Caray, Caray!

Stupid Soledad backpedals from almost spilling the beans to Emilio that Alina is alive. She tells him she didn't mean to say what she said, she's just dazed and confused by all that has happened. They talk about Orlando being the one who allegedly raped Alina, but it turns out he was an opportunist who lied about it anyway. Soledad says at least Alina didn't have to suffer That Particular Shame.

Emilio regrets not having been able to help Alina. Soledad assures him that Alina is at peace, she's sure Alina knows the truth. Emilio says since Alina died he has no reason to live. Alina was everything to him.

Singing Auntie sobs in grief for Maxi Pork Kebab even though he was an uncouth boor. Thelma tells her she's pathetic being in love with a dead guy. "Oh yeah..." counters Auntie,"you're married to a guy who has nothing but contempt for you!" Thelma hisses she's glad Max died because he threatened to ruin her plans. Auntie pisses Thelma off by saying she pities Thelma and her unhealthy love.

Emilio tells Soledad that tomorrow he plans to testify against Alvaro. He will also tell the court what a disgrace his uncle was.

Next Morning:

Alina tells Coral that she wants to see Emilio just one more time, even if from afar. She acts all sad and pathetic until Coral agrees to go with her to the jail so they can hide behind a wall or something and spy on Emilio.

Just as there is only one church in town, there also seems to be only one hotel...Hugo leaves his room and Alfonsina starts to break in. Just then Mariana, Malena and Dr. Love come hobbling down the hallway and Alfonsina slithers off to hide. Oops! Silly Dr. Love, he got them on the wrong floor. He loudly announces what their correct room number is and they leave. Alfonsina sees them and thought bubbles that Mariana must be there to tell the patron the truth, that she (Alfonsina) is the one who deliberately started the misunderstanding that turned into this telenovela.

Rodrigo goes to Coral's to "protect" Alina but she's not there. Adela lets the cat out of the bag that Alina went to the courthouse because her father is in prison. He acts impactado and dashes off heroically.

Emilio enters the court and says he wants to testify that not only did DonLoco imprison and torture his wife and daughter, but he also tried to kill Emilio on two occasions. Shady Lawyer tries to discredit Emilio but Emilio says his military word of honor, and the words of honor of other military witnesses, will support what he says. I say lift your shirt and drop your pants and show them the bullet wounds.

Thelma visits Soledad in jail. After insulting all the members of the Montellano family she says she has a friend who happens to be dating an Alina Montellano. Doesn't Soledad find that to be quite the coincidence?

Soledad tries crying...how black is Thelma's soul that she mentions the name of Soledad's dead daughter? Boo hoo. Thelma doesn't fall for this tactic that used to work on DonLoco. She says she'll keep snooping until she finds out the truth.

Emilio testifies that Sierra Escondida was a lawless land and DonLoco was used to taking the law into his own hands. Shady Lawyer says Don Maximo said Emilio abused his military rank and power by messing with DonLoco. Emilio answers that DonLoco and Don Max were of the same ilk; they broke the law and protected each other. Emilio goes through the list of bad things that DonLoco and Max did but we all know them so no need to repeat them here.

DonLoco starts going loco against Emilio. Doctora Loca tries to intervene so that her patient can calm down but the judge orders her to backoff and for the trial to proceed. I wonder if the judge and warden are beginning to see through her professionalism?

Emilio concludes his testimony by confirming that Soledad and Elias never had a relationship that was anything but honorable. (How does he know this?) Alina and Coral peek around the corner to spy on the proceedings. They get to hear Emilio spout that Soledad and Alina were always honest, wonderful people and Alina was DonLoco's legitimate daughter. (Again, how does he KNOW this?) He says the word of Alina Montellano was all the proof of this that he ever needed. (Oh, OK.) She was a pure and honorable girl. Alina and Coral giggle and dash across the hallway.

Alina tells Coral that she still loves Emilio but it's better that he thinks she's dead. Of course Rodrigo has heard this because he walked up behind her. Instead of saying "Hi Rodrigo!" very loudly, Coral says nothing and keeps nodding her head in his direction until Alina finally turns around. Oops!

The judge states that after today's VERY CONVINCING testimony by Emilio, the defense will get to start their testimonies tomorrow. Don Loco starts going loco again and they drag him off to his cell.

Alina apologizes to Rodrigo and tells him she wants to go somewhere and explain everything.

Alfonsina hopes that she can get that cripple Mariana alone.

Ricardo and Malena have errands to run and leave Mariana alone. Alonsina creeps toward the room.

Alina fills Rodrigo in on the big mystery. He has been ordered to protect her because a lot of people, including her father and Emilio, believe she is dead. When her father was going to marry her off to Orlando she decided, with Luba's help, to take a potion that made everybody think she was dead. "Then Emilio doesn't love Thelma," asks Rodrigo? Alina tells him no, he only married Thelma for the baby and now she (Alina) doesn't want to destroy the marriage. Rodrigo tells her he understands and he will fight for her love. Now he has something to admit...that friend he had lunch with? That was Thelma. Alina is impactada.

Shady Lawyer visits DonLoco and scolds him for acting up in court. DonLoco says it's everybody's fault but his.

Alina tells Rodrigo that Thelma was the worst to her of anyone. Thelma mustn't know she's alive. Too late. Rodrigo tells Alina to be strong and have faith in him. They WILL have that dinner with Thelma. Alina looks at him like "*Que the hell?????" (*Becksterism)

Alfonsina pretends to be the maid and Mariana shuffles her walker to the door and opens it. "Damn cripple," shouts Alfonsina, "since when can you move?" Mariana tells her she can speak too, and she's going to tell everyone the truth. The letter was for her, not Soledad, also that Hugo and Alfonsina plotted to blackmail DonLoco with the cofre. She calls Alfonsina pure trash. Alfonsina slaps Mariana onto the bed then leaps on top of her and slaps her again.

