Sunday, December 16, 2007
Pasion Friday December 14 - The wedding of the year
I noticed how attractive Susana Gonzalez looks in the opening credits, whichever outfit she is wearing when they show her. She doesn’t have any headbands on, no strange purple wigs, she just looks natural and hot. Why aren’t we seeing her that way on the show?
We see the scene again with Rita inviting
Captain Ric gets ready to attack a couple ships. As mentioned before, when the targets see the pirates coming for them they freak out. The passengers go below, the sails go up, but it is all in vain I’m sure. Captain Ric will not be evaded. He even gets a forcedly casual pose set up on the prow of his ship, leaning back against one of the ropes, trying to look cool. I’m sure you ladies agree that he pulled it off, he looks cool.
Alberto has returned to Jorge’s place. His ass apparently hurts from the long trip as he grunts and groans a lot. He heads inside to find Jorge.
The pirates continue to chase their target ships. There are uniformed soldiers on them, I don’t know if they are military, private guard, or what, but they get ready to defend themselves.
The belly dancer that was previously in the plaza is now inside Don Jorge’s living room, along with her band (two guys wearing white turbans/hats who tap on drums), the men are greatly enjoying the show. Jorge asks where she came from and is told from the plaza and she will do anything. One guy finally figures out that if she’ll do anything, why is she just dancing? He pulls her down from the table to get a little friendlier. I’m not sure what this guy’s name is, he has a mustache. One other guy tries to horn in on her too. She moves around the room, getting groped. What a life. NOT. Alberto comes in and everyone turns their attention to him, except for one horny guy still all over the dancer. Alberto tells Jorge that he found ‘the guy.’ Jorge clears his throat and tells the dancer to wait for him in the other room, he’ll be there soon. Horny guy says “why?” and Jorge correctly answers that he is the owner of the house, so there. I’ve been waiting to make this comment about Jorge. He looks like Gary Oldman, but has tics and behaviors like a skinny Rodney Dangerfield. I keep waiting for him to talk about not getting any respect. Just the way he shifts his balance from one foot to the other, something about it reminds me of Rodney. Or at the very least he reminds me of someone trying extremely hard to be cool, even though everyone around him is kissing his butt. Maybe he knows they kiss his butt just because he is powerful, but he really wants them to like him instead. Like Michael Scott on The Office. Anyway, I digress. Jorge sends the wench to the other room to hear what Alberto has to say. All he says so far is that he thought his time had come, he made it through a terrible storm.
The pirates and the soldiers posture at each other. Finally Captain Ric orders the cannons to fire, the battle begins. Cannons and guns fire, people die. Captain Ric again orders someone to knick over the main mast. Someone does, and the pirates storm the other boat. One of the pirates yells to ‘kill everyone!’ Lots of fighting, Captain Ric gets right in the middle of it. Someone gets their head cut off and we see it roll away like a basketball. Mario takes a sword to the gut, things don’t look good. Captain Ric notices and his eyes bug out.
Alberto tells Jorge all about his meeting with Foreman. He tells Jorge that Foreman will get one third of the proceeds, Jorge thinks it’s too much. Did they show at the actual meeting what the agreement was? Is Alberto skimming?
The ship doctor is done working on Mario, who is blind drunk to dull the pain. Mario tells Ric that he can have his booty if he dies. Ric asks if there is any news of Lazaro, Mario says no but thinks it must be going well, he also thinks Lazaro is spending time with hookers too. Where did Lazaro go? I’m confused. Ric is grumpy that they didn’t get much money from the conquest. He’ll try to sell the boat they took over. He isn’t interested in forming a fleet. Mario says he wants to go to
Weeks later –
Camila and Tim exit the church after getting married, along with Lisbeta and Francisca. Nobody looks happy, not even Tim, really. Camila looks nicer finally, but of course there is immediately crying. There is a party back at Tim’s house, complete with every man in attendance smoothing down their mustache. What’s up with that? Some very fat singer is lip-synching a tune. All the women are miserable, for their own reasons, and crying.
