Sunday, January 20, 2008

Amar Friday 1/18/08 The gran final that wasn't so gran--but Silvana comes to a bad end

It seems a supreme irony that it falls to me to recap the gran final of this show, which I bailed on recapping months ago. I hope I can do it justice. (Please chime in, everyone else, including departed recapper Chris!) I found this episode quite tedious. There is little dialogue beyond insipid pleasantries as the characters meet to rehash at various gatherings.

This is only my third novela, but I thought it was a tradition that you have a wedding of the main characters in the last episode. I don't know if tradition has been broken before, but here, the main couple were already married and we had a tacked on amnesia fest for the last few weeks. Since the main couple are already married, we don't have their wedding in this episode. But nuptial fans will not be disappointed.

We start with the scene where our last living villains, Silvana and Manuel, are supposed to apologize to poor Frijolito. Of course, they do a bad job. He magnanimously says that even though they don't repent we should pray for them.

We now see a screen for "three months despues." Azul and Diego have adopted Frijo, and they're picking him up at the orphanage with Caty. He invites all his friends for a visit at his new house. The family goes home to the mansion, where Frijo sees his fantastic new room. Azul has a medium-size baby bump now. They talk about how it's three months till the new baby is coming. Hugs all around. Diego and Azul go alone to their bedroom where he gets more opportunities to kiss her tummy and call her "preciosa." I still see no chemistry between these two, and I still find him not much of a galan. Through the run of this show, I never got used to Diego. I am always taken aback when I hear his deep raspy voice emerge from his Keebler elf face.

Cut to a scene of Ceci preparing for her wedding. (She does look pretty. She is wearing a mermaid-style halter dress.) She is chatting with her bridesmaids Azul and Lidia. She is nervous, and the girls trade nervous bride stories. Clearly ignoring church teachings, Lidia says she and Tavo are waiting for their church wedding until they have hijos. And they're not doing that yet, since they are still enjoying their honeymoon. I still don't know what Tavo does for a living. Anyone?

Cecilia asks Azul if she is okay with her having asked Luis Felipe. She knows it's awkward, but at the last minute they decided to ask him to be padrino of the lazo (godfather of the lasso). This apparently is the person who assists in that part of the ceremony where they put on the twin rope.

Outside the church we see everyone meeting and greeting. Emilia is clutching her baby bump. She has been given special permission to get out of bed to attend. GCSSD seems to have stopped smoking for the last week or so, so we will call him GSD. He actually looks much better lately--not so disheveled/mad scientist.

LuisFe arrives and is introduced to his partner, the madrina of the lazo. Her name is Elena. He can now have a new girlfriend as consolation. They are going to help each other through the ordeal, apparently. He says this is the first time he had to play a part in a wedding.

The wedding takes place with essentially no dialogue to recap, lucky for me! GSD gives the bride away--he says she's like his own daughter.

I've taken a break to go shopping and get some soup on the stove. Now back to the show.

Here's what we have all been waiting for: What happened to Silvana and Manuel?
The scene setter tells us we're in Las Vegas, and the camera pans over what purports to be the wheels of a slot machine. Then we see a shot of Silvana trolling a casino for male prospects. She is leaning against a wall, sulkily smoking a cigarette. Her face looks kind of dirty, and she is clearly down on her luck. And wouldn't you know--her hair has grown at least 8 inches (or she is no longer wearing that fake short wig).

Manuel seems to be Silvana's pimp. He tells her that he has found a perfect client for her--perfect for her special charms. He's a producer, and maybe she can even wangle a role in one of his films. But smile, he adds--with that look you won't manage to get anything. He takes her over to a poker table where a fat man in a Hawaiian shirt is playing. He is introduced as Mr. Hughes (is she supposed to think he is the reincarnation of Howard Hughes?). You get the feeling that he is a porno producer. The man says "sit down" in accented English, and she obeys sullenly. This is pretty sad, even though we wanted to see her come to a bad end. Moreover, this scene was really low budget. They didn't even try very hard to make it look like Vegas. This cheap set would hardly pass muster at Casino Night at the VFW.

Back to the main action.

After the wedding, Ceci comes over to the castle (is this Mo's old house?) to visit. The honeymoon was really great, yada yada yada (a bit too much information for my taste, if you know what I mean). Th;is part made me remember poor old Andres. Well, at least he's alive and well over at Pasion.

