Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Tontas Tuesday Jan. 20, '09 Lots of Teasing, Not Much Pleasing
Alternate title 2: Are we there yet?
Alternate title 3: Lotsa talk but not much action.
Oh my, lots of dangling carrots again but in the end, not a whole lot happened tonight. It was like munching on one big rice cake. A lot of chewing but no satisfaction. Not for me anyway.
But I'm a good soldier...here's the rehash and the new hash. Read it if you must. But don't worry, it won't be on the final!
Old stuff: Marissa and Raul are having their umpteenth heart to heart about Santiago and Candy. He's warning her off Santi...he knows he's a womanizer. She, on the other hand, is sure he'll be faithful once she has that wedding ring on his finger. After all, he was faithful to Paula! (faulty logic, but hey, I've been in love and it's never logical....so we'll give Marissa a pass on that one). She suggests he nail down Candy so she can "keep her enemy near". Faulty logic there too. Remember that old blues refrain "Don' worry 'bout that strange woman, baby, jus' look out for yo' bes' friend." Amen to that one.
The other old stuff is Patricio telling Chava he wants to meet his mom and Chava dutifully calls her. Oh what a tease! How many times have the writers done this to us!? Did you really think it was going to happen this time.?...nah...and dang it, they end this episode with another tease at the engagement party. It's enough to make you cranky. (Plus the Buckeyes are losing tonight.)
Now the new stuff and it gets rather dramatic. Candy's at the door, hearing Chava call her, biting her lip (symbol for deep thinking) and she says to herself...Alright, let's get it over with...and opens the door....to Meño, dressed in drag, ready to be Mother and save his niece.
The plan backfires. Patricio is horrified that Meño's garbed himself up as a woman. He says he's okay with his gayness but not that. You're damaging the kids Meño. It's not good for them to be raised around that and I don't want Beto coming over here anymore.
After Patricio exits with Chava and Beto, heading for the soccer stadium, Charly enters and is as put off by Meño's outfit as Pato was. Why are you dressed like a gay? Candy chides him for using the word like it was something dirty (roña=grime, dirt, grubbiness) and Charly throws in a few more perjorative words like "mariquita" and says he's ready to move into Lucia's house. After all, nobody at this house seems to pay any attention to him or his feelings.
This is broken up by a couple of scenes that are supposed to be light and funny. Patricio has the boys at the stadium and they're cheering and having a good time.
And the Club de Abandonados is pulling a "24" type surveillance of Head Tattoo Waiter (sorry, ever since Paula started the Sven/Olé thing I CANNOT remember his name). He's merrily riding along on his bike, singing a love song and ogling women when the Abandonados, led by Santiago, trap him, stuff him in the trunk of a car and whisk him off to the clubhouse.
He has a bag over his head and is begging for his life while Santiago does various primitive Iron John moves with some big broom-like thing. Don't ask me what the ritual represents other than that Santiago's p***ed about the tattoo. He assures Santiago the tattoo will disappear in two weeks (good thing since they mispelled Marissa's name) and furthermore Candy MADE him do it. To chants of An Eye for an Eye, Tattoo for a Tattoo...we get some idea of where the plan for vengeance is going. Nowhere...as usual.
However, the fallout from Meño's escapade is going somewhere....toward a real conflict between Candy and Soledad. Soledad is siding with Patricio, saying it's unhealthy for the boys to be around a cross-dresser and from now on Beto can't come to Chava's house. Well, Chava can't come to Beto's house either, snaps Candy, because I don't want him around such intolerant people.
Meanwhile, Meño, upstairs, removing his makeup with cold cream, is staring at himself in the mirror and crying. The Meño situation seems to be going in a truly tragic direction but then it too fizzles out. Here's what happens. First, he stays away from the restaurant and Candy handles his end of it, figuring out the receipts. He asks her if she wouldn't like to live alone, just her and Chava and she says an emphatic NO!...she wants to go on living with her son, her mother (really!?) and her uncle who's the best uncle and friend in the whole world!
