Caray, Caray!

Tonight's episode was all about secrets. Some were kept. Some were teetering on shaky ground. Others were brought to light....deliciously. And a few were revealed with maximum cruelty. Not all fun and games. But not all sturm und drang either. A little bit of both.

Here's how it began: Jacqui is fluttering around, warning Connie and Beto of Mauricio's approach and playing the devoted mama to her son-in-law. Beto, in a panic, wants to head for the hills but Connie persuades him to hunker down in his natural habitat--the bathroom. This leaves her free to play the lying game with Mauricio one more time. Her lines: Yes, I'm pregnant. I'm having your baby because I love you, even if you don't love me. His lines: There's someone else. You've been cheating on me all along, even before we got married. Yada yada yada.

More yada yada with Estrella and Monita. Why are guys such swine? Why do they romance us and then drop us or betray us? Monita's convinced they're better off without 'em. Estrella's not so sure. She still wants to talk things out with Furia. Fine! snaps Monita, but don't come crying to me when he breaks your heart again.

Back to Mauricio and Connie. Same discussion but she's a better liar than he's a confronter. The real action is in the bathroom. Beto is wanting to go in the WORST WAY, biting a towel to resist but finally sinking down on the throne and "releasing some hostages". We're treated to a closeup of his relieved face. Well, you know what they say about simple pleasures....they're the best.

And speaking of simple, here's Ximena, still enthralled with vicious Rolu, finding his tantrums adorable and planning a fiesta to welcome his brother. A mystified Lalu looks on. How can she love this insulting, cruel goon? he wonders. As do we. Do you suppose Rolu's brother is destined to be her true love?

We ponder this as we find ourselves back with Beto, frantically opening the window to dispell the pungent Beto fumes. They're so bad they seep out the door and assail even Mauricio and Connie's nostrils, but she deftly blames the plumbing and says she's asked Teresa to see about it.

And presto, we are now at the Bug Lair where Estrella is frantically trying to wake a seemingly comatose Furia. She finally takes off his mask. It's Aldo!!!! And he still fails to wake up. Not until she throws a pitcher of cold water in his face does he come to. What are you doing here?! she asks. We'll get the answer later. And rather delightfully, I might add.

Mauricio, even armed with the sure knowledge that Connie has a lover, is-- you guessed it-- floundering. His IQ is no match for Connie's shrewdness and when he proposes that Jeronimo is the lover, she's aghast. Puh-leeze...that idiot! Besides, he's dating my mother! Nothing to do but for Mauricio to retreat. Clearly he's overmatched when it comes to his wife.

And Beto appears to be overmatched as well. Emerging from the bathroom, he proposes that the three of them, him, Connie and little Betito, run away someplace where nobody knows them. Because everyone knows the baby is mine! even my mother. Your mother is an idiot, snaps Connie. Careful sez Beto, my mother is sacred, she nursed me till I was 8 years old after all. Our silky liar disarms him completely, reassuring him that if it WERE his baby, she would tell him. But alas, it's simply and completely Mauricio's offspring. Nothing to do but accept that. Another defeated and befuddled male leaves the building.

Well, on to Rolu. Defeated and befuddled? Not hardly. He's about to strike back after months of mute paralysis in a full body cast, and then more months in leg casts and a wheelchair. He has finally emerged from his cocoon and it's gonna be ugly, folks. Of course Ximena doesn't see it coming. She's shooing off Lalo now that she knows Rolu is about to celebrate his freedom from the wheechair. She's going to wear her "elebayday" (LBD: little black dress) and drive him wild with desire. Their lovemaking will send fireworks up in the sky, so skedaddle Lalu! so we can get busy. Rolu, alas, has other plans. Let's compress these scenes and get the sad stuff over with quickly, okay? Xime is outlining the agenda: dinner in a romantic restaurant, strolling under the starlit sky, dancing, dancing, dancing and then coming back to make mad, passionate love. I'm going out but not with you, snarls Rolu. How could you be so idiotic as to think I loved you. Step by step he takes her back through the courtship.
X: But you loved me! You asked me to marry you!
R: How could I do that? I couldn't speak.
X: You wrote it on a sign.
R: How could I do that? I couldn't move.
X: You asked Jeronimo to write it for you.
R: How could I do that? I couldn't speak.
X: You communicated it with your eyes. You blinked twice meaning 'yes"
R: TWO BLINKS MEANT NO!!!!! I married you against my will, you idiot!
X: Well, then, why did you stay with me after you got out of the cast?
R: To make you suffer. But now I'm going to leave you because I HATE YOU!!!!

