Caray, Caray!

Happy New Year everyone and I hope you all had a cozy Christmas. I’m off running and don’t have time to edit but I want to get it up. Sorry for errors and omissions!

First are reviews of the last show. It’s been a while since they didn’t show anything Thursday or Friday so I’ll quickly review:
Alex tells Mari to tell the journalists who want to interview him about how he survived on the island (a change from the family scandals) that he is not giving interviews. She shows him the picture of him and Maura at dinner the previous evening and he when she leaves he slams the paper down and looks grim. I love it when he get upset! It’s clear he’s worried about what MaríaJose will think.

Meanwhile, Katia is refusing to believe what Fer is telling her about Bruno: “Nobody knows Bruno better than I do.” Sadly, there is no way this thing can end except with her being wrong. Sorry katia.

And finally, Alex calls MaríaJose and invites her to lunch. She is weepy and he knows that she saw the photo of Alex and Maura at the restaurant. He tells her it means nothing, that he would never cheat on her and that she shouldn’t be sad.
And now to our story….

Paula brings Roberto to the mercado to show him her father’s business. She introduces him to Meche, who is glad to meet him, and to Gabriel, who isn’t. As Roberto, Paula and the others are chatting, Roberto casually reaches over and plays with Paula’s ponytail.

Bruno is telling Katia over the phone that now that he is living at home again it’s too risky to see her. Nonetheless, he agrees to meet her at the restaurant the next day.

Alex drives up and asks for MJ. Ezequiel tells him she is working near the Jacuzzi and Alex gives an alarmed look at Bruno, who has just finished his phone conversation with Katia. He goes to find MaríaJose, who is painting pottery for her father and Chucho,. She receives him rather coolly. He compliments her on her creativity and good taste but she is having none of it and when he asks her if she’s still upset about the photos she wonders what wife wouldn’t be at seeing her (ex) husband kissing another woman. He says he was just saying thanks for her support in the whole deal with the board, and that he won’t deny that he likes Maura, and besides he’s just a very expressive guy. Alex, you cad. You wife is pregnant, you’ve divorced her for business reasons, you’ve twice kissed Maura while being married to MaríaJose, Maura has admitted she made up a terrible story about Mario Aguirre that drove a wedge between you and MaríaJose and almost led to MaríaJose’s death. Does it seem to anyone else that Alex is stringing Maura along for some reason? Or is he having a hard time adjusting to being a one-woman man? At any rate, Alex, sweetie, I don’t know if there are words enough, even coming from you, to convince a very pregnant woman whose husband divorced her for business reasons that her now ex-husband is out snuggling with his former girlfriend and it means nothing.

MJ wonders what her role is now in Alex’s life. Is she going to be the wifey who stays at home popping out children while the husband carries on with his bachelor ways? MaríaJose says she knows Alex doesn’t find her at all attractive and that someone like Maura must be very tempting but, but, but…she walks away, too upset to continue. Alex follows her, insisting that she’s more beautiful than ever now that she’s pregnant. He tells her that people don’t fall in love just because someone is pretty, and asks her if she will stop loving him when he’s a wrinkled old man with a big belly (perish the thought!) Hmm, look at that, he did find the words, because MJ smiles and teases him that she will let him get wrinkles, but never a big belly, and they kiss and laugh.

Alex asks MJ not to work outside anymore because he’s worried about what Bruno might do in his obsessed state. And, he says, he’s going to start looking for a house for them. MJ is delighted and paints his nose green in gratitude.

Raquel is telling an appalled Vicki that she wants an abortion and she wants Hernán to help her find a private clinic. Vicki tells her that even when she was pregnant and Samuel knew the children couldn’t possibly be his because he was infertile, she never wanted to get rid of them. Well, Raquel says, I’m not as good as you.

Roberto, Don Pedro and Paula are eating at a lovely outdoor restaurant. Don Pedro thanks Roberto for being so good to them but Paula insists that they, too, are practically Lombardos given their relationship to MariaJose. In this scene she clearly has a sense of entitlement to the good life.

Gabriel is complaining to Meche that as soon as a rich guy comes along and invites Paula out she doesn’t stay to eat lunch with them. Meche says she can do what she wants – it’s none of their business. Chucho comes along with sandwiches for all (what a contrast with the beautiful outdoor restaurant where Roberto took them) .

Paula has to go to school so she is leaving Roberto and Don Pedro, but she tells Roberto she wants him to come and visit more often. Ay Paula. Cuidado hija. After she leaves, Don Pedro asks Roberto what his attentions are, and Roberto assures him he sees Paula as nothing but a little sister (I think that’s what he said).

Mateo, aka fake Mario Aguirre, is telling Ulises over the phone that he found Sandra but now she’s gone. Ulises tells him to come back (to his apartment, I suppose).

Robert and Don Chucho continue their conversation, and Roberto asks Don Pedro if he had other children because he has a friend who looks identical to MariaJose. Don Pedro denies it, claiming that everyone has a double. Roberto doesn’t seem convinced.

Ulises calls Elena and tells her that they found Sandra but she disappeared and he needs some money to find her. Elena agrees to send him some, and also says she’s going to cancel Sandra’s credit cards to force her back.

Vicki tells Hernán that Raquel wants an abortion, and she’s worried because Raquel is so far along. Hernán tells Vicki to send Raquel to the clinic for some additional testing as there were some anomalies in her first round of tests. These two seem to be at cross purposes, with Vicki saying Raquel wants an abortion, and Hernán saying she should come in to do further tests to make sure the baby is all right.