Evidently this reassurance wasn't enough because the next time we see him, he's in a drunken stupor at the restaurant while Sven and Olé try to persuade him to quit. You're not a drinker, they plead. And you're not funny....neither one of you, he snarls. Go away...all of you!...I want to be alone.
Lulu, of course, thinks Meño's suffering from lovesickness....over her. Prompting the one funny line of the night as head waiter says....Yeah, that's when "medio naranja" (one's better half, literally one's half orange) turns into "medio limon" (one's bitter half....literally half lemon/lime) Okay, not so funny when you have to plod through a translation but still....
Later we see Meño passing a hotel, checking in to a room alone and beginning a letter (a suicide note?) starting with the words "Dear Niece". I'd be more worried if later on, we didn't see him walking outside again. This time he runs into Patricio, who touches him on the shoulder. Meño's surprised...aren't you worried I'm infectious!? Don't worry, you won't catch anything from me unless the virus is already inside you, he adds.
Look, Patricio counters, I respect you but I don't think it's healthy for you to be dressing up like a woman around the boys. I don't want them growing up with that.
I hope this situation gets resolved without anything irrevocable happening. Meño's everybody's favorite character, aside from the children. Let's not sacrifice our good buddy for the sake of drama, writers.
So that's the tragic gay theme, complete with trumped up strife between the two best friends Chava and Beto, and interwoven with Charly's questions about his dad. He ends up grilling Gregoria (who wants to be called Gogo) and for once, she's discreet. When he asks about the reason for his parents' breakup she simply says she assumed they weren't getting along. One can't know everything about another person's marriage (or even one's own).
So let's put that theme aside and look at some of the other threads woven through this evening's crazy quilt (a little Inauguration imagery here). We have a scene showing Santiago's tender side. He sees Lucia weeping over some old photographs of her parents and together they remember how he helped her commemorate some good memories by burying a bag of family photos and momentos, underneath a plant , within the protection of Mother Earth. At the time he reassured her that anytime she wanted she could dig up those photos again....but in the meantime, Mother Earth would watch over them. But you and Abuela are part of my good memories too! she cries, and they hug and roll around on the floor, similar to an exuberant hugging session Candy had earlier with Chava. I'm sure we're supposed to be convinced by these twin scenes of parental affection that Candy and Santiago are meant for each other. Okay by me, but Marissa's not on board.
Meanwhile, another plot is brewing. This one is the revenge action against Candy...eye for an eye, tattoo for a tattoo. She leaves the house, chipper and saucy (evidently not worried about Meño's depression), hops into a phony yellow cab and is abducted to the club house where Santiago is waiting with the tattoo artist. Very scroungy looking guy with a menacing way of snapping on his rubber gloves.
Santiago asks her where she wants it...on the back, on the front, on the boobs, encircling that little mole...where? Another fizzle. They're not really going to force a tattoo on her, but the artist is going to hit Santi up for a good sum. (More expensive than sending a dumb kid to Harvard! mutters Santi). So what's the payback going to be? How about going off somewhere with him? Just the two of them? She reminds him that it's not just the two of them....there's Rocio...who prefers Marissa as her mother. (The romantic music which was swelling suddenly dwindles to a halt).
Okay, it's complicated. He's a package deal. So's she. She comes complete with Chava. So how about something simple....just going to a little bar and having a tequila or two. Another recurrent joke...he doesn't drink tequila right. It should be done simply and slowly (are we talking about tequila or lovemaking?) Anyway, he concede and does it her way (hmmmm). She's happy, he's happy, the romantic music starts again, they finger dance, his fingers collapse on hers....whoops...she snatches her hand away. Another fizzle.
But he's making inroads. In a later scene back at the Institute, Candy's acting a bit dreamy about him...to the horror of Cece. He's a typical seducer, snaps Cecilia. Marissa's going to be miserable with him but he's exactly the type of guy YOU WOMEN fall for! Not you? asks Candy. No! he's a "borrego a medio morir" (could this be like our "wolf's in sheep's clothing"?) who just wants to get women into bed and then strut off when he's satisfied. Oh, I know he's a liar, muses Candy, still a bit starry-eyed, but I find myself wanting to believe his lies.
