Caray, Caray!

Thwarted in her efforts to get an explanation out of Raquel, Ricardo, or Eva, Ruth goes to Gabriela, who admits (after Ruth swears eternal fealty) that Raquel is not Ruth's mother; Ruth is Eva's daughter.

It takes a few seconds for it to sink in. Ruth doesn't want to believe it. Gabi says Raq couldn't have children. Ruth screams and threatens to tell on Gabi for lying. Gabi stops her at the door and comforts her as she cries. (Yes, Gabriela comforts someone, can you believe it? Who is this woman?) She reminds Ruth that she promised not to tell.

Gabi explains that Raquel was a poor dumb girl who got lucky when Ricardo Uribe picked her to be his wife. Ruth says the world's fallen apart. It's better that she knows, but she'll never accept icky old Eva as her mother. And she's also renouncing herself as Raquel's daughter. Why did she get adopted by Raquel instead of by Gabi? Boo hoo. "I deserved a mommy like you, I wish I'd had a mommy like you."

Gabi looks almost as bewildered as Ruth. (I suppose that experiencing maternal feelings for the very first time could be disorienting, especially so many years after giving birth.) She strokes Ruth's hair and says she would have loved to have had a child like Ruth.

Juan tries to cheer Juliana up, but she's too depressed. He tells her to be strong. She doesn't want to give up, but she feels that life has defeated her. (I don't know if someone explained everything to her in between episodes, or if she's concluded on her own that she's doomed.) Juan insists that science must have a cure. She begs him not to deceive her. He tells her to think of something she's always wanted to do, that she's never done before, something that will take some courage, that will make her stronger.

She knows just the thing, and he can help. She hesitates; "spit it out!" he urges, giving her an encouraging little push that nearly knocks her over. "Give me a night of love! Just one night!" He winces slightly but agrees.

Sofía asks her sisters if they're sure they want to give the Posibles a chance. Sarita confirms that they're not going to go on waiting for the Reyes. Just then, Roman and Gonzalo come in looking for dates to the jaripeo. The girls claim that they need to mind the store. Sofía says she can handle it. They weakly try to make more excuses, that Sofía will be too busy watching the field hands or something, but Sofía is stubborn and says Rosendo can take care of that or she can close the store if necessary. The sisters are forced to go out and have a good time. The brothers smile gratefully at Sofía as they leave.

Juan sits in front of a bowl of flour at home and considers his agreement with Juliana. He thinks it's a test: he doesn't really want to betray the woman of his life, but on the other hand, the girl's going to die.

Sofi visits Juliana at home. (So much for watching the store or supervising the laborers.) She says that she and Juan are through. (Haven't they already had this conversation before?) And she thinks Juliana will recover soon. Juliana isn't so sure, but asks if Sofi really doesn't care about Juan. Sofía says she loves him, but they can't be together, so she wants him to be with a woman of his choice. True love is sacrifice, it's not selfish. Juan made her the happiest woman in the world, and the least she can do is set him free so that he can be happy.

Ruth is feeling better after a nice tall glass of brandy. She needs to think. Gabi warns against impulsive actions and says Ruth can always trust her. They can do lots of things together, and they they have lots in common. Ruth agrees.

Feo, the reluctant field hand, lets Sofía's cows go for a walk... off the hacienda property.

Juan is grumpy and won't tell his brothers what's on his mind. Oscar and Franco are bummed that they're losing their girlfriends. Uncle Vicente shows up looking a little less leprechauny than last week. He's going to sing at the jaripeo. Juan isn't in the mood, and Franco's fallen behind in his work (it appears that he is in charge of sweeping), but Oscar (talking with his mouth full) is up for it. He says he's going to wash up first, but we don't get to watch.

Eugenia has her and Rigo's fertility test results in hand, but is nervous to look at them. Hortensia looks first and is shocked. Eugenia takes only the page on top (which has her name on it) and now she's shocked too. She doesn't know what she's going to tell Rigo.