Azul teases her about having a baby--she wants to be an aunt. Then, wouldn't you know it--something is wrong with Azul's pregancy. She is rushed to the hospital at only seven months.

The three gay caballeros--better known as Julio, Arnaldo and Efrain--are discussing the latest episode of Project Runway, or whatever they do in their busy fashion business. They get a phone call and rush to the hospital.

Luis Fe is needed to do the special treatment to save the baby. Once again, everyone is wondering if this will be awkward. Come on--are there no other doctors in all of the DF? Diego is in the delivery room with Azul. Good thing he is wearing a surgical mask for some of this--so it will keep us from seeing how he is laughing. Diego wants to make sure they do everything for Azul so she doesn't suffer. He says "I am here for you."

Meanwhile, Gloria talks to Chucho about Silvana. She wants her to change her attitude. Too late!

Back in the delivery room, LF is there to check the dilation. Please save my baby, Azul cries. LF tells her to bend her knees and relax. Ewww. Uh-oh. No dilation. He has to perform a C section. Azul faints in the OR. Finally, the baby is born, and we actually get to see a gross bloody plastic cord getting cut. I swear, I am not making this up.

The baby has no heartbeat, but--surprise, surprise, he's revived. It's all so exciting, that Emilia, in the waiting room, goes into labor too!.

Two weeks later, the family is having a welcome-home party for Azul's little boy, who is now released from the neonatal ward. The children have planned a party for the homecoming. Everyone talks about how wonderful everything is. Diego and Azul go off alone to the side and trade endearments. She says that sometimes she lost hope, but something kept her going. He will love her always--a love without limits--and they kiss.

And that's it, believe it or not!
I won't say it's been fun recapping this show, but it's always great to connect with all the people who participate in this web site. See you at Diablo.

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Comments:
In a bunch of novelas I've watched the "gran final" just wasn't very gran, mostly an after thought or predictable. As for "there has to be a wedding" rule, I've seen it broken. In la Madrastra they took it to an extreme with a Quintuple wedding! They usually have some kind of party, though, where we get wide angle shots of all the characters. I used to think this was corny but now I see it as a nice way to say goodbye to all the characters we've gotten used to for months and months. We got both a wedding (Ceci's) and a party in this one.

The ending for Silvana and Manuel was pretty weak, I thought. In the penultimate epi, we get Silvana's big fall, left at the altar. She briefly threatens suicide on a highway bridge and then vows to stage a comeback. After a promise like that you'd expect some spectacular revenge attempt. Nope, after simpering her way through the non-apology to avoid prison, we next see her as a grifter or a hooker (hard to tell) at an off, off, off the strip poker room in Vegas. Finally, we hear second hand (Gaspar refers to it in conversation to Chucho) that's she's in jail in Nevada for ripping somebody off. Gloria's still sad about her and apparently Chucho hasn't been able to break the news to her. Talk about a letdown after all that build up! We didn't even get to see her in jail.

Diego's castle is not the same as the Mansion Malicia (as we all used to call it). Diego's showed up at the beginning of the extension. It's like a modern version of an adobe village with a huge lawn. Mansion Malicia (I think it was referred to as "cocoyoco" or something like that because of the coconut trees) had more of a tropical style.

You mentioned the three gay caballeros--Is Efrain gay? I thought that he was a macho boxer who had trouble accepting his gay son at first (remember the big scene with GSD?) If he was gay, or in the closet, it would explain why his wife bailed on him (very early backstory) but why as Gaspar mentioned, Efrain was "never bitter about it."

Tavo is a mechanic and owns his own shop, like Efrain. I guess they aren't really competitors or there is enough business for both of them.

I am totally with you--on all the baby drama with Azul nearly dying was so over the top. We all KNEW she wasn't going to die, and neither was the baby. Not with 20 minutes left. NO WAY. 7 months seems to be just fine in novelaland for a preemie. It was just another way to drag it out some more. Somehow Emilia is the one who had all the baby drama earlier but her delivery we assume went fine. (She had a girl, we guess from the pink blanket on her baby at the party, wheras little Aurelito -- it would probably named after Abuelito, right?--was in blue.)