Mercedes’s servant (can’t remember his name) delivers the news to Mercedes that Tim and Camila got married. She isn’t please, of course. She knows that he got married to keep Ric’s money away from him. She rushes off to write Ric another letter.
On the beach, Ric finds Lazaro. I guess he took the other boat, he didn’t get much booty either. The boat that Lazaro attacked sank apparently, Ric tells him that he needs to realize that the boats are valuable. Perhaps Lazaro is lying again, like when he said he bought the kids at the slave market.
Foreman tells the group of pirates that the booty was weak, but they got a lot of prisoners that should bring good ransoms. Foreman still looks like Cary Elwes to me. They read over some rules from the ‘brotherhood of pirates’ or something like that, saying how much money or slaves they get for particular injuries. They drink a toast to the pirate brotherhood.
All the wedding guests finally leave after dark. Tim tells Camila to go to his room, they have to ‘talk.’ The other ladies wish her well and she goes. Tim tells Francisca and Lis that in the morning they are getting kicked out again. He will give them a pension and he reminds Lis that when he dies she’ll be rich. Liar. He goes to find Camila.
Tim tells Camila that she will be rich too, when he dies. This is his favorite story I guess. He says he wants a faithful wife, she has to sleep in his bed now. She starts whining and he tells her to stuff it. He says that having a son is one reason he married her, but then goes on to explain that he also wants to keep his inheritance away from his nephew. His daughter is in love with Ric and if Ric was a nice guy that would be fine, but he is a killer, so he wouldn’t want anything going to him through his daughter. Now it will all go to Camila. Camila is stunned at the news that his nephew is a pirate. They argue about what is fair to leave Lis, Tim says that’s his decision. He orders her into bed. She says she wants to go to her bed, Tim says no. She says she can’t be intimate with him. He is patient, but finally he tells her to shut up and get in bed. He tells her to just think about the money she’ll get when he’s dead. She can go home rich and find her old boyfriend. He pretty much falls asleep right away. He makes absolutely no move to try and have sex with her, she gets all weepy anyway.
The next morning Francisca and Lis leave the house. Camila asks for them at breakfast (she is wearing an 80s headband again), Tim says they wanted to go live with another relative and he agreed. Yeah right. Camila tries to steer the conversation back to his nephew the pirate. He says he doesn’t care about her family and she shouldn’t ask about his. She says that she would like to visit Francisca and Lis, he says “we’ll see.”
Ric and Mario return to the beach in
Camila rants about not being able to leave the house. Tim doesn’t want her to find Lis or Fran, and he also thinks she will just to try to escape. She tells him that she hopes he dies tonight. He laughs and walks away. She starts freaking out, thinking that she could be locked up here for 10 years or more.
Ascanio visits Mercedes’s house, he gives Epifanio (that’s his name!) the money for Francisca and Lis. Epifanio gives it to Francisca, who complains about Tim being cheap.
Alfredo walks through town, stopping to ogle a shirtless Vasco. He keeps walking and finds the girl who hangs out with Ursula. Alfredo tells her that he has been hearing rumors about Ursula and wants to know if Vasco is the guy. She starts to deny, so he grabs her arm and hurts her, the girl says yes but Ursula will kill her if she says anything. He says, ‘then don’t open your mouth’ and walks away. Phew. At least now we know why he took such a long look at Vasco. It wasn’t a ‘Felipe ogling a shirtless Luis’ in Alborada kind of moment.
Justo is counting money and Vasco comes in. Justo is missing money, he asks Vasco if he took it, Vasco admits to it. He says it was just one time and Justo yells at him. He has also heard about Ursula, Vasco says it isn’t his fault she’s a whore. Justo says Jorge will kill him if he finds out! Vasco sulks out the door. Justo says great, just what I needed.