While we're on the subject of Cece and her secret love for Candy, there's a later scene where she's objecting to Candy taking time off to go home and help her son with homework. Cece doesn't like the absences. The others don't like Cece's controlling ways. Cece stomps off in a snit. More fizzle? Or delayed drama? We don't know at this point.
One more little fizzle to recount before we get to Marissa's scheme for a surprise engagement party. We have Chayo's campaign to get Santi to augment her bosom in the hopes of reviving the passion in her marriage. And we have her husband's objections to the whole idea...fighting with both Santi and Chayo over the situation. There's a telling scene where Eduardo dismisses his wife as "estupida" (there's that word again) for wanting the surgery. So are you saying all our clients are "estupidas"? counters Santiago.
It's all resolved when Chayo realizes that if she has it done, and it still doesn't help the marriage, it will all be very confusing. So she's changed her mind. She's going to stay just the way she is. Candy naturally approves.
Now the biggie: Marissa's campaign to nail Santiago has taken a new tack. She's seducing his mom. First she overrides Isabella's objections to the "surprise" engagement party. Shouldn't Santi know? No. Mom folds rather quickly and says I know we haven't always gotten along but I WANT to get along with you, and want you to see in me the mother you lost. Ooooh, gushes Marissa, may I call you Mama Zu?
I thought Isabella would gag at that one...I did...but she gamely plays along. So they're off to do some female bonding over shopping for the party. But first we see Marissa talking to Isabella's photo and saying, You didn't think I was right for your son but I'm winning you over. She kisses the photo triumphantly. The strategy is working. Isabella sees her and is touched....and asks her to kiss her on the cheek rather than the photo. Ugh. If we didn't already know Marissa was a sneaky schemer, (after all Chava listened to her heart and it wasn't good) we get further evidence when she's back from shopping and after gushing all over Rocio and forcing her to put on a drippy looking dress she bought, she muses to herself about how irritating kids are. Flee, Rocio, flee!
We're nearing the end of this episode now. The stage is set for the big surprise engagement party. The guests are already there, Lucia and Charly on the balcony, and Isabella and Jaime down below. He thinks the engagement party is a perfect time to ask her to marry him. No way, she laughs. I don't want a "borrowed engagement party". Give me my own. But her smile convinces him it certainly wasn't a "no".
Enter a confused Santiago (he thought they were going out to dinner) firmly in tow with Marissa and when he sees all the flowers he thinks it's a funeral. (Yeah, his.) Welcome to your surprise engagement party, she crows. And of course we end with Santiago looking very very IMPACTADO.
And the previews: They're a great big tease. Are Patricio and Alicia going to catch sight of Candy at the party? Three guesses.
And will Santiago convince Candy to see Patricio? He's dreaming about you. He loves you. He deserves to know you're alive.
Well, call me cynical but I think we have another big fizzle coming up folks. Here's hoping I'm wrong.
Vocabulary:
amolado = ground down, crushed. Meño in this episode
roña = dirt, grime, mange, Can also mean "stingy". "Jugar a la roña" means to play tag
ojos de borrega a medio morir - lit. eye of a half dead lamb, but in our lingo we'd say "puppy dog eyes" (thanks Margarita)
medio naranja, medio limon = better half, bitter half
Labels: Tontas
And so many things are starting to fall apart. Soledad and Candy are fighting, the ladies at the Institute are fighting, and Meño'and Charly's relationship is unravelling. The only bright side is that I remember watching other novelas, and just when everything was going wrong, something good happened (after a few more days of torture). So I'm hoping that soon we'll have some big thing NOT fizzle. However, I agree that tomorrow may not be the day - it still seems like a tease that Candy will meet Pat at the engagement party, but quién sabe?
I know it went nowhere, but I still really enjoyed the cap tonight. I'm a total sucker for the romantic intensity, even when it's over-the-top (as you probably notice in my recaps), so I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes after Candy's tattoo. Poor Santi, he keeps thinking he'll catch her on a good day!
In the same scene, did you notice Santi is in a tight white shirt instead of hiding him in baggy dark shirts? He has definitely trimmed down since the show started.
