Caray, Caray!

More choppy scene editing folks. And so much yakity yak dialogue I found it hard to do anything other than recap. It’ll be up to the rest of the team to make us laugh this week.


--As tonight’s show opens, Jose is sitting on a public bench stuffing a letter into an envelope. His buddy, whose name escapes me, runs up to him and tells him to hurry up that they are going to be late for the truck. Jose says he just has to post a letter and he’ll catch up to him.


--Luba and Gaspar are walking and it’s night where they are. She’s upbraiding him for letting Flor/Alina escape. --Don Loco is riding around on his horse having wobbly hallucinations about Soledad and Alina meeting up with Jose and doing a happy family group hug. He catches up to Luba and Gaspar and accuses Gaspar of letting them escape. Don Loco dismounts and goes after him Luba tries to get between them but is unsuccessful. He picks up a big rock and starts using it to clobber Gaspar who is on the ground crying. Luba is screaming. Meanwhile Soledad and Alina are hiding in the bushes. They can’t let Gaspar pay for their escape so they give themselves up. Happy now, Don Loco accepts the surrender and grabs Soledad. He tells Alina “the next time you try to escape, your mother will pay the consequences.”Luba shakes her fist at him as he rides away with Soledad. She says, “damn you, Alvaro Montellano, you don’t know what could happen to you next, but you are going to remember me!” [I think that was supposed to be some kind of witches’ curse maybe? It sure sounds like that or at least a threat. And it rhymed in Spanish.]All the while, ominous music is playing and that screeching monkey sound effect is going at full blast. She goes back to tend Gaspar with Alina

--Back at Sierra Escondida, at Don Loco’s ranch, the next morning, the Don himself is seated calmly at his desk paying a big fat bribe to a guy and saying that he’s always had good relations with the authorities. He’s glad to have complete control over the area surrounding his Hacienda. So now we know why he was so eager to park Soledad and Alina there. Because not only is he the property owner, he’s also the law!

---Emilio takes Thelma the skank out to dinner and dancing. She’s all hot for him but he’s distant. Then we see why, he’s thinking about dancing with Alina instead. Next, the scene gets all dark and swanky jazz starts playing so we know it’s time for some horizontal jogging.

--And we’re back to Sierra Escondida again. Luba is teaching Alina/Flor the uses of various medicinal plants. One is Viagra, One is Sominex, One is Excedrin, one is Pepto-Bismol. She repeats them back to Luba. Luba is happy with Flor’s progress. Then Flor gets up and touches that little green bottle on the shelf that we saw in the last episode. Luba gets very excited and says “Never never touch that!” Do you hear me? Flor is surprised but agrees not to.

--Back at Casa Valteirra, Emilio and his sickly brother Angel are chatting. Emilio is wearing his dress blues. He has just graduated and got the highest marks. Angel says he’s proud of him and their parents would be too. Emilio gets a far away look in his eyes and agrees. Emilio says he’s going out to celebrate with the lads and would Angel like to join him. No (cough, cough) he’s too sick. He’s wearing a short sleeved polo shirt with the collar up and a scarf around it. It must mean he’s sick because it sure doesn’t make any sense. Emilio turns to the rest of the guys and calls out, Engineers! They rise to their feet. “Si, mi Capitan!” “Let’s go celebrate! says Emilio.

--Alina/Flor is near the river holding her holy card of the Virgin, looking at it and kissing it before putting it in her back pocket. Gaspar walks up to her. He has a present for her. He’s going away to make some money for her and his mother She’ll be able to buy some new clothes and shoes. Alina says she doesn’t need anything and that she’ll miss him. He gives her the present--It’s a puppy. Looks kind of like a German Shepherd to me, with a black face. He asks her what name will she give to the dog? She decides on Tonki (? Couldn’t quite make that out.) Cleverly, we see her playing with the dog and it gets bigger and the words “Two years later”) appear at the bottom of the screen. Tonki is now fully grown and a very handsome adult dog!

--It’s two years later and we now see that Emilio is well into his career as an Army Engineer and we see what they actually do. I guess they are like the national guard and do disaster relief, rescues, that sort of thing. There’s a flood somewhere. We see a number of action shots with Emilio rescuing a woman whose house has collapsed in a mudslide, he rescues a (fake) baby over a water fall, directs new home construction, organizes a queue for relief supplies etc. What a guy! And in case we didn’t notice, this message was brought to you by the Mexican National Army, always ready in times of distress, and to help people in rural areas. ---Back to the river at Sierra Escondida. Alina is sneaking up to the hacienda with Tonki beside her. Sergio is on horseback patrolling the hacienda.