The final scene, which comes later in the episode, has a sadder but wiser Ximena getting therapeutic advice from Lalu. His tack is to save those expensive sessions with the psychologist and do a little role-playing on your own. Ximena has the wheelchair set up with a big pillow with Rolu's face drawn on it while she lip-synchs to "As Time Goes By". Where this therapy will lead eludes me, but at least it gives Ximena something to do. And if it works, so be it. Our plucky little heroine will survive to love another day, I'm sure.

While Ximena is busy having her heart broken and hopes dashed, Connie is storming though the Group Sermeño office like General Sherman. She plows through Ivan and Paula (Paula was instructing Ivan in proper office protocol); is temporarily diverted by a smooth Gabriela (I'll get you a cup of green tea, just the way you like it) and finally marches into HER HUSBAND'S office, only to find a pensive Monita( remembering Mauricio's promise of fidelity) and ready to take on the little street slut here and now. Gaby and the staff hover at the door, ready to jump in on Monita's behalf but she waves them away.

Connie starts in on a series of arrogant threats and questions. Why did you tell Mauricio I was sleeping with someone else?! And thank God he doesn't know it's Beto. But if you DO tell him, believe me, what happened to the kids before will seem like a fairy tale compared to what I'll put them through next!! And the baby is Mauricio's. You can be sure of that. I told him I wasn't on the pill. And he didn't use protection either. It's not a surprise. We BOTH wanted this baby.

Monita is stymied. She doesn't believe Connie but then again.... And she can't belt her because she's pregnant. So she storms off, much like Mauricio and Beto did earlier. Clearly Constanza, in full grrrrrrr mode, still has the upper hand.

Hey, enough of this nastiness. Let's wrap this up by savoring Estrella's discovery. Not all the secrets were cruel ones, after all. Of course it looks bad at first. She's grilling Aldo on the disguise. Well, he donned it because he admires Furia "un montón" (a lot). Oh my, the classic behavior of an immature guy, sniffs Estrella. But who is Furia really? "Me" says Mauricio, who arrives at that moment. OH NO!!!!

Estrella faints. Mauricio looks impactado. And Aldo looks bemused. They both get busy fanning our prostrate actress while nattering at each other: How could you bring her here? I didn't. She followed you here and learned where you lived. She found me in costume and......
The penny drops and Mauricio suddenly understands why Estrella was all over him at the gym. But, what really happened!? Papa adds. At that point Estrella comes to, shrieks that she's in love with the son but slept with the father! Question answered. Father and son exchange the classic impactado LOOK.

And now it really gets juicy. And funny. Estrella is raving about the wild bull love-making, the sizzling kisses, the....Aldo has that "tell me more" look on his face. But she suddenly segues into her role as the heroine of a real life Greek tragedy--like Melea (Medea, corrects Mauricio) or like Helen of Goya (Troya, says Mau) or that Benito guy (Oedipe interjects Mau) and there are a few more malapropisms but you get the picture. Estrella is circling the airport but can't quite land. But then she does...with a thud. After Aldo explains to her that she didn't sleep with his father, she slept with him! she faints once more.

When she comes to again, the misunderstandings are all cleared up, love and desire are remembered, celebrated.... and get an encore. All is well at the Bug Lair. For now anyway.

Mauricio has gone off with the express purpose of getting Furia back in Monita's good graces. And that will involve dropping the dime on who actually made mad passionate unforgettable exquisite (did I forget anything?) love with Estrella. At first Monita doesn't want to listen but he gradually gets his point across. He did it to help his little friend who is clearly in love with Estrella. And if you don't believe that's what happened, ask her. No problem. Monita's convinced and apologizes for the insults and the blows.

And after all, Furia goes on...I could never have anything with Estrella because I'm madly in love with someone else.
Who?
You, Monita. I'm in love with you.
And there our story ends. For this evening anyway.

Previews:
Jackie is warning Connie that Mauricio is about to discover the type of viper Connie really is. And Monita finally tells Mauricio aka Furia that Constanza's lover is Beto. BETO!!!!??? he yelps.

Vocabulary: Some of these we've had before, but they bear repeating. My high school chemistry teacher always said "Review and learn new" so we will.

dar portazo a la rata -= take a dump, "release hostages"
pedalajal = riff raff, hoi polloi, what Connie thinks of folks from the barrio
lejes y manejes = this may be mispelled. that's how my captions had it though. meaning the "ins and outs" of the office. what Paula was explaining to Ivan
sano juicio = right mind (Rolu sneering that no one in his right mind would love Ximena)
toro salvaje = wild bull (Aldo's passionate lovemaking)

Dicho of the Day

El que persevera alcanza. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. (Go Aldo!!!)

Labels: gancho