Caray, Caray!

First off, thanks a million, Jean, for all the great photos & allowing us to have this place to discuss. It’s been a fantastic time and one of my favorite telenovelas ever. Looking forward to more of the same with ECDD!

There weren’t any surprises in this gran final but there also weren’t any horrible disappointments, so all in all, this was one of the more satisfying telenovela gran finales that I’ve seen in a long time. So forgive the long comments, but since I do love this show, my “dos centavos” here will be more like “dos cientos”! (200 cents vs. 2 cents ;-)

Good Stuff: 1. The rescue scene. Although much like the earlier rescue scene of Juan & Ruth, anything that brings Juan & Norma together in a reunion scene works for me so it was good. ;-)

I loved watching Juan, true to hero type, trying to reassure Gabriela, then muster the strength to keep stumbling ahead on his knees with her in his arms. Conversely, what also worked was the moment he admitted defeat & pleaded to Heaven for help. That glimpse of vulnerability made me cheer that much harder for him. Same when he was too overcome to respond to his brothers' shouts; when his eyes lit up at the sound of Norma’s voice; and when he grabbed & smelled her hair when he finally had her in his arms again. Too sweet.

In these scenes I thought Mario did a perfect job displaying a showcase of the qualities that define Juan – his unshakeable devotion to love & family, his “what you see is what you get” simplicity along with his physical strength & obvious good looks. It’s my opinion that of all that Mario Cimarro’s telenovelas up to this point, it took this character to make him a superstar in the medium. And the hair, of course. ;-)

In answer to your question, Jean, about why did this novela work when it lacked so many of the usual novela elements, I think for me it is precisely that: better writing. Since there were fewer super-goofy, over-the-top elements (as telenovelas go), I wasn’t as frequently scoffing and rolling my eyes at what was happening in the story. These fewer distractions allowed me to concentrate better on the characters and their relationships to each other, which is what I really enjoy. And fortunately, in that department this telenovela really delivered.

2. Tio Anibal as Ruth’s dad: I liked how Eva asked that it stay a secret. Since Anibal wasn’t going to be sticking around at all, I thought this was the best approach. However, I placated myself by taking the position that it wouldn’t remain a secret forever. It’s fun to imagine how the secret should (and would) come out.

3. As usual, Juan David! His reaction to Gabriela in the hospital was so precious. Same at the welcome home party for Gabriela. What a doll, there with Martín on the balcony!

3. Juan, with a big open smile at the welcome Gabriela party. Also his great entrance at same on that fabulous dapple horse. Loved, loved, loved it…. ;-)

Could Have Been Better Stuff: 1. Would’ve liked Manolo, Miguel, Dominga and Quintina to have had at least an implication of love on their horizons. Rosario landed on her feet well enough. Nice to see she was back performing without so much as a scar from her wound! ;-)

2. Sara & Franco’s wedding scene appeared to be an afterthought, & could have been added after strong viewer input. Mario’s presence in reused shots only also witnesses to this suspicion, as does the fact that this scene doesn’t appear in the official DVD. Also, it wasn’t a very grand affair, as it should have been judging by how Franco & Oscar wanted to do Juan & Norma’s wedding. I was hoping to see what their version of a “no hold barred” wedding would look like & this wasn’t it.

3. But my BIGGEST disappointment was the fact that I was expecting Norma to announce she was pregnant again, this time with the twins that had been predicted by the palm reader Juan visited back when Norma was expecting Juan David. When Leonidas insisted on examining her when he came to visit after Juan & Gab had been kidnapped, I suspected that was foreshadowing a pregnancy announcement but looks like they faked me out. I had this great moment written for the Welcome Gabriela party with she, Norma & Juan together. Norma was supposed to tell Gab she wouldn’t be lonely because she’d be spending so much time helping her at their new place, because Norma was going to need help handling 3 little ones. I was just waiting to see Juan over the moon with the news of more kids, but I guess it wasn’t to be. More’s the pity…

What a great ride it was. Thanks everyone, for all your great company & comments. See you Monday, I hope!
 

Thanks so much for your discussion posts for PDG, Jean. You did a wonderful job and your work is much appreciated!

You're right; the satisfying romances were left to the Hermanas Elizondo and Hermanos Reyes. And honestly, those weren't that spectacular to me.