--Back to the Mexican Army barracks. Orlando and another guy are sitting around. Orlando is reading the newspaper, which is full of the exploits of Captain Emilio Valtierra during the floods. The other guy razzes him about how Emilio has done pretty well for himself, and not just with the ladies! He’s now made Captain, first class. Orlando says yeah yeah, well he deserves it. Etc.

--Emilio himself is with Angel who is having a coughing fit. Angel is presenting him with a portrait he made of the new Captain, first class. Emilio is more worried about the cough and asks him if he’s seen the doctor. Angel says, yes. [he said something here that I couldn’t quite catch] The doctor did some tests and while he waits for the results, he said to eat well and get a change of air. [? It sounded like “eres” I think this would be cambio de aire so I am not sure what cambio de eres would be] Emilio is still worried. Angel reassures him, “I’ve always been sickly, don’t worry.“ Emilio tells him to rest. He himself is going to rest since he’s going out later with the boys to celebrate his promotion (must be great to be his bud, always with the celebrations). “Are you going out with Thelma?” asks Angel. “No, says Emilio, in the place we are going, they don’t allow women.” “You know, this picture I value more than any other present,” he tells Angel.

--Alina and Tonki are running along the river. In the next scene we see a woman’s legs as she strips off her dress. She plunges into the river to swim naked. She turns around, it’s a new girl, a pretty brunette about Alina’s age. She swims up to Alina. Alina calls out “Rosita!” She asks her about her mother. Rosita says that Senora Soledad is fine, a little sad but OK. Rosita has also brought some empanadas. Alina thanks her for being her friend and carrying messages. --Don Loco is talking with Sergio, whip in hand. He’s complaining that in two years, he hasn’t been able to break the will of Soledad and Alina. He thinks that the witch (Luba) hasn’t been hard enough on Alina. Sergio agrees and says that the people in the town like Alina and call her Little Flower (Florecita). Don Loco dismisses Sergio and says he’ll see about that. He puts on his gun holster.

--Emilio is getting ready for the party in his sparkling white terry bathrobe. Orlando is there, waiting for him. They talk about Thelma. Orlando asks him about her and Emilio says, she’s beautiful [huh?] They’ve spent some good times together. Orlando says, “Times? You’ve been together for more than two years.” He wants to know if Emilio is going to marry her or what. Emilio says no, not her or any other. Orlando says, “Why, because of that other girl you fell in love with?” “Did you ever see her again?” “No—it’s as if the earth swallowed her up” says Emilio. Meanwhile a brief cut to Alina/Flor and Rosita talking. Alina tells Rosita about her love for Emilio. His eyes shone…and switch to Emilio talking about Alina’s eyes. Emilio: I’ve never felt that way before or since. Alina: he was so kind. Emilio: Alina is in the past. She’s dead to me. Alina: He was wonderful. Orlando asks, so you’ve given up on her? Emilio: Yes. She betrayed me and because of her, I don’t believe in love anymore. Alina: “I believe he still loves me.” Rosita intervenes, “and what do you feel?” Alina: I will always love him. I am sure he would have saved me and my mother from this terror. Rosita asks Alina if she has tried to escape. Alina says yes, a few times but the last time, her father threatened to kill her mother if she did it again. “ My father is my worst enemy,” she says.

--cut to Don Loco in the cave talking to Luba. He wants to know why Alina is out walking around free. I guess he thought their deal was that she would stay inside the cave 24/7. Luba is trying to deflect the blame, saying that snot-nosed kid doesn’t listen to me. I’m just an old lady. Don Loco goads her about her son being gone. She says yes, my “bad son” hasn’t been back in two years. I haven’t even heard from him. It was he who tried to help the girl escape. Don Loco says, yes, I know. And tell her not to come around the hacienda and not to let Soledad see her. If she does, she (Soledad) will pay. Luba asks Don Loco, why Soledad has to pay and Don Loco tells her to mind her own business. Luba agrees. He leaves. Afterward, Luba is disgusted with herself for having to submit to the Don Loco threats but she tells herself it was to keep herself safe, because if she were forced to leave the mountain “they” would find her and burn her at the stake. For full effect, there is some kind of strange red flame burning on the cave wall, like a lighted torch behind her. Only, it’s burning an unnaturally bright red.

