Caray, Caray!

JM has ambushed Mari in her neighborhood and says he has to talk to her. He tells her she betrayed him and he wanted to say so to her face. He thought all along she was a woman of pure feelings, noble, but now he sees she’s just the opposite. Testifying against him so that his child would be taken away was despicable, sez he. (Not very long ago he thought his sin against Mari was so vile that he didn’t deserve to ever love or be happy again, - and he knows that Mari had screaming nightmares because of it - but now apparently that same sin is so weensy that Mari would be very inconsiderate to even bring it up. Of course, we know she didn’t, but still…)

I understand you and Onelia are allies now, he adds with a flourish.

Isa, who as you will recall had just been asked by Ceci at the end of yesterday’s show how old Stef was, tells her 22. I’m surprised that you ask, says Isa. Ceci says there’s a good reason – she looks older than 22. Ceci just looks at her.

Back to JM and Mari. She is trying to walk away and he says I’m talking to you! Mari says when I was testifying, Onelia had already spilled the beans. JM says yes, but that you would heap it on too! He is talking at top speed and I didn’t catch the rest, maybe something about what if it had been a crooked judge… Anyway, he says that he’s glad she did that because it cured him of his fascination with her. And of his guilt. He announces that she’s worse than him – a thousand times worse. Mari rolls her eyes.

When I did what I did, says he, I was drunk and not myself. But you were sober - and calculating - when you testified against me.

Mari says if that’s what you think, fine. Leave. JM says you know what my daughter means to me. You were trying to hurt me the worst you could. Mari loses patience and says okay, if that’s what you want to hear, I did testify against you to get my revenge. Happy?

That’s great says JM because I’m cured of my love for you. I don’t love you any more (Mari tries to look defiant but doesn’t quite bring it off) which is just as well because you hate me. Mari takes off and JM looks tragic a little bit. During all this, the many people on the street didn’t pay a shred of attention to their spat.

Mari starts to head upstairs to the apartment, but instead goes back down and sits under the picturesque arch under the building and sobs. She thoughtbubbles that it’s just as well this way. She wishes she had Cuate to hold. She can’t tell Cande. I’m alone, she sobs to herself. But then she feels her belly and says no I’m not, I’ll have my own little baby.

Now we’re back with Ceci and Isa, who says she is surprised Ceci would make that comment about Stef. She says Stef has always looked older than her age, and besides, don’t forget that she has had a hard life, working since she was a child. What? says Ceci, shocked. Isa backpedals and says well, not work in the strictest sense of the word, but she did have to help with the financial situation. Ceci notices this gaping hole in the story and says but you told me you had helped Stef in every way.

Isa has many shortcomings, but she is not slow on her feet. She casts her eyes down and says well, the truth is that we both had to work in order to get ahead. This has the desired effect, and Ceci anguishes a bit. Isa says you’re not thinking that Stef isn’t yours? Ceci says no no, it’s not that, she just looks awfully mature for her age.

Sparkly stars and we’re in Grannyland. Mayita looks happy and asks Granny to tell her a new story. Granny tells the Aesop’s fable of the fox and the crow, the one where there’s a crow in a tree with a piece of cheese in its beak and the fox flatters it a bit and then says I bet you have a wonderful singing voice, and the crow opens her beak to demonstrate her voice and the cheese drops to the fox. Granny’s moral is that the crow is a preening fake, and hungry to boot. (The usual moral to this tale is flatterers are not to be trusted.) Anyway, Granny is making a point about how poseurs end up losers.

Speak of the devil(s)! In their room, Isa is telling Stef about Ceci’s question and her reply. Stef says well it is certainly true I’ve worked all my life. Isa says I’m worried Ceci may suspect something. If they discover us, what will we do? They both shake their heads and wonder.

Rocio is being unveiled! There she is with only slight scars and a bit of her eyebrow askew. Amazingly, after having been under those bandages so long, there’s no gooey or yucky stuff to see and her skin is dewey. She looks sweet-faced again and they hand her a mirror and we know she’ll be pleased, but they don’t show us that.

