Caray, Caray!

Alvaro (aka Don Loco) admitted that he regretted what he'd done to Alina. Soledad said, "Although we want, we can't turn back time." She told him he was tired and should rest.

Don Loco got into bed, saying tomorrow they would go far away. Soledad put her arms around him and they both went to sleep.

At Claudia's house: Claudia's mother apologized for not believing her about Rosendo's abuse. Angel (providing this episode's public service message) said, "Unfortunately, many women are victims of men like Rosendo."

Claudia's mother said she would have nothing more to do with men, she would devote her life to Claudia, but Claudia said no, "It's not necessary to renounce love."

She tried to convince her mother to go with her to Coral's house for the night, but for some reason the mother refused, so Claudia and Angel left. (Great idea, guys! I'm sure Claudia's mom will be perfectly safe!)

Adela went to the Devil's Cave, looking for Coral. The bartender called Coral's friend Erika, who laughed when Adela called Coral "senorita." Adela said Coral was in danger from "a very crazy man."

(I'm wondering about the purpose of these recent scenes of Adela at the Devil's Cave. They don't seem to have any impact on the plot or characters. Or is Adela going to end up taking Coral's old job as a dancer? Just a thought.)

At Coral's house: Angel and Claudia worried because Coral wasn't home. Angel called Agent Vargas to tell him about Coral's disappearance. Then he and Claudia left the house.

Meanwhile, Rosendo returned to Claudia's mother's house. She confronted him, and he said, "I never liked you. It was Claudia I desired!"

Claudia's mother slapped him and told him off again. Rosendo said, "I'm already damned, and you won't believe what I'm capable of when someone makes me look as ridiculous as you did," then started punching her.

At Coral's Boutique: Angel and Claudia found Coral tied up. She told them Don Loco had gone after Soledad.

At the military camp: Alina woke up and found Emilio beside her. He asked how she felt, and she said, "Very well."

(How serious could this illness have been -- she was only sick for about half an hour and then made a complete recovery?? She's still wearing her uniform, for Pete's sake. OK, fine, whatever.)

Some kids brought her flowers. (How adorable, and what a good idea to let children into a sick ward! Without face masks! It all makes perfect sense! Emilio is indeed a great leader!)

Alina and Emilio agreed to get married. Emilio said, "Surely Thelma has already signed the divorce papers." (Yes, surely, because everything Thelma has done throughout your marriage demonstrates her complete willingness to divorce you, Duhmilio.)

Back at the San Mateo hotel: Alvaro woke up and Soledad was STILL with him. How weird! At this point I was starting to think she had to be real, not a figment of his imagination.

At the always spotless Abandoned Cabin of Refuge for Anyone Who Wants to Hide in Sierra Escondida: Luba told Gaspar to summon Orlando on the walkie-talkie.

Gaspar said, "Lieutenant, Lieutenant, it's me, Gaspar. I'm here with Mama. Lieutenant, talk to me."

Thelma, of course, just happened to be in the absent Orlando's room at La Rinconada at that moment, and of course Orlando had left the walkie-talkie in his room, so Thelma heard Gaspar announcing his exact location. (Good work, writers; it's all perfectly plausible!)

At Soledad's hotel: Alvaro and Soledad came downstairs in time to see Agent Vargas and his men knocking on Soledad's door. The door was opened -- by -- yes -- Soledad!

Surprised, Don Loco looked over his shoulder at -- yes -- Soledad! She was still standing behind him. I must admit that this scene was cool.

Unfortunately, the real Soledad and her companions didn't notice Don Loco and his imaginary friend standing there just a few feet away.

Imaginary Soledad said to the stunned Don Loco, "Of course I'm not really Soledad. I'm a hallucination." She asked whether he thought she would really forget everything he'd done to her, then disappeared.

Don Loco muttered that he was getting worse every day, then went back to his room to look for Soledad, calling, "Soledad, Soledad, come back, Soledad. It couldn't all be a lie."

He sat on the bed and said to himself, "There's no doubt. I am crazy. Completely crazy." (Sergio Goyri is a good actor -- I really felt sorry for him in this scene.)

At La Rinconada: Vera and Ifigenio were eating breakfast together in the kitchen (still no sign of long-lost Jaime, aka Mexican Larry). Thelma came in and told them, "Orlando lied to us."

