Caray, Caray!

(Note: Not really Mother's Day. Do not adjust your calendar.)

Rerun of Feo confronting Raquel, who gets away from him, and then Juan comes along and punches Feo in the face.

Raquel is lamenting to a smug Gabi that Ruth suddenly doesn't want anything to do with her. "What did you do to her? Surely Ruth must have a reason to treat you that way." Raquel says she'll ask Gabi the same thing: did Gabi tell her "the truth"? Gabi denies it; she would never do anything to upset Ricardo. Raquel warns that if she feels trapped, she'll have nothing to lose, and then she'll tell Ricardo the whole truth herself. Gabi says fine, and then she'll tell Ricardo that Raquel slept with Fernando, too. Raquel denies this and says Gabi has no proof. Gabi reminds her that Feo found the snake belt in their bedroom.

Feo snarls in his room, trying to stanch his bleeding mouth, throwing clothes around, swearing vengeance on Juan and his whole family, etc. Then Rosario's voice warns him that she's going to make him pay for each and every one of his crimes. She sings a few notes of one of her hit songs while images of her flash briefly on the screen.

Padre thanks Nabor for doing a good job and lets him leave for the day. Nabor shows him the mail before he leaves. Padre doesn't tell us what the letter says, but from the look on his face, I am guessing that he won the Publishers' Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. He prays his thanks.

Feo sneaks out of his room and pauses nervously on his way down the stairs. Santa and Abuelo watch discreetly and feel sure that he's being tormented by guilt; he must be afraid of something. They're worried about Sofi and the kids. Abuelo hopes she marries Juan and gets out of there soon.

Sofi and Juan watch Maria Jóse sleep. Sofía doesn't feel that the kids are safe with Feo and Root in the house. This reminds Juan to ask her to marry her. Of course she agrees. They'll have a civil wedding away, then a church wedding as soon as they can get permission. Sofi says then they'll be happy forever! "That's what they say," Juan laughs.

Feo drinks in the parlor and tells himself that he must have imagined Rosario. If he doesn't control himself, he'll be screwed. He resolves not to end up the way Padre Tadeo predicted.

Tio Vicente, dressed in street clothes (I almost didn't recognize him) paces the floor in the kitchen, asking Franco why Oscar would go to see Jimena when she doesn't want to see him. Then the gossip sisters flurry in and flirt desperately with Tio. He twists his mustache at them and admits that he hasn't yet met the mistress of his heart. They hire Franco to do a mystery serenade - they won't tell him who it's for. Tio sings for them while they wait for Franco to change his clothes.

Big surprise, it's the full moon again for the hundredth day in a row. Oscar is in Jimena's room. He challenges her to swear that she doesn't want to see him again.

Franco, blindfolded outside the girls' windows, proceeds to give the serenade, not realizing that the Posibles are there. Oscar hears the ruckus, looks over the balcony, and cannot believe his eyes as he watches the gossip sisters sneak away.

In the next room, Sarita is intrigued and wants to come down for a better look. Oscar wants a better look too. Jimena is not interested in the serenade, but she's afraid Oscar will pick another fight.

It ends up being a double-fight - Franco vs. Gonzalo (who looks familiar) and Oscar vs. Roman. Four men rolling around on the ground, ahhhhh. Get a good look, because it's all downhill after this.

Sarita comes down and begs them to break up. Franco and Oscar aren't doing well. Grandpa's blunderbuss goes off, halting everyone in mid-swing. This time, Santa's doing the shooting. They all scramble, she fires again, the Posibles pick up their jackets and leave. Franco steals a kiss (from Sarita, not Gonzalo) before he and Oscar go away too.

Sarita runs up to Grandpa's room, frantic that they could have killed someone with those shots. Grandpa explains that they're just blanks, same as he used to break up a confrontation between Feo and Sofía. He's no fool - no way is he going to jail for those people!

Next morning, Comisario (who I think has been growing his hair) and his men surround Feo as he walks out of the house. Feo is surprised as anything. He's being arrested for stealing from the Elizondos while he was their manager. Sofía has shown them his account records and so forth that prove his fraud, confirmed by experts.

The specialist at the hospital wakes Sofi and Juan and tells them they can take MJ home. The padre shows up with more good news: he shows them the letter. Sofía's finally been granted her annulment from Feo, and they can get married in a church. Finally, life is smiling at them again; no one can ever separate them! It's the end of all their woes!

Juan doubles over with pain - he's got a bad feeling that something's going to happen. He has to go home and check on his brothers. The padre agrees to stay at the hospital with Sofi.