Mari comes home and Cande fakes that she was doing nothing. For her part, Mari fakes being cheery and says I hope you didn’t tell anybody about the acting thing, they’ll say it’s all made up. Cande says nobody has said anything. Mari tells about the shopping trip and says pretty soon they’re going to lifted out of poverty.

Cande says aren’t you afraid of Amador? Mari says, hey, he ought to be afraid to me. Cande says will you really be on TV? Mari thinks so. Cande says she will be so proud of Mari on TV, she will brag, and then she imagines an elegant party and her being Mari’s mom, signing autographs and giving interviews on what Mari likes to eat. This reminds Cande that she’s hungry.

When Cande’s back is turned, Mari thinks of JM saying he hated her now and tears well up.

Rocio is looking in the mirror. She’s shocked and cries and says she looks just the same. (And I thought she looked almost as good as new!) The doctor says there will be other surgeries and with each one she’ll look better and better.

Mari pedals over to Televisa and is filmed doing dialog with a tall, blonde actor. I don’t know the characters of Pygmalion, but the counterparts in My Fair Lady would be Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins. She is in the I’m a poor girl phase. He corrects a language error. (I’m not sure why this is being filmed, since she doesn’t seem to have been by hair and makeup.)

Cut! and Amador says terrific and the crew claps. The Henry Higgins actor says she’s a natural. Mari is happy and Amador goes to give her a congratulatory hug but she says hands off. He tells her she was great and she says really?

JM is walking down a hospital hall, doing his eyebrow touch thing. He sees Beatriz coming out and says Beatriz? He asks how she is and she says bad… destroyed. He says time to rebuild your life. She says you’re wasting your time. Not at all says JM and says let’s go to the cafeteria. Off they go.

In Madrid, beautifully attired Lety is lying on her bed and Viv, unseen by her but seen by us, has given up on measuring drops from the eyedropper and just squirts the whole contents into the glass of water. Viv asks how her headache is and Lety says she’s practically seeing stars. Viv hands her her medicine to drink.

Lety says did you notice when Gustavo came in last night? Viv says no. Lety says 3 in the morning – I’m going have an honest talk with him. Viv wonders if that’s a good idea, but Lety says he owes me that.

Beatriz is telling JM how depressed she is and he asks why and she says she’s pregnant. JM asks who the father is and she says Amador. JM rolls his eyes.

Back at Televisa Amador is assuring Mari that she did great and that that applause from the crew was sincere. He says there are humble people out there who have natural talent and he’s pleased that he was able to discover her. Others go through life never knowing they have the gift. Mari says so do I get to be in the show? Amador says the part is yours, there are just some details to work out.

He informs her that the show is going to film now. I think he said it’s going to be on next Sunday, and he needs her for ads now. That’s sure a short time frame to learn the whole part in Pygmalion! Why didn’t they have the actress months ago?? Anyway, Amador says see? Like you said, nothing is going to stop you now.

Viv is telling Lety to wait and be sure before she talks to Gustavo. Maybe it’s just some unimportant fling. Lety says after all these years of marriage, there is no such thing as an unimportant fling. Viv says you’re not sure anything is happening. Lety says but you told me. Viv says but you didn’t see for yourself. I’m sure he’ll get tired of her very soon. Wait. Lety, who is taking this turn of events relatively calmly says well, okay.

We’re in the hospital cafeteria again and JM is asking Beatriz if she’s told Amador. She says no and she can’t even imagine how he’d react. She says I wish I could just die. JM says let me psychoanalyze you, here’s my card. I can help you.

Amador and Mari are looking at the test tape and she is cringing to see herself, but she’s fascinated too. An assistant tells Amador someone is waiting and it’s urgent. He goes to the lobby and sees it’s Beatriz. No more Mr. Nicewolf: He says coldly ¿Que. haces. aqui? He can’t talk to her at work, and she says you’re never home and he says he has tons of work and that they can’t see each other like they did. She tells him she’s pregnant. Amador looks like hmmm. For the ad break, he is shown petting his wolf and the cellos buzz.

JM is visiting Rocio and is telling her that her attitude is ridiculous, she looks way better than before and besides the scars will get smaller and smaller with each surgery. He tells her she needs to be strong for Vicente, for everyone. Rocio smiles you’re right, and if I start whining, let me know. Oh I will, he says, laughing.