When she tried to urge them to go after Luba and Gaspar, Vera said nervously that Orlando had threatened her. Thelma retorted that Orlando had raped Alina -- I guess she was hoping Bloodthirsty Vera would put Orlando on her hit list, too.

Meanwhile, Orlando arrived at the cabin and told Luba and Gaspar to collect their things because they were leaving immediately. Gaspar jumped up and down with joy at the thought of finally seeing his little cub, then hugged his mother.

In Floodlandia (as Margaret calls it): Rodrigo tried to cross a raging river on a zip-line (thanks to Sylvia for using that term in her recap because otherwise I wouldn't have known what to call it). He got stuck halfway, then fell into the water.

At Coral's house: The bruised Coral told Angel and Claudia she was OK now. Claudia said she would go home to see her mother.

Angel went to Claudia's neighborhood with her, but then left her before she went into the house. (What makes him think Rosendo isn't lurking nearby? Why are these people so endlessly stupid?!?!)

In the real Soledad's hotel room: Vargas was assuring Soledad and Elias that Don Loco couldn't escape. Soledad didn't believe it.

After Vargas and his men left, Elias locked the door and told Soledad for the millionth time that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Soledad didn't look too confident, and I didn't blame her.

Right away there was a knock at the door. Elias asked, "Who is it? Who?"

Back in Pueblo, Claudia found her mother on the floor, covered in blood. She cried, "No, Mama, no!"

In Floodlandia: Yes, all this time had passed and Rodrigo was still in the water. Apparently no one could rescue him except Super Emilio! So a soldier named Luis ran to get him.

Meantime, Elias was still trying to decide whether to open the hotel room door. Soledad begged him not to, but Elias heard a voice from the hall and opened the door, telling Soledad, "It's an employee."

A waiter came into the room, quickly followed by Don Loco, who knocked the waiter out, then asked the terrified Soledad, "You weren't expecting me, right?" He warned Mighty Protector Elias, "Let go of my woman if you don't want to die."

Soledad told Elias, "Alvaro is serious."

Don Loco told Soledad not to cry, that he didn't want to hurt her, only wanted her to be happy. She asked him to put down his gun, but of course he didn't. He said he had a plane waiting at a nearby airport to take him and Soledad far away. Soledad said OK, just put down the gun.

Suddenly the waiter jumped up and started struggling with Don Loco, who knocked the waiter out. Soledad begged him not to kill the waiter and Elias.

Alvaro said there was nothing he wanted more than to kill this desgraciado Elias, but he wouldn't because he had changed. This kinder, gentler Don Loco knocked Elias out, then left the room with Soledad.

Meanwhile, Emilio was still chatting with Luis about how to save Rodrigo (who must be remarkably waterproof). Alina said rescuing Rodrigo would be very dangerous, so she would go with him.

Back to Claudia's neighborhood: Claudia ran down the street to Angel (who was coughing again!) and said, "She's dead! Rosendo killed her; it's the only explanation!" Angel hugged her and unreasonably told her to be calm.

At Rodrigo's house: Tina told Aida (aka Dr. Loca, the professional bimbo -- oops, I mean, the very professional psychologist) that Gaby had a nervous problem. Oh, yes, no better person to call for help than Dr. Has-It-All-Together-Herself.

Aida went into Gaby's room and asked if she wanted to go out to the park. Gaby said no, but agreed to re-enact the kidnapping with her dolls, saying she would play the part of the bad woman.

In Floodlandia: Soldiers were still trying without success to rescue Rodrigo. Silly of them; didn't they know that only Super Emilio could do that?

At Soledad's hotel: Don Loco saw a police officer guarding the lobby and told Soledad to get rid of him or she would have his death on her conscience.

Soledad ran to the officer and told him something about someone needing his help elsewhere. It worked; the officer left, giving Don Loco the chance to leave the hotel with Soledad.

At the river: Emilio and Alina still chatted while Rodrigo continued to drown. Alina told Emilio to be careful.

At the Only Cabin in All of Sierra Escondida, where it apparently took hours for Orlando and Luba to pack their sacks full of possessions: Orlando asked Luba why she was taking the cofre with her. Luba said, "This box is very important." They finally left the cabin.

