Caray, Caray!

I chopped up some habaneros earlier this evening. Later, I stupidly touched my eye. True story. So if you happen to notice my eye watering at any point during this recap, rest assured that it's the habanero and not any of this silly stuff getting to me. Really. Honest.

Ofelia asks Roman if it's true that Hilario left them because he was in love with Isadora. (She declines to identify her informant, though Roman must realize that Sanwanna's the only likely pigeon.) Roman admits that it's so. Ofelia looks worried.

Rodrigo and Gavi go for a walk. He tells her he came to the plantation not just to take care of his father's agave, but to forget about her. Ironically, though, ever since he's arrived he's been remembering all the great moments they shared. And now they're together just like when they first met.

Pilar is playing cards with Frankie and Sofia for the very last time before they take off for Japan. (Canasta was mentioned last night - it looks complicated.) Frankie lets Pilar win, and the gullible woman gets up to find Imelda and ask her for a snack. Apparently, if you're rich enough, you can't even make a cucumber sandwich on your own.

Frankie sheepishly tells his new wife that he had to sell her engagement ring to pay some debts. But he'll get her a new one just as soon as they get to Japan! Of course, Sofia wishes he would have let her help him, but he says he can't let his wife do that. She asks why he didn't take Rodrigo's job offer. Frankie insists that the job in Japan is the better bet for their future. Secondly, he'd be working for Aaron and Bruno (I guess his point is that Rod would sort of be forcing them to accept Frankie as an employee, which would be awkward all around).

But, he tells Sofia, he has been meditating on this new offer that Rodrigo made - a job here on the hacienda. (I'm actually not 100% sure Rodrigo made any such offer - can anyone confirm? I think Frankie's just playing another trick.)

Suddenly, Sofia looks queasy. Frankie admits to her that he'd love to live at Montalveña forever, riding horses through the countryside. But Sofia hates the idea and flashes back to when she split up with Mr. James because he wanted to stay in Guadalajara forever. Puzzled (he doesn't get to see the explanatory flashback), Frankie reminds her that if they stay at Montalveña, she'd be near her family. She says she needs time to think about it.

(Isadora stares at her belly in the mirror and says she hopes that Frankie doesn't make the mistake of knocking up that simpleton Sofia. I just realized, she's trying to grow her bangs out, and they're in that awkward stage. Kudos to her for taking on such a daunting task in the midst of all this other stress.)

Rod and Gavi continue their tour of the pueblo. He says that when he woke up to her song, he thought he was still dreaming. Gavi says Rod's family will no doubt be asking Avellaneda for her head. Both of them doubt they will succeed, though.

Gavi is upset, though, that they weren't ever supposed to see each other again, and then there she was back at Montalveña. It was a mistake.

"A divine mistake!" Rodrigo exclaims. (She is looking at his lips.) He asks why she came back. She tries to tell him that she went to Montalveña to advise the jimadores about proper sanitary methods to avoid infestations, but he wants the REAL reason. She gives an even lamer excuse: his place had the highest concentration of jimadores. "So did they send you over here to sing to me?" He reminds her that she could have finished her work and left.

She explains that she thought he was far away, in the city; she was worried about coming back to this place so full of memories. Then Rosa told her that he was there alone, and (I think) Gavi says she got carried away and something about wanting to stir up a wasp's nest and wondering if he would hear her sing? "...I don't know why I did it," she finishes.

She tries to walk away, flustered. He pulls her back, and they almost kiss; she pulls away and says this is why she doesn't like to talk to him - it always ends up like this.

She wants to go back with her mother. He wants to take her there. She insists on going alone and begs him not to look for her; if she's fired from her job, that he please not get involved. "The dream ends tonight," she tells him sadly. "It was lovely, but it's finished." She runs away.

"Our love has not ended, and it won't," he mutters. "I swear it."

Up in the penthouse, Minnie and Aaron proceed to get their reconciliation freak on. He asks her to come to bed - she asks if he'll do as she asked (presumably, announce to all the papers that his engagement to Pamela was just a stunt). "Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes" he answers very eagerly. She takes her dress off and throws it on his head. He smiles mischievously.