She asks after Mayita and JM says much better and he tells how Stef bought Cuate from Mari. Rocio says I can’t imagine she would sell Cuate, she loves that dog. JM says it seems her emotions are pretty changeable and that she doesn’t know how to love anyone, not even a dog.

Amador asks Beatriz whose kid it is. She says yours of course and he says he knows she had other men. She says of course not. He wants a blood test, then reproaches her for not protecting herself, and she says you should have used protection.

Amador says he’s not taking responsibility and she says you think I should get rid of it, huh? He says yes, you know what to do. The cellos go nuts. He leaves her standing there.

He’s back by the TV with Mari who says she’s embarrassed to see herself on TV and people will laugh. Amador says no they won’t and tells her she needs a stage name, but she says she already has a name. He starts thinking of names, hits on Alejandra Alba, then decides to name her after him, her discoverer, like they do a new species of fruit fly. Alejandra Robles! (Not only does that not have as nice a ring as Alejandra Alba, we know what’s going to happen when JM sees her on TV - which has gotta happen - going by that name.) That’s your name from now on he exults. Mari rolls her eyes and Amador laughs and tells her she can go change. (I thought those were here street clothes!) She takes off down the hall.

Wow this happened sooner than I expected: Mayita is watching TV with Cuate while Stef reads. Mari’s ad comes on and Mayita exclaims. Stef looks at the TV astonished and JM appears and looks too. All are impactados, Mayita is excited.

In Madrid, Viv asks Lety if she’s talked to Gustavo. Lety says no, she took Viv’s advice. Viv says how about next time he goes out, I’ll follow and tell you what happens. Lety says okay, only this time I’m coming along. Viv bobbles a bit then says that’ll be great.

Zip we’re in Mayita’s bedroom again, looking at them looking at TV. JM seems slightly amused and Mayita is going nuts with excitement. She wants to know why Mari is using that name. She runs off saying she wants to tell everybody. Stef looks disgusted and says I don’t believe it. JM half smiles and says asi que sera eso, which I’m not sure what it means. Maybe “so that’s what it was”? (This seems important, help!)

We see Olga in her humble kitchen, humbly cooking. Her daughter Purita comes in dragging Adrian. Olga swears she saw Mari on TV under the name of Robles. Purita is all excited and realizes that Adrian seems to already know. He says yes, that’s her.

JM tells Stef about going to Televisa (how do you get in just like that, anyway?) and seeing Mari in Amador’s embrace, looking like they were about to kiss. Stef wants to know why he went looking for her. JM tells her he’d seen her earlier with Amador and wanted to tell her to knock it off. Anyway, says JM, it looks like maybe I could have misinterpreted things.

Stef says it’s ridiculous for somebody like Mari to turn overnight into an actress. JM seems pleased and says well we just saw it. Mari didn’t cheat on me with Amador, he says smiling.

Olga is exclaiming over Mari being an actress and wonders how she learned it. Adrian says she seems to know how and she has the lead. Olga is thrilled and Purita too. Olga goes upstairs and Purita notes that Adrian doesn’t seem happy about Mari. He says no, did you ask her what I wanted you to? Purita says not yet. Adrian says I’m losing her more every day. Purita says maybe she’ll do this one program and that’s all. Adrian says no, her life is going to change.

The neighborhood gossips are in full bloom, including they lady with the rollers in her hair, Casilda. They are having fun with the news of Mari, suggesting that her figure got her into TV and that well, you know what happens in that world… They spot Cande coming and they loudly say here comes Candelaria, queen of the neighborhood. She’s going to have lots of money, made off of nudity. Cande ignores them. They make other taunting remarks about folks in the entertainment industry.

A lady is knocking on Cande’s window and Cande who’s just coming home says here I am Clemencia, so we know her name. Clemencia is all excited about having seen Mari on TV. Cande didn’t know about the ad, in fact she says so it’s real, I wasn’t sure if it was all true. They decide to go to Olga’s to watch on her TV.

They arrive and the ad seems to be playing almost continuously, probably because almost nobody is buying ad time in this recession. Cande is thrilled and says to Damien it’s true and Damien says unfortunately yes. Seems like love has left him in the dust of the road and he knows it. But everyone else is excited and they plan a big TV party with munchies on Sunday. Cande wonders if it’s shot live and Damien says no it’s taped ahead of time.