LF. I thought the whole matchup with "Elena" was pretty forced, since it happened at both parties. She may have been hot but there was 0 chemistry despite the hopeful music. Reminded me of classic failed wedding setups for single freinds.

This novela had a lot of promise to break the mold at the beginning--the non virginal heroine, the show being really about a guy (Diego) instead of a girl. The gay subplot. The bioterrorism and mafia subplots. It was kind of strange that it ended up so pedestrian. I don't know if I buy Diego as a galan either, like you said. He seems too small and scrawny. I like your description of "elfin." (Remember when he tried to bulk up to be Eva's body guard? That was funny!)
 

A big thank you, Nina. Your great recap was above and beyond the call of duty. I've been watching novelas for several years, and while I like a good wedding as much as the next person, I mostly look forward to the comeuppance of the villans in the grand finale. Here, most of the villains were already dead, and we don't get to see Silvana and Manuel punished nearly enough considering how much suffering they caused. Chucho even said that if Silvana changed her attitude, he'd tell Gloria and maybe they'd go visit her in prison. Silvana trying to be tough in prison, now that would have been a good scene. The strongest scenes this week were those of Azul reuniting with her family.

I think you might have meant Gaspar as one of the 'gay caballeros". Efrain was not gay; in fact he told GSD it was hard for him, a macho boxer, to accept Gaspar's homosexuality at first but he just wanted his son to be happy.

for me the weakest link in this show (aside from the uneven writing) was the bland leading couple as has been said many times.
We're not allowed to discuss actors outside of their roles on the show, but let's just say we really should have seen more sparks on the screen between these two.
 

Thanks, guys. I did mean Gaspar instead of Efrain. I have not been able to keep track of all the minor characters.
 

I think there was a lot of chemestry between diego and azul. The looks they gave each other and the kisses were awesome. However, I agree that diego isnt exactly my idea of a knight in shinning armor. Look at Rodrigo in Destilando. Now that romance had chemistry.
 

Interestingly, I thought Azul had more chemistry with Luis Felipe even though she wasn't quite in her right mind. But given the choice between those two, I personally might have opted to stay with LuisFe. : )
 

Jestena~~~You and I seem to have similar taste in hombres. I prefer Luis Felipe to Diego , and I think that you were a fan of Annndresss, too. I won't be able to eat a cookie from now on without thinking of Valentino Lanus, the Keebler galan. I am waiting for TPTB to cast Marcelo as a galan. Wake up people...Marcelo has all the right stuff and lots of fans.
 

Jestena, who is Marcelo... sorry if its a dumb question. I think the reason Azul & Diego didn't look right was because Valentino is not that great of a kisser. The kisses between him & Azul always looked so awkard to me... why does he open his mouth so wide? I feel sorry for the guy because he's Jaime Camil's rival in the other novela & I think most of us would agree that Jaime is the better on screen kisser.
 

Never mind Jestena, I figured it out... & you're right... he should be the lead in one of these shows. He kind of looks like Augustin( Luise Felipe).
 

I actually watched this ending and felt really sorry for the actors. The ending was so choppy and the wrap-ups just seemed so forced. The "tense" birthing scene, OMG I don't think we were supposed to laugh aloud, but I couldn't help myself. The cord cutting was pathetic, this sure wasn't Grey's Anatomy.

The show really did have promise at the beginning and I stuck it out because it just felt like I needed to finish what I started. However, when a show becomes an obligation rather than a pleasure, it's bad.

Wed.'s episode was definitely more exciting than this gran final. Actually, I know it's been said, but really they could have ended this show back in November.
 

I agree with all of the aforementioned comments. The ending so was "eh". I too felt like I was obligated to finish what I started. I must say that I love all the weak hospital stuff! Was it really necessary to have both women dando parto at the same time? And, so much drama on GSD and Emilia's baby and that's all we get of her delivery? And not so much as a mention of that baby other than a stinky pink blanket? I also felt like poor LF got left holding the short end of the stick. I am supposed to believe this hunk will be left alone for two seconds let alone three months. NOT! Why force that model girl on him? There was zippo there between the two. I think they should have somehow restored Sylvana and then later, matched her with LF. Since she was a nice lady albeit a nut in the beginning and all that happened with her Nico (her only pure love as she would later say), I guess the writers couldn't bring themselves to knock her off. Anyway, I will miss the comments. Thanks to all the recappers for the laughs.
V
 

I'm used to gran finales being emotional in some way. I think I got a little teary when GSD gave Ceci away, but that was about it. I never thought the baby drama was going to end badly; I didn't really care about Silvana and Manuel in Vegas--and I agree, that was the cheapest-looking set! "Casino night at the VFW"--priceless!