I did find many of the characters and their (non-romantic) relationships interesting (and perplexing, vexing, etc.). It was an interesting character study in human behavior.

I don't think Gabriela was an evil character, I think she really thought she was doing what was best most of the time. She was just soooo wrong most of the time. I guess Martin and her daughters understood that and that’s why they stuck by her through all the craziness. Her blind devotion for Fernando was just completely incomprehensible to me.

Raquel was so horrible at times, but surprising at others. She was a faithful friend to Gabriela, was able to apologize at least to some extent to Ruth and also to Magnolia toward the end. Her faithful and loving care of her husband was admirable. Her affection for Martin despite their bickering como perros y gatos was surprising. (And one of the parts I was unable to fully understand in Martin’s remembrance of her seemed to suggest maybe Martin had actually been romantically interested in her when they were young?) Choosing to go out in a blaze of glory was certainly a surprise. Mentioning Magnolia in her Will and then leaving everything else to Eva after how she had treated her all those years was a very nice surprise.

I really found no redeeming qualities in Benito at all and don’t believe he deserved to be rewarded by Eva after behaving so badly.

And poor Eva ended the show with an equal amount of tristeza as she carried in the beginning. I know she was happy to finally have a relationship with her daughter, and with the inheritance from Raquel she won’t have to worry about working (even though she had a good position with the Reyes). But she didn’t seem to be truly happy. It would have been more satisfying to me if Anibal didn’t have a wife and could have hung around for awhile. Then again, I guess the way it ended made Eva make a bigger impression on me. And I can just choose to write her after-story as her coming to accept the things that happened in the past and moving on to new and happy times.

It's been fun!
 

Hi Marie Celeste: I totally agree with all your comments. I thank Telemundo for running it again. It is a great novela.

I knew from TW that Norma wasn't going to announce another pregnancy so I wasn't surprised when it didn't happen but I agree that it was a missed opportunity to tie up the loose ends and give Grabi a new purpose in life.

I also noticed Rosario's lack of a scar!

This novela was certainly an example, as is DB, that nonstop silly action isn't necessary and character development is really important.

One thing that I liked in PdG was the large number of 'good' supporting characters like Melisa, Leandro, Manolo and Miguel, Olegario, Pepita, Panchita, Antonio and Quintina. They played small parts in the main story but mostly they were there to support the main characters in times of trouble and have parties when things were good and it was nice. It reinforced the strong sense of family that characterized the Reyes establishment. Again, I think those types of characters are unusual in a novela where the main characters are usually so absorbed with their own problems and the minor characters are only there for comic relief.

Looking forward to ECDD. My mother is going to watch this one. She has never watched a Spanish language novela but she had heard me talking about them and wants to give it a try. She doesn't usually like guys with long hair so it will be interesting to see if Mario wins her over.
 

It certainly has been an experience watching this novella! Just like La Traicion, I missed the beginning (dangit!) but quickly became absorbed in both of these stories. What attracted me to both were Mario and Danna of course, but also the characters and storylines. I am very new to novellas so I don’t have much to compare with, but what I can see in PdG is a good STORY. It is not super-realistic but also not real over the top. It just drew me in. Watching the official DVD I can see where I would have been hooked from the beginning if I had known about it, especially the Juan and Norma love story. I have watched that part many times, where their eyes first met and how their romance bloomed. It was just so exciting. They are electric together. The other couples were great, too, as were most all of the characters. As absurd as some of them were, this show just made you almost believe they were all real! In the finale, when the three couples were sitting on their horses before they rode off, I was all teary-eyed and wishing they were real. I had to keep reminding myself that they were only actors.

I do have some issues with PdG, nothing I haven’t mentioned here before, regarding the violence and drinking and scantily-clad women. I posted an entry on my blog a few days ago about my experience with discovering telenovelas, starting when I first started watching parts of Victoria earlier this year, to when I became hopelessly hooked on La Traicion and then discovered PdG and why these shows are so good and why people must watch them! Not that anybody actually READS my blog, but my entry is geared toward an audience that doesn’t have a clue about what telenovelas are or who Mario and Danna are, etc. (just like how I was only a few short months ago!), so it is sort of an introduction. I do rant about the drinking and violence and some problems I had on message boards, etc. but in general I rave about these shows. It’s too long to post here but if anybody wants to check it out it’s on my homepage at www.geocities.com/cindybin46. It is called “Latin Lover”.