In the finger dance, Santi was behaving until Candy made the first suggestive move - she rubbed the side of his finger. Then she huffed off when he responded suggestively. They have a word for girls like that.
I loved the hijinks with the abduction on Sven. Did you notice Santiago switch from "dopey doctor" to "action hero" persona? "ATTACK NOW! ATTACK NOW!!!" I love Sven's chatter even when I don't understand most of it. Did you notice Santiago immitating Sven's speech habit? "Amigo! Qué digo amigo? Compadre! Qué digo compadre? Hermano!"
When Santi makes Sven choose between revenge on Candy or being expelled from the club, why does Sven talk about "64"? If it was "42" I'd understand. But 64?
This time Candy almost faced Pat. Look at all the damaged relationships because she chickened out:
Beto & Chava, best friends & brothers
Sol & Candy, very good friends
Pat & Chava, father and son
Meño and Charly, father and son
And Paula...in addition to noticing the tighter shirt and trimmer body (you rascal), you caught that extra little finger move of Candy's. I missed it completely. Or maybe I got it subliminally since I put "tease" in my title.
On the other hand, I don't blame Candy too much for chickening out. I feel that Meño was stepping in in a codependent way...rather than letting her (and encouraging her) to face up to it...as she seemed about to do.
And he reaped some very painful consequences as we often do when we meddle.
Meño is nothing but kind and loving to everyone. I hate the way this his storyline is going and agree with you Judy: "Meño's everybody's favorite character, aside from the children. Let's not sacrifice our good buddy for the sake of drama, writers."
Hated all of the "abductions". Period.
I just read Hombre and Paula H's recaps - thanks so much for the detail. This blog has so many gifted writers it's incredible.
Diana in MA
Although we roll our eyes at all the remakes of old stories, I think perhaps the weakness of this one is that it's an original script. It's much easier to tweak and expand on a well-established good story than to start from scratch.
The humor often falls flat, the plot line doesn't so much move as it staggers from place to place in a seemingly random manner.
And while there are no outright murder and mayhem villans, there are no out and out adorable heros....not so far anyway.
Too much like real life, chaotic and gray rather than black and white and structured.
And speaking of gray, we've got another cloud-covered frigid day here in Columbus. This is the fast food and Zoloft capital of the world. Gotta be strong!
Re the growing backbiting and strife among the women characters, my Mother once remarked that women are each other's natural enemies. Is that what's going on here?
So I'm not gonna bite. (And don't get me started on the hormone theory and women in leadership. no no no).
Actually I think that scene at the office was to show that Cece's obsession with Candy was getting more intense, and her possessiveness is an indication she doesn't want to share Candy with anyone, not even her own son!
So trouble's a brewin'. Again, Cece is living a lie and the undercurrents of that lie are causing problems. And I believe at one point, Barbara (the creepy psychologist) asked her why she continued to work there since it was torture for her, knowing Candy would never look at her that way.
Actually we have the same thing going on with Santiago's secretary. She's in love with him but presumeably doesn't stand a chance. Again mirror thems of our two supposed protagonists. Everybody wants 'em but they only want each other (although Candy refuses to give in).
Mike, I've heard that old saying, however in my experience there's nothing resembling the truth about it. My two cents.
Marissa was kind of scary in this episode. The happier she is the more insane she looks. She creeps me out in general.
JudyB, thanks so much for your awesome recap. This crazy story may be falling apart but your rendition was as tight as ever. Nice job amiga!
Marissa is indeed very creepy. Candy can be nice but is not dependable. One false move and she kicks Santi in a most undesirable place.
Meno is by far my favorite. I hope the writers will do better by him.
Santi was absolutely gorgeous in his tight tee shirt.
Could we rerun that a few times please?
Judy, it's very cold, gray and snowy in Michigan too. I've started watching House Hunters International on HGTV in the evenings. Everyone but me is heading off to someplace warm and tropical (at least on television)!
Carrie L.
Just about everybody in my age group has headed South, that's for sure. But I understand they're even experiencing a bit of cool weather. Mind you, that means sunny and 60's....what us folks would consider Heaven on Earth.