Meanwhile, in Miami, Pamela is moping alone on the big bed, counting the moments till her hunny comes home.

This woman used to practically live in the water. Now I haven't seen her in the pool or bathtub in weeks. I'm not complaining - I just think it's funny. Like did the folks at Televisa forget to pay the water bill or something?

Elsewhere, Fedra and Bruno are having dinner and debating the merits of the reconciliation. Bruno loves it; Fedra not so much, and she blames Bruno for making it happen. She gets nasty about it - "Minerva is hysterical and jealous, and let's not even talk about her inability to give him a child!" Bruno says who knows, maybe she'll get pregnant. Fedra asks what about Pamela. What a scandal it will be when the Torreblancas find out they have to cancel the wedding because Aaron's dumping her for his ex. Finally he gets tired of it and tells her to stop with the stupid commentary and finish her dinner! She angrily complies.

Gavi thanks the Virgencita for giving her the strength to resist Rodrigo, and goes looking for her own mother among a group of jimadores hanging out in the street. Their friend Nabor tells Gavi that Clarita went off with Serafina to some party in San Pedrito! He gives her the address. The tech from the CRT came by and drove her out there.

Rodrigo "just happens" to roll by in his truck and offers her a ride. Of course she doesn't want to take him up on it, but Nabor says the CRT truck isn't coming back, and Clarita is waiting in San Pedrito... and she was sure that Rodrigo would be willing to bring her.

Gavi rejects this idea and says she'll take a taxi or a bus. "There's no buses out that way at this hour," Nabor protests. She tells him to shut up! She tries to get Rodrigo to go back to the hacienda.

Instead, he picks her up and carries her to the truck. Nabor thoughtfully opens the door for them. Rodrigo finally talks her into accepting his offer (simply a member of the Montalvo family extending a common courtesy to a CRT employee). "Plus, it'll be fun!" He says some more stuff about the machete dance that I don't get, and possibly something about getting fired and/or organizing another strike. Nabor agrees that Gavi should go with Rodrigo. In desperation, Gavi tries to get Nabor to come along too, but Rod sends him away.

Isa calls the hacienda, looking for Rod. Isa is wearing hot pink satin pajamas that bare her midriff, and I just had a thought. Maybe the nude-tummy look is just a way to avoid having to constantly buy bigger maternity clothes. She's rubbing her bejeweled belly once again - maybe she thinks it will bring her good luck.

Roman tells her that Rodrigo went into town to work out some problems with the jimadores. "I don't know if you knew that they don't want to come back to work," he tells her. She wants to know why Roman didn't stay with him. (I think he should just answer "it's not my day to watch him.") She asks if Rod found Gaviota. "I'm talking to you!!" she nags when Roman doesn't answer right away. Roman denies it. She asks him to have Rodrigo call when he comes back.

"He's with her," she fumes.

Rod and Gavi are driving past fields of agave. She scolds him for making a scene in front of "the muchachos" and acting like a nut. He says it's her fault he's crazy. She tries to end the conversation by randomly stuffing a cassette into the stereo - turns out it's the cassette she recorded when she lost the dice game with the businessmen. "This is mine - I lost it!" She wants it back. "It said 'Songs for Rodrigo,' so it's mine," he answers. "You are not the only Rodrigo on the planet," she retorts. She explains how she came to make that tape - losing a bet while trying to sell encyclopedias.

She asks what happened to the original tape she made him three years ago. He admits he burned it, along with the Hernandez shack and the watch and a handkerchief and some clothes, when he was all bummed out about their breakup.

She tries to take the tape back, but he begs her to let him keep it. "It's the only thing of yours that I have left." They almost kiss again, but are interrupted by a commercial.

Now Minnie is in a little red nightgown and Aaron is blindfolded on the bed wearing just his shorts. "What are you going to do to me," he asks Minnie, and she tickles him with an ostrich feather. "Oooh, I like that," he moans.