Tim meets some ladies on the street, they ask why they never see his wife. He makes some excuse about her being sick.
The chisme gets back to Mercedes’s house, she discusses it with Lis and Francisca. They wonder if she is pregnant, and what that means. Lis mentions the paper guaranteeing her cut of the inheritance, Mercedes says that paper doesn’t matter. Finally Mercedes screams that Tim stole the money, Francisca defends Tim and says it was because Ric killed a woman. Mercedes has a complete freak out and starts screaming and crying, but I think really it isn’t about Ric, she wants the money.
Rick glowers at the ocean as he rides away from
Justo and Ofelia run into Jorge and Alberto on the street. Jorge asks about
Ursula goes into Justo’s store to shop. She gives secret looks to Vasco, who helps her with what she is shopping for. She wants him to come tonight, he says he can’t, she says he WILL. He doesn’t look thrilled about it. He gets a look from Rita, I guess everyone knows where he goes at night.
Ascanio is sweeping, wearing that ridiculous white wig. Was that common servant attire back then, or what? Camila comes outside, asking where Tim is. He directs her to the living room with a longing glance. I think he likes her. Camila stomps into the living room and says she wants a dog for company. She nags and Tim says fine. She starts to whine again, saying thanks for the money, but she really wants…. He cuts her off, enough already. He says be patient, in the end she’ll get her reward. Tim says he used to be happy until someone or other died. Then he wants to play chess. She actually sits there and pays attention to his chess lesson.
Ric arrives and greets Epifanio, who is glad to see him. In Mercedes’s room, Mercedes is sick in bed (maybe from her tantrum) and the other two ladies wear hideous sleeping caps. The caps are enormous and ugly. Anyway, Ric is there and Mercedes tells him the news about the wedding and all about the inheritance. Ric says whatever, he doesn’t need his uncle’s money. Mercedes says it isn’t Tim’s, it is his father’s! Lis tells Ric that the wife’s name is Camila, Ric starts breathing heavily. I don’t know if he is impactado or horny.
Labels: Pasion
The girl who was with Ursula is Lafónt's daughter Manuela. That's why he is so tender with her.
As for the look of Ric at the end IMO he is "impactado".
They just have told him that the bride is a "ramera" and that good old boy Tim bought her from the slave market the same day of his (Ric's) last visit. He asks for her name and they say him that her name is Camila.
Helen J.
Some more nautical lore from the days of sail...
A ship that had the wind "behind" them, that is blowing toward the other ship, held the "weather guage". It meant that the ship could pretty much decide how to handle the encounter (fight or flee). Most ships traveled faster in the direction the wind was blowing.
Square-rigged ships (with square sails that were mounted perpendicular to the ships axis) had a much harder time sailing "into the wind" and would have to zig-zag back and forth with a very low speed-of-advance.
Sloop-rigged ships (sails mounted in line with the ship's axis)could "point" more into the wind and could make shorter "zig-zag" legs which meant a faster speed-of-advance.
Well, the hubster has finally weighed in: this is a telenovela a man can revel in. It has all the nasty things men like to see in a show and Monica Miguel has spared none of those things, i.e., buckling and unbuckling of swashes, canons booming, ships wrecking, decapitated head rolling, swordfights and swiving galore, and pirate galantry ala Errol Flynn.
=====
Three things I'm not clear on. Correct me if I didn't understand it all:
1) Didn't Foreman offer LaFont only 30% of the true value and Jorge wonders why LaFont agreed since they were the ones taking most all the risk in stealing it? It's like pawning something then and you never get full market value in a case like that, so maybe LaFont was justifying his bad business deal with Foreman who obviously has the upperhand in this thing.
2) Vasco has a gambling habit and that's why he's been siphoning off money from his dad?
3) I think Ol' Tim told Cami that once upon a time he waited anxious for a special someone to die and was exceedingly happy when it happened. Presumably that was Ric's dad who treated Tio Tim and Fran like dogs.
