Caray, Caray!

Tonight's episode was dark, but not as bad as the first two introductory episodes.

We start with Macarena's discovering the letter from Paloma. Carlota grabs it and reads. She sputters that it's all Macarena's fault and hits Macarena. Carlota calls Paloma a spoiled brat (mal criada esquincla).

(Esquincle/esquincla doesn't always mean brat, but that's how Carlota uses it. Sometimes it just means "kid.")

Macarena says that if anything happens to her little girl, she'll die. She can't take any more pain. Carlota just tells her to be quiet and start looking for her. And for good measure she adds that Macarena's is "cierra del mundo para todo." I suppose this means something like empty headed?

Paloma is crying and clutching the corpse of the puppy. (Okay, it's wrapped in a blanket, so at least we can't see that it's a puppy.) She meets little Romina, who gives her condolences about her parents. Romina asks Pal to come to her birthday party, but Paloma conveys the sad news that she must bury her dog, which was a gift for HER birthday--her parents' last gift to her. Paloma enlists Romina in the pitiful task of burying the puppy in her parents' yard and they troop off to the mansion. Little Romina reminds me a bit of the actress who played Mayita in Cuidado. I could swear I saw her in some other show, but I can't find any reference. Maybe she was on Rosa de Guadalupe, which I watch sometimes.

Cristobal gets drunk.

Time for another sisterly talk. This kind of family makes me glad I'm an only child. Carlota blames Macarena for everything, including the death of their father, who Carlota calls "my father." Macarena is worried that Paloma was kidnapped--it's a horrible tragedy. No, says Carlota, the only tragedy is the death of Javier. She tells Macarena that was her fault too.

Cristobal buys two bottles of cheap tequila and tells the storekeeper that he doesn't need a bag. In fact he starts drinking right away. And BTW, did I mention, he gets drunk.

The little girls bury the puppy. I never thought I'd write out a line like that.
Then Paloma goes in the house and sees happy memories in every room. First she sees her parents tickling her--they all laugh. Then they sit on the couch and eat popcorn while watching a movie.

Time for Cristobal to have more drinks.

Paloma sits in a hammock with stuffed bear. She remembers her parents some more.

Romina is back home, and her mom, Camila, prepares for the little girl's long-postponed birthday party. My predictometer tells me that Dad is not going to make it.

Macarena and Carlota search the streets for Paloma. Once, Macarena calls out to a girl who looks like Paloma, but when she turns we see it was not their niece. Meanwhile, Paloma is still in the house. The sisters decide to go look for her in the old mansion, and Paloma hides in a broom closet when she hears them come in. Carlota calls her a maldita esquincla, or damned brat.

A detective is canvassing the neighborhood. He asks Carmina if they know anything about Paloma. Carmina says she and her daughter know about Paloma but they haven't seen her. The detective learns that Romina is nine years old and asks to speak to her, suspecting she might know something.

Carlota and Macarena continue to look for Paloma.

The policeman "interrogates" Romina. She says she has never spoken to Paloma but she knows her aunt is bad. How do you know that, asks the cop, if you haven't spoken to her. Er, er, well, everyone knows that witches are bad. Mom says she shouldn't talk that way about the neighbors. He asks that they call if they hear anything.

Paloma continues to reminisce about mom and pop. More hysterical crying as she kisses their picture.

Over at the birthday party, Romina gets a present from Mom, and then the doorbell rings. It's a private messenger from Dad bearing a gift and the unsurprising news that Dad can't make it. Romina tosses the package aside and runs up the stairs in tears. The messenger calls Samuel to let him know that the package was delivered. We see Samuel sprawling in a king-size bed. Cue the sexy music as a girl comes in and they kiss.

Rufina reassures Macarena that all will be well and encourages her to pray to the Virgencita. She prays for the return of Paloma. She can't have a child, and she lost one, and she can't take the loss of another. Hmmm . . .

Camila cries over her husband's picture then smashes it to bits. She calls him, but her call goes straight to voice mail hell. She shrieks into the phone that he's a coward who's broken the heart of the little girl who is his blood. She then collapses near the ruins of the cake.

An older priest says goodbye to a little girl and then sees a commotion. It's two guys trying to mug a drunken Cristobal. They hit him on the head and wrap him in a blanket. The Padre scares them away and helps Cristobal get up. We see that Cristobal now has about three days of beard growth.

Romina comes downstairs the next morning and sees the leftover cake. Lightbulb moment--take some cake over to Paloma, who hasn't had anything to eat. Romina would not make a very good secret agent. As soon as she arrives, she is greeted by the two aunts, who suspect she must know something. Carlota interrogates her harshly, and Macarena cautions her for being too intimidating. Macarena tries a gentler technique, saying that Paloma misses her parents.

Cristobal wakes up the next morning and says he feels awful. He doesn't know what happened to his car or cell phone. The Padre wants to talk and give him something to eat. While he's supposed to be getting ready, Cristobal is searching under the sink and everywhere for some alcohol.