Or we could just focus on Santi in his tight tee-shirt. Those were nice in his previous appearance on Fea Más Bella, also. Feeling more and more nostalgic about that one.
I'm still enjoying this show, even if it's completely off the rails and it is well past time to move on to the next etapa, with Candy coming clean to Pato. The humor is in the little details. Meño's situation is sad, sad, sad, though. And I can't imagine how Pato thinks that dress-up games are a worse influence on children than, oh...meeting Alicia, say.
I also feel badly that Rocio has been duped by Marissa. If it weren't for her Dad she would have serious abandonment issues.
Regarding parallel themes, Hortensia seems to be more in lust with Santi than love to me. Don't get me wrong, she would love to be his novio but I think she knows too much about him to really think long term. Whereas the writers are making Cece more menacing than Hortensai.
Can you believe it...my crazy letters this time spelled "whine". Is the Universe sending me a message?
There WAS a poignant moment last week when Hortensia did seem to be in love with Santiago...admitting it sadly to herself after Candy had flounced out. But they haven't played it up since that one time.
Well maybe a little bit - it seems like Marissa is getting a little more evil and conniving rather than just being the poor cheated on girlfriend. Judy, you're right about her and being crazy, also about he having butt and boobs that demand attention now that I don't remember from Amar. In that show I was completely turned off by her, in this show, well....
I'm hoping for all your sakes that something actually happens/doesn't fizzle soon. Excellent recap Judy of what seem like the same scenes from a couple weeks ago!
And what of Hortensia? I think she has a crush on Santiago and she's happy to catch the scraps that fall from the table. Remember, she's been his scty a long time, even while he was married. Perhaps from when he set up practice. He has ALWAYS been inaccessible, and she accepts that. Because respects his boundaries (she paws him but she doesn't invade his personal life unlike Cece), he throws her a bone now and then. Is that demeaning? Consider this. What woman here wouldn't want to be Fernando Colunga's administrative assistant, just for the chance to take him his mail, answer his phone calls, and be in the same room? He wouldn't have to ask me anything more personal than "What time is it?" I'd still be euphoric!
Candy was ready to face the music and get it over with until Memo stepped in to save her and ruin his own life. Memo does not like Pat so isn't pushing a revelation.
I have always disliked Pat but after yesterday I actively loathe him. Hypocrite that he is he tells Memo I'm tolerant and then forbids Beto from playing at the house. He has been in Memo's house, uninvited many times, before so why leap to the conclusion that Memo always is cross dressing. He didn't even pick up on the fact that Beto and Chava were as surprised as he was.
As for Candy it looked like she developed a spine when she threw Soledad out telling her she didn't want her son around bigots. Now I'm convinced that in the end Pat and Soledad have to be together so they can live happily ever after in their narrow little world.
I thought the kidnap, you're going to get a tattoo was hilarious and just what Candy deserved. It is time she was called on for her tricks and actions. Too bad Santi was too much of a gentleman to go through with it.
I too was fearful that Memo was going to kill himself but on reflection think he might have just left the house and restaurant to Candy and is going to go live somewhere else, something I think would be a tragedy for both Charly and the rest of the family. Charly needs to learn a lesson and maybe losing the father he just found will be it. I was I must admit floored that Gregoria kept her mouth shut. That was a first.
My recording cut out before the previews. It sticks strictly to the time and when the show runs over it doesn't so the surprise and unwelcome engagement party would certainly be livened up if the Ali, Pat and Candy meet up although way Pat and Ali would be invited is a surprise to me. As far as I know neither Marissa or Isabel even know them.
I really loved the scene with Rocio and Santi. Wish I knew the name of the music they were playing in the background. It fit the mood perfectly.
You really are a terrific writer! Can't wait to see/read the rest!!!
Thanks again for your hard work!!!
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Decie Girl...we're always glad to hear from you, precisely because you see things from a different perspective. In fact I was waiting for your post. I agree that Patricio was very unlikeable in yesterday's episode. I was warming to him up to now, but the writers poured a great big pail of cold water over that.
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Kris, glad you enjoyed the "rice cakes" analogy. I HATE those things. Would anybody even eat them if they weren't trying to diet. They remind me of those gruesome Rye-crisps things we used to munch morosely in the 60's.