I especially liked Ricardo leaning back into the ropes as the ship sails, he is indeed the essence of cool. It has to be him right, no way they could use a body double for that gorgeous one.
Your take on Jorge's wanting so badly to be cool and liked by the guys is indeed "The Office". Anyone that has to keep saying they are the boss isn't sure somewhere inside.
Helen J., I agree with your detailed clarification of Ric's growing impactada look, he finds out just what happened to Camila after he neglected to show up at the auction in time.
Oldman Pete, thanks for another colorful navy man's lesson on ships and sails. My question, didn't Santiago come back from somewhere on an English galleon and does that mean there were still lines of slaves or serfs rowing? But did the early sailing ships still have oars too? Or had they stopped using the oars by this time. And yeah, old Timoteo ought to stifle the urge to keep people in line by telling them how rich they will be when he dies. Someone will want to test that theory for sure.
Jardinera, I also got that Foreman is giving Jorge only 30% of the value of the goods from the caravan raid, not the other way around. Jorge is finding out he is not the cock of the walk outside his small pueblo fiefdom. He probably suspects that Alonso is skimming something too, I'd put money on YES.
Ferro, I hope you are enjoying the bounty of two great Mexican cooks in your home. What a great Christmas present!! Yesterday my Ecuadorian professor at the grammar workshop told us about a great Cuban restaurant that opened recently across from UNM. Can't wait to get there to try their Ropa Vieja - shredded beef dish! ¡Aye Carumba!
Speaking of Susana, I still like her in the role but I am growing Very Weary of Camila's constant sniveling. She's really starting to get on my nerves with her weepy begging and pleading. When will she get some backbone? It had better be soon!
I'm with Susanlynn (heh heh I usually am), we need more Ric on the rigging. We need more Ric everywhere!!
When Jorge told Alberto that he and Ofelia had done the deed in the past I got the impression that it wasn't entirely voluntary on her part. I think Jorge made some comment about women saying No but really meaning Yes. In my experience when people say No they usually mean No, especially when it comes to random sex in the woods.
Peg-Leg, I really enjoy your factoids about pirates and sailing. The fakeness of the sea scenes (i.e. boats "sailing" on dead calm seas) drives me nuts but all the other cool stuff makes up for it. Plus I'm learning how to give sailing orders in Spanish...bonus!!
Thanks Chris, enjoy your barbacoa!!
Somehow I didn't get that. Thanks to all those who are so knowledgeable about the historic context in which this telenovela is set.
I'm finally getting a handle on who's who and what's what here thanks to these great recaps. All that long flowing hair was confusing me (and that's just on the men!) It's taken a little longer to get involved with this Carla Estrada novela than usual even with her trademark socially conscious themes and attention to atmospheric detail. I love me some Fernando but there's no romance yet, no sparks. And I think Susana is very attractive in her roles as chic, sleek contemporary women but here she looks a tad too old and haggard, with the exception of the opening credits as Chris said, where she looks fresher and prettier. I like the mini epic of the credits, by the way, with the haunting theme song.
I too think things will pick up from this point, and in the meantime I have lots of eye candy with Ric, Mario, Ascancio, et al. I do have to admit that I fast forward through all the decapitating, impaling and so forth but I had to linger on the money shot of Ric on the prow. Ahhh.
What I don't get is how that painting is still in one piece. It really should have disintegrated by now. :)
I wish Capn Rick didn't have to scowl all the time. I wish Rick's mommie and aunt and cousin didn't have to have the exact same conversation two or three times in every episode.
I hope Tonki comes back in a starring role as Camila's dog.
I think they spent all their money on the pirate ship scenes but they don't have anywhere enough money to make them look real like in Pirates of the Caribbean (POTC). Speaking of POTC, has anyone noticed that the music that plays when the pirates are attacking sounds a lot like the POTC theme?