Sofía's cows joyously trample and munch all over the Reyes crops, or at least that is what Rigo and his men are saying (the cows look pretty harmless too me). Feo happily watches the mayhem from his hiding place. (Later, he will call the drugstore and ask if they have Prince Albert in a can.)

Sofi tells Juliana that no matter what happens between her and Juan, Sofi won't hold it against her.

Rigo tells Juan that the Elizondo herd is eating all their crops.

While Uncle Vinnie sings, Oscar hangs around with a couple of girls, drinking. His vision is already getting blurry when he sourly notices Sarita and Jimena (in their red-and-white dresses). Jimena sees him, too. Awkward! Sarita tries to distract her. Oscar quits pouring shots and grabs for the whole bottle. He says he came here to forget about something and now here it is. He wants to go home. Uncle Vinnie thinks this is a good idea, but then a hacendado named Heriberto asks Oscar if he'd like to compete - his own rider couldn't come. Oscar accepts.

Uncle V tries to talk him out of it. He's had a lot to drink and he's not even familiar with the horse. Oscar promises to win, and Heriberto agrees to set him up with a horse. Uncle Vinnie warns Oscar that this race isn't as easy as Oscar thinks and he's only doing it out of jealousy and bravado. He could get injured. Oscar replies by having a drink and telling his uncle to mind his own business. "You're not my father!"

Meanwhile, Juan and Rigo ride out to inspect the cow-ravaged fields. Feo comes out and claims that Sofía told him to set the cows loose. Ever since she's taken over the hacienda she's completely changed into a cruel and selfish woman. Juan doubts this.

Rosendo drives up, Feo punches him and takes his keys. He takes the truck while Rosendo recovers.

So the race is about to begin: Roman vs. Oscar. Roman warns him against drunken racing and I think he also either teases Oscar about being out of shape or tries to psych him out. Oscar does look about ready to barf or fall over. He's so drunk he has to be prompted to say that he's ready. The gun goes off. The guys race down the muddy dragstrip. Roman wins, but not by much.

The doctor tells Eva that Maria Jóse's temperature has gone down thanks to the medicine and now she should drink lots of fluids. He asks if Sofía even knows she's sick. Eva says she watched over her last night and wouldn't have left if she'd known how sick she was. (Not sure if this scene has a point, unless it is somehow going to get back to the social worker that Sofía failed to check in on a sick child.)

Sarita congratulates Roman on his victory; Jimena is too busy watching Oscar drink. Roman asks her if she'll congratulate him. She dutifully complies. Uncle Vinnie gently scolds Oscar for making a fool of himself.

Sarita and Jimena clap reluctantly as Roman receives his prize. He gives his ribbon to Jimena, who looks like she's been handed a dead mouse, and he says she inspired him to win. Then he kisses her. She pulls away and protests. Good thing she got her face out of the way quickly because Oscar's fist is there punching Roman. "I warned you not to talk to my woman!"

Roman: You don't like losing, do you? Well get used to it!
Oscar: I'll never "get used to" seeing you with my wife!
Roman: Jimena doesn't love you. She told me in front of you that she wants to get divorced. So get the idea, you're lucky I don't like fights. Go away!

Uncle Vinnie is dragging Oscar away when Roman goes back to Jimena for some sugar and she says "let go of me." Oscar rushes back and punches him again. The emcee tells the crowd not to interfere. Apparently this is an endorsement of an impromptu boxing match.

Evidently, Roman has had some training. The fact that he can stand up and see only one of everything right now is probably helpful too. He hits Oscar's pretty face and sends him sprawling. Oscar does some silly phony kung-fu-esque moves and tries to throw a sloppy spinning kick, which hits an innocent bystander. Roman hits Oscar again. Oscar throws an even sloppier punch, which also hits someone else (I think it's the same guy he kicked).

He charges at Roman again, Roman sidesteps and uses Oscar's own momentum to send him headfirst into a table. Jimena tries to comfort Oscar, but he sadly tells her to leave him alone. Uncle Vinnie helps him up and takes him away.