I guess I can appreciate the twist of not having "happy ever after" without any problems just because the good guys have already suffered so much, but it just wasn't done very well.
 

Thanks for the recap Nina - I agree that Wednesday was the real impacto episode. My wife and I decided that we'd watch Thursday and Friday, since we figured that would be all the good stuff, but of course then Wednesday was the great day. Ah well. At least you can say that this show did things a little bit out of the ordinary.

I think they glossed over Silvana's downfall a little bit, when I saw her smoking at the VFW casino night, I was waiting WAITING for it to be confirmed that she was a hooker and Manuel was her pimp, but they wouldn't come right out and say it. It would have been the perfect ending for her, falling that far and to top it off having to depend on Manuel.
 

What amazed me somewhat was the apparent need in telenovela land for a child to make a marriage perfect. GSD and Emelia are decided middle-aged if not elderly. Why on earth would they want to raise a child at their age?
 

Lynne, you raise a good point. I thought that whole storyline was like a PSA. I think they were going for that. I can think of plenty of late in life type matchups even in this novela--like Isela-Anibal--Clemi and Gloria--Chucho where there is no idea of a child involved. Emilia was sort of depicted as mid to late 40s, in the prime of her career as a psycholgist who passed up on relationships and a child earlier. That's another hot topic/issue like the gay marraige one. At any rate, she was younger than GSD. I think they presented the risks pretty well and I found it interesting that they declined amnioscentisis, which is another controversy.

Also recall that they decided to go forward with the pregnancy after Azul was declared dead. That kind of thing sometimes happens, where people have a child later in life after a loss. The only story that comes to mind is John and Elizabeth Edwards. (the presidential candidate).
 

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Emilia's pregnancy was not planned according to what I recall, and both she and GSD had major fears about what might be involved. I actually don't think Emilia would be too old to parent a child and I just wish they had focused more on her reaction to being a new mom. There was a very poignant scene where GSD spoke frankly about making provisions for the baby and Emilia in case something were to happen to him. Very realistic and practical yet moving. If I had been a writer, I would have liked to see Arnaldo as a padrino for one of the two new babies on the show and Julio for the other. Added support and backup, especially for the Emilia-GSD little one, and the two guys would have loved it. Still, I must say that I think having settled, mature parents is a real blessing for a child.

Change of topic: Susanlynn, we do indeed share a taste in novela hombres and I am hoping, just hoping to get a glimpse of our boy Andres (Marcelo, sorry Anon.)on Christina tonight. But if not, I'll check him out on Pasion.
 

Thanks Margaret, I missed that as I was in Spain. I had limited patience with this novela and only watched it occasionally. Incidentally I loved Spain and one can understand history better by visiting the places - seeing the influence of the Moors and the wonderful architecture which they left behind. Visiting a place such as the Escorial brought home Philip II's belief in his divine right ... etc.
 

Thanks for the recap.....

LOL they really tried to milk the moment on this one but i wasn't in the mood also liked LF better than Diego, n for the last few months i have often wondered was-up with Diego's hair it looked weird.... every time i tried watchin there was somethin NOT so hot about him....ennuf said thank you Recappers i admire ur patients.

***
 

Nice ending..at least nice recording & a most excellent call on the Diego Elf...he does look like a freeking elf.

Yeah I couldn't watch 99% of it, I used walk thru the room when my husband watched & say, Is it wrong for me to just hope they all die?

But thanks for the recap, cause I did watch but refused to use captions & didn't pay much attention.
 

Since Lynne brought it up--did anybody else think that the Mexican insurance industry paid for product placement in this show? Anibal, is an insurance guy, (Manuel is an adjuster at the beginning until he gets canned) Clemi works for him, then Lidia, then there is the big scene that Lynne mentioned where GSD does the right thing and buys a bunch of insurance for new baby and Emilia. There is also a part of one of the gay marraige speeches that one of the characters gives that deals with insurance and inheritance, being responsible...etc.
 

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