Caray, Caray!

The show opens with Diego and Silvana at the boutique. Diego is looking at Silvana critically, as a model with one of his dresses, a red evening gown, on and calls Chucho over to make modifications to the dress she’s wearing. “close up the neckline, two fingers at the sides, two at the top and be careful not to alter the structure or the drape of the dress.” Chucho agrees and Diego walks off. Chucho says “good day, Silvana, we haven’t greeted eachother yet today have we?” Silvana looks a little snooty and uncomfortable. Wow, somebody’s gotten big for their britches.

Far away in the countryside, Azulcena (Azul+Amnesia+Azucena=Azulcena) , LF and LF’s mama are eating their country supper plato of Tortilla, refried beans and guacamole. When mama gets up to get the salsa, LF and Azulcena quickly start making out behind her back and then pretend like nothing happened. When she gets back, Azul goes to playing footsie under the table. LF you haven’t got a prayer. This supposedly dumb bunny is hot to trot.

Back at the boutique, Ceci is complaining bitterly to Gaspar that Silvana wants everything—she wants to be the best model, with the best husband and already perfect daughter. According to what Azul told her Ceci laments, Diego already is the perfect husband. Gaspar shakes his head when Silvana thunders in still wearing the too low cut (for Diego) evening gown. I heard you talking about me. “Tell me to my face!” Ceci has no trouble doing this. She tells her that she can see that she’s trying to make a play for Diego “and this I will not permit.!” Silvana says she will do no such thing, what’s going on here is none of her business. Ceci says, yes it is her business—Azul was like a sister to her and Silvana skip a beat after Azul’s death to try to take her place. Silvana protests that that’s not true. All she’s trying to do is support Diego and Caty. Ceci rolls her eyes and says, “Yeah, right, more charity than Mother Teresa of Calcutta.” She goes on to accuse Silvana of pursuing Diego all the time she knew that he was in love with Azul. Silvana agrees but says that when Azul and Diego finally got together, she let him go and tried to start over and put everything into being a success with her new life as a model. “And that’s what really cuts you” she finishes with Ceci, giving her a nasty look. Gaspar interrupts here to defend Ceci. He tells her not to yell at and insult Ceci or she’ll have to answer to him. Silvana continues her insulting tone—saying it’s not her fault that Ceci is a mediocre model and can’t win the love of a man. (Uh, who are we talking about again?) Ceci defiantly says that her moment will come. Silvana tosses her head and says basically that she’s got all the right stuff to be a model and Ceci just doesn’t have it. Ceci says whatever, leaving aside Silvana’s insults, Ceci says she only cares about the welfare of Diego and Caty and she will make sure that they know about Silvana’s true intentions. Some footsteps are heard in the hallway and Silvana starts whimpering on cue. It’s Diego, Julio, Chucho and Gloria. Silvana whimpers that Ceci is being mean to her. She’s been telling Gaspar that Silvana is not going back to Japan—she’s going to take what’s not hers, Cecilia’s career and Diego. Julio asks Ceci “how could you?” Diego bites his lip and asks Ceci if it is true. Ceci admits it. She says that she’ll fight for the memory of her best friend. Diego turns away and leaves. Silvana smirks and says “see what you’ve done with your stupid behavior? I am going to him.” She exits running after Diego.

In the countryside, Azulcena and the Doctorcito are in the countryside talking about how they are going to be doing some home visits to patients who live in locations remote from the clinic. Azulcena is all smiley and says that’s great because she likes to help people.

Back at the boutique, Gloria and Chucho discuss the bustup between Ceci and Silvana. Gloria says that Ceci is right, Silvana is on the prowl for Diego. Chucho doesn’t believe it. He says, yes, Silvana has changed now that she’s a top model, but he doesn’t think she’s become …what Cecilia says. I guess we can fill in the …with “conniving biyatch.” Gloria fusses over Chucho and says he’s too nice. It’s absolutely true that Silvana is staying in Mexico for Diego. Chucho says, “so?” “Everybody knows that he’s very dear to her.” “Gloria says, yes, but Silvana herself has told her that this time it’s different. This time, she’s prepared to do anything to get Diego.” [Wow, mom, some confidante you are!] Chucho looks thoughtful then responds again, “So? “ Azul (rest in peace) is gone and Diego has a right to remake his life. Gloria says, that’s not the problem. It’s the way her daughter is going about the whole thing without any consideration. WITHOUT LIMITS (just to echo the title of the show one more time).