But we know there's not going to be any sex, because the TV ratings advisory says it's "TV-14" but only a "D" for this segment and no "S". (If you don't know what this means, ask your kids.) The phone rings, and of course Minnie answers - "it could be something important!" It's Isa, wanting to whine to Minerva about Rod's endless pursuit of Gaviota. ("HANG UP," Aaron asks impatiently.) Isa says Minerva was right when she warned Isa not to leave Rodrigo alone. "It's too late to complain now," Minerva answers supportively. Isa whines some more and asks Minerva to help her out with the Mariana Franco problem. Minnie says tomorrow they'll go talk to Avellaneda. Isa grumps some more but finally hangs up.

With the romantic mood, such as it was, now completely ruined, Aaron gets up and puts his clothes on. (I notice that Minerva is wearing a bra under her nightgown. Shrug, just an observation.) Aaron is annoyed that Isa left Rodrigo on his own; maybe he'll impregnate Gaviota. Aaron keeps hoping that maybe Isa's kid will be a girl.

Minerva questions Aaron's motives for getting back together with her; he says he realized he couldn't live without her. How else can he prove that his love is sincere? They start kissing again, and he thought-bubbles how stupid Minerva is; his wedding to Pamela is practically a done deal, and she will give him the child that Minerva never could.

Meanwhile, Minerva thought-bubbles that she's got a lot of surprises for Aaron.

Rod and Gavi finally arrive at the party in San Pedrito. There's the CRT truck; Gaviota will be able to pick up her mother and the CRT guy can take them both back to their hotel. He assures her that she won't be fired, no matter how much of a headache Isadora and Minerva try to give Avellaneda. She says she doesn't want to leave the CRT - tequila is her life. (You could say it's in her blood, but that'd be a cheap shot. Oh, haha, "shot," get it, because... oh no, I can't stop making tequila puns!! I'd better poke myself in the eye, that'll cool me off.) He says he'll warn his family off, if necessary, but Gavi thinks it might be in everyone's best interests for her to quit her job anyway.

She tries to leave, but he thanks her for giving him such a nice day, and a nice evening. He points out that they can be together without fighting. He goes on and on about hardly anything, and it's clear that he's desperate to keep her in the truck as long as possible so the evening won't end.

He insists that they've proven that they can be amigos - true amigos. She sternly reminds him to follow through on his promise to Isadora, and tries to get out of the truck again. He begs her to first say that they can be amigos. "Amigos, nothing more," he insists, offering his hand. She reluctantly offers her own to shake, but he looks like he's going to kiss it, so she tries to pull away.

Then he insists on a kiss. "A kiss of amigos," he claims. "Amigos saying goodbye. Just on the cheek." She consents to give him a chaste peck - he turns his head so she gets his mouth, but it's over in a split-second. "See? Nothing happened," he tells her proudly.

Again she reaches for the door, but now he wants a hug. "De amigos," he promises. "Come on, it's the last night we're going to see each other." Gosh, he seems so sincere. "One hug, for amigos," he goads.

This has to be the most ridiculously romantic and silly thing I've seen in I don't know how long. I think now would be a good time to mention that I also sliced up some onions earlier, and their fumes still linger in my eyes.

Rod and Gavi hug. And indeed, it's a hug "de amigos"... for about a half a second. "Know one thing, Srta. Franco - this amigo is madly in love with his amiga."

That does it. Gavi is out of the truck and running away. "This always happens," Rodrigo complains.

Aaron is shaking up some martinis and complaining bitterly about the return of Gaviota/Mariana. Minnie says the only solution is to get her fired. Aaron warns that if they make a move against Gaviota, Rod will go straight for their jugulars. Minnie says Rod can do what he wants - it's unacceptable that he should wave his lover under all of their noses, especially Isa's. Avellaneda might not be so happy to know that one of his employees was singing to Rodrigo.

Aaron does not want to be involved, but Minerva says too bad, they're all going to the CRT tomorrow. Fedra, Sofia, Isadora, Minerva, and Aaron. Aaron says he has other things to do. Minerva says no way, you're not going to have any communications with your ex-lovers - especially Pamela Torreblanca!