Dr. Montes tells Eva to watch the girl and let him know if anything changes. He leaves. Eva sees Ruth and apologizes for not talking to her before, but there was a problem with the kids. Ruth says she already told her that and she doesn't care. Eva says "but, hija" and Ruth tells her not to call her that. This hurts Eva's feelings. Ruth says lots of things hurt her too, but she doesn't go crying in the corner, and if they run into each other again don't talk to her or even look at her. "I can't stand women like you," she says to Eva. Hiding behind a door, Gabi grins with pride.

Ricardo is not in such a good mood and recalls his earlier confrontation with Ruth. He realizes that she's the only thing that matters to him. He can afford to lose everything else, but not her, not his princess. Never!

Ruth goes out on a horse and rides into a meadow to cry. (Apparently, it's perfectly okay to cry in a meadow; it's only crying in a corner that's uncool.) She lets the horse look down her blouse while she cries on his nose, realizing that if Raquel isn't her mother, then Ricardo isn't her father, either.

Juan storms into Crap From Afar to yell at Sofía for letting her cows nearly ruin his crops. Of course she has no idea what he's talking about, but he doesn't believe her. He thinks this is retaliation for not letting them use the spring. She says she couldn't do that, and who told him she did?

"Who else? Fernando Escandon," Juan replies sheepishly. Sofía says okay, if you believe him more than you believe me, then take his word for it: I gave that order. Yep, I did. Now scram.

Ruth is brushing the horse and telling him that her real father must have been a real idiot to have gotten with someone like Eva. Feo watches from Rosendo's truck and gloats that Juan will go complaining to Sofía.

Feo ambles up to Ruth and says he didn't know she liked talking to horses. "And I didn't know that you liked saying stupid things so much," she replies. (Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.) He reminds her that they agreed to join forces and crush Sofía, but if she really wants to be left alone then he won't help her with her problems. Sofía has changed a lot, he tells Ruth, and she won't be easy to defeat.

He goes away and Ruth goes back to crying into her hand.

Tio Vinny has taken Oscar home. Oscar has a tantrum while Tio lectures him about losing gracefully. You don't always have to win. When you fall, it's important to get up, not punch people. That's how grownups behave. And learn to think before you speak. Arrogance is the worst of all sins. Oscar says he can't recover from this blow.

They sing a few bars of a song and then Oscar cries and bleeds on his uncle's shoulder.

Sofía comes home and Eva tells her about the little medical emergency. Sofi will stay with the sick one in her room for the night and Eva will look after the other two.

Feo rides into town, musing that Ruth can't do anything without his help. He sees Nabor in the street and warns him that if he messes with him he'll be sorry. Nabor says he never messed with Feo in the first place, he just wanted to know the truth: that he didn't kill Bernardo. Feo knocks his hat off and threatens him not to tell. The padre calls from behind him, "if anyone should be careful, it's you." (Darn, it's usually Coyote who shows up and threatens Feo like this.)

Raquel tells Gabi about the weird scene between Root and Ricardo, he was upset with her, he even hit her for the very first time, but they can't figure out why. Raq adds that she was really worried when Ruth mentioned Eva. She doesn't want Ricardo to find out that Ruth isn't his daughter.

Gabi advises Raq to find a good excuse and leave Gabi out of it, because Gabi can only help as the "good friend" she's always been. Raq tells her to stop being a hypocrite: She was her accomplice, and it's for the good of both of them that Ruth and Ricardo never hear the truth. Or else suffer the consequences!

After Raquel leaves, Gabi opens an envelope and hugs its contents. "At last I'll get back what's mine." Sofía doesn't have the guts to find out which of the girls is hers, and Gabi will win the judgment. It will all be in her power again. She'll remind everyone who Gabriela Acevedo is.

Mexico airdate: 26 de agosto
Next time: Juan takes his shirt off for Juliana's noche de amor. Will she survive the experience?

Labels: Fuego