--Rosita and Alina/Flor are talking. Rosita wonders about Gaspar. Alina says that she doesn’t think he’s coming back. Instead she wonders about her godparents, Blanca and Elias and she says she has always hoped that one day, they would rescue her from captivity.

--At that precise moment, Blanca and Elias are in their house in Puebla. They’ve just returned from Canada. Elias tells Blanca that he’s talked to Hugo and Hugo swears that Alina is in Europe in school but he can’t tell her where. Blanca misses her. She wonders if Alvaro has hidden Soledad and Alina away at the Hacienda in Sierra Escondida. Elias says he doesn’t think so and yet, he can’t disprove it. Elias says he has a bunch of stuff to do first but as soon as he can he’ll go out to the Hacienda.

---Emilio and his buds are drinking together at a bar. Coral is with them. I guess certain kinds of women ARE allowed at this bar. And guess who works here? It’s Gaspar who is a waiter there. He’s telling the guy behind the counter, who appears to be the manager that he’s leaving to go home soon to see his Mom. The bartender is not too interested and tells him to hurry up and serve a bottle of wine to some customers while he waits on Captain Emilio and his friends. --Now we are at Thelma’s apartment. She’s dressed super-skanky in a low-cut red dress with a rhinestone buckle and a high slit skirt. She’s ticked that Emilio has stood her up. First she announces to her aunt that she’s going to get drunk and starts doing shots, with the bottle in one hand. While her aunt chastises her, she changes her mind and decides to go out looking for Emilio. She’s sure he’s with Coral. Next we see her at the bar. She’s got a black hooded cape on over her whore-ish red dress so now she just looks like a witch. She approaches the manager at the door and says that she’s a friend of Coral’s. He lets her in and leads her up to Coral’s room. She parks herself and starts drinking from a bottle she finds in there. Pretty soon she is wasted and stewing about the surprise she’s going to give them. Coral and Emilio do go up to the private room area for some hanky-panky but Coral either sees that Thelma (or someone) is in that room or Thelma is in the wrong room because she guides Emilio to another room along the corridor

--Luba and Alina are in the cave talking. Luba says Don Loco was here. He doesn’t want you near the hacienda. Alina says, “I know, but I’ve got to figure out something to help my mother and I escape.” “what are you thinking of?” asks Luba

--Back to the bar with the private suites. Still alone, Thelma is drunk and falls on the floor. She crawls over to the couch and passes out.

--at another bar/whorehouse somewhere near Sierra Escondida called Meson de Edelmira, the gay waiter, wearing diamond earrings, is urged by the madam/manager to get some music going. He waves at the band and then sashays by a table where Maximo and Don Loco are drinking together. Apparently Don Loco has taken Maximo’s advice and joined him at Maximo’s favorite whorehouse. Maximo counsels him to crack down on his workers, to make sure that they don’t side with his wife and daughter. “You’ve got to show them who is boss!” says Maximo. After so many drinks that he’s knocking the bottles off the table, Don Loco finally goes off with one of the working girls. When they get up to her room, he starts seeing her as Soledad.

--back at the cave, Luba and Alina are talking about Alina’s studies in herbalism. Alina asks if she can make some tea to take to her mother, to comfort her. Luba is wary of Soledad contacting her mother. She changes the subject to Gaspar and how much she misses him. She thinks that Gaspar has found himself a woman and he’ll never return. Alina exclaims, Gaspar, a woman? As if he were not –ahem—capable or interested in the ladies. Luba takes umbrage. Of course, she says, Gaspar is “muy macho!” Very masculine! She then proceeds to tell the tale of Gaspar. Apparently he wasn’t always mentally disabled. He was a lucha libre fighter. And he did well until some competitor rearranged his face on a metal pole. Luba said she thought that he would die, but he got better, but remained as you see, childlike. [closed head injury with severe brain trauma, no doubt.]

--back to the bar where Emilio and his friends are. Gaspar is talking to the manager again. The manager is telling him, If I don’t see you, have a nice trip!Emilio and Coral are in her room where they are making out. Coral complains that his kisses haven’t been the same since that girl dumped him. Emilio gets mad and tells her not to mention her again. They start kissing again and Emilio gets more in the mood by calling her Alina. At first Coral is taken aback but then she figures whatever it takes to get those hot kisses from Emilio.