Speaking of whom, Pam is now in bed, in her pajamas, talking to a pillow and kissing it like it's Aaron. She's yearning for his return and she can't wait to give him the baby he wants. (She might like him better as a pillow - pillows don't throw tantrums and demand more ice for their drinks, etc.)

Sofia and Frankie are in bed too, talking about that alleged job offer at the hacienda. She admits she never liked the farm, but she'll be happy as long as she's at his side. (Blech.) This pleases Frankie, and he expresses his joy by running through his limited French vocabulary again.

Clarita and Gaviota are now back in their room. Clarita is very pleased with herself for having forced Gavi to spend more time with Rodrigo (or as Gavi describes it, "in the wolf's mouth"). Gavi tries to describe how it all turned out, but gets stuck at artificial insemination because her mother doesn't know what that is. (Her awkward explanation about "little seeds" elicits yet another "¿como así?" from her mother, so drink 'em if you got 'em.) Gavi says she's not sure whether she believes Rodrigo's story or not.

At the hacienda, Rodrigo and James also engage in rehash, with a little more success. Rod tells James that he and Gaviota were able to be together as amigos, and he explained how Isa got pregnant. "And she believed you?" James asks. "Well, sure, I think so," Rod answers, looking miffed.

A little while later, Gavi is trying to get to sleep, but Clarita is still trying to wrap her mind around the bizarre tale of Isa's pregnancy. Gavi explains that it was done without Rodrigo's consent.

Clarita is stumped. She's never seen anything like this in a telenovela. Gavi complains that a story like this wouldn't be credible in even the best telenovela. (Har, har, har.) Clarita snaps the light on and excitedly says she's now more sure than ever that the niño is not Rodrigo's. Who's to say those "little seeds" were his? Maybe the doctor was in on it. She says that's the kind of thing she sees in a novela.

Gavi thinks it's more likely that Rod was simply lying when he said that he couldn't have relations with anyone besides Gavi. She turns out the light. Clarita turns it back on, Gavi turns it off, Clarita turns it on, etc. etc. as they argue about whether or not Clarita's conspiracy theory merits consideration and Gavi pretends not to care. "So, you can accept that?" Clarita finally asks. "No, of course not," Gavi answers glumly.

More James and Rodrigo. Rodrigo is very satisfied with today's conversation. He feels like a great weight has been lifted from him, now that Gavi doesn't hate him.

He is not so sanguine about the future of his marriage. He thinks sooner or later, it's not going to work. (Has it ever worked?) James asks, if Rod and Isa separate, will Gavi come back to him?

Yeah, sure, guys. I'm sure Gavi will be grateful to be allowed to enjoy the spoils of a marriage that died from attrition.

Getting back to reality, Rod says he doesn't know about that, but for now, he and Gavi are amigos.

At the hotel, the amiga turns on the light and blurts out that this amigo thing isn't going to work for her. She tells Clarita about the hug and kiss. Clarita is triumphant, "I knew it!" Gavi says she would have preferred something about an "encorajinada" (not in my dictionary). He promised he'd keep his distance and behave himself with Isadora. Clarita skeptically asks if Gaviota thinks he'll keep his word. Gavi says that if he doesn't, she'll have to quit her job, and he knows she's serious about that.

James tells Rod he'd better keep his word, or he's really going to screw things up. Rod is making it sound like it will be a piece of cake. Roman finds him and lets him know that Isadora was looking for him. "I hope she's okay" Rod says, dialing.

Of course she's okay - sulking is like a bodily function for her. She interrogates him and accuses him of going around with Gavi. "We'll talk when you come back," she snaps, and hangs up on him. (Unlike many telenovela characters, she simply presses the Off button and puts the phone on the bed, rather than hurling it across the room or smashing it against a table or throwing it into a pool.) Rodrigo complains to James that it bothers him that he "has to lie" to her. "Sometimes there's no other way," James says.