Meanwhile, Diego is lying with his head awfully close to his sewing machine. He mumbles that he can’t forget Azul. Azul is not dead to him, it’s like she still there. Silvana looks pretty bored with all this talking about Azul. Diego says, it’s true that Azul is no longer with him, he can’t kiss her, he can’t embrace her… a tear rolls down the side of his nose (because his head was horizontal a minute ago). Silvana finally interrupts him saying she can see why Ceci is mad at her—it was professional jealousy—Ceci has worked so hard and achieved so little in her career…blah blah blah. Diego is not listening.

Back to Ceci back in the main room of the boutique with Julio who is ticked that Ceci has created such a ruckus. Silvana and she will have to learn to work together like professionals. He doesn’t want to give Diego any more problems. Ceci is unrepentant about what she said. Julio indicates that she should get ready for the show. Cecilia walks off.

Silvana is still trying to sweet talk Diego. She tells him that he helped her get over the death of her son. Ceci comes in suddenly to Silvana’s dismay and apologizes to Diego. Diego accepts. He asks her next time that from now on, to think before she speaks. He gets up and walks out.
In the remote village, while she is assisting the Doctorcito, Azulcena is administering something to a kid. Looks like eye drops. After she finishes with him she suddenly looks at her bracelet. She hears Caty’s voice in her head, telling her that when she wears the bracelet, she can always feel her near her. The shock of the memory, causes Azul to swoon. The Doctorcito must have watching her pretty closely because he notices her wavering and runs up to catch her and sit her down before she can fall.

Switch to Azul’s memorial service. The family processes in to some pop song, I don’t recognize, with Diego and Caty bringing up the rear. It’s in the convent chapel and all the nuns are there. Diego and Caty carry the memorial wreath and lay it on the altar.

The Doctor asks Azulcena what’s wrong and she says nothing—she just feels a little dizzy. A woman invites her to come to her house to eat, that that’s probably what the problem is. She goes with the woman.

Back to the chapel, more shots of the family and some of the nice religious statuary. There is an old statue of the Holy Trinity, very colonial looking. (Sorry, religious iconography was one of my favorite things in Art History.) More song, whatever it is.

After Azulcena comes back from eating tacos at the woman’s house, the Doctorcito asks her what REALLY happened back there with the fainting and all. Azulcena admits that she looked at her bracelet and heard a little girl’s voice in her head. “And it affected you so much, you fainted? “He asked. She pretty much repeats what she just said and smiles at him a little idiotically, as if none of it had any meaning. He, on the other hand, looks worried. If she’s getting back her memory, what is he going to find out about her?

Back at the chapel, the service is continuing. Silvana is wearing a dress that is so tight that it looks like it was painted on and again, with the cleavage. Not very funereal. On the other side of the chapel, Ceci prays that if Azul isn’t coming back, for help in accepting her death. She’s all alone.

In the Pueblito, the Doctorcito says that he should run some tests on Azulcena. Azul whines that she’s already had enough tests. The fainting was just the heat and not having enough to eat and being tired, etc.

Back over to the funeral—it’s finished up and people are exiting the chapel. A little boy runs out. Silvana the busybody says that she’ll look after Caty who immediately announces that she wants to play and runs after the little boy. The mother superior of the convent announces that the nuns have prepared lunch for everybody and she invites them to join her. Clemi gratefully accepts. The mother superior tells them that Diego has asked them to wait a moment. He wants to pray alone for awhile. The MS leaves to see about lunch. Clemi asks Anibal to join her in looking for Cecilia, since she noticed she was very upset during the service. As they walk off, Silvana is left alone and she rolls her eyes. Julio, who is with Arnaldo, asks him to wait a minute for him—he wants to go clarify something with Manuel. He walks off.

Meanwhile, the doctorcito and Azulcena are on their way back. He wants her to rest. It’s hot and she wants to go skinny dipping. Guess who wins out?

Julio has found Manuel and they are talking. I don’t recall this, but I guess Manuel is supposed to be working at the boutique. It being Manuel, who is a lazy-ass good for nothing liar, he hasn’t shown up in days. Julio says that he hasn’t wanted to say anything for Diego because he’s got enough on his plate. Manuel claims that the whole family is in mourning for Azul, that’s why he hasn’t been by. Julio says he doesn’t buy it. Manuel was in Italy buying cloth when Azul disappeared and didn’t exactly rush back. When he finally got back, he never showed up for his job. Manuel tries to minimize the absence saying it was only 2 days. Julio says it was 4 and it’s not the first time he’s skipped work without any explanation. Julio says that he shows up whenever he wants and he’s tired of hiding it from his son. He intimates that Manuel’s problem is the ponies. (So now in addition to being an alcoholic, he’s also addicted to gambling? That’s news to me.) Manuel complains that he’s had some problems but what he does on his own time is none of Julio’s business. Besides, he got the job done…Julio interrupts him to say that he KNOWS that Gaspar was the one who actually had to go get the materials. This is the LAST warning he’s going to give Manuel before he speaks to Diego about firing him.