Back to the finale, I thought it was really good. I loved the whole rescue scene, and how Gabriela really turned around and grew to love the boys, and how they threw that party for her (and there wasn’t even any alcohol at it, yay!). And there were no fights, not even any punches or slaps. The baby had some great moments—what a little movie star! I do have a problem with Eva not letting on who the father of Ruth is, because I think it is only fair that she and the brothers should know they are cousins, and that Ruth should know who her father is. But I also agree that I think we can all dream that this will be revealed sometime in the future in the novella in our mind. I also was disappointed that the scarless Rosario went right back to working at that horrible bar. Even after all she had been through, she really hadn’t learned anything or matured, because she was putting herself back in the kind of environment where she would probably meet the same type of scoundrels as Armando, and I just think she deserves better. Not to mention how degrading it is to work in a bar like that and how it sets women back. But I suppose this is another story we can dream about, where Rosario gets a better job.

It really was a wonderful finale, though and in general a great novella all around. I have loved reading everyone’s comments, as well as looking at the pictures and reading the summaries. I will miss Juan and Norma terribly. Thank goodness for DVDs!
 

I have watched some 6 novelas, dragging my non-spanish speaking husband along for the ride. (It has been a fun way for me to learn Spanish).

Any way my husband thought that this ending was very satisfying, and tied up the loose ends. I was shocked to see Franco and Sarita get married, because I have a Colombian friend who saw this novela years ago and she said that Sara and Franco did not get married but decided to remain friends. So that was a great surprise.

It was also a surprise to see what a teddy bear Juancho turned out to be. He was so noble, and sweeet. I loved the scenes where the leading men win over the mamas.

I also think that what made this novela so believable was the great acting. Especially of the grandfather, Gabi, and all of the cast memebers. They really seemed like a family.
 

First and foremost, thanks to Jean for her labor of love. It's so nice to have a place to talk about something that was so well made.

Thanks for the insight from Anon 8:26. Perhaps they had an alternate ending in Colombia and changed it for the first broadcast for Telemundo? I find it hard to believe that Franco and Sara would only be friends, did he go back to Rosario in that version?

I personally think it was great that Rosario went back to Alcala. It was something she enjoyed and was quite good at. It's hard to say whether she will meet another man like Armando, or whether she will meet a different type of man, one who just comes on occasion and who is good and solid and not a criminal. With Rosario and Panchita (and perhaps Pepita when she returns), the bar might attract less of the criminal element, since there will be no criminals running it.

The only end I felt needed tidying up was the former Reyes Hacienda - the one that burned down with their parents. In Fuego they seem obsessed with it, and I think I read there was a little of that in Aguas Mansas. Here they just accepted it and moved forward. Can't decide if it's good or bad, just a loose end.

Will miss chatting about this one, but I'm glad many of the same crew are chatting on DB, which is also quite good. I think I'll give El Juramento another week or two, mostly because of some the side characters like evil Esteban and sage Macarena, but the leads are just getting on my nerves, and I may give up on it. Probably for the best as I'm watching waaaay too much TV.

Happy ECDD watching ;)
 

I think my Colombian friend was saying that Sara was so independeent, and perhaps decided to stay and help her mom. But I don't know it was a great surprise to me.

I have heard that Dana Garcia has a new novela in the works, but does anyone know any news about Mario Cimarro.
 

I JUST FINISH WATCHING PASION ON NETFLIX HATED Gabriela not even the slightest bit likeable always skipped her scenes and Fernando . Otherwise awesome show .
 

Just finished pasion on netflix liked it awesome show , but Gabriela really dislike her but as an actress she did good job but the character for 180 episodes just unlikeable right to the near end .Wow what a horrid women and mother and they so easily forgive her is nuts.
 

7/4/2016:
I cannot begin to thank NETFLIX and the producers for these 188 episodes wit sub-titles. I speak no Spanish, but learned a few words. I laughed, cried, screamed; I had many sleepless nights because I couldn't turn off the TV. Oh, my gosh - the storyline was superb and and the actors did a fantastic job. My husband joined me for the last 100 episodes, and for someone who doesn't like movies, he's now looking at "La Reina del Sur".

Looking forward to Season 2.

Joy