Caray, Caray!

We get a second look at the deliciously disgraceful scene Rodrigo made at the reception where Gav/Mariana wore her strapless plum dress (such an improvement over Clarita's previous creations). He'd made a scene with Señor Trejo and his wife. Why didn't Rod's family notice he was suffering baying spasms of jealousy and screaming?

Trejo (who's about to have his Hawaii shipments adulterated by Aaron's crooked henchmen) lets Rod know he is quite offended by this behavior; he and his wife leave as Rod mutters this lame excuse: "I've had a bit to drink." Rod glugs out of the bottle watching everybody, including Mariana/Gav, leave.

The valet outside the reception rolls up in Gaviota's new car. After a quick entreaty to San Sebastian she gets in (surely she doesn't have a driver's license?????) and drives away with jerks and squeaks. Right behind, our dear drunken Rod drives Sofia and Isa in car #2. This is not modeling of good behavior. There should be a sober person behind the wheel.

Anyway, car #2 doesn't get far down the road when car #1 is encountered, stopped dead at the roundabout at the foot of that famous statue (they've scraped many a telenovela villain off those very pavers). Gaviota has managed to stall out her car and can't get it started. "THIS is how you repay my affection?" she scolds it.

Sofia says let's help her! so Rod gets out and goes over to help. Mariana/Gaviota tells him to leave. "I can't leave you here, it's dangerous." "Not as dangerous as being by your side. This city has been more dangerous since you showed up." "No, this city is more dangerous cause there are people driving around who, like you, don't know what they're doing."

Sofia suggests Rod could drive Mariana home. He gets the car started and tells her to get in, she says she won't ("I'd rather go in an ambulance"), he makes her.

Their inane elementary school squabble continues as she says he's driving her crazy and he says she should just be quiet till he gets her home. "You're not the boss of me and anyway, I quit as of this very minute." "You can't quit, you signed a contract." "Well I don't have to put up with your asedios (badgering/stalking)."

They fight over the radio on/off button. "I'll complain if I want." "I deserve this for leaving my beloved hacienda to be at your side - to live for you - now I have all these problems - for this I betrayed the memory of gramps and pops and myself?" She tries to get out while the car barrels along - he, drunk, says he'll drive as fast as he can to get her home ASAP - "The less time we're together, the better" - "You got THAT right!" - "Finally we agree on something!"

I imagine the car is swaying back and forth and Gav starts to think Rod actually wants to cause a scene that will be noticed from car #2. "Do you want to reveal our secret?" "You're playing with me." "I'm laughing, ha. ha. ha." "This is the most hellish night of my life." "No, mine is more hellish than yours."

Meanwhile, Sofia cheerfully tells Isa she likes Mariana despite her odd and evasive (esquiva) tendencies. She asks Isa: "Do you distrust her as Minerva does?" "No, and anyway I don't want to repeat Minerva's mistake and pull jealous tantrums. I only have to worry about Gaviota."

They get a little bit lost and don't notice Gav and Rod parked...

... continuing their battle. "Hell is sweet compared to this! It's a good thing we DIDN'T meet last March 21, what a huge mistake that would have been." "Monday I quit." "Tell it to Aaron, cause I'm leaving for the hacienda and I'm not coming back EVER EVER."

Her huge eyes fill with quiet tears. He calms a bit. "It was beautiful to see you again, even though it just proved my efforts have been futile. You're not the same Gaviota. Those times we shared are just precious memories, the happiest times I ever lived. You made me a man. I'd be lying if I said I'm at peace going back without you, but at least I know now I can't hope for anything from you. I'm glad you're doing well and have overcome so much..." (he's just inches away) "... I don't want to hold you back with my stupid, sick jealousy ... I don't want to keep you from flying..." they are nanoseconds from a kiss but her phone rings and she answers it and it's Trejo, "my wife and I didn't get to say goodbye, come meet us at the bar," and Rod gets all jealous again and bolts out of the car saying ADIOS MARIANA FRANCO and car #2 rolls up and he gets in yelling LET'S GO and Gav cries in her car. (Moral: don't let your cellphone be the boss of you.)

Gav wakes up her mom as she enters the apartment weeping. "Ay, you left so dolled up and gorgeous and this is how the world returns you to me!" "Rod sent me to the devil - for him, Gaviota is a dream that's over." Clarita made more sense tonight than she ever has before: "He's in love with you and wounded by your desplantes (insolence, acts of defiance) and he's dying of jealousy." Gav says quitting is now more complicated because, with Rod leaving for the hacienda and Aaron leaving for Miami, she's really needed - she'll quit but it can't be just now.

"If I've lived without him this long I can live without him for the rest of my life." "You lived without him but you were obsessed, thinking about him all the time, don't deceive yourself." They give the car keys to St Sebastian for the night and Clarita goes to bed leaving Gav to drink and cry.

Rod is drinking and sulking (he appeared to pour one whole glass of tequila into his own lap) when Isa wanders in wearing her usual red satin shortie. "You're gonna keep drinking?" He continues with his infantile conversation style: "If you don't like it don't watch." "You have an early flight, haven't you had enough?" "Aren't you meddling? I need more booze." "How long is it going to be this way, when are you going to forgive me for wanting to bear your child?"