Concerning hair, women not only didn't wash their hair anywhere near as often as we do, they only had soap to wash with. We use detergent, which doesn't leave a greasy residue. I'll never forget the show, 1900 House, on PBS. The women had to wash their hair with soap and they hated it so much, they broke the rules to buy real shampoo. In any case, women put their hair up and covered it with a cap.
I think Francesca's hair looks like sausage rolls.
The ghastly singer looked familiar to me. Do we know her from anywhere?
Melinama, I think you have been quite consistent. If every now and again someone gets rubbed the wrong way because they want to appear to be 'in the know' or whatever, I don't think deleting that comment just to be on the safe side is unwarranted. This may be the 'public' internet, but at the same time you are the admin and you have free reign to do as you will.
Change of subject - at the end of my recap, I noted how Captain Ric got all intense when he heard that Timoteo married a prostitute named Camila. Apparently everyone thought I was too dense to realize that Ric immediately knew this was the same Camila from the slave sale. Of COURSE I knew that Ric knew who she was. In fact, to me it was about the most obvious thing ever, which is why I didn't spell it out. I guess I was at the end of writing my recap after midnight on Saturday and didn't write that scene very well.
Helen J. - thanks for explaining that the girl LaFont was roughing up was his own daughter, that really goes a long way towards illustrating LaFont's personality. I knew he was a bully/kissass but now we know that he is even more than that, he doesn't even show any love for his own family.
Jardinera - your third point, about Tim reminiscing of someone else dying, is right on. Somehow I wasn't able to write that up correctly. Sometimes I'll go back and fix my description of something, sometimes I get too impatient and move on. That time I moved on, thanks for explaining that better than I did.
It sounds like so far we have a wide range of love/hate for this show. I am liking it more each day, as I grow more familiar with the characters and they start showing second or third dimensions, I am enjoying it more. Of course half of them are idiots, that's how these shows are. At least this show has quality acting. That can be hit or miss sometimes, so far the acting has been good. As for Camila's look, maybe she is supposed to look like she was in the hold of a ship for a month, but that will not stop me from fondly recalling how hot she was back in her Babe Lawyer days on Duelo de Pasiones.
Nobody beats Timoteo and Jorge though, they are the best.
I forgot one thing in my earlier comment - the barbacoa tacos my wife and suegra made were awesome.
me too i am waiting gracfully for asanio to show up with his real hair...don't they show his real hair in the previews?
i don't want old timmy to die!! i'm growing really fond of him and his bitter comments.... but then without timmy's upcoming death we wouldn't have cami bought off to be his wife, and without cami we wouldn't have a shirtless fer looking pensative on his ship... hmmm....shirtless capn rick vs old timmy...that's a hard one.
cheryl-- funny that you mentioned noone can be used to dub capn ric's amazing body...(i agree 1000%). inverting your comment, back in the days fernando actually started off as a stunt double, which later on got him into acting... ;) i guess HIS body was of great benefit to others...
cami looked better as babe lawyer because that shade of brown goes much better with her skintone. in re to the hideous headband, my only guess is that someone on the production team found a good use to their mother's aerobics headband from the 80's.
Hey Jean, loved your comment about the "1900 House". I thought I was the only one who watched those shows. Watching that show made me realize how good we have it now. We see the romantic dresses and scenes from these silly novellas and forget the realities like no shampoo. In the 1900 House, I was struck by the lady of the houses' comments about having to wear a corset all day. How gripie and iritable she was. Also the duties of the Scullery maid and how she dealt with her period while working. Long live push up bras, tampons and maxi's with wings!!
Rhonda, From Texas
Melinama makes a good point. Not every telenovela heroine is going to be a Gaviota or whatever... maybe Cami will grow a backbone later. I don't love the way this character is written, but that's not SG's fault. She's being asked to cry and whine, and by golly she is doing it. :)
I figure Timmy will die during a coughing fit, and Cami will be blamed - about five minutes before Ricardo was going to rescue her. Then they'll BOTH have been accused of murders they didn't commit.