--Alina and Luba are still talking in the cave. Alina starts talking again about how much she loves Emilio. Luba is surprised that she’s kept it secret for so long. It also explains why she is always so sad. Alina explains to her how they were going to decide how to proceed to formalize their courtship when Don Loco came to town and dragged Alina and her mother to Sierra Escondida, with no time to advise Emilio about what was happening. Every day she thinks about him and wishes he would rescue her but if he doesn’t, she will find a way to get to him. Luba chides her that she can’t let her escape again, she’s seen the problems that it causes with Don Loco. Alina says she doesn’t want to cause any problems for Luba. Luba also points out that nobody in Sierra Escondida will help her. They are all afraid of Don Loco and that he will kick them off his property if they help her. You’d have to pay them a lot, she says.At this an idea occurs to Alina. My mother has some jewelry. “We can sell it and use the proceeds to get people to help us.” Luba chides her—“you are not going anywhere to get into more trouble.”Orlando and that other soldier are chatting about Thelma again. Orlando says that Emilio never wants to marry. Meanwhile, Thelma is passed out upstairs, in one of the hookers’ suites in her skanky shiny red dress. Gaspar happens by and sees her. I imagine he’s thinks it’s his lucky night, one of the girls doesn’t have a client. He starts getting undressed and caresses her. Thelma who is half out of it, thinks he is Emilio and responds sleepily to his kisses.

--It’s night and Alina slips out of the cave while Luba is sleeping with Tonki. She explains to him that they have to talk to her mom about the idea of selling her jewels for an escape attempt.-

-At the hacienda, Soledad is sleeping. Don Loco comes in drunk and tries to make love to her. She wakes up and is horrified. They have the same conversation pretty much that they always have. Alvaro: I hate you, you betrayed me. Soledad: I did not, one day you will regret this. Why don’t you let us leave? Alvaro: No, I have to make you pay. In the end, she gets him to go away. If he actually got some action with the hooker earlier in the evening and he’d been drinking a lot, you’d think that maybe he didn’t have the wherewithal anyway.

--Coral and Emilio are done getting jiggy and are walking out of the suite area. Coral pokes her head into the room with Gaspar and Thelma and pops back out remarking [I think] about how Gaspar is with someone. “ Isn’t that strange?” She laughs and they walk down the stairs to the bar level. At that moment, Thelma wakes up to face Gaspar on top of her. She’s horrified and screams at him to get off of her and to let her go. Gaspar pleads with her and reminds her that she kissed him. Poor Gaspar! I guess he has fallen in love with this skanky witch! In any event, he isn’t about to let her go.

--Alina is trying to sneak into Soledad’s room at the hacienda. Using Tonki as a distraction to the men guarding her door. Alina slips in. --More struggling and yelling from Thelma results in the manager arriving on the scene. --Soledad is surprised to see Alina walk through the door. She gives her a bottle of some extract to put in tea as a sedative. Alina notes that her mother has been crying. She tells her that she can’t let that man mistreat her. “Oh, he’s just crazed from jealousy” says her mother and “that man” is your father. [Uh, lady, he’s made your daughter live in a cave and he’s locked you up in a room for two years. I think we’ve satisfied the definition of domestic abuse].Alina tells her mother about her plan to sell her mothers jewels to buy some help from somebody to escape. They go for the jewelry box. Surprise! The box is empty. “Alvaro must have taken them,” says Soledad. After some more small talk, “If only Emilio could rescue us…” Soledad says she deserves to be happy.

--Thelma is back in her witch’s cape staggering out of the bar. Orlando catches sight of her and she turns and runs away. He calls the manager over, whose name, I guess is “Luka.” “Who was that woman who just ran out of here from the private rooms?” Orlando asks. Luka says “I don’t know. She was an elegant [upper class?] woman.” “She was with that giant waiter.” Orlando and the other guy are left shaking their heads. “Thelma? It couldn’t be.” Emilio shows up and is ready to go. He looks at Orlando’s expression and says “you look like you’ve seen the devil.” “A she-devil,” says Orlando.

--Alina and her mom are continuing their conversation. Alina is recounting the splendid few days she spent with Emilio at the beach. And she tells how she had to leave him in the lurch when Don Loco grabbed her. Soledad explains to Alina why Don Loco is a jealous maniac, because of her Father’s harsh words toward them when they were eloping. And the letter. Alina wonders, “but who was that letter for?” Soledad just looks puzzled.

--Alina slips out of the house, before she can round the corner, Don Loco appears, calling for Adela and Alina hides in the shadows.

Labels: duelo