Caray, Caray!

Luisana's sickness continues to get worse and no hint of resolution was in Friday night's show, unless it was to be found in Marisela telling Luisana that she had to fight the spell and not give into dispair. Even Marisela's capturing the picture and sprinkling water on the altar at Doña Bárbara's didn't seem to turn the corner for Luisana. However, as Eusaquia said, more remains to be seen. We can anticipate some real sparks when Doña Bárbara finds Luisana's picture missing from her altar.

In order to get Luisana to fight for survival, Marisela's wedding description shows a great deal of self-sacrifice -- something Santos noticed with regard to Marisela trying to help someone who has abused her (Luisana), but something that Santos is not grasping with regards to the full impact of Marisela's love for him.

Meanwhile, Julian Barreto is about to be pulled apart by 4 horses. I had wondered why, during Barreto's last meal, the two charos were hanging around in the background. By the end of the show, the reason was apparent: they would assist Melquiades and Balbino in Barreto's torment. An additional sidelight to Barreto's story was Doña Bárbara gaining the admission from Barreto that he made his fortune by abducting young girls into prostitution and smuggling them across the border. This was in addition to Barreto's complicity in the killing of Doña Bárbara's father and Asdrubal, Doña Bárbara's rape, and the theft and sale of Doña Bárbara's father's boat and cargo.

At Melesio Sandoval's house, Melesio notes that Gervasia is always sick to her stomach at the same time the jungle bird sounds its cry, something that catches Genoveva's attention. Gervasia's secret seems to be almost ripe for being revealed.

Since the Dr. revealed his interest in Cecilia to Antonio, we have been teased with his interest, but the Dr. has not actually made a move for Cecilia. However, it is clear that Antonio is quite jealous and, at the same time, smitten with love as he tries to sport with Cecilia in the hallways of Altamira continually.

The Dr. has, however, been able to get alone with Cecilia in Luisana's sick room and in the dining room, besides getting her to send Antonio and Mauricio to Progreso for some additional books.

Meanwhile, in town, I am not getting Federica's game with Antonio. There was a camera shot that featured the ring on her right hand ring finger, and then she was very anxious to shake hands with Antonio. But later, Josefa came along and complemented Federica for her plan to try to get closer by being "friends."
 

While it's possible they are going to pull Julian Barreto apart with horses, I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that. Melquíades and Balbino were chortling at one point about El Tuerto comiendo por completo. I know from the book, and I can't remember if it's been mentioned in the novela or not, but El Tuerto is a gigantic one-eyed crocodile that's sort of a mascot for DB.

I'm not sure where they're going with this, and I wouldn't mention it at all if I thought it was a true spoiler, but Balbino and Melquíades actually discussed the croc in Friday's dialog, so I feel it's fair game to mention.

I'm pretty sure Luisana is going to recover. Whether she stays in los llanos or not, I'm not so sure.
 

Yes, Melquiades and BP talked about the croc. I assumed that after JB gets dismembered, they'll feed his body to the croc but we'll see what happens.
 

Hello Barbaras and Barbaros ;)

Sorry I've been out of touch, and I'll probably be dropping in and out for the next few weeks (durn real life!), but it was nice to catch up on the pix and comments. Thanks a bunch to Jean and the rest of the gang ;)

I gotta say, I like Maurice more and more with every episode. I especially liked him on Wednesday (or was it Tuesday?) when he told Josefa she should start spreading good news for a change (meaning the movie vs the usual chisme she spreads).

We have indeed seen Tuerto, and Santos tried to shoot him when he first arrived in town (missing off course). He's technically wild, but DB considers him a kindred spirit (Melquiades said Tuerto has a deal with the devil, just like DB). The previews have her telling the men to collect what's left of Barreto, so he'll probably be Tuerto's lunch.

I'm not sure what Federica's plan is, exactly, but Josefa suggested she get herself pregnant, and she said that'd be hard since Antonio wouldn't touch her. Perhaps she's trying to befriend him enough to get him drunk and into her bed. The rest she can always make up.

Re: witchcraft - Even non-believers believe in two aspects of it. 1) The power of suggestion - they say things don't work if you don't believe, and it's quite amazing the kind of psycho-somatic conditions that develop. One can worry themselves quite ill. 2) Poison/toxins - a lot of love potions, etc. are based on toxic plants that are basically poisons and/or hallucinogens that render the victims helpless. Perhaps the powder DB blew at Luisana was some sort of spores, that coupled with Luisana's weakened immune system (with worry), took their toll. Hard to say whether this is also true in our story, or whether in this fictional world, witchcraft actually works. If it's the latter, it is also true, as Eustaquia has pointed out, that DB is in for some major payback.