At Rodrigo's house: Gaby and Aida re-enacted the kidnapping with Gaby's dolls. Aida, playing the role of the kidnapped girl, said she would tell the police about the woman who kidnapped her.

Gaby, playing the Bad Woman, said, "No, you can't say anything to the police." She told Aida directly that she couldn't say who the woman was, but Aida coaxed her and Gaby eventually had the doll say that she was Thelma, the wife of Emilio Valtierra! Later Aida passed this information on to Tina.

Meanwhile, Soledad stood on a country road with Don Loco. She told him, "This is the road to Sierra Escondida." They squabbled a bit -- just like old times -- and Don Loco said, "I am crazy, not stupid." I think he said he wanted to take cover in the woods, or something like that.

Soledad insisted that this part of the mountain was dangerous, but Don Loco said, "I'm always going to protect you," and started off into the woods with her.

Back at the hotel, Vargas and his men finally found Elias, who told them about Alvaro supposedly having an airplane.

In Floodlandia: Super Emilio finally got around to rescuing Rodrigo from the water. How dumb. Er, I mean, how heroic of Emilio.

At the boutique: Malena showed up, looking for Soledad, saying she wanted to tell her how happy Mariana and Ricardo (aka Dr. Love) were together. Coral said she was worried about Soledad, then started to explain the situation to Malena.

Back to the river: Waterlogged Rodrigo was nursed by Alina and Valentina while Emilio stood around trying to look casually noble. He told Frank he would radio the general to ask for a helicopter to help their rescue operation.

From the ground, Rodrigo told Emilio, "Again I am in your debt." Emilio said that wasn't true because they were friends, blah blah.

Elsewhere: Tina went to see Tia Rebeca and said Rebeca's niece would pay very dearly for kidnapping Gaby.

(Shouldn't Tina have gone to the police instead? And who takes care of Gaby while Tina is running around town? No wonder Gaby is so afraid of being kidnapped again; it's a legitimate concern with Thelma on the loose and Rodrigo/Alina/Tina all gone. Poor kid.)

Rebeca said tearfully, "I don't know what to tell you." Tina said she would denounce Thelma to the police. (Good idea!)

Aunt Rebeca said it was true that Thelma had done horrible things, and she too was a victim of Thelma's threats, that she was afraid Thelma would separate her from the baby. I think she apologized to Tina.

Floodlandia again: Emilio radioed General Ochoa about the helicopter. The general said Don Loco had kidnapped Soledad and they were believed to be in Sierra Escondida.

Alina, of course, overheard this. She cried, "My papa is very sick, and he could do anything!"

Emilio promised to find her mother. Alina insisted on going with him. With his usual careful foresight and planning, Emilio said OK, let's go.

Meanwhile, Vargas told Elias that Don Loco's airplane story had turned out to be false. Elias said Don Loco must have said that to buy time. Somehow they deduced that Don Loco must have taken Soledad to Sierra Escondida.

In the mountains somewhere: Soledad rested, saying resentfully that she couldn't go on and Don Loco should be in an insane asylum.

Don Loco said he wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction. He dragged her up the mountain, saying, "We have a meeting with destiny, and I want us to be punctual." Uh oh. That doesn't sound good.

At the military camp: The helicopter Emilio requested arrived. That didn't take long. Emilio and Alina said goodbye to the soldiers and nurses and left in the helicopter to save Soledad.

OH, YEAH, THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE! If you have to confront a dangerous, armed lunatic and you have a bunch of soldiers under your command, you should DEFINITELY leave the soldiers behind and set off in pursuit of the madman with only a young, sick nurse to assist you!

And at the end of this brilliantly believable episode, Orlando was shown sitting on a horse in the woods at night, chatting with Gaspar and Luba, who were on foot. Orlando said everything was going just as he'd planned.

Right on cue, Vera showed up with her witch-burning mob, complete with torches and pitchforks.

And who was behind them but Thelma, on horseback! She said, "What, Orlando? Did you think you were going to get away with it?" ("Creíste que te ibas a salir con la tuya?")

salir con la tuya = "get away with it" or "get your own way" according to this helpful message board discussion.

Note: This is my last recap for Caray Caray! I've enjoyed it but just don't have time right now to continue as a recapper. I'll still be around as a commenter, and you can also find me on my own blog. Thanks to everyone for making my time as a contributer here rewarding and fun!

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