Inside the house, the girls have some cake and a brief happy moment, but Romina reveals the sad news that her daddy did not show up for the party. Too soon, the aunts come in, and Carlota pounces, threatening Romina with prison for her lies. Romina leaves, and Carlota lays into Paloma. She announces that Paloma is hers until the girl turns 18, and she can have it the good way or the bad way.

Cristobal goes into a bar with a bag of junk from the Padre's house and tries to trade it for booze.

Macarena hugs Paloma. Carlota orders Rufi to prepare a bath for the girl, but Macarena just wants to have her sit nearby and relax. Carlota says she has to go out and take care of an "important matter."

Carlota goes to Camila's house and threatens her and Romina for their part in concealing Paloma. She accuses Romina of coming up with the whole idea of running away. Camila defends Romina. She says that Romina is not responsible--Carlota is. Carlota sneers that it's no wonder Camila's husband left. She tells her to keep Romina away from Paloma.

Back at the haunted house, evil music plays. Carlota pretends to be nice and talks about how Paloma's parents left her in charge of her education and everything else. She doesn't want anything to happen to Paloma. Macarena has diabetes and they have to watch out for her. (It's not clear but maybe this is her implication of why they wouldn't leave Macarena in charge if her health is at risk?) They will start all over and forget everything and be one big happy family. They say a prayer at the bedside.

Macarena and Paloma Macarena and Paloma are cleaning a lot of birdcages while Paloma caresses a paloma (dove). (I'm surprised Carlota allows birds in the house when she wouldn't allow the puppy. Maybe in a Hitchcock moment the birds will escape and peck Carlota to death.) Anyway, the gals discuss how the caged birds do or don't want to be free while beating us over the head with the metaphor about how the gals are caged birds too.

Camila and Romina go over the story of how Romina came to help conceal Paloma. Romina says that Paloma had asked her not to tell anyone because Carlota is an evil witch. Knowing this is true, Camila is reluctant to punish her daughter. She asks why Romina just didn't tell her about it in the first place. The two make up, and they say that each is the most important thing to each other.

Paloma comes into Macarena's room and spots a box that has "SECRETS" written all over it metaphorically speaking. Let's see what's inside. Macarena comes in and shouts that Paloma has no right to go through her things. Paloma runs from the room.

Meanwhile, Cristobal is getting drunker, if that's possible. He's at a bar where a girl tries to pick him up. He pushes her away and falls on the floor, hitting his head.

Paloma cries over a picture of her parents again. Macarena comes into the room and apologizes to Paloma for her harsh tone. She says that it's just that sometimes there are adult things that one doesn't want to share.

Cristobal is in a hospital bed on oxygen. The Padre comes to see him and offers to help. He could have a new life. Yes, he's lost his material things, but he could have spiritual things.

The next day, the sisters take Paloma to her new school, where a kindly nun welcomes her. Carlota warns Paloma to behave well. As luck would have it, Romina is in the same class. The girls later enjoy lunch together and vow to be friends forever, notwithstanding Carlota's intent to stand between them.

Cut to a scene where some young boy, Emilio, who looks a bit older than the girls, is preparing to leave for study on a special scholarship in the U.S. His godfather is paying and his parents will build a factory in Monterrey for when he gets back (or something like that).

After school, the girls come out together. Paloma points out her aunts, who have come to pick her up. Romina is none too happy to see Carlota, and the feeling is mutual. Paloma happily tells Macarena that she has made a friend. Carlota excuses herself for an errand.

Camila goes to Mexico City to see her husband and storms into his office unannounced. She tells him she's seen her lawyer and filed papers for a divorce--their marriage will be dissolved in one year. He doesn't want this. She says his actions speak louder than words. He will be made to live up to his responsibilities. (I'm not really clear on what the legalities are here.)

Carlota slithers over to the Mother Superior with a special request. In her best Eddie Haskell voice, she thanks MS for taking such good care of Paloma in this sad time. But she is very concerned about her niece and doesn't want her to be subjected to bad influences. Couldn't the school get rid of Romina, who incited Paloma to run away. The MS says she can't do anything about events that didn't happen on school grounds. Well, then, can't they expel Romina? As the child of divorced parents she has no place in their school. The nun harrumphs at her pretension--times have changed, lady. We have long overcome those antiquated notions. To be a child of divorce is no sin or shame nowadays. If you'll excuse me, I have things to do. Score one for our side.

Now the girls begin spinning around in a gleeful circle, and they spin, and spin, and . . . turn into Allison Lozz and Altair Jarabo, still in their school uniforms! Yay! I'm so happy to see these two actress back together again. (These actresses play comedy so well, so maybe we will have some lighter moments.)

They stop spinning, and we see their teenage personalities. Romina, the flirtatious imp, is wearing her tie open, while Paloma has hers closed. Romina spies a really cute guy by a nearby flower vendor. (This is same Emilio from previous scene but now he's a new actor too.) She wants to meet him and asks for a cigarette. Paloma reminds her that she doesn't smoke. Who cares? She flounces over.

What follows is a beautiful piece of acting, as a flirtatious glance passes between Romina and Emilio then he looks toward Paloma and a different sort of true connection is made.

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