That's the obvious choice for a plot twist, but I'm really bad at predicting plot twists, so don't mind me. :) I'm impressed that we've got any anvils at all so early into the story.
My favorite part last night: the skull and crossbones in the cabin of the ship where the pirate pal lay wounded. It reminded me of a poster in a dorm room. And Tim is still my guy – he’s always interesting, and at least a bit complex instead of one-sided. He seems to have some humor and a bit of warmth at times. Yes, it seems that many people have good reason to want to off him, so I’m sure he’s going to get it. I just hope not too soon.
I’m not enjoying the acting which I think is because the scenes are so short and the script seems to be mostly for plot exposition. I don’t think the actors stand a chance.
Any of you know anything about the history behind the doings? What is this war that’s going on between the Spanish and the English and how does it come out in the end? I could go look it up, but I don’t know what the name of the war is, plus I’m being lazy.
OTOH you never know when it's just a wardrobe person with a grudge.
/anglo-spanish-war.htm
I didn't read the whole thing carefully, but it appears to be the same time frame and the same participants as on the show.
Since we are in the mid-1600s (I got goofed up on that, mixing up seventeenth century with the 1700s) I am wondering about Camilla’s village. I find it odd that everyone there looks like they’re of Spanish descent. Surely the native peoples would be part of the village life too, if not of the high society part? The Spanish must’ve been a very small minority at that time, I’m thinking.
“She doesn’t have any headbands on, no strange purple wigs, she just looks natural and hot. Why aren’t we seeing her that way on the show?” LOL—you’re watching the wrong show, pal. You need to watch Ivonne or Paula on Yo Amo a Juan. Just ask Oldman/Pegleg Pete.
“a forcedly casual pose set up on the prow of his ship, leaning back against one of the ropes, trying to look cool. I’m sure you ladies agree that he pulled it off, he looks cool.” Darn right we think that! He didn’t even twitch a muscle doing it, either.
“Perhaps Lazaro is lying again, like when he said he bought the kids at the slave market.” I’m bettin’ he’s lying, and he’s going to be in really deep kim-chee when Ric finds out all of it.
Jeanne
FC did look cool leaning (posing)on the rigging. I know Francesa's coiled hair style is a wig, but would love a scene showing her maid fixing in the morning. It would have to take a long time to get each section perfectly in place.
I've also seen the chunky blonde singer on some variety show or Cantando por un Sueno, or somwhere.
La Paloma
Ascanio's wig is the kind they sell for $20 for hallowe'en. It's beyond dreadful.
OK, gotta go get my glass half-full of rum ready for Pasión...
You wouldn't happen to be about 5' tall, would you? I know a woman named Rhonda that lives out there and I'm always teasing her about being the shortest Texan in history. It would be too bizarre if you're the same person!
Cheryl New Mex...
Yes, some of the smaller sailing ships used oars (called sweeps) to provide steerage in times of calm weather. The sailors would man the sweeps.
I don't believe that "slavery" was a factor on sailing ships, at least not in the sense of "galley slaves" like you would find in the Mediterranean during the early ages of Greek and Roman control. There really was a strong bond among the seamen on the old sailing ships, a cameradrie born of dismal living conditions, backbeaking labor and constant danger and death. It was an extremely difficult life and most of the crews were paid a share of the profit based on their position in the crew.
"Impressment" was a means of obtaining a crew for a ship by kidnapping able-bodied men and literally taking them to sea. Over on the Pacific coast the term used was "shanghaied", for service on the China runs. Mostly however this kind of practice was during war-time when anything that could float was used and anyone who could be trained to man the ship was grabbed.
I'm still having a problem with the "time" of this novela. But I've always been fascinated with the 1700-1800's and the history of the ascendency of the New World.
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