(Has to lie? No other way? I'm guessing these people didn't grow up with the influence of Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo.)

James tells Rodrigo that Acacia is at the clinic. Rodrigo asks if Meliton came back and attacked her. "Meliton will never attack Acacia again," James comments darkly. "She killed him!"

(Acacia wakes up alone in the hospital. She hears a man whispering her name. "Mr James?" she asks hopefully. There's a shadow on the wall... it looks like Meliton!)

Mr. James is telling Rodrigo about the death of Meliton. He's crying and panicking. Rod tries to reason with him and says something terrible must have happened for her to have done something like that. James says he doesn't know, Acacia was saying her hands were covered in blood and no one else could know. So he took off to see Rodrigo, but Rod had problems of his own (well, sure, but I think the murder rap wins) so he decided to keep his mouth shut. But he's howling and red in the face now, worried that either she or he or both of them will go to jail.

(Hysterical, Acacia tries to run out of the hospital screaming. The staff pick her up and carry her back into her room.)

Rodrigo encourages James to talk to Acacia tomorrow and let her explain what happened. He can bring her back here to the hacienda and live there for a while. They can't go back to Meliton's ranch - that would be terrible for both of them.

James whines and whines that Acacia didn't trust him enough to tell him what had happened, and why did she make these decisions on her own? Why'd she try to bury him with her own hands? Rod says this is all pure speculation. "She is your wife and you have to be at her side, come what may," Righteous Rodrigo, Professional Marriage Expert, lectures his friend.

(I'm now having a flashback of my own: It's Christmas Eve. Isadora and her parents and an aspiring grifter sit around the dinner table, waiting for Rodrigo to arrive or at least call. By the time he finally does show up, he has spent the evening at another party and danced with and kissed another woman and begged her to run away with him; in desperation, Isadora herself has shared a frightening liplock with a con artist.)

James says that he loves her so much, he's capable of turning himself in for Meliton's murder. Rod is like, whoa, not so fast! Let's find out the truth first. James calms down and thanks Rodrigo for his advice. ("That's why we're amigos," Rodrigo tells him, and this strikes me as very, very funny. But it's just not the same without the hugging and kissing.) James decides to go back to the clinic. Rod suggests that James bring her to the hacienda, and they can run the place while Rodrigo goes back to the city to take care of business. Surprised, James agrees.

Okay. Now I'm very sure that Rodrigo didn't offer Francisco a job running the hacienda.

It's morning. Gavi and Clarita go to the police station to fill out some reports on the creepy photographer, whose name is Rolando Esparragoza. (Roland Asparagus?) She hopes the full weight of the law will crush him and his accomplice, Collette. (People who watched LFMB but missed the first few weeks of this novela may not be aware that Collette, the madam in Paris, was played by Rebeka Mankita, aka Ana-Leticia, Marcia and Ariel Villaroel's goofy sister.) Clarita passionately agrees. The clerk gives them (and us) a preachy little speech about coming forward to speak out against evildoers in the community. Clarita adds that she hopes they put this guy away for the rest of his life, and force him to work like a mule.

It's breakfast in Montalveña. Sofia gives Dani and Pilar the good news that they won't be going to Japan after all. Dani is very sarcastic. ("Don't tell me - they changed their mind about hiring him? No? Oh - he's got a job as Sofia's husband - that'll make him a millionaire.") Pilar scolds. Dani says she's only joking, and that she's glad Sofia's staying.

Frankie comes in and long-windedly begins making an announcement about some job offer that will keep them near the family. (Dani butters her toast with a little knife and a big glob of contempt.) Pilar is very excited and wants to hear the whole story.

"It's in the Tequila region," Frankie teases. "Ever hear tell of a place called... the house of Montalveña?"

Dani's knife freezes in midair. Pilar beams - her best smile in the series so far. Francisco de la Vega gives a smarmy smirk.

---

Wednesday
Pamela calls; she wants her married boyfriend back.
Some women knit or collect bells. Minnie has a hobby too - getting Gavi fired.

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