Back at the ranch, Oscar, Rigo, and Franco are working in the field. Oscar tries to start the tractor, but it won't go. He gets out and stands in front of the tractor - with his back to it - while it's in gear. While he mutters to himself that a yoke team isn't going to be enough, the brake slips, and the tractor rolls forward and hits him square on the butt, knocks him down, and I think steals his wallet.

Fortunately, he's between the tires, so they don't run over him, but then the, um, weighted crossbar thingie made out of logs (excuse the agricultural jargon) squishes him. He cries for help.

Gabi interrupts Feo's arrest. The comisario explains that he's being arrested for fraud. She says she never filed any charges against him; comisario says it was Sofía. She brought the charges and only she can withdraw them. Feo tells Gabi to tell Sofía as he's carted away.

Franco, Rigo, and the freshly arrived Juan (did he fly??) try to lift the weighted crossbar thingie off of Oscar, but it's too heavy, and now Oscar can't feel his legs. Tio shows up on Capricho. They decide they need leverage. They hook something up to Capricho and tell him to pull while they pry the weighted crossbar thingie up. Franco pulls Oscar out from underneath.

Rosendo drives up (apparently by coincidence?) and opens the gate between their pastures. They transfer Oscar to his truck. One of them says "careful with his back," which is pretty funny considering they just pulled him out from under a tractor like a rag doll.

Darth Ricardo gloats from a nearby hiding place, "you're just starting to pay, and where it hurts you the most - your own blood!" His beady eyes sparkle with joy.

I don't know who's driving the truck, which looks exactly like Rosendo's, that's taking Sofía, MJ, and the padre home from the hospital. They hope that whatever worried Juan isn't too bad. She'll find out just as soon as she gets MJ home.

Oscar is being carried into the clinic in a very spine-unfriendly manner (someone is still yelling "careful with his back!"). Oscar is moaning in lots of pain. Franco asks Juan to promise that Oscar will be okay. Juan promises. Hugs in front of the noisy fountain, which is less noisy than usual. Rigo tells them we should never lose faith at the worst of times.

Wearing a cape and a silly bandanna over his face (no telltale snakeskin jacket this time, but no hat either), Darth Ricardo hops through a window at the Robles-Uribe-Reyes hacienda and looks for that mysterious thing he's always hinting about having left there. He pushes a wardrobe away from the wall and knocks a panel loose from the baseboard. He feels around and realizes that the box he hid there is gone. "Who could have it?" he wonders.

Pablito is in the kitchen with Quintina. He doesn't like his new haircut. Q is telling him he was going to look like a girl with all that hair. Now he'll attract girls instead. He says he's already got a girlfriend, Rosita. Q puns that Rosita wouldn't even throw a hair-ribbon (or noose? I think "lacito" could mean either - maybe it's a pun) at him and warns him that love can kill. Pablito asks for a more direct answer, because he doesn't understand her refranes (dichos - sayings - proverbs).

She repeats that love can kill, and insists that he get on with his homework. He says he left some notes in a box that he found in his room, behind the wardrobe. (Evidently, he went back there looking for a dropped pencil.) The box was empty.

Ricardo covers up the baseboard, drags the heavy wardrobe back into place (let's not ponder how Pablito was able to move it by himself), stomps around in his heavy spurred boots, and then stands there for a while thinking to himself that the box had a false bottom underneath which he had hidden some secret papers. Does anyone hear him? No. He puts his hood on and leaves.

Pablito tells Quintina that he's going to hide all of his secrets in that box. She wants to know what his secrets are, but he won't tell. She's not much help with his homework.

Eva tries to charm Ruth again, calling her "hija." Ruth says she'd rather be dead than have Eva as a mother. She would die of shame. "Don't you understand that I despise you? You disgust me! You're just a servant to me.. Get it? I don't want you to come near me. Who knows what I might do? " She grabs Eva by the neck (or shoulders) and shakes her.

Sofía intervenes. Ruth tells her to mind her own business and says Sofía's corny. Sofía is ready to tell Ruth that Eva's her mother, but Eva begs her not to say anything. Ruth, who unbeknownst to them already knows what they're talking about, dares Sofía to have the guts tell her. Sofía resists, "you don't know what you're saying."

"YOU'RE the one who doesn't know," Ruth retorts. Ruth claims to have the upper hand (ventaja). "You want to tell me something I already know, and not only do I know it, I couldn't care less."

Just to show how much she doesn't care, Ruth bursts into tears and tells them that this pathetic, weepy servant is her mother. (Notice that the bump going into the commercial features Bernardo on a horse...) She asks if it's true. Eva says yes, she's Ruth's mother. Ruth crows (tearfully) that she's stronger than Eva because Eva's maternal feelings don't move her at all. "Don't kid yourself - even though you're my mother, don't expect anything from me."