Mari is shooting the scene where the Henry Higgins-equivalent character is telling Liza he accepts the job of improving her speaking and he tells his housekeeper to take Liza upstairs and give her a bath, and Liza says I bathe myself and I don’t need money or anything from you. (hey! Is My Fair Lady called Pygmalion in Spanish? These lines seem awfully familiar.)

Amador is watching with the crew and he says she’s a marvel, she will be the envy of seasoned actresses. He says he’ll fill his coffers with money and his heart with….

At the judge’s house, Isa and Stef are standing by that inside water wall and clucking over Mari’s debut. They decide it’s no reach for her to play a naca, but what is she going to do when the character gets refined? (Stef’s hair ribbons are just too much tonight – long and red.) Isa wants to know if JM knows and Stef says yup.

Back on the soundstage, Mari is now in a short dressy dress and her hair has been done up a bit. They cut and her co-star congratulates her and so does Amador. People are calling her Alejandra and it’s a bit odd for her. Amador says that Sunday they are going to be swamped by the press. (What does farandula mean, anyway? I can’t find it in my on-line dictionary but I see it a lot.) Amador says you will be famous and you’ll be working non-stop. Mari feels her still-flat tummy and says I hope I can. Oblivious, Amador says of course you can.

She asks if there are pregnant roles. He says sure, he’ll write her one. He tells her never to forget that he created her and she belongs to him. She says as an artist, but not as a woman. I’ll go along with that, he says. You know, Sunday some guy is going to see you on TV and realize what he let slip through his fingers.

The artist group is meeting at some tables, maybe at the theater, and they say Amador has been very mysterious and hasn’t even been around to direct their play. Nelson says I’m his best friend and he didn’t even tell me anything. But they comment that Amador has given Mari his last name and it’s a good thing he didn’t give her his first one too. Beatriz says she went to see him at his job and he was unkind to her. Elsa tells her to forget him. Beatriz says she can’t. Elsa tells her you were in love with him, but we can all see how he’s chasing Mari.

They say they may never see him again, but Elsa says she can’t stop seeing him, not now. She tells them she’s pregnant by him.

Ceci and the judge are sitting down to eat outside their mansion. She tells him about Mari being the new face on TV this Sunday and that she’s acting under another name. The judge says I sure hope she doesn’t have a speaking part. Ceci tells him she’s the lead. He can’t believe it and she is a little unsure. Here comes Stef and they tell her about it. She fakes not knowing. She says what fun they will have watching Mari make a fool of herself Sunday. Ceci looks at her disapprovingly, but Stef doesn’t notice. One good thing: She’s wearing barrettes and not ribbons.

Cande’s friends are outside in the street talking and here comes the padre. He wants to know about Mari and they say how they’re all going to watch together. He is amazed he didn’t know about it, but they say Mari wanted to surprise everyone. Here comes Cande and he wants to know how Mari got into TV and she says Amador. He says that guy who assaulted her? Why didn’t you forbid it? Cande says ah, you know! The padre wants to see her and they says she’s down at the studio. They all (except the padre) can’t wait for Sunday.

Eduardo pops in on JM at this office and they discuss Mari’s being on TV, and her name change. Eduardo says do you think Amador has hidden motives and JM says they’re hardly hidden! Eduardo says Amador is really taking a chance. If she’s a flop, the critics will have a heyday. JM says Amador will do anything to get what he wants. Eduardo says he’s probably convinced her that she’s a great actress. JM asks if he’s going to watch and Ed says probably and JM says he’s not sure yet if he will.

Mari comes home late at night and Cande springs out from behind the pillar and congratulates her. She says she found out Mari’s surprise. She is all enthusiasm but after a while notices Mari isn’t equally excited. Mari says it’s all true about the acting, but maybe it’s not for her. She’s still not happy.

Avances: Sunday night! Stef and Isa watch and scoff, Mari’s whole neighborhood streams indoors in to watch Mari on TV, there’s a big neighborhood party, Mari is exultant, fireworks go off, and guess who shows up but JM who smiles at Mari.

Labels: Cuidado