Rice cakes are useful for cushioning delicate things before mailing. Otherwise, nah.
It seems like the plot isn’t going anywhere. Could be. But I think they have a different approach to plot progress. Remember what one of the men said? I think it was Hombre d’M. A play in three acts, with one situation in 1-40, then it changes to a new situation.
We expect a novela to be like a train trip from NY to LA, working its way across a map, maybe stopping places to spend a day in Chicago, Denver, or Fresno (s), but generally making progress. That’s not what Tontas does. It’s more like a Grand Tour where you spend a week (or months) in London experiencing everything, a week in Paris, a week in Rome, and a week in Athens. We’ve been in one phase, exploring different situations. After Pat meets Candy, we’ll be in a different phase.
Consider. You get on a roller coaster and you don’t expect it to take you to Chicago. It just goes in endless circles, but you still enjoy it. Or think of it as a sitcom. You can watch a whole season of Lopez, and there has not been any plot progress, but you still enjoy it.
I think we will see progress in Tontas, but it’s not step-by-step progress. When we’re finished in London, we’ll move on to Paris and stay there for awhile.
I must add I thought Candy's reactions to Meester Raul was hilarious considering she is living in the past herself. She is smart enough to recognize that there is something very wrong with his behavior but doesn't see it in herself. Candy is obviously not much into self reflection.
I think we all get annoyed when she presumes to give "grow up and get over it" advice to anybody, given her own poor record in that department.
Of course I'm still exhausted all the time but since she's mellow and not a crier, I feel pretty good.
I've really enjoyed everyone's comments. Seeing alternate viewpoints helps me appreciate Tontas a bit more. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts. (And to Paula for sharing your chart...amazing!)
I hope one of these days Candy is suffering from an awful cold and/or has swollendentistmouth and has run out of laundry and is wearing something hideous and her hair is frizzy and she's taking out the trash and that's when she runs into Patricio unexpectedly. She needs to be taken down a notch.
Paula...your chart is great...especially love the colors!
Julia...what a wicked mind you have. I remember a few days when I headed out looking awful and thought oh my...what if HE suddenly turns up. (Mr. Not-Right but Never Forgotten) You can bet I never let myself look bad if I was in an airport...it's amazing the old friends or old loves one can run into there!
You know, an ambush engagement party is only slightly less risky than a proposal in a public venue (say, a sports arena during halftime) – you have to know they really want to marry you, or be ready for the embarrassment of your life. It’s possible your SO will go along for the moment, but they may still turn around and dump you later, making you have to un-tell all the masses you already told. Not smart of Marissa.
One thing about “roña” (I think Judy’s right about it being mange) – it’s quite contagious, which is why that’s what they call tag, meaning you were infected. This takes on extra weight with our poor Meño being treated like he’s got some contagious disease.
Paula – on “64” – Santi said Candy had to pay “ojo por ojo” (an eye for an eye) which sounded a lot like “ocho por ocho” (eight times eight), thus, sixty-four. There was another word play, but I can’t remember at the moment. Did anyone else notice that half of their club dialogue came from The Lion King? They even said “Mufasa.”
Decie – Marissa met Ali and Pato at Santi’s office and somehow hit it off (I think Ali and Mari are manipulative kindred spirits). They are also all linked by the fact that Pato’s mom is a frequent patient of Santi.
Oh, short waiter is Toño.
Paula, I loved the flow chart ;) Do you do admin work on the side?
Julia – Cynthia Heimel (author of Girls Guide to Chaos and former writer for Playboy) used to say that in order to attract Mr. Right you had to do nothing. If he was the one, you could have spinach in your teeth and he would still fall in love with you. I like that theory.
I never saw Lion King so I didn't catch that parallel. But out on the street when they were abducting Sven, Santi definitely seemed like he was immitating someone. His "Attack now! Attack now!" Was he doing a Schwarzenegger impression? Or something else? BTW did you catch his Colunga impression on LFMB. He often does A. Fernandez, but his Colunga had me in stitches. I might have a clip somewhere.
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