Eeyore sighting outside the dispensario!!
Rigo and the guys wait for news about Oscar and try to be hopeful. They try to figure out how Oscar ended up underneath the tractor.

Dr. Montes is poking at Oscar's toes. He doesn't feel anything in his toes. The guys come in for news, Oscar says he doesn't feel his legs either. (This doesn't necessarily mean anything. It's not unusual for the swelling of a new injury to pinch nerves and cause numbness. I think everyone who's had a really bad bruise knows this? Also, I saw it in a TV show. I figure my TV show doctor is at least as good as Dr. Montes.)

Ruth is a little calmer now, but still hates Eva profoundly. Eva tries to make friends, saying she would give her life for her, but Ruth tells her to drop dead and get out of her life. Sofía punches her in the face. "How dare you touch me?!" cries the overgrown spoiled brat. "Now you'll pay!!"

Eva warns that if Ruth doesn't leave Sofía alone, she'll find out what Eva's capable of! Moody Ruth gets weepy again and says Eva should be defending her, not Sofía.

To make this little tea party even more delightful, how about a fresh serving of Raquel? "Oh look, here comes another self-sacrificing 'mother,'" Ruth declares sarcastically. She says the three of them - Raquel, Sofía, and Eva - are all the same. Ruth says Raq had better shut up, that's enough lying for now, because she's not Ruth's mother, she could never have children, she wasn't even good for that.

Eva hits Ruth and tells her to shut up. "I'm ashamed of you." "No more than I am ashamed of you," Ruth replies, crying again. "I'd rather die than accept you as my mother." (Watching Ruth's mood swings is like watching a lava lamp. A really crazy, loud, bitchy, violent lava lamp that cannot be turned off or unplugged and could burst into flames at any moment.)

Sofía comforts Eva and tells Ruth she'll regret her words. Ruth gets defiant again, she's never regretted anything in her life. Raquel says now that we're telling the truth, she's going to tell Ruth the WHOLE truth.

Dr. Montes takes the guys (except Oscar) into the lobby so that we can hear the fountain better. He's afraid that Oscar has suffered an irreversible spinal injury. There's a good chance he'll be disabled. Juan emotes sadly. I don't want to contradict a make-believe doctor when I don't even have a made-for-TV degree, but I'm still thinking they should try an icepack before ordering a wheelchair.

Raquel's version of the "whole truth" consists of admitting that she "bought" Ruth. "Like a dog," Ruth says. Eva says no, she didn't sell her. Raquel says it's true - Eva didn't sell her, but Gabi made her give Ruth up so she'd have a better life. Gabriela sold Ruth - for land. "Land that turned out to belong to the Reyes brothers," Sofía says.

Ruth tells Sofía to stay out of it. She hates Eva and Raquel. Eva begs forgiveness and touches Ruth's arm. Ruth knocks her to the floor and tells her to leave her alone. (Hmm, if denouncing your mother in a telenovela is an automatic death sentence, does it count if you only THINK she's your mother?)

On top of everything else, Oscar has had a shot for the pain and doesn't feel much anyway, but he's worried that the doctor didn't tell him anything. (What is with this doctor who doesn't tell his own patients when there's something wrong? First Juliana and now Oscar?) Juan stalls, "ah you know how doctors are, they always want to do tests."

Franco says he's going to get better. Oscar is relieved to hear this. Tio agrees and starts to tell him that he's going to have to be very strong, when Juan cuts him off. Oscar gets suspicious and asks for the truth. He has the right to know! But they don't want to tell him. Oscar yells that he can't feel his legs. The doctor comes in and says "it's likely that you'll be disabled." Oscar emotes. Tio tells him to fight. Juan swears on their parents and their sister that Oscar will walk again. "I'll give you my legs if necessary," Franco offers. Rigo tells him to be strong.

"Strong for what? To end up in a wheelchair? So I can't do anything, dance, ride a horse, I'll have to depend on people to wait on me?" (You won't be able to get into stupid fights with a kickboxer, either.) "Without my Jimena..." Lots of crying. Franco grabs Oscar around the neck to hug him, which again I think might not be good for someone with a spinal injury. Just to make sure the injury takes, though, Juan slaps Oscar too for saying he wants to die. The brothers vow to stay united and invincible.

Mexico airdate: 2 de septiembre
Next time: Gabi warns Ricardo that "they" will kill him without pity, like the dog that he is.

Labels: Fuego