Emilio tells the warden he will testify in Soledad's behalf. Sadly his tio was a bad person. The warden says in that case Soledad will surely be freed immediately.

Tina the nanny finds a letter in little Gaby's drawer. It says "Dear Mommy, I know you are in heaven watching down on daddy and me. I saw daddy kissing a hot babe and it made me mad. Was I wrong? Is daddy doing a good thing or a bad thing? What should I do?"

Emilio gets home and the phone rings. He picks it up at the same time Thelma does and hears her make plans to meet Rodrigo and his amiga at the club for dinner. She thought bubbles "Now we'll see about this Alina friend." Emilio thought bubbles "Thelma plans to go out without me. What's going on with Thelma and Rodrigo?"

Alfonsina shrieks "I'm going to kill you, you damn cripple!" Suddenly Malena runs in and yanks Alfonsina off by her braid. First she smashes the back of her head against the wall, then she flings Alfonsina across the room and onto the sofa where she jumps on her, pins her with her knees, and proceeds to strangle her. Alfonsina finally breaks free and rushes out, but not before Malena gives her a parting kick for good measure. Wow, rewind! It's even better the second time! Mariana says Malena is just like Superman, she arrived just in time. Malena is completely jacked up from the fight, all hyper, bouncing up and down and grinning.

Elias is happy to see Dr. Love and over a cup of coffee fills him in on what happened after he left Escondidaville.

Hugo returns to his room chuckling that after tomorrow he will return to Veracruz and Alfonsina won't see a centavo of the money. Shady Lawyer stops by for his daily threat and Hugo assures him he knows what to say in court because he wants the rest of his money. After the lawyer leaves Hugo decides to take a bath. He puts his gun on the nightstand.

Thelma lies to Emilio and tells him Rodrigo is no longer interested in meeting them for dinner. "We'll see," thought bubbles Emilio.

Malena and Mariana fill Dr. Love in on the beating that Malena gave to Alfonsina. Mariana is still all hot to tell DonLoco that Soledad never betrayed him and Alina really is his daughter.

Alina, Coral and Adela (with Rodrigo standing guard) get Soledad out of jail. Hugs all around. Soledad warns Alina about Thelma's visit to her in jail. Rodrigo admits to them that Thelma already knows about Alina thanks to him. Soledad tells him that Thelma is a very bad person and shouldn't know anything about Alina. He and Alina blow everyone's minds by saying they're going to have dinner with Thelma that night. Rodrigo looks confident but Alina not so much.

Shady Lawyer's secretary brings him an enevelope of forensic evidence. He looks at it, scowls, and says DonLoco must know immediately.

Thelma leaves her dark house and Emilio follows. "Thelma will get the surprise of her life," he mutters.

Angel, wearing his unibomber duds, has started a new sketch, apparently not Alina. He says "Claudia, could it be possible? Could Claudia be the love?"

Some masked luchadors (a couple of them look kind of like Coco Verde) stroll by Luba. She sees her wanted poster in the gym, "Is it me?" and tears it down, "Just in case!"

You've got to give Alfonsina credit, she's not going to let an ass whoopin' get her down. She knocks a poor chambermaid unconscious and steals her keys. She goes into Hugo's room and steals his gun while he's in the bath.

Shady Lawyer shows DonLoco the forensic evidence...the tomb of Alina Montellano was empty!

Alfonsina is on a roll. She goes down to the front desk, holds the gun to the clerk's head and orders him to open Hugo's safety deposit box. They go into the security closet where, unbeknownst to her, everything is filmed by a hidden camera. Ain't nobody gonna mistake Alfonsina with her getup. We see everything through the eye of the camera. As Alfonsina leaves she turns back around and, perfectly framed in the camera, shoots the clerk.

DonLoco and Shady Lawyer can't figure out why Alina's tumba was empty unless...unless...someone stole the body to prevent them from comparing the DNA! Who would profane a tomb in order to protect Soledad? DonLoco thinks it's Elias of course. Shady Lawyer suspects it's the person who protected the girl...that Luba. "That damn witch," shouts DonLoco, "It must be her!"

Luba shows Gaspar her wanted poster. "How pretty," he gushes. Luba sets him straight. It means people are looking for her. "Are they going to try to kill us, like the Cacique?" asks Gaspar, beginning to panic. Luba says if they're found they'll go to jail forever. Thanks to stupid Vera the police probably think she killed Flor. Luba says they need to beat it before the cops get their hands on them.

Rodrigo waits at the club. Thelma arrives all dolled up; she says she can't wait to meet his date, where is she? The camera pans to where Rodrigo points. We see a pair of legs sauntering toward the table in slow motion.

In the next "critical episode" - Hugo waves bye-bye to a ranting DonLoco. Emilio arrives at the club, does he see who is attached to the mystery legs?

By the way, there is a cool book called "Lucha Loco" by Malcom Venville. It has superb photos and bios of many luchadors. Check out the website to see some fantastic pictures and short on-line interviews with some of the fascinating characters in this sport.

amor malsano = unhealthy love
aturdita = dazed
calaña = ilk, a type
contudente = convincing
paliza = beating
patán = uncouth boor
Por si las moscas = just in case

Labels: duelo