At the market, Chucho begins to worm Don Pedro’s story out of him with his magic phrase: “Aflójese las apreturas.” I had never heard these words before this show but I guess it means something like “spill,” and Don Pedro does. (I’m combining two scenes, here.) He tells Chucho that Elena didn’t really die, as he told his daughters, but in fact left him. One day he was bringing the girls to church but Sandra had the flu (la gripe – what a perfect name for it) and so he left her behind. When he got back they were gone. Chucho wants to know if Elena married the other man, but sweet, naïve Don Pedro doesn’t see how she could have because in fact the two of them never divorced. Chucho thinks Roberto must know something about it and suggests that DP talk to him about it.

Sandra is with a sleazy guy (is this the one she buys drugs from?) trying to withdraw money from the ATM but she keeps getting an “insufficient funds” (fondos insuficientes) message. What’s this? She can’t understand what’s going wrong. The next time we see her she’s at a party in a drug- or alcohol-induced haze (maybe drug AND alcohol-induced haze) demanding that Elena reactivate her credit cards. Elena says that if she doesn’t come back she’ll lose the inheritance, but Sandra doesn’t care about it or the old man. Elena refuses to re-activate the credit cards and Sandra says that if she doesn’t she, Sandra, will turn to prostitution and it will be all her mother’s fault! (My childhood threats to run away pale in comparison to this one.)

Fer goes into Bruno’s room and asks him what’s this he’s heard about him and Katia getting married. Their conversation goes something like this (not a translation – just an outline):
B: “That’s nothing but schoolgirl fantasy on Katia’s part!”
F: “I’ll have you charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors (corrupción de menores)!!
B: “Your sister should be so lucky!!!
F: “I’m warning you!!!!
B: “Ooooooh I’m scared. You’ve got no proof, and anyway, Katia would deny it!!!!!

Elena calls Ulises and gives him Sandra’s cell phone number in Mexico City. Ulises asks for money but Elena says she can’t be constantly running to her husband asking for $$$. Ulises says he doesn’t even have money for a plane ticket to Mexico City, and they have to move fast or Sandra will leave again. Say, how many times is Ulises going to cash in on going to get Sandra – first from Robert, now from Elena, and next?

Raquel calls Ulises to tell him she does not want the baby and wants to find a good hospital. (She says she doesn’t want the abortion in a hospital de tercera, but I’m not sure what that is. Any ideas, anyone?) Ulises helpfully tells her not to worry so much, but then has to hang up because someone is at the door about (you guessed it) a business deal. Roberto comes into the chalet and proposes a deal with Raquel: he’ll give her the divorce and she will give him the baby.

Ale and MJ are in bed wondering what the baby will be like. “Like you!” “No, no, like you!”

MaríaJose, Alex, Vicki, Felipa and Paula are having breakfast. Alex is explaining that his good mood when Bruno skulks up to the door and listens in. The plan is to sell some shares to Maura, who will then vote for Alex for President and make the count five for Alex and only four for Bruno. Bruno runs away and nobody sees him. I know he’s the villain but for a moment he almost looks like a leprechaun as he tiptoes away.

Sorry folks – it’s getting late and I’ve got to run and this last part is kind of a mash.

Bruno is MAD at this latest development hitch in his plan for Lombardo domination and arranges with Erik to have MaríaJose’s father arrested on trumped up piratería charges.

Now we’re in the board room with MaríaJose, Alex, Maura and two lawyers to sign the papers selling stock to Maura, giving her a vote in company matters. Maura explains that Lisette isn’t buying any stock because it was no longer necessary to have two additional votes, and besides, she’s tired all the time and all she does is sleep. (No significant music is heard in the background at this point but this seems like a major hint.) MaríaJose, her hand in Alex’s, thanks Maura for her help and Maura, looking like she’s sucking a lemon, says she’s doing it for herself because it’s a good investment. What better place to invest than in a company run by Alejandro Lombardo, (she leans forward and caresses his arm) the best darn businessman in Merida. (If Alex were a toy doll he would be ripped in two by now.) The papers are signed, the lawyers leave, and Maura assures MaríaJose that between her and Alex (caressing Alex’s shoulders) they will take good care of her stock. MJ says she trusts Alex a lot, and also trusts Maura to support him as the good friend that she is. They kiss, and Maura notes that they are pretty cuddly for a divorced couple. MJ has to leave but Maura says she is staying behind to talk to Alex – “About business, of course.” (I’m combining two scenes here)

After MJ leaves Alex thanks Maura for her help, but says he doesn’t like the way she acts with him in front of MaríaJose. (Alex, baby, I think this is another mixed message. Maura thinks you two are divorced, and you’re telling her not to show so much affection when MJ is around.) Maura tells him not to be so sensitive – that his ex surely realizes that the two of them have a lot of “cariño” for each other. (That “cariño” is a tricky word, since it can mean affection or love.) Alex doesn’t deny it but tells her he wants to make sure she doesn’t mistake their business arrangement for something else, and then asks her what she wants to know about the company. Maura, who we know is certainly no quitter, smiles, plays with her hair and tells him “everything.”

Fer is telling Katia he talked to Bruno, who says that he has no intention of marrying Katia because she’s just a kid. Katia insists that Bruno loves her, and for herself, since she has nothing she can offer him but herself and her love. Oh really, says Fernando – maybe what you can offer him is information about my whