. Remedios tells Jacinta that Valeria will be upset to find out that her grandmother threw her mother in jail. The guilt trip doesnt work on Jacinta. Later Jacinta thanks Federico in helping with what happened with Maite. He says his thanks is seeing her happy.
Adolfo goes looking for Magdelena only to find out that she has left. He gets increasingly upset when he cant find Magdelena so he finds some tequila. The next day he is found by Nuns on a park bench. The nuns recognize him. Show ends with Maite being let out of jail. Remedios has paid the fine but she tells Maite to leave town immediately.
Labels: barrera
Kay's synopsis of "María la del Barrio," a Fernando Colungo novela
From the comments. By the way, anybody who wants to recap ANY telenovela, once or meny times, is welcome to be a member. If you're a "La Fea" fan, have at it! Just let me know...
Anyway, here's Kay's report on an earlier Colunga epic:
For those who really need a Fernando fix, I just discovered that Galavision is doing a rerun of María la del Barrio. This is a telenovela that Fernando did with Thalia about ten years ago. It is the last of a trio of Thalia telenovelas. Fernando was in all of them, but in this one he finally became the leading man. [More.]
I didn't watch it the first time around because I can't stand Thalia (I watched Marimar, and that was enough). But he must have liked her because they had a romance that lasted well over a year.
Anyway, here in Chicago it is on at 3:00 in the afternoon. I think it has just started.
Maria is from the ghetto, and her godmother has just died, which leaves her totally alone. The priest manages to place her with a wealthy family, I guess as a servant, but the man of the house treats her as if he is her mentor or protector. She even eats at the table with the family. Today (my first episode) he takes her shopping for clothes and even buys her two baby goats. Needless to say, she has totally upended the household, to the point that the wife has gone to the priest to try to get her removed because she thinks her husband is in love with her. At this point everyone in the household, including the help, is against her. Fernando plays one of the sons. For those of you who love to see his body, I think it will be on display a lot here. I have only seen today's episode, but already he has appeared in a skimpy bathing suit and shorts with no shirt -- looking good!!!
Technorati Tags: Maria de la Barrio, Maria la del Barrio, Fernando Colunga, telenovela, novela
Anyway, here's Kay's report on an earlier Colunga epic:
For those who really need a Fernando fix, I just discovered that Galavision is doing a rerun of María la del Barrio. This is a telenovela that Fernando did with Thalia about ten years ago. It is the last of a trio of Thalia telenovelas. Fernando was in all of them, but in this one he finally became the leading man. [More.]I didn't watch it the first time around because I can't stand Thalia (I watched Marimar, and that was enough). But he must have liked her because they had a romance that lasted well over a year.
Anyway, here in Chicago it is on at 3:00 in the afternoon. I think it has just started.
Maria is from the ghetto, and her godmother has just died, which leaves her totally alone. The priest manages to place her with a wealthy family, I guess as a servant, but the man of the house treats her as if he is her mentor or protector. She even eats at the table with the family. Today (my first episode) he takes her shopping for clothes and even buys her two baby goats. Needless to say, she has totally upended the household, to the point that the wife has gone to the priest to try to get her removed because she thinks her husband is in love with her. At this point everyone in the household, including the help, is against her. Fernando plays one of the sons. For those of you who love to see his body, I think it will be on display a lot here. I have only seen today's episode, but already he has appeared in a skimpy bathing suit and shorts with no shirt -- looking good!!!
Technorati Tags: Maria de la Barrio, Maria la del Barrio, Fernando Colunga, telenovela, novela
Labels: proximas, synopsis-cast
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Barrera de Amor: April 26
I didn't see the beginning but I read that Griselda and Martina somehow overheard Doña Jacinta confess to having intentionally caused her husband's death by opening a door and letting some bloody huge bull run out and gore him fatally. Jacinta discovers them eavesdropping. They go to Marina's house to find the poison Jacinta has been using? Jacinta follows and accuses them of sin.
I wasn't really expecting to watch tonight -- but at this point, I turned it on -- and what a delightful scene! Jacinta lights this humble home on fire, with Griselda and Martina inside! She says: "God, you ordered me to do this! Fire Purifies! Receive them in heaven!" People start to notice this house is burning up and run to it. Teodoro, Martina's husband, wants to rush in but it's too late. Luckily, their baby (Juanita) is in a tree-swing and did not also roast.
Jacinta continues chanting: "Your hand guided my actions, your daughters are already enjoying Your divine presence!" Eventually the fire dies down and the corpses are found. Remedios has had so many botox treatments that when she tries to look sad she actually seems to be smiling.
The good ladies of the village tell Padre Anselmo (don't bother to learn his name for reasons which will soon be evident) about the suspicious fire. His thought bubble says: "Hmm, one day Griselda and Martina tell me terrible things about Jacinta and the next day they're dead."
There is some talk about excellent baby formula being prepared for Valeria by Jacinta, as good as mother's milk. What do you think, shall we give it to OUR babies too?
Unibrow shows up for the funeral. Padre Anselmo makes an unusual speech: "Was this the work of God, or of man? Was it you, Federico, or YOU, Doña Jacinta? Is there a Judas who caused this death? Nothing is hidden from the eyes of God!" Jacinta's thought bubble: "Does he suspect MOI?"
Leaving the church, Remedios offers to care for Martina's children and Jacinta promises to pay for their education. Martina's widower Teodoro thanks Jacinta humbly. The Padre says, I want to speak to you later today, Jacinta.
Unibrow watches Mayte leave the wake with her husband Adolfo and receive a moment of corporal consolation. Unibrow's thought bubble says: "She's moved on, and I have to do the same, for the sake of my children. Nuria baby, here I come!" No, I added that last part.
Jacinta has her audience with the Padre. He says he knows she's been drugging Maite. She kind of goes whole hog and confesses everything, including the burning up of Griselda and Martina - and even confessing, with relish, the murdering of her husband with a bull - because he was about to commit a mortal sin!
Then she starts insisting the Padre give her absolution. He says: "You think you can plug my mouth by confessing to me, but I can excommunicate you!" He says he can't pardon these atrocities - she insists, saying "flagellate me!" - he refuses and then falls in a little diabetic fit on the floor and gasps for his insulin injection and she says, not unless you absolve me, and he refuses unless she goes to the police and confesses, and she says "I can't do that," so she watches him die there. On the floor. And then tells the others as they arrive, "Well, what a coincidence! Yesterday he was conducting services for the dead and today he himself is in need of the same."
Federico, who was first on the scene, muses via thought bubble: "What sins could she have been confessing that were dramatic enough to cause the Padre to kick the bucket?"
Now we move on to the evil Manola. One of her thought bubbles defies Federico: "Go ahead, continue to think you are my baby's father." So, her baby Rodrigo (who is about to be baptised, with the unspeakable Jacinta as godmother) is supposed to be the child of her (Manola's) superannuated cow-owning husband Gustavo, but this guy Federico thinks he's the father, but now we see he isn't. I don't know who is.
Manola shows Federico the letter she intercepted - it was from the now-deceased Aunt Griselda, to Unibrow, telling him how Maite married Adolfo to spring her true love Unibrow from prison. Federico snatches the letter and decides to keep it, it may be of some use someday. The letter also mentions "the blackmail of Adolfo." Somebody who actually saw this part, please illuminate... ?
Federico goes to Mayte; he lies and says Griselda's letter actually got into Unibrow's hands. He exhorts her: "Unibrow still loves you and you should leave on a train immediately to go to him, take your daughter, he'll be a father to her."
Now if you've actually been following this show, please add further plot points in the comments. If not, feel free to comment anyway! If we don't get comments we will not continue with these recaps!
We have somebody (Jean) for Friday. I don't think we have anybody for tomorrow (Thursday) night. Anybody?
I wasn't really expecting to watch tonight -- but at this point, I turned it on -- and what a delightful scene! Jacinta lights this humble home on fire, with Griselda and Martina inside! She says: "God, you ordered me to do this! Fire Purifies! Receive them in heaven!" People start to notice this house is burning up and run to it. Teodoro, Martina's husband, wants to rush in but it's too late. Luckily, their baby (Juanita) is in a tree-swing and did not also roast.
Jacinta continues chanting: "Your hand guided my actions, your daughters are already enjoying Your divine presence!" Eventually the fire dies down and the corpses are found. Remedios has had so many botox treatments that when she tries to look sad she actually seems to be smiling.
The good ladies of the village tell Padre Anselmo (don't bother to learn his name for reasons which will soon be evident) about the suspicious fire. His thought bubble says: "Hmm, one day Griselda and Martina tell me terrible things about Jacinta and the next day they're dead."
There is some talk about excellent baby formula being prepared for Valeria by Jacinta, as good as mother's milk. What do you think, shall we give it to OUR babies too?
Unibrow shows up for the funeral. Padre Anselmo makes an unusual speech: "Was this the work of God, or of man? Was it you, Federico, or YOU, Doña Jacinta? Is there a Judas who caused this death? Nothing is hidden from the eyes of God!" Jacinta's thought bubble: "Does he suspect MOI?"
Leaving the church, Remedios offers to care for Martina's children and Jacinta promises to pay for their education. Martina's widower Teodoro thanks Jacinta humbly. The Padre says, I want to speak to you later today, Jacinta.
Unibrow watches Mayte leave the wake with her husband Adolfo and receive a moment of corporal consolation. Unibrow's thought bubble says: "She's moved on, and I have to do the same, for the sake of my children. Nuria baby, here I come!" No, I added that last part.
Jacinta has her audience with the Padre. He says he knows she's been drugging Maite. She kind of goes whole hog and confesses everything, including the burning up of Griselda and Martina - and even confessing, with relish, the murdering of her husband with a bull - because he was about to commit a mortal sin!
Then she starts insisting the Padre give her absolution. He says: "You think you can plug my mouth by confessing to me, but I can excommunicate you!" He says he can't pardon these atrocities - she insists, saying "flagellate me!" - he refuses and then falls in a little diabetic fit on the floor and gasps for his insulin injection and she says, not unless you absolve me, and he refuses unless she goes to the police and confesses, and she says "I can't do that," so she watches him die there. On the floor. And then tells the others as they arrive, "Well, what a coincidence! Yesterday he was conducting services for the dead and today he himself is in need of the same."
Federico, who was first on the scene, muses via thought bubble: "What sins could she have been confessing that were dramatic enough to cause the Padre to kick the bucket?"
Now we move on to the evil Manola. One of her thought bubbles defies Federico: "Go ahead, continue to think you are my baby's father." So, her baby Rodrigo (who is about to be baptised, with the unspeakable Jacinta as godmother) is supposed to be the child of her (Manola's) superannuated cow-owning husband Gustavo, but this guy Federico thinks he's the father, but now we see he isn't. I don't know who is.
Manola shows Federico the letter she intercepted - it was from the now-deceased Aunt Griselda, to Unibrow, telling him how Maite married Adolfo to spring her true love Unibrow from prison. Federico snatches the letter and decides to keep it, it may be of some use someday. The letter also mentions "the blackmail of Adolfo." Somebody who actually saw this part, please illuminate... ?
Federico goes to Mayte; he lies and says Griselda's letter actually got into Unibrow's hands. He exhorts her: "Unibrow still loves you and you should leave on a train immediately to go to him, take your daughter, he'll be a father to her."
Now if you've actually been following this show, please add further plot points in the comments. If not, feel free to comment anyway! If we don't get comments we will not continue with these recaps!
We have somebody (Jean) for Friday. I don't think we have anybody for tomorrow (Thursday) night. Anybody?
Labels: barrera
Barrera de Amor, April 25
Greetings all, I have a confession to make, the following is the first episode of Barrera that I have watched, so if I get names switched please feel free to correct it. Also, please jump in to repair any translations or plot lines I may have buggered up. Enjoy...
We open with Maite's confession about her one true love (see previous recap). Suddenly Federico pops in to say "You'll never believe who showed up at the Zamoro Hacienda, Luis Antonio! Don Gustavo called him in to take care of his cattle." Maite suddenly doesn't feel so well and she has to lie down. Federico asks what's up with Maite, she's married to Adolfo, correct, "or is there something I don't know???" "Don't tell me Maite still has the hots for Luis Antonio, or that Adolfo had to marry her?" Griselda says, "Nobody forced her to marry, she did it for her daughter." Martina wants to tell L.A. everything but Griselda says first they have to resolve the issue of Maite's health. They need to find the notorious bag of powder that Jacinta has been giving to Maite; they need this evidence so others in the pueblo will believe them because the whole world thinks Doña Jacinta is a saint.
Speaking of the saint, she is sealing a letter and commands her servant to take it to the Padre and return immediately. Now comes the first of tonight's MANY thought bubbles..."I, Doña Jacinta, am sure that with this good act I will secure my position as a good Christian before Padre whatever-his-name-is." In fact, it is a big fat bribe.
Remedios asks Maite why she married Adolfo if she still loved Unibrow. After all, Adolfo didn't force her. (Um...yes he did in a way.) Adolfo is like a son to her. He is, perhaps, a bit too impassioned and does little illegal things, but he's not a bad person. Maite responds "well, I married him and we have a daughter." Remedios feels that should be enough to make Maite happy.
Jacinta's servant delivers the sealed letter to the Padre. It is money for the restoration of the church. The Padre looks touched (tetched?) and proclaims it is really "too much." Scary to think he is responsible for saving souls.
Back at the ranch...the udders are much better. Gustavo asks Luis Antonio why he left Ensenada. LA answers "the truth, I'm starting over but it's hard to start in a new place where you don't know anyone." "Yes, but you have your sons so I guess you don't need anything else to be happy..." "Oh, I don't complain," our hero says nobly. Close up of his face, bad idea.
Jacinta wants to take Maite to see the doctor...alone. But Griselda insists on coming so she can know first hand about her niece's health.
Break to a hilarious scene of Manola gagging horrendously over her baby's poopie diaper. Her cuckold of a husband (Gustavo) comes in and plans his son's future as a soccer star while mom continues to be horrified by the aroma of sour milk. Dad says it's normal. Next thought bubble is Manola's..."Ay, what a tender scene, if you only knew that the son you wanted so badly isn't yours. You're going to spend your life raising Federico's son. There is no doubt that you are an idiot, Gustavo, a poor idiot." (Guess she really "put the horns on him." I learned that from Alborada. )
Jacinta, Maite and Griselda arrive at the doctor's office. This next scene confused me: Jacinta volunteers to go in first so that Maite doesn't have to wait, i.e. so she can confab with the Dr. in private and thwart Maite's treatment. There are two men, the young one is perhaps the first Dr. that Maite saw? Anyway, Jacinta wants him to hide even though Maite "met him only once." Meanwhile Griselda and Maite run into Unibrow! They make small talk and stare meaningfully at each other. (They should not have these close-ups of him, they're dreadful.)
Back at the ranch Adolfo accuses Federico of stealing money. Federico acts insulted, saying he has worked there his whole life so why should he do such a thing. Adolfo demands the records and plans to go to the bank in the morning to check the accounts. Outside Federico has a thought bubble..."That imbecile Adolfo! If he sticks his nose into the books then for sure he'll find out I lied about the accounts. Must be very careful or he'll ruin my plan. Must put money in the bank first thing in the morning." He's creepy but it looks like he's got a good bod.
The Dr. tells Maite that even though x-rays showed no fracture of her cranium her fall down the stairs could have affected other areas of her brain. "The fact that you feel bad one minute then great the next just isn't normal." Griselda is not impressed and neither am I. He has great confidence in the other Dr. that she saw (the guy in the next room?) whom he has known many years. Griselda wants a third and fourth opinion and the Dr. prescribes a tranquilizer for Maite. (I'm no doctor but I do NOT think this will alleviate her dizziness.)
Outside Griselda spills the beans that they saw Unibrow and that he and Maite had a relationship in the past. Maite wants to rest while Griselda and Jacinta have a power struggle over who should care for her. Jacinta has a thought bubble..."What's with this woman? I have a feeling she knows something." (I'm not doing any more thought bubbles.)
Unibrow shows up at the house of Gustavo and Manola. Manola, holding the baby, gives a flirtacious glance to Unibrow. Honestly, I can't tell if he he looks disapproving or interested, his acting is that good.
Back at the ranch, Remedios wants to have it out with Jacinta. Remedios accuses Jacinta of instigating Magdalena's near death experience and departure from the pueblo. Jacinta says her good actions speak for themselves. (And we know they do.) They go round and round exchanging insults. Jacinta tells Remedios that she and her daughter are the same sort of sinners, carnal sinners, sinners of passion. The only difference being Magda is with many men and Remedios only one, married, Jacinta's husband. (This is three exact same scenes condensed into one because they say the same thing each time and go nowhere.)
Two guys on horses but I couldn't tell who they were and the sound got messed up so I don't know what they said, but they are a far cry from the Alborada caballeros.
Martina tries to get Maite to tell the truth to Luis Antonio about why she married Adolfo, that filthy pig. Even though Adolfo is currently behaving himself who knows what might happen one day. Maite gives a dissertation about how noble Unibrow is. Martina wants Maite to run away to Unibrow, "don't lose this one chance at happiness." Martina almost gets her out the door, suitcase in hand, but Maite loses her nerve and thinks she should talk to him first before showing up on his doorstep.
Dinner at the Cuckold's and Manola's house, she is all kissy-face to her husband in front of Unibrow. L.A. excuses himself to call back home to check on his boys and his friend Dionisio asks about Maite then points out she's married now. Nice friend. Unibrow is brooding on the patio and Manola shows up wearing her jammies. The camera makes a slow pan down, down, down...to her fuzzy house-slippers? I guess this signifies some sort of proposition because Unibrow gets all befuddled and says "it's not proper." (Stilleto heels I could believe, but slippers? Fuzzy white with pink bows?) Manola puts her sly, hurt face on and says she's just trying to escape "the heat." The Cuckold Gustavo shows up and says two cows died, they have to leave right away. Manola walks outside and Felipe jumps her and drags "his treasure" down behind the bushes. They make out while Gustavo comes out looking for her.
Later, in the bedroom, she tells Felipe that she and L.A. met in Baja. He gets jealous but she says she doesn't really like L.A. They tell each other to shut up a lot. (I'm confused. Did she call him Renato? Isn’t this Felipe or is it somebody else?) They think that Jacinta is blind to her stupid son Adolfo's faults, she's alway going on about his blue blood, talking about him as if he's the offspring of a well-bred horse. Wait! That gives Felipe an idea, maybe there's a way to make Jacinta see Adolfo for the dope he is. Cut to the stable where Felipe takes out a bottle with a skull on it and feeds it to the horse..."Take this my pretty, and soon you will meet the best vet in the region."
Griselda decides to write a letter to L.A. telling him of Maite's sacrifice on his behalf. She gives it to Martina to give to L.A. Martina needs to find proof that Jacinta is poisoning Maite in order to unmask her.
Jacinta, Maite and Adolfo are having a gloomy breakfast when a man runs in to tell Jacinta her horse "Shake" has taken ill with colic. They rush out, meanwhile Martina searches Jacinta's room. She finds a bag with packets of powder and, last thought bubble I swear, thinks in her native tongue which sounds really cool, "Venemous demonic witch, dear God, get this badness far away!"
Griselda, Remedios and others are in the kitchen, it's very boring, they talk about the lame doctor that Maite saw, Griselda goes on again about how she promised to protect Maite. Then Remedios tells her tale of woe once more to Griselda, how she didn't want to break up Pedro's home but he wanted to do right by her since she carried his child. She had already registered Federico under her name, but Pedro recognized him has a Valladolid, but Federico doesn't know this, he has equal rights to the hacienda but he doesn't know this either, Jacinta knows and that's why she paid for his studies even though he wasn't a good student, but he's a good hacienda worker which is what his father wanted anyway. (They go into more details of this story but I think it is something that has been explained previously. If not let me know and I will add some more.) Remedios is telling Griselda this because she (Remedios) and Maite are in a similar condition. Griselda tells Remedios not to trust Jacinta with Federico's inheritence. Remedios says there is a letter explaining everything in case of her death and Maite should stay married to Adolfo to insure her daughter's future.
Martina stupidly gives Griselda's letter to Manola's maid to give to L.A., directly into his hands please. Of course Manola is lurking and snags the letter immediately telling poor Evelia to get back to work. Evelia walks off scratching her head...huh? what happened? (Manola is beginning to remind me of Diego, and she even has a mask, her Kabuki makeup!)
Back at the stables Jacinta doesn't want to lose her horse, but of course Adolfo the bad vet doesn't know how to help aside from giving injections...
I apologize, but Barrera runs a few minutes past the hour and I forgot to tell Tivo to account for this. We'll just have to find out what happens tomorrow!
We open with Maite's confession about her one true love (see previous recap). Suddenly Federico pops in to say "You'll never believe who showed up at the Zamoro Hacienda, Luis Antonio! Don Gustavo called him in to take care of his cattle." Maite suddenly doesn't feel so well and she has to lie down. Federico asks what's up with Maite, she's married to Adolfo, correct, "or is there something I don't know???" "Don't tell me Maite still has the hots for Luis Antonio, or that Adolfo had to marry her?" Griselda says, "Nobody forced her to marry, she did it for her daughter." Martina wants to tell L.A. everything but Griselda says first they have to resolve the issue of Maite's health. They need to find the notorious bag of powder that Jacinta has been giving to Maite; they need this evidence so others in the pueblo will believe them because the whole world thinks Doña Jacinta is a saint.
Speaking of the saint, she is sealing a letter and commands her servant to take it to the Padre and return immediately. Now comes the first of tonight's MANY thought bubbles..."I, Doña Jacinta, am sure that with this good act I will secure my position as a good Christian before Padre whatever-his-name-is." In fact, it is a big fat bribe.
Remedios asks Maite why she married Adolfo if she still loved Unibrow. After all, Adolfo didn't force her. (Um...yes he did in a way.) Adolfo is like a son to her. He is, perhaps, a bit too impassioned and does little illegal things, but he's not a bad person. Maite responds "well, I married him and we have a daughter." Remedios feels that should be enough to make Maite happy.
Jacinta's servant delivers the sealed letter to the Padre. It is money for the restoration of the church. The Padre looks touched (tetched?) and proclaims it is really "too much." Scary to think he is responsible for saving souls.
Back at the ranch...the udders are much better. Gustavo asks Luis Antonio why he left Ensenada. LA answers "the truth, I'm starting over but it's hard to start in a new place where you don't know anyone." "Yes, but you have your sons so I guess you don't need anything else to be happy..." "Oh, I don't complain," our hero says nobly. Close up of his face, bad idea.
Jacinta wants to take Maite to see the doctor...alone. But Griselda insists on coming so she can know first hand about her niece's health.
Break to a hilarious scene of Manola gagging horrendously over her baby's poopie diaper. Her cuckold of a husband (Gustavo) comes in and plans his son's future as a soccer star while mom continues to be horrified by the aroma of sour milk. Dad says it's normal. Next thought bubble is Manola's..."Ay, what a tender scene, if you only knew that the son you wanted so badly isn't yours. You're going to spend your life raising Federico's son. There is no doubt that you are an idiot, Gustavo, a poor idiot." (Guess she really "put the horns on him." I learned that from Alborada. )
Jacinta, Maite and Griselda arrive at the doctor's office. This next scene confused me: Jacinta volunteers to go in first so that Maite doesn't have to wait, i.e. so she can confab with the Dr. in private and thwart Maite's treatment. There are two men, the young one is perhaps the first Dr. that Maite saw? Anyway, Jacinta wants him to hide even though Maite "met him only once." Meanwhile Griselda and Maite run into Unibrow! They make small talk and stare meaningfully at each other. (They should not have these close-ups of him, they're dreadful.)
Back at the ranch Adolfo accuses Federico of stealing money. Federico acts insulted, saying he has worked there his whole life so why should he do such a thing. Adolfo demands the records and plans to go to the bank in the morning to check the accounts. Outside Federico has a thought bubble..."That imbecile Adolfo! If he sticks his nose into the books then for sure he'll find out I lied about the accounts. Must be very careful or he'll ruin my plan. Must put money in the bank first thing in the morning." He's creepy but it looks like he's got a good bod.
The Dr. tells Maite that even though x-rays showed no fracture of her cranium her fall down the stairs could have affected other areas of her brain. "The fact that you feel bad one minute then great the next just isn't normal." Griselda is not impressed and neither am I. He has great confidence in the other Dr. that she saw (the guy in the next room?) whom he has known many years. Griselda wants a third and fourth opinion and the Dr. prescribes a tranquilizer for Maite. (I'm no doctor but I do NOT think this will alleviate her dizziness.)
Outside Griselda spills the beans that they saw Unibrow and that he and Maite had a relationship in the past. Maite wants to rest while Griselda and Jacinta have a power struggle over who should care for her. Jacinta has a thought bubble..."What's with this woman? I have a feeling she knows something." (I'm not doing any more thought bubbles.)
Unibrow shows up at the house of Gustavo and Manola. Manola, holding the baby, gives a flirtacious glance to Unibrow. Honestly, I can't tell if he he looks disapproving or interested, his acting is that good.
Back at the ranch, Remedios wants to have it out with Jacinta. Remedios accuses Jacinta of instigating Magdalena's near death experience and departure from the pueblo. Jacinta says her good actions speak for themselves. (And we know they do.) They go round and round exchanging insults. Jacinta tells Remedios that she and her daughter are the same sort of sinners, carnal sinners, sinners of passion. The only difference being Magda is with many men and Remedios only one, married, Jacinta's husband. (This is three exact same scenes condensed into one because they say the same thing each time and go nowhere.)
Two guys on horses but I couldn't tell who they were and the sound got messed up so I don't know what they said, but they are a far cry from the Alborada caballeros.
Martina tries to get Maite to tell the truth to Luis Antonio about why she married Adolfo, that filthy pig. Even though Adolfo is currently behaving himself who knows what might happen one day. Maite gives a dissertation about how noble Unibrow is. Martina wants Maite to run away to Unibrow, "don't lose this one chance at happiness." Martina almost gets her out the door, suitcase in hand, but Maite loses her nerve and thinks she should talk to him first before showing up on his doorstep.
Dinner at the Cuckold's and Manola's house, she is all kissy-face to her husband in front of Unibrow. L.A. excuses himself to call back home to check on his boys and his friend Dionisio asks about Maite then points out she's married now. Nice friend. Unibrow is brooding on the patio and Manola shows up wearing her jammies. The camera makes a slow pan down, down, down...to her fuzzy house-slippers? I guess this signifies some sort of proposition because Unibrow gets all befuddled and says "it's not proper." (Stilleto heels I could believe, but slippers? Fuzzy white with pink bows?) Manola puts her sly, hurt face on and says she's just trying to escape "the heat." The Cuckold Gustavo shows up and says two cows died, they have to leave right away. Manola walks outside and Felipe jumps her and drags "his treasure" down behind the bushes. They make out while Gustavo comes out looking for her.
Later, in the bedroom, she tells Felipe that she and L.A. met in Baja. He gets jealous but she says she doesn't really like L.A. They tell each other to shut up a lot. (I'm confused. Did she call him Renato? Isn’t this Felipe or is it somebody else?) They think that Jacinta is blind to her stupid son Adolfo's faults, she's alway going on about his blue blood, talking about him as if he's the offspring of a well-bred horse. Wait! That gives Felipe an idea, maybe there's a way to make Jacinta see Adolfo for the dope he is. Cut to the stable where Felipe takes out a bottle with a skull on it and feeds it to the horse..."Take this my pretty, and soon you will meet the best vet in the region."
Griselda decides to write a letter to L.A. telling him of Maite's sacrifice on his behalf. She gives it to Martina to give to L.A. Martina needs to find proof that Jacinta is poisoning Maite in order to unmask her.
Jacinta, Maite and Adolfo are having a gloomy breakfast when a man runs in to tell Jacinta her horse "Shake" has taken ill with colic. They rush out, meanwhile Martina searches Jacinta's room. She finds a bag with packets of powder and, last thought bubble I swear, thinks in her native tongue which sounds really cool, "Venemous demonic witch, dear God, get this badness far away!"
Griselda, Remedios and others are in the kitchen, it's very boring, they talk about the lame doctor that Maite saw, Griselda goes on again about how she promised to protect Maite. Then Remedios tells her tale of woe once more to Griselda, how she didn't want to break up Pedro's home but he wanted to do right by her since she carried his child. She had already registered Federico under her name, but Pedro recognized him has a Valladolid, but Federico doesn't know this, he has equal rights to the hacienda but he doesn't know this either, Jacinta knows and that's why she paid for his studies even though he wasn't a good student, but he's a good hacienda worker which is what his father wanted anyway. (They go into more details of this story but I think it is something that has been explained previously. If not let me know and I will add some more.) Remedios is telling Griselda this because she (Remedios) and Maite are in a similar condition. Griselda tells Remedios not to trust Jacinta with Federico's inheritence. Remedios says there is a letter explaining everything in case of her death and Maite should stay married to Adolfo to insure her daughter's future.
Martina stupidly gives Griselda's letter to Manola's maid to give to L.A., directly into his hands please. Of course Manola is lurking and snags the letter immediately telling poor Evelia to get back to work. Evelia walks off scratching her head...huh? what happened? (Manola is beginning to remind me of Diego, and she even has a mask, her Kabuki makeup!)
Back at the stables Jacinta doesn't want to lose her horse, but of course Adolfo the bad vet doesn't know how to help aside from giving injections...
I apologize, but Barrera runs a few minutes past the hour and I forgot to tell Tivo to account for this. We'll just have to find out what happens tomorrow!
Labels: barrera
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Barrera de Amor: April 24
If you're just getting started with Barrera, go read the cast of characters below. I'll wait.
OK, did you read it? Good. We proceed.
At the start of this episode, we have a stoned prostitute leaving town on a bus; the heroine, Maite, being poisoned by her mother-in-law, Jacinta; her husband, Adolfo, an incompetent veterinarian, failing to cure his neighbor's cows; the hero, Unibrow, moping in his veterinarian clinic in another town but being attended to by a sexy young pet-shop owner named Nuria.
What preceded this episode: the prostitute was Magdalena (note the symbolism of the name?). She once was the girlfriend of Jacinta's son Adolfo, but Jacinta didn't like her and therefore went to Magdalena's father and said something: subsequently, the father ran Jacinta out of the house so naturally she became a prostitute.
I hope we've got other people to carry on with these recaps. I'll plan to do next Monday. Write me at melinama@mappamundi.com if you're willing to recap (I think we have somebody for tonight.) Leave a comment if you read this. If nobody is going to read, we will pack up shop till some unknown future date.
Technorati Tags: Barrera+de+Amor, Telenovela, Novela
OK, did you read it? Good. We proceed.
At the start of this episode, we have a stoned prostitute leaving town on a bus; the heroine, Maite, being poisoned by her mother-in-law, Jacinta; her husband, Adolfo, an incompetent veterinarian, failing to cure his neighbor's cows; the hero, Unibrow, moping in his veterinarian clinic in another town but being attended to by a sexy young pet-shop owner named Nuria.
What preceded this episode: the prostitute was Magdalena (note the symbolism of the name?). She once was the girlfriend of Jacinta's son Adolfo, but Jacinta didn't like her and therefore went to Magdalena's father and said something: subsequently, the father ran Jacinta out of the house so naturally she became a prostitute.
- It's years later now, and Magdalena recently showed up, bringing a baptism present for Adolfo and Maite's daughter Valeria. Jacinta saw her, was incensed, and organized a gossip campaign against her among the women of the town. Under the guise of door-to-door bible study, a lynching was fomented. (I saw a few moments of styrofoam stones being hurled at Magdalena on a previous night.) Adolfo is upset that his mother was present and didn't stop the little lynching party.
Tonight, Magdalena, with nought but one little bandage neatly in the middle of her forehead, is at a bus station headed out of town. Federico, who is a servile evil henchman to Jacinta, tells Magdalena she should go away and never come back. He's been putting spiders in her room. - I'm going to combine all the poisoning episodes. Martina, a nice servant in the Valladolid household, has witnessed Jacinta putting poison in the tea, and mutters under her breath in Jacinta's presence - but in an incomprehensible Native Language - "Evil Witch, You'll Go To Hell For Poisoning Maite."
Jacinta wants to hire another doctor because (oh, the unfairness) Maite isn't getting better. She gets herself a new evil henchman, too.
Martina has managed to intercept the poisoned tea a time or two and therefore Maite is feeling perfectly fine! Martina starts to warn Maite, but Maite's aunt Griselda stops her saying, "let's not upset her." What a poor plot device! If you were being poisoned, wouldn't you want to know it? So you could at least stop thanking your poisoner for her kind attentions?
Then there's some poisoned orange juice. "We'll take it up for you, Jacinta." "No, I'll do it myself, I want to make sure she drinks every damn drop!" A little fib about a telephone call clears the stage for Griselda to pour the OJ into an amphora, hide the glass, and subsitute non-adulterated juice.
After missing a few poison doses, Maite is feeling great and comes outside, dressed for the first time in weeks I guess, to have breakfast with her dear mother-in-law! She hasn't had the nerve to hold her baby since (nauseated by the tea) she fell down the stairs with her, but she holds her now. Jacinta mutters in a thought balloon: "Whoever's done this will pay!"
Martina, the Indian servant (she doesn't look Indian nohow to me), perhaps realizing she's the one who's going to pay - and that she may not be above ground much longer - starts furiously babbling, trying to warn Maite. "I killed a black widow spider, I was reminded when I saw your dress, Doña Jacinta. Oh those spiders, they're poisonous and dangerous! They bite when you don't expect it! They have killed so many babies! They eat their men!" - Manola and her money-fixated mother are back from the airport. Manola is upset that her [UPDATE: I thought it was her dad but it's really her husband, an ossified ugly guy named Gustavo Zamora I think] forgot to send the chauffeur to pick them up.
He's sorry - it's cause he's worried about his cows, who are not getting better from their udder problems. The mother has no interest in the cows' problems but she zooms instantly to her own self-interest: "Then we'll lose a lot of money?"Maricruz wrote: Melinama, the guy with the sick cows is not Manola's Dad is her husband she married him, when Adolfo left her for Maite. She wants him to die to inherit the money, and that is why federico tried to kill him en an earlier episode... I don't like the novela, but I enjoy your recaps.
Manola, the daughter, tells her husband: "Your vet, Adolfo, is completely incompetent. He drank his way through vet school, he told me so himself. Better you should get Luis Antonio (Unibrow), we saw him in San Diego." - Unibrow is sad. "I like taking care of cats and dogs, but I miss the cattle, the horses, the bulls, they are my specialty!" Therefore he's delighted to get the call from Gustavo (who has the sick cows). Let's take stock (so to speak):
Adolfo Unibrow Handsome and young Fat and old Bad or possibly being rehabiliated Good, though boring Adolfo has Maite and also baby Valeria (see last item below). Has a cute pet-shop owner, Nutria (er, Nuria) doting on him while he broods about Maite marrying the other guy Has a mother who will willingly murder for him. Has Maite weeping over him Is a bad vet Is a good vet
There is a confrontation between Adolfo and Unibrow at the Zamora stables. Unibrow discontinues Adolfo's antibiotic treatment. The owner points out: "I can't sell milk that's full of antibiotics!" Is this a covert public-service announcement? Adolfo is way miffed. Don't forget, Maite vastly prefers Unibrow (whose belly made me laugh out loud) to her husband Adolfo, and Adolfo knows it. - Ladies of the village righteously tell the Padre: "We stoned Magdalena because Jacinta told us she was a danger to our families."
Immediately after that, Martina and Griselda come tell the Padre about Jacinta's poisoning project. He says it's a very serious accusation and he'll have to check it out himself.
He goes to Jacinta and talks about the stoning but not the poisoning. He doesn't look so well. He may be a goner too. - Jacinta remembers a conversation she overheard between her husband and his father. The father was saying, "if you're going to boink Remedios, at least don't let it get in the way of your family. ... it's my fault, I made you marry Jacinta when you didn't love her, and you go to Remedios for what Jacinta can't give you."
- There is a little lovefest during which the aunt, Griselda, remembers that Maite was given into her care by Maite's mother Eloisa on her deathbed. Griselda tells Maite: "While I'm alive, nothing will happen to you." (a) Since Maite has been raped and is now being poisoned, this is obviously not the case; (b) I believe this statement is a deathknell for Griselda.
- There is another lovefest when the evil Manola comes to ask the evil Jacinta to be godmother to little Rodrigo. "Who better than you to impart the best Christian values to my son?" Manola is the one Jacinta always wanted for her son Adolfo.
- Finally, Manola stirs up a little trouble by "mentioning" that she saw Unibrow in town, that he's come to treat the neighbor's cattle, and that he has a nice little bimbo of his own called Nutria (Nuria).
Maite goes staggering into the house and tells her team (Martina and Griselda) that she only married Adolfo because:- He raped her.
- Unibrow beat him up.
- Unibrow went to jail for beating him up.
- The only way Maite could get her sweetie out of jail was to promise to marry Adolfo.
- The newly-born Valeria is the consequence of the rape.
- Only three people know this: Martina the pseudo-Indian servant, Maite's aunt Griselda, and the Padre. "I don't ever want my daughter Valeria to know..."
She still loves Unibrow, of course. I'm sorry, my suspension of disbelief has been stretched beyond its limits with this one. Unibrow is the worst love interest I've ever seen in any telenovela. - He raped her.
I hope we've got other people to carry on with these recaps. I'll plan to do next Monday. Write me at melinama@mappamundi.com if you're willing to recap (I think we have somebody for tonight.) Leave a comment if you read this. If nobody is going to read, we will pack up shop till some unknown future date.
Technorati Tags: Barrera+de+Amor, Telenovela, Novela
Labels: barrera
Monday, April 24, 2006
Second part of Cristina will come
More excuses. It's going to take a little while for me to recap the Cristina show on Monday. Unlike Friday's show, which was obviously edited from this one, there is some real conversation here and I can't stay up to all hours since I have to go to a meeting tomorrow. Tomorrow night is my drawing class. But I will finish it as soon as I can.
Jean
Jean
Labels: Alborada
Organizing blogging for Barrera
Hi all,
I WILL be posting a recap for tonight's show, but I couldn't watch it yet because a friend dropped over and I thought it would be churlish to say, "I can't talk to you because I have to watch Barrera de Amor. Then, of course, I had to ogle Fernando a bit on Cristina's show and now it's too late. So I will watch tomorrow and have the recap up for you then.
We only have, I think, three days of the week accounted for. So we could use some more regular recappers.
I WILL be posting a recap for tonight's show, but I couldn't watch it yet because a friend dropped over and I thought it would be churlish to say, "I can't talk to you because I have to watch Barrera de Amor. Then, of course, I had to ogle Fernando a bit on Cristina's show and now it's too late. So I will watch tomorrow and have the recap up for you then.
We only have, I think, three days of the week accounted for. So we could use some more regular recappers.
Labels: barrera, recappers-needed
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Alborada Cast on Cristina, part 1, Friday, April 21
Cristina (C) says that tonight is an ‘aperitif’ because of limitied time and the show will continue on Monday. She introduces Fernando Colunga (FC) with clips from his earlier novelas. Then Lucero is introduced.
C to FL: How do you feel now that the novela is finished?
F: Marvelous, it was a great cast and one of the best experiences of my life.
Daniela Romo (DR) comes down from the audience.
C: Who is this crazy woman?
DR pretends that she is angry that she won’t be on the show ‘til Monday and they haven’t killed her really and she leaves.
L: (while a clip of her kissing FL is on the screen) When women in public see FL coming, their jaws drop.
C: Don’t tell you are jealous?
L: Of course.
C: What is this? Are you cold, dear?
L: I’m happy to be here.
C: Tell me, was this a novela where you lost weight because when you were here last time you had a big belly and a big baby who is now a year old.
L: Yes, I was five months pregnant then and showing a little bit.
C: So how was it in the novela that everyone was so thin?
FC: They didn’t give us food.
C: Karla (the producer) was evil and didn’t give you anything to eat?
L: No, the truth is that we worked very hard. We had to deliver 100 percent and ate enough to be able to do that.
FC: We took care of ourselves because the public deserves to have us look as good as possible.
C: I have seen you working out, exercising but in all the years I have known you, I have never seen you look as thin as this (showing the famous shirt changing scene). In reality, you have always been in good shape but I have never seen you in such physical form. What did you do because this is the first time I have needed to ask this question?
FC: The idea was to change my diet, to make a change for the role because to play a person of that epoch was complicated, risky. People could not accept me as a person of that time un;ess they saw a different image. So I started working 6 months before the start of the novela to completely change my diet and look for a new sense of my physique.
C to L: Speaking of physique, this lady just had a baby and had “mucho fisico” (a big body?)
L: Yes, I had given birth six months before the novela started filming and was breast feeding so my breasts were larger than usual. In the low cut dresses of the period, women said to me, Hipolita, since when is your cleavage popping out so attractively? But it only lasted 2 or 3 months because I stopped breast feeding.
C to L: Was it difficult to change your image as Lucero because you are an active woman who doesn’t wear low cut clothing. Was it difficult for you to feel like the character you were portraying? [Jean- this is a stupid question. She’s an actor, right? That’s what actors do.]
L: I take the character of the person I am portraying – rich or poor, good or bad and then there is the makeup and the clothes. I think the Hipólita’s clothing and that of women in in general in telenovelas is sexy. They are striking.
FC: (interrupts) wild (salvaje)
L: Really?
FC: for Hipólita, for Hipólita.
L: Of course, Hipólita was supposed to be sexy, right. I believe that women in other times were sexy too but they were modest and didn’t show a lot but probably were sexy and feminine in other ways. What I liked was that the clothes and the fashion and briefly, my body, looked in those low bodices. I think it was pretty.
(Behind the scenes interview with L) L:A woman came up to me and said that she loved FC etc. etc. and I told her that there was going to be a scene where he took off his shirt. When, when, she cried. I don’t know but sometime. She said, what a man, how divine, etc.)
C introduces the producer of Alborada, Karla Estrada (KE) [Jean – in one of the ugliest dresses I have ever seen!] You promised us a lot of ‘bloopers’ and outtakes.
KE: It is done. (scenes play in the background)
C: First, how was the production of this novela different than that for Amor Real? Because you had to make sure that the audience didn’t think this Amor Real part II.
KE: What was difficult was that you had a novela that people liked a lot . So at the beginning we thought we might use the same costumes because they were very beautiful but we realized that everything was different in this period, the clothes, the colors of the walls, the lighting. The clothes were very feminine with the low necklines but elegant too. So we worked to make sure that nothing appeared the same as in Amor Real and we succeeded. The truth is that the novela succeeded from what the actors, the director, the screenwriter and everyone did. I have tremendous respect for what everyone did to finish up today.
Then followed scenes of FC going into the audience and asking women not to come at him screaming and L sings a song.
C: I know you don’t want to wait three more days for a whole hour with all the actors from the novela [so we have a teaser]
Luis Roberto Guzmán (LRG), who played Diego, enters and approaches FC.
LRG: I challenge you to a duel because, I am the Count of Guevara.
He leaves.
C again hypes Monday’s show and Daniela Romo sings a song.
C to FL: How do you feel now that the novela is finished?
F: Marvelous, it was a great cast and one of the best experiences of my life.
Daniela Romo (DR) comes down from the audience.
C: Who is this crazy woman?
DR pretends that she is angry that she won’t be on the show ‘til Monday and they haven’t killed her really and she leaves.
L: (while a clip of her kissing FL is on the screen) When women in public see FL coming, their jaws drop.
C: Don’t tell you are jealous?
L: Of course.
C: What is this? Are you cold, dear?
L: I’m happy to be here.
C: Tell me, was this a novela where you lost weight because when you were here last time you had a big belly and a big baby who is now a year old.
L: Yes, I was five months pregnant then and showing a little bit.
C: So how was it in the novela that everyone was so thin?
FC: They didn’t give us food.
C: Karla (the producer) was evil and didn’t give you anything to eat?
L: No, the truth is that we worked very hard. We had to deliver 100 percent and ate enough to be able to do that.
FC: We took care of ourselves because the public deserves to have us look as good as possible.
C: I have seen you working out, exercising but in all the years I have known you, I have never seen you look as thin as this (showing the famous shirt changing scene). In reality, you have always been in good shape but I have never seen you in such physical form. What did you do because this is the first time I have needed to ask this question?
FC: The idea was to change my diet, to make a change for the role because to play a person of that epoch was complicated, risky. People could not accept me as a person of that time un;ess they saw a different image. So I started working 6 months before the start of the novela to completely change my diet and look for a new sense of my physique.
C to L: Speaking of physique, this lady just had a baby and had “mucho fisico” (a big body?)
L: Yes, I had given birth six months before the novela started filming and was breast feeding so my breasts were larger than usual. In the low cut dresses of the period, women said to me, Hipolita, since when is your cleavage popping out so attractively? But it only lasted 2 or 3 months because I stopped breast feeding.
C to L: Was it difficult to change your image as Lucero because you are an active woman who doesn’t wear low cut clothing. Was it difficult for you to feel like the character you were portraying? [Jean- this is a stupid question. She’s an actor, right? That’s what actors do.]
L: I take the character of the person I am portraying – rich or poor, good or bad and then there is the makeup and the clothes. I think the Hipólita’s clothing and that of women in in general in telenovelas is sexy. They are striking.
FC: (interrupts) wild (salvaje)
L: Really?
FC: for Hipólita, for Hipólita.
L: Of course, Hipólita was supposed to be sexy, right. I believe that women in other times were sexy too but they were modest and didn’t show a lot but probably were sexy and feminine in other ways. What I liked was that the clothes and the fashion and briefly, my body, looked in those low bodices. I think it was pretty.
(Behind the scenes interview with L) L:A woman came up to me and said that she loved FC etc. etc. and I told her that there was going to be a scene where he took off his shirt. When, when, she cried. I don’t know but sometime. She said, what a man, how divine, etc.)
C introduces the producer of Alborada, Karla Estrada (KE) [Jean – in one of the ugliest dresses I have ever seen!] You promised us a lot of ‘bloopers’ and outtakes.
KE: It is done. (scenes play in the background)
C: First, how was the production of this novela different than that for Amor Real? Because you had to make sure that the audience didn’t think this Amor Real part II.
KE: What was difficult was that you had a novela that people liked a lot . So at the beginning we thought we might use the same costumes because they were very beautiful but we realized that everything was different in this period, the clothes, the colors of the walls, the lighting. The clothes were very feminine with the low necklines but elegant too. So we worked to make sure that nothing appeared the same as in Amor Real and we succeeded. The truth is that the novela succeeded from what the actors, the director, the screenwriter and everyone did. I have tremendous respect for what everyone did to finish up today.
Then followed scenes of FC going into the audience and asking women not to come at him screaming and L sings a song.
C: I know you don’t want to wait three more days for a whole hour with all the actors from the novela [so we have a teaser]
Luis Roberto Guzmán (LRG), who played Diego, enters and approaches FC.
LRG: I challenge you to a duel because, I am the Count of Guevara.
He leaves.
C again hypes Monday’s show and Daniela Romo sings a song.
Labels: Alborada
Friday, April 21, 2006
Aida's article on "Alborada"
She sent this to me with permission to publish it... I don't have the time to translate it this weekend, but if somebody would like to take a crack at it, email your translation to me and I'll post it...
Alborada: Formidable Entorno Histórico
Por Aída González-Jarrín
De vez en cuando, veo alguna telenovela porque algo me atrae y creo que tiene algún valor. Alborada, producción de Telelvisa, ejecutada por Carla Estrada y presentada por Univisión, me ha entretenido hasta la fascinación. No tanto por el triángulo amoroso entre Hipólita (Lucero), Don Luís (Fernando Colunga) y Antonio (Arturo Peniche), que en sí puede ser un fuerte atractivo para los amantes de este género, como por su contenido histórico-social.
Cualquier historia ambientada a una época distinta a la nuestra es difícil de realizar. Si se quiere credibilidad, se requiere una investigación minuciosa. Esta telenovela -que desarrolla los conflictos clásicos de romances equivocados, la ususrpación de un título y las intrigas entre familiares y asociados- está ubicada en el México colonial; y estos hechos están riveteados por las costumbres, creencias y factores sociales de la época. Encajar complicados hechos novelísticos a un contexto histórico-social requiere enorme laboriosidad y Alborada lo consigue con éxito.
Se toca principalmente la condición de la mujer, su estado de dependencia y sumisión, el matrimonio arreglado por conveniencia, el ingreso forzado a los conventos, la ignominia de la ilegitimidad y del adulterio femenino, y la desvalorización de la mujer no sujeta al esperado código de conducta. También se explora la excepción, la mujer que, como viuda, posee autoridad y derechos.
La influencia de la religión y el poderoso papel de la iglesia se hacen presentes. Además, se expone a la Inquisición y su persecusión a los judíos y algunos otros por considerarseles “sacrilegos.” En México se implantó esta práctica en 1571 y terminó con la separacion de España en 1821.
Se pintan aspectos económicos como el comercio entre las colonias, que en la realidad ocurrió con las reformas de los Borbones. También se observa la división de clases, privilegios sociales, servidumbre, explotación de nativos y esclavitud.
Estan allí el entorno ambiental de un México rural y un costumbrismo fiel a la época, donde se dibujan los ecos de la Ilustración y los albores de la Independencia.
Encontré la actuación impecable. María Zarattini escribió el libreto. La voz de Plácido Domingo corona esta producción.
A Televisa: por favor, más producciones hermosas, entretenidas y educativas como ésta, que nos dan a conocer la valiente historia de nuestros pueblos y sus gentes.
Aída González-Jarrín
e-mail: aidagj@aol.com
Licenciada en Ciencias Políticas y Educadora, Nueva York – 21 de abril de 2006
Por Aída González-Jarrín
De vez en cuando, veo alguna telenovela porque algo me atrae y creo que tiene algún valor. Alborada, producción de Telelvisa, ejecutada por Carla Estrada y presentada por Univisión, me ha entretenido hasta la fascinación. No tanto por el triángulo amoroso entre Hipólita (Lucero), Don Luís (Fernando Colunga) y Antonio (Arturo Peniche), que en sí puede ser un fuerte atractivo para los amantes de este género, como por su contenido histórico-social.
Cualquier historia ambientada a una época distinta a la nuestra es difícil de realizar. Si se quiere credibilidad, se requiere una investigación minuciosa. Esta telenovela -que desarrolla los conflictos clásicos de romances equivocados, la ususrpación de un título y las intrigas entre familiares y asociados- está ubicada en el México colonial; y estos hechos están riveteados por las costumbres, creencias y factores sociales de la época. Encajar complicados hechos novelísticos a un contexto histórico-social requiere enorme laboriosidad y Alborada lo consigue con éxito.
Se toca principalmente la condición de la mujer, su estado de dependencia y sumisión, el matrimonio arreglado por conveniencia, el ingreso forzado a los conventos, la ignominia de la ilegitimidad y del adulterio femenino, y la desvalorización de la mujer no sujeta al esperado código de conducta. También se explora la excepción, la mujer que, como viuda, posee autoridad y derechos.
La influencia de la religión y el poderoso papel de la iglesia se hacen presentes. Además, se expone a la Inquisición y su persecusión a los judíos y algunos otros por considerarseles “sacrilegos.” En México se implantó esta práctica en 1571 y terminó con la separacion de España en 1821.
Se pintan aspectos económicos como el comercio entre las colonias, que en la realidad ocurrió con las reformas de los Borbones. También se observa la división de clases, privilegios sociales, servidumbre, explotación de nativos y esclavitud.
Estan allí el entorno ambiental de un México rural y un costumbrismo fiel a la época, donde se dibujan los ecos de la Ilustración y los albores de la Independencia.
Encontré la actuación impecable. María Zarattini escribió el libreto. La voz de Plácido Domingo corona esta producción.
A Televisa: por favor, más producciones hermosas, entretenidas y educativas como ésta, que nos dan a conocer la valiente historia de nuestros pueblos y sus gentes.
Aída González-Jarrín
e-mail: aidagj@aol.com
Licenciada en Ciencias Políticas y Educadora, Nueva York – 21 de abril de 2006
Labels: Alborada
A site where we can catch up on "Barrera de Amor"
If you read Spanish, a fan has a Network54.com site where she is recapping. Scroll partially down the page and there is a drop-down menu entitled RESUMENES. I think we have arrived at approximately Chapter 30.
Labels: barrera
Some observations on Barrera de Amor, April 18
To prequel Jean's recap of Wednesday, here are some things I got out of Tuesday's show (the first one I've watched):
If anybody out there has been actually WATCHING this show and has something to add, please join in!
- I don't much like any of these people - it will make recapping easier.
- In my opinion the first "barrier to love" is this fat old guy with the big black eyebrow.
- Maite's father's name was José, he met Maite's mother Eloisa at a fair.
- Griselda (Maite's aunt, with whom she used to live before she got married) is an old friend of Remedios. Remedios has just admitted to Griselda that the rumors are true: Remedios was Pedro's lover (Pedro being the evil Jacinta's dead husband) and Pedro was the father of her son Federico.
- Maite is a good cook and maybe runs a merendero (outdoor bar).
- Due to being poisoned every day by Jacinta, Maite is dizzy and therefore afraid to hold her daughter.
- Nicolas is the father of Chantal; Eloise (Maite's mother) was his first love.
- There has been a long, tiresome power struggle about whether this baby is to be named Valeria (after Jacinta's dead husband's mother) or Eloisa (after Maite's mother). I've only watched the show once and I'm already bored with this thread.
- Federico to his mother Remedios: "You always say my father was a saint and that he died in an accident." He figures out his dad had "another family" and that's why he didn't marry Remedios.
- Maite is trying to believe her husband, Adolfo, is changing - he raped her, got her pregnant, and then forced her to marry him by blackmailing her true love Unibrow, but now he's acting sort of sweet.
- Jacinta: "My whole life has been dedicated to others." "It's I who decide what goes on in this house."
- Somewhere else, Unibrow is about to take on a chipper, sexy young pet store owner as an assistant. Her name is Nuria - or maybe, according to the subtitles, Nutria. (A nutria is "an aquatic South American rodent resembling a small beaver") I can't believe she's going to fall for him.
- Magdalena, who I guess is "good," sneaks a baby present to Maite. Maite invites her to come in but Adolfo's awful mother Jacinta runs her off. Later, Maite's husband Adolfo explains: Magdalena used to be his girlfriend, but his awful mother broke them up - and whatever she said to Magdalena's father caused him to throw Magdalena out on the street, and so she became a hooker.
- Unibrow's sons nag him shrilly: "Why didn't you marry Mayte?" "Grownup's business."
- We see Jacinta poison Maite's special herbal tea. If it were me, I'd stop taking that tea - she immediately gets sicker every time she drinks it!
- At the moment Maite believes her mother-in-law is nice, and thanks her many times. Jacinta: "That's good, cause I don't like ungrateful people"
- If you like to read the esmas summaries, we're up to around the 18th of november...
If anybody out there has been actually WATCHING this show and has something to add, please join in!
Labels: barrera
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Barrera de Amor - Wednesay April 19
I watched Wednesday’s episode of Barrera de Amor. Here’s what I’ve got so far. Thanks to Melinama for the cast list and plot summary.
Well, we’re on familiar territory here with an evil mother. Our heroine, Maite, is in bed all dopey while a wet nurse breast feeds her baby. Jacinta, her evil mother in law comes in and gives her a cup of tea in which she has put something (presumably a drug of some kind). The baby girl is to be baptized the next day. Maite wants to name her Eloisa after her mother and Jacinta wants to name her Valeria. Maite dozes off and Jacinta tells Adolfo, her son, Maite’s husband (and rapist) that Maite has agreed to name the baby Valeria. Adolfo is surprised but he believes his mother.
Next morning, the day of the baptism, Jacinta drugs Maite yet again. She advises Adolfo not to leave the baby alone with Maite or let her carry her child because of some incident in the past where Maite fell carrying the baby or something – doubtless because she was drugged. Adolfo defends his wife’s right to be with her child. Jacinta does not want Maite to come to the baptism.
Meanwhile Luis Antonio (LA for short), a vet, Maite’s true love who lives somewhere else, calls her on the phone. Maite says that she doesn’t want to talk to him but then tells Adolfo that she was pretending and she will love LA forever.
A woman, who I think is named Magdalena, is scared of spiders and somebody leaves a spider on her dressing table.
At the baptism, Maite shows up late, dressed inappropriately and acting like she is drunk although we know that she is drugged. She objects to having the baby named Valeria but is overruled by Jacinta. (This is the third novela I’ve seen in which the actor who plays the priest has appeared – as a priest. He’s a professional priest.) Some bitchy friends of Jacinta decide that she is drunk and say nasty things about her mother. A woman, who I think is Maite’s aunt and who works in Jacinta’s house, defends Maite’s mother.
We see Federico and Manola lurking around but they don’t seem to be contributing the plot at this point.
A blind woman gets a rabies shot for her seeing-eye dog from LA.
Well, we’re on familiar territory here with an evil mother. Our heroine, Maite, is in bed all dopey while a wet nurse breast feeds her baby. Jacinta, her evil mother in law comes in and gives her a cup of tea in which she has put something (presumably a drug of some kind). The baby girl is to be baptized the next day. Maite wants to name her Eloisa after her mother and Jacinta wants to name her Valeria. Maite dozes off and Jacinta tells Adolfo, her son, Maite’s husband (and rapist) that Maite has agreed to name the baby Valeria. Adolfo is surprised but he believes his mother.
Next morning, the day of the baptism, Jacinta drugs Maite yet again. She advises Adolfo not to leave the baby alone with Maite or let her carry her child because of some incident in the past where Maite fell carrying the baby or something – doubtless because she was drugged. Adolfo defends his wife’s right to be with her child. Jacinta does not want Maite to come to the baptism.
Meanwhile Luis Antonio (LA for short), a vet, Maite’s true love who lives somewhere else, calls her on the phone. Maite says that she doesn’t want to talk to him but then tells Adolfo that she was pretending and she will love LA forever.
A woman, who I think is named Magdalena, is scared of spiders and somebody leaves a spider on her dressing table.
At the baptism, Maite shows up late, dressed inappropriately and acting like she is drunk although we know that she is drugged. She objects to having the baby named Valeria but is overruled by Jacinta. (This is the third novela I’ve seen in which the actor who plays the priest has appeared – as a priest. He’s a professional priest.) Some bitchy friends of Jacinta decide that she is drunk and say nasty things about her mother. A woman, who I think is Maite’s aunt and who works in Jacinta’s house, defends Maite’s mother.
We see Federico and Manola lurking around but they don’t seem to be contributing the plot at this point.
A blind woman gets a rabies shot for her seeing-eye dog from LA.
Labels: barrera
Barrera de Amor: Cast of Characters
Catching up to this novela is going to be a challenge. There's no time to be subtle. So:
Maite (Maria Teresa): GOOD. She is our heroine. She was in love with Unibrow, the pudgy veterinarian, and always will be. She lived with her aunt Griselda (GOOD) until being raped by Adolfo. She married Adolfo so he would not send her great love, Unibrow, off to Sing-Sing forever. She has projectile breasts. She has given birth to Adolfo's daughter and is currently always nauseated because her mother-in-law Jacinta is assiduously poisoning her afternoon tea. This caused her to fall down the stairs with her baby in her arms. Now she is afraid to pick up her daughter.
Luis Antonio. GOOD. This is Unibrow. You get two pictures of this guy because it's unbelievable how unattractive he is. Tell me, WHY is he the love interest? Why isn't he the uncle who is a secret pederast? And there was a pudgy veterinarian love interest in the first telenovela I ever watched ("Niña Amada Mia") too. Every time he got to catch the gorgeous young heroine in a clinch I snorted with indignation and disbelief. What's with these old goats?
The site says: "A real man - intelligent, hard-working, strong and decisive - he does not fear to show his tender side. He doesn't tolerate lies. After his spouse died, the most important thing in his life - his two sons. Destiny gives him a second chance at love when he meets Maite."
Jacinta: THE WORST. "A hard, arrogant woman for whom prestige is the most important thing. Even though she is known in the town for being charitable and religious, at heart she is hypocritical and rancorous. She venerates the memory of her father-in-law, and dominates her son. Her husband never loved her. She pretends to be an aristocrat and hides her true origin."
Remedios: GOOD. "She was the true love of Jacinta's husband, Pedro Valladolid. She is a noble woman who was a schoolteacher. Now she works at the Valladolid hacienda and tolerates the arrogance of Jacinto so as not to endanger the inheritance of her son Federico, from whom she has always hidden the fact that Pedro was his father."
Manola: BAD. "An unscrupulous woman, vain and superficial, who cares about appearances. She betrays Adolfo with Federico, she doesn't love either of them. She wanted to marry Adolfo to get his hacienda." Her mother is still mad that her husband Nicolas (Manola's father) was in love with Eloisa (Maite's mother).
Federico: BAD. He has a low and scary voice. "He is Remedios's son, an astute and ambitious man who manipulates his mother and is servile with Jacinta and Adolfo, even though he despises them. He has secret relations with Manola, for whom he feels an obsessive passion. He is a treacherous and very dangerous man."
Adolfo: WAS BAD, NOW POSSIBLY BEING REHABILITATED. He is under the thumb of his awful mother Jacinta, who runs the hacienda with an iron fist and loses no opportunity to tell everybody "My Will is Law!" He raped Maite and then married her. Now he is trying to be nice. Maite constantly tells him she will never love him as her heart belongs to Unibrow.
Technorati Tags: Telenovela, Novela, Barrera de Amor
Maite (Maria Teresa): GOOD. She is our heroine. She was in love with Unibrow, the pudgy veterinarian, and always will be. She lived with her aunt Griselda (GOOD) until being raped by Adolfo. She married Adolfo so he would not send her great love, Unibrow, off to Sing-Sing forever. She has projectile breasts. She has given birth to Adolfo's daughter and is currently always nauseated because her mother-in-law Jacinta is assiduously poisoning her afternoon tea. This caused her to fall down the stairs with her baby in her arms. Now she is afraid to pick up her daughter.
Luis Antonio. GOOD. This is Unibrow. You get two pictures of this guy because it's unbelievable how unattractive he is. Tell me, WHY is he the love interest? Why isn't he the uncle who is a secret pederast? And there was a pudgy veterinarian love interest in the first telenovela I ever watched ("Niña Amada Mia") too. Every time he got to catch the gorgeous young heroine in a clinch I snorted with indignation and disbelief. What's with these old goats?
The site says: "A real man - intelligent, hard-working, strong and decisive - he does not fear to show his tender side. He doesn't tolerate lies. After his spouse died, the most important thing in his life - his two sons. Destiny gives him a second chance at love when he meets Maite."
Jacinta: THE WORST. "A hard, arrogant woman for whom prestige is the most important thing. Even though she is known in the town for being charitable and religious, at heart she is hypocritical and rancorous. She venerates the memory of her father-in-law, and dominates her son. Her husband never loved her. She pretends to be an aristocrat and hides her true origin."
Remedios: GOOD. "She was the true love of Jacinta's husband, Pedro Valladolid. She is a noble woman who was a schoolteacher. Now she works at the Valladolid hacienda and tolerates the arrogance of Jacinto so as not to endanger the inheritance of her son Federico, from whom she has always hidden the fact that Pedro was his father."
Manola: BAD. "An unscrupulous woman, vain and superficial, who cares about appearances. She betrays Adolfo with Federico, she doesn't love either of them. She wanted to marry Adolfo to get his hacienda." Her mother is still mad that her husband Nicolas (Manola's father) was in love with Eloisa (Maite's mother).
Federico: BAD. He has a low and scary voice. "He is Remedios's son, an astute and ambitious man who manipulates his mother and is servile with Jacinta and Adolfo, even though he despises them. He has secret relations with Manola, for whom he feels an obsessive passion. He is a treacherous and very dangerous man."
Adolfo: WAS BAD, NOW POSSIBLY BEING REHABILITATED. He is under the thumb of his awful mother Jacinta, who runs the hacienda with an iron fist and loses no opportunity to tell everybody "My Will is Law!" He raped Maite and then married her. Now he is trying to be nice. Maite constantly tells him she will never love him as her heart belongs to Unibrow.Technorati Tags: Telenovela, Novela, Barrera de Amor
Labels: barrera
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Alborada cast on the Cristina show
This was sent to me by one of our faithful readers! (Click picture for a larger view.)
On Friday the protagonists of Alborada will be presented on the Cristina show: Lucero, Fernando Colunga, Daniela Roma [Juana], Luis Roberto Guzmán [Diego], Mónica Miguel [Modesta] and Arturo Peniche [Antonio].
An hour full of laughs, pranks, dances, anecdotes, and many revelations. You'll learn how Manuel Mijares reacted to the incandescent love scenes between his wife Lucero [Hipólita], and Fernando Colungo [Luis Manrique], and what Colunga has to say about his two pornographic videos which are selling like hotcakes. [!!!!]
Fernando, according to Mexican psychologists, is the actor who provokes the most fantasies in women.
If you like the character Doña Juana, you'll be delighted to learn who inspired Daniela Romo, and about her true relationship with Luis Roberto Guzmán, who gives life to the character of Diego, her son in the telenovela.
Arturo Peniche and Mónica Miguel open a Pandora's box when they reveal secrets and private matters which took place during the series' production.
Carla Estrada, producer, arrives with the most daring and spicy out-takes, never seen on screen during Alborada.
You'll enjoy the pranks of Daniela Romo and Lucero, who dance the mambo with Colungo. There will be a lot to talk about.
Technorati Tags: Alborada, Cristina
On Friday the protagonists of Alborada will be presented on the Cristina show: Lucero, Fernando Colunga, Daniela Roma [Juana], Luis Roberto Guzmán [Diego], Mónica Miguel [Modesta] and Arturo Peniche [Antonio].
An hour full of laughs, pranks, dances, anecdotes, and many revelations. You'll learn how Manuel Mijares reacted to the incandescent love scenes between his wife Lucero [Hipólita], and Fernando Colungo [Luis Manrique], and what Colunga has to say about his two pornographic videos which are selling like hotcakes. [!!!!]
Fernando, according to Mexican psychologists, is the actor who provokes the most fantasies in women.
If you like the character Doña Juana, you'll be delighted to learn who inspired Daniela Romo, and about her true relationship with Luis Roberto Guzmán, who gives life to the character of Diego, her son in the telenovela.
Arturo Peniche and Mónica Miguel open a Pandora's box when they reveal secrets and private matters which took place during the series' production.
Carla Estrada, producer, arrives with the most daring and spicy out-takes, never seen on screen during Alborada.
You'll enjoy the pranks of Daniela Romo and Lucero, who dance the mambo with Colungo. There will be a lot to talk about.
Technorati Tags: Alborada, Cristina
Labels: Alborada
Alborada-index
Monday, April 17, 2006
Synopsis of "Barrera del Amor"
Maite Galvan lives in Santa Maria, a town in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes. She is in love with Luis Antonio Romero, an older widower whose two small children adore Maite. Luis Antonio is the vet at the Valladolid hacienda and is about to marry Maite, but their happiness is crushed when Adolfo Valladolid, who pretends to be his best friend, brutally rapes Maite. In a blind rage, Luis Antonio beats him up and is sent to jail by Adolfo’s mother, doña Jacinta, the all-powerful matriarch of the Valladolid family. Maite’s efforts to help him are useless.
Maite realizes that she is pregnant because of the rape. She fears for Luis Atonio’s life and begs Adolfo to drop the charges against him. He agrees, but in exchange, she has to marry him. She decides to sacrifice herself for her love and accepts his terms. When Luis Antonio is released, he thinks that Maite is marrying Adolfo for his money. Filled with despair, he leaves town and moves to northern Mexico.
Remedios Gomez is the housekeeper of the Valladolid hacienda. She lives there with her son Federico, the bastard son of the late Pedro Valladolid, and Adolfo’s half brother. Federico is two-faced, sly and greedy, and he is obsessed with Manola Linares, Adolfo’s fiancee. Manola is a possessive woman; she does not love Adolfo but wants his fortune, and her passionate liaison with Federico is only a passing fancy. Manola owns the adjoining hacienda, and Jacinta despises Maite for ruining her plans to have her marry Adolfo.
When Manola hears that Adolfo has married Maite, out of spite she weds Adolfo Zamora, a millionaire as old as her father. Adolfo and his mother treat Maite with contempt and won’t allow her near her daughter, Valeria, arguing that she is incapable of raising her properly. Maite tries to run away with her child but is found out by Federico. Jacinta takes legal action against her for deserting her spouse and throws her out of the hacienda.
Heartbroken for having to leave her daughter, Maite goes to Mexico City, where she finds work as a cook in a small cafe located across the street from a bordello. Shortly after, Jacinta sends Valeria to a boarding school in Canada.
Life has embittered Luis Antonio’s character. He lives in Baja California with his sons Andres and Daniel and now has a veterinary clinic. The years have gone by, but Luis Antonio has not forgotten Maite, who is also still in love with him.
Maite has tried to get her daughter back with the aid of Victor, the owner of the cafe, but her efforts have been in vain.
In Mexico City, Maite runs into Magdalena, whom she met in Santa Maria. Magdalena was once Adolfo’s girlfriend, but doña Jacinta would not let him marry her. Now she works in the bordello as a prostitute and has a daughter called Veronica, whose father is Adolfo. When Magdalena dies, Maite takes charge of Veronica and works tirelessly to get her a scholarship to study in Canada. There, at the boarding school, Veronica and Valeria become good friends, never suspecting that they are sisters.
In Aguascalientes, the girls meet Daniel and Andres, Luis Antonio’s sons. The two young men help their father in the clinic, but Andres dreams of being a bullfighter. Luis Antonio does not approve, so the boy practices in secret.
Veronica has psychological problems and suffers from multiple personalities. Doña Jacinta has made Valeria think that her mother is a slut who left her father for another man.
Only love can break through the barriers of time, and a love as deep as that which joins Luis Antonio and Maite - even after so many years of being apart - now binds Andres and Valeria’s hearts. However, this young love seems fated to the same suffering that their parents have endured, since greed, jealousy and intrigue threaten them like a dark cloud of hatred and doubt, like a raging storm that might shatter their "Barrier of Love".
Maite realizes that she is pregnant because of the rape. She fears for Luis Atonio’s life and begs Adolfo to drop the charges against him. He agrees, but in exchange, she has to marry him. She decides to sacrifice herself for her love and accepts his terms. When Luis Antonio is released, he thinks that Maite is marrying Adolfo for his money. Filled with despair, he leaves town and moves to northern Mexico.
Remedios Gomez is the housekeeper of the Valladolid hacienda. She lives there with her son Federico, the bastard son of the late Pedro Valladolid, and Adolfo’s half brother. Federico is two-faced, sly and greedy, and he is obsessed with Manola Linares, Adolfo’s fiancee. Manola is a possessive woman; she does not love Adolfo but wants his fortune, and her passionate liaison with Federico is only a passing fancy. Manola owns the adjoining hacienda, and Jacinta despises Maite for ruining her plans to have her marry Adolfo.
When Manola hears that Adolfo has married Maite, out of spite she weds Adolfo Zamora, a millionaire as old as her father. Adolfo and his mother treat Maite with contempt and won’t allow her near her daughter, Valeria, arguing that she is incapable of raising her properly. Maite tries to run away with her child but is found out by Federico. Jacinta takes legal action against her for deserting her spouse and throws her out of the hacienda.
Heartbroken for having to leave her daughter, Maite goes to Mexico City, where she finds work as a cook in a small cafe located across the street from a bordello. Shortly after, Jacinta sends Valeria to a boarding school in Canada.
Life has embittered Luis Antonio’s character. He lives in Baja California with his sons Andres and Daniel and now has a veterinary clinic. The years have gone by, but Luis Antonio has not forgotten Maite, who is also still in love with him.
Maite has tried to get her daughter back with the aid of Victor, the owner of the cafe, but her efforts have been in vain.
In Mexico City, Maite runs into Magdalena, whom she met in Santa Maria. Magdalena was once Adolfo’s girlfriend, but doña Jacinta would not let him marry her. Now she works in the bordello as a prostitute and has a daughter called Veronica, whose father is Adolfo. When Magdalena dies, Maite takes charge of Veronica and works tirelessly to get her a scholarship to study in Canada. There, at the boarding school, Veronica and Valeria become good friends, never suspecting that they are sisters.
In Aguascalientes, the girls meet Daniel and Andres, Luis Antonio’s sons. The two young men help their father in the clinic, but Andres dreams of being a bullfighter. Luis Antonio does not approve, so the boy practices in secret.
Veronica has psychological problems and suffers from multiple personalities. Doña Jacinta has made Valeria think that her mother is a slut who left her father for another man.
Only love can break through the barriers of time, and a love as deep as that which joins Luis Antonio and Maite - even after so many years of being apart - now binds Andres and Valeria’s hearts. However, this young love seems fated to the same suffering that their parents have endured, since greed, jealousy and intrigue threaten them like a dark cloud of hatred and doubt, like a raging storm that might shatter their "Barrier of Love".
Labels: barrera
Barrera de Amor-Index
Sunday, April 09, 2006
"La Fea Más Bella" synopsis trans. by Kathleen
UPDATE: For new visitors to our site, we have been recapping this show from its beginning - look at the sidebar on the left and click on "La Fea recaps" to see the chapter summaries. It is being done in batches though, not day by day.
La fea más bella could be translated as "The Ugly Duckling". It is an amusing store of love and triumph over adversity in which Lety, the heroine, shows intelligence, will power and a positive attitude in overcoming obstacles, developing professionally and finding true love.
Lety is modest, shy, romantic and intelligent, but not good looking. With her parents' help (Erasmo and Julieta) she has managed to study economics and has earned a graduate degree with honors in finance. Her only friend and confidant is Tomás, with whom she shares her troubles and her joys. They offer each other mutual support.
For Lety, being unattractive has never been an obstacle in her determination to get ahead. Sadly, she discovers that all her university achievements are not enough; she is rejected as an executive because of her looks. But she needs to work, and she accepts a job she is overqualified for — as a secretary at "Conceptos," a prominent fashion house.
"Conceptos" was founded by two good friends, Humberto Mendiola and Julián Villaroel. Soon afterwards, unfortunately, Mrs. and Mrs. Villaroel were killed in an accident, and Humberto and his wife Teresita (Fernando's parents) have taken over the upbringing of their orphaned children: Ariel, Marcia and Ana Leticia Villaroel, part heirs of the successful company.
Now that Humberto is about to retire, Ariel and Fernando are vying for the presidency of "Conceptos." Fernando is a young, brilliant and sophisticated executive who wins by the vote of only one stockholder, Marcia, his fiancée.
The project that Fernando presents to show his suitability for the post is ambitious, but not totally practical, and could risk the future of the business. Besides, the intelligent and arrogant Ariel watches him closely for any chance to wrest the coveted post from him.
Lety is competing with the beautiful Alicia Ferreira for the secretarial job. Alicia is very attractive, but frivolous and totally lacking in job experience. However, she is a close friend of Marcia, who needs her to keep an eye on her wayward fiancée.
Fernando refuses to be pressured, and expresses his preference for Lety. Lety is the best candidate, but Marcia insists on Alicia, since Lety does not have the looks for the job. Finally, both women are hired; Alicia, at triple Lety's salary, will work in public relations in the reception area, and Lety will have a tiny cubicle located in Fernando's own offices, managing the computer, the phones, the files, etc., and especially Fernando's schedule and private matters.
Lety, captivated by Fernando because of his defense of her against the others, becomes his unconditional ally in covering up his private pecadillos, which brings down the wrath of Marcia and Alicia.
Lety will endure mockery and disdain with the support of her fellow secretaries of "The Ugly Club." ("El Club de las Feas"): Irmita, the oldest and wisest; Sara, the skinny old maid; Paula María, a single mother; Lola, a woman abandoned by her husband; Martha, the fat girl, and Simón the messenger boy, unconditional friend of the girls of the Club. They all share funny adventures among the lights, the cameras, the gorgeous models and the glamour of the place.
But Lety's job at "Conceptos" has barely begun and, although she has her boss' complete trust, her future there is already in doubt, because she has secretly fallen in love with him. She will have to decide whether to continue supporting him by helping him manage very complicated financial matters.
Fernando, on the other hand, will begin to doubt her true feelings and her ambitions for power.
As we will see, there will be many surprises, and an unexpected change will turn the ugly duckling into a dream of beauty.
With a stellar cast and an atmosphere of fun, "La fea más bella" is refreshing in its positive approach to meeting challenges and overcoming obstacles.
Labels: fea-e, synopsis-cast
La Fea Más Bella-index
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Telenovelas for English-Speakers
If you have excellent Spanish language skills and love telenovelas, you can sign up to be a member of the recapping team.
Labels: announcements, recappers-needed
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