He says that's not it, he just vants to be alonnne. "You haven't said if you want me to go with you to the hacienda tomorrow." "That's because I DON'T want you to go with me. I vant to be alonnne."

She knows there's more wrong than usual and thinks it's that Gaviota didn't show up for the harvest. "No, I have a lot of problems, I'm worried. Just go to bed." "For a moment forget I'm your wife, treat me as you did when we first knew each other, when we were good friends. [pause] OK, I'll respect your silence, I just want you to know I love you profoundly and will always be at your side." Kisses his hand and thoughtbubbles that he will soon let her have a baby by artificial insemination.

Next day, a clot of jimadores are getting stirred by a union agitator. They are waving their paddles and shouting as he chants his talking points: "We must fight for our rights. We want a raise. If there is no raise there will be no harvest." Some mutter that the patron has always been good to them but they are afraid to speak against the majority.

Rod arrives from the airport and Roman warns gravely: "That agitator Liborio is putting ideas in their heads." "I'll go talk to them." "You'd better be armed." "Armed? They say the best weapon is the force of the word."

Roman tries to give an update on the unsuccessful Gaviota hunt but Rod, rubbing his hungover head, says he never wants to hear another word about it." "You forgot her already?" "No, but I'm trying, and I don't wanna see anything around here that reminds me of her. So use that little house of hers, or destroy it."

That morning Gav complains that: "The driving instructor said I'm a danger to the city. He filled my buche con piedritas (he filled my maw with pebbles??), no me pique la cresta [don't peck at my cockscomb?]." Clarita is clever again when she says: "Rotten girl, you're used to succeeding at everything, you have to be patient in life."

The phone rings, it's Pilar inviting Mariana to tea! Gav's afraid she's been found out, but it turns out that Pilar had asked Bruno (Aaron's father) to come back from NYC because of her worries about what's been going on, and now Pilar and Bruno have decided to trust Mariana and take her into their confidence: "There are things you need to know about the family..."

Rodrigo drives up to the clot of workers, Liborio recites the talking points: "we get a 25% raise or you lose your agave." "That's abuse!" shouts Rod and he addresses the group: "You know I pay better than any of the other owners. This plantation is all I have and if you don't harvest, we all lose. I can't get more workers this late, and you'll find that the other plantations already have the workers they need." "But you can afford to give us a raise." "Don't you think I would have if I could? Now we're all in a bad place - you'll lose a season's work but I'll lose everything."

Suddenly he edges a little closer to madness. "The devil take it, I don't care. Hilario, Roman, bring me gasoline! Here you see a man who's ready to lose everything, to die! I'll burn these lousy agaves! I don't want you to leave empty handed. Ponganle precio a la quema (??) and bring bottles of tequila too, we'll toast the ruin of this hacienda!"

Hilario and Roman obediently trundle back to the hacienda to get gas. Ofelia wrings her hands (she's like Lassie's Timmy's mother in this scene) as she watches them heave tanks of gasoline into the truck. SanJuana shows up - she tried to call Isa but no answer - Roman says they shouldn't alarm the family but SanJuana disagrees: "They should know Rod's behaving like a rabid dog." Hilario tells her not to meddle but she bundles herself into the back of the truck and off they go.

Back in the City, Isa is blabbing languidly with Minerva ("thank goodness Gaviota didn't show up - at least this year") when Aaron makes an appearance. Minerva says Isa's staying to dinner, Aaron says he has business and leaves. Min says she's going to Miami with Aaron and will see some specialist who'll help her get pregnant again ASAP. Isa cheerfully says she'll soon convince Rod to have (hmm, my friends in the gay community used to call these "turkey-baster babies" but I'm sure somebody will jump down my throat if I use the term so I won't) and maybe she'll get preg before Minerva does. Minerva's smile at this news is less than convincing.

It turns out Aaron's meeting is with Patricio, whom he's trying to convince to rehire some dirty employee (or maybe more than one). "I have to make irregular exports in order to realize immediate gains. You have to help me." "Forget it!" "Hey, you and I will look clean, just set some guy up to sign the papers, I'll take care of the rest." "You'll be found out and ruined." "Not if you help me. It's your chance to escape a life as a mediocre salaryman, we could do great things together." Patricio says no and walks out.

Back in the agave fields, Rod has ripped off his shirt and is making like the fountains of Versailles with his gasoline. He continues to yell: "I NEEDED YOU TO HARVEST THE AGAVES, BUT I CAN BURN THEM UP ALL BY MYSELF! HILARIO, GIVE ME FIRE!"

"Patron, don't do something you'll regret." "HERE LIES THE END OF EVERYONE'S DREAMS. YOU NEEDED THIS WORK AND I NEEDED YOU." Agitator mutters: "He's making fun of us. He doesn't appreciate us." "WHO SAID THAT?" Rod shouts more - he's always valued the workers, it's their place as well as his, it's been their life as it's been his. Agitator sneers: "All YOU care about is the jimadoras. How many have you gotten pregnant?"

Things deteriorate, the testosterone level mounts, soon it's a fight "TO THE HOSPITAL - OR TO THE TOMB!" The two of them roll in the dirt and Rod has his hands around Liborio's throat and Liborio's eyes are bugging out and it's - the circle of goodbye.

Labels: Destilando