Silvana has crept up in the background and has heard the whole conversation. When Julio walks away, Silvana comes up and Manuel rushes up to her and greets her with an extravagant and creepy hug. Silvana notes that she overheard what Julio said to him. Manuel starts to try to explain and Silvana brushes him aside saying that she likes horse racing too, but at least he has his job at the boutique. Manuel starts complaining about how his son doesn’t pay him much. Azul had him “tied up.” He goes on to suggest that he would have preferred it if Diego had married her, not Azul. Silvana likes the sound of this. She tells him that now that Azul isn’t around anymore, when SHE marries Diego, things will be different. She promises that they will help him more. [So now, Silvana is in cahoots with the loathsome Manuel? I thought she was friends with Clemi?? Que the Hell??] Manuel is all smiles at this news but he’s gotten a little sharper or more desperate. Show me the money he says. Well, no, he says “I have some need of money now and, well, I’d like to know if your intentions are serious.” Silvana smiles beneficently and opens her purse. Before she can count out some bills, he grabs them all and says that he will do everything in his power to make sure that Diego marries her. [Gee, not very creative with the cons, is he?] He winks and hugs her some more. She roles her eyes and looks disgusted.
Back in the chapel. Diego is praying to the Guadalupe painting. Asking the Virgincita to help him. He misses Azul. He knows that she must be dead but at the bottom of his heart he believes that she is alive. He knows that it must be an obsession. Some kind of survival mechanism, to keep going. BUT if she could just give him a sign…he wants to be strong…If it’s not to be, if she’s really gone, he asks for her help in accepting it. The Virgincita is silent. Diego, with a tear rolling down his cheek whispers “I’ve lost her forever.”

Cut to the Doctorcito and Azulcena skinny dipping and making out near in a waterfall. [Gotta agree with all the other ladies on here, the Doctorcito is smokin’ HOT, and we get a pretty nice view of him here. Sorry guys, Azulcena is up to her neck in the water most of the time. We saw more of her in those Daisy Duke dresses.]

At the funeral lunch, Anibal is comforting Clemi. Manuel comes in and hugs Diego. Clemi remarks on how Manuel finally remembered that he has kids. She hopes that one day he thinks of Lidia. [No, Clemi. Lidia is BETTER OFF if he forgets about her. He was the one who was advising her on her career as a high class Ho, remember? Sorry couldn’t resist] The MS rings a bell to call the room to attention. She announces that Diego has been a great benefactor to the orphanage and the convent and they are grateful to be helpful in this time of need. They are honored to have his family there. She hands him a little basket of something, food? That the kids made for him. Diego looks a bit abashed. The nun is a bit too jovial for the occasion but she is warm in her welcome and everybody is relaxed.

Relaxed is not what the Doctorcito’s mama is, when she goes looking for her son and finds him and Azulcena nekkid, getting it on under the waterfall. She’s shocked and walks away.

As the funeral lunch is going on, the nuns start to pass out little cups of something that looks like a crème liquor [Tia Maria? In Venezuela it’s called Ponche Crema (Cream Punch) kind of like that cream Kailua. That seems odd to be serving in the middle of the afternoon to a group that’s half kids. Then again, this is rural Mexico and I have no idea what the custom would be here.] GSD gets up to speak. He says he has an announcement to make and he thinks that if Azul were here it would make her very happy. He thinks it will inject a little happiness into an otherwise sad occasion. Yes, he announces that he and Emilia are expecting. Emilia looks OK with this, so he must have asked her first. The whole room erupts in applause. Arnaldo seems bewildered that he is going to have a new brother or sister.

Back in the countryside, Azulcena and the Doctorcito have arrived back home to Mama. Azulcena apologizes for their lateness and makes some excuse about how they were working…and then they went to swim in the watering hole and time just flew by! Mama says “Yes, I see. “ Azulcena complains that her wet dress has a bunch of dirt stuck to it now so she’s going to go change. [Uh, Mama knows that no dresses were involved in the swim.] When Azulcena goes off to change, Mama lights into her son. She saw the whole thing and she saw that he went against what he said he would do. Against his “ethics.” The Doctorcito goes off saying that he wasn’t taking advantage of her, that they have feelings for eachother and were only doing what their hearts commanded. Mama points out that he doesn’t even know who she is. Mama is afraid that if his behavior is ever scrutinized, it could look like Azulcena was his patient, a person of diminished capacity from her injury and that he abused his position to become involved with her. The Doctorcito argues that his feelings for her are too strong to let any of that get in the way, although he’s anxious about her and the fact that he doesn’t know who she really is and if she really loves him or is just feeling gratitude toward him. Mom doesn’t want him to do something crazy.

Silvana is all smiles with Emilia’s news and says that she really missed being around children while she was in Japan. Emilia says that she’s really scared. When she was younger, she had her career and no partner to have a child with. Now that her career is established, surprise, surprise! She’s having a kid. She doesn’t know if she has the patience or strength to raise a child at her age. Silvana says she’s sure that Emilia will be a great mom, with all the children she’s had in therapy. Silvana adds, reaching out to touch Caty’s hair (Caty is sitting on Diego’s lap, kitty corner from Silvana) that taking care of Caty has made her feel like a mother again. Ceci who is sitting next to Emilia, rolls her eyes. There is some talk of Silvana helping Emilia buy baby clothes and When Emilia says she’s got an appointment to see the doctor tomorrow, Silvana tries to make it a date with her and Diego after they drop Caty at school. Diego jumps in to explain that he and Silvana have been dropping Caty at school. Emilia launches into a lecture about how Diego should try to get things back to normal as soon as possible at home because sometimes, when there’s a loss, people fall into the trap of co-dependency. They substitute their need rather than form a healthy new relationship. Diego agrees. Ceci says she’s going to help too with homework etc. Silvana plasters a big fake smile on at this but Diego butts in to say that he’ll take care of all that. He and Caty need some father-daughter time. He will focus all his attention on her. Silvana looks nervous. Manuel looks over at her reassuringly.

The Doctorcito is still arguing with his Mama. Mama is unhappy that she’ll be cointinuing to stay with them with this new situation. D’cito says that he wanted her here so that he could take care of her, in safety. He’s not about to dump her on some street corner now. He tells mom that they are novios. Mom is impactada. She tells him that they can’t be, if she doesn’t even know who she is. D’cito says that he didn’t want it to get that far, until they knew who she was, but he lost control of the situation when their feelings became mutual. Mama says that she no longer trusts his judgement. D’cito says he’s sorry that he has lost her confidence. She doesn’t want Azulcena living there anymore.

Azulcena comes out in a clean dress, all chirpy and ready to help make dinner. D’cito tells her to pack her things. He’s going to take her to Mexico City to leave her at an orphanage. [Isn’t she a little old for that?] Azulcena is impactada into the commercial.

When we come back, Azulcena is already in tears. She accuses D’cito of abandoning her when he promised to protect her. She reproaches Mama for not letting her be novios with her son. “Even the animals look for a mate, why can’t I?” “Because we don’t know anything about your past,” says Mama. “You could be married and even be a mother.” Azulcena looks troubled. D’cito looks shocked. This didn’t occur to him?

Back at the funeral lunch, Ceci is with the kids and nuns, playing a game. The adults, including Silvana are still talking. Tavo gets up to speak. He announces that Lidia and he are getting married. Lidia looks uncomfortable. It appears to be because she feels bad for Diego. Diego comes over and says no worries. He’s happy that his Lidia and Tavo have fought for their love and they deserve to be happy, even if he can’t be.

All of the sudden, the game that Ceci, the kids and nuns have been playing gets really loud. It looks like a version of hide and seek since the kids are hiding under tables. Everybody laughs, except Silvana who looks like she wants to kill Ceci, especially when she ends up picking up Caty and making a big fuss over her.

D’cito has completely caved to his Mom. Mom says that they must do things the right way. “As God commands.” D’cito says that his mom is right. He’ll visit her every day in the orphanage and continue her therapy. The most important thing is that she find her identity. Azulcena tears up at this. She never thought about whether she had a husband or children. D’cito agrees. “Although our love may be innocent, we may be hurting other people.” Mama chimes in that it is important that they put some distance between them, to put the brakes on. They cannot be together. D’cito says that he doesn’t want to hurt his mom’s feelings but he’s going to continue seeing Azulcena until she recovers her memory. “Even if it takes years.” He’s going to wait by her side. Mama isn’t liking the sound of this. D’cito continues that if they find her family and they want her back, he’ll accept it. But if they find that there’s nothing waiting for her, he’ll be there for her with open arms.

The orphans are all talking with Caty. One little boy tells her that if her mommy is dead, she’s an orphan like them and they will bring her to an orphanage like this one. Caty doesn’t like the sound of this and starts screaming her little head off. She was already in an orphanage for awhile and she didn’t like it. With all the screaming, Ceci comes running, then Diego, then Silvana who shoves Ceci out of the way. Silvana shouts at Ceci “What did you do to her?” The MS asks the kids what happened and one of them tells her that the little boy (Frijolito) told her that if her mom died, she would be put in an orphanage. Diego comforts her. Silvana’s ruse to throw the blame on Ceci fails.

Back in the country, Azulcena is taking leave of Mama, thanking her. Mama says that “this is your house. As soon as you resolve the mystery of your past, you can come back whenever you like. If you are a free woman, nothing would make me happier than to have you formalize your relationship with my son.“ They hug.

Back at the convent/orphanage dining room, Diego is explaining to Caty that all the orphans have neither a mom or a dad, while she has him. And besides him, she has all these other people. (Family members have gathered around her). Caty exclaims that she never wants to come back to this place. Diego says no, she must come back and make friends with the children. She should have other friends than the ones she has in school and he wants her to know all kinds of children, from different backgrounds. The MS comes back and says that Frijolito is sorry. It was a joke that got out of hand. Emilia remarks that children often say things without thinking of the consequences. Silvana says abruptly that they should go. Everybody turns to look at her. “So that Caty can calm down.” Nobody moves, everybody just looks at her.

Eventually they do leave. Diego, Silvana and Caty all get into one car and go. Tavo and Lidia, Manuel, Anibal and Clemi are all together by the entrance. Tavo makes a comment that very soon he is going to ask for Lidia’s hand. [I thought they already announced that they were getting married?] Manuel makes a point of saying that Tavo is going to have to ask HIM for her hand, since he’s Lidia’s dad. Everybody just looks embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Azulcena is brought to the orphanage by the Doctorcito. YES IT IS THE VERY SAME ORPHANAGE. THE VERY SAME ONE. The MS asks if she is his novia (Girlfriend) but he says no, she’s Azucena. They sit and talk for awhile about how the Doctor hasn’t been by much lately. They’ve had to spend a lot of money on medical care for the children. He promises to stop by at least twice a week.

Now Diego and Silvana are back at Diego’s mansion, which has a swanky bar. Silvana is sitting provocatively on one of the bar stools, looking like Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8. Silvana is arguing with Diego. He doesn’t want to go to the Fashion show taping with Caty all stirred up. Silvana says it’s the most watched program on fashion. He has to go. Caty is asleep. Silvana claims she read Caty a story and she fell asleep right away. And what’s more, beforehand, she told Caty that they had to go out and Caty understood and was fine with it. “She’s sleeping like a little angel.” Diego thanks her, for helping with Caty again and for supporting him. Silvana is all smiles.

Back to the MS, Azulcena and D’cito at the orphanage. The MS is shocked that Azulcena remembers nothing, not even her name. D’cito fills MS in about Azulcena’s therapy. MS says it’s fine if she stays there but they’ll have to notify the authorities in case someone is looking for her. D’cito says they already made inquiries in the pueblo where he found her and nobody’s filed anything. MS says that sometimes these reports take time to circulate. In the meantime, there is a place for her here.

Ceci and Silvana are getting ready for the show. They are all screaming and carrying on about the makeup and dresses, with Gaspar helping them. The dress isn’t working out for Ceci so she has to go change. A stage manager comes in and orders them all out except for the models. While Ceci is changing, Silvana goes over and SPILLS A BIG CUP OF COFFEE ON CECI’s DRESS!

The doctorcito is taking his leave of Azulcena. She’s unhappy to be left alone. [And we already know with this guy, out of sight is out of mind.] He tells her that if she needs him, she can always call. He says this is the only way they can know if what they have is real. She says that the only thing that is real to her are the feelings that she had for him.

Diego, Silvana and Julio are all waiting to go on. They are all wondering where the hell Cecilia is. Silvana says when she left, she was changing.

Azulcena and MS are walking on the convent grounds. Azulcena asks if she can go pray in the chapel. The MS directs her.

Gaspar has found the dress covered in coffee. He shows it to Ceci and pronounces it a disaster. Ceci cannot go on the air with this dress!

Azul goes into the chapel and finds the flowers on the altar. Azucenas (Lilies) the MS explains that they were left there for a funeral for the wife of one of their benefactors. They were the flowers that she loved best. Azulcena smiles ands says her too! After a series of questions the MS tells her that he’s young, n’ handsome n’ talented. In fact, the MS says that the benefactor is going to be appearing on television that very night! Would she like to come and see him! Azulcena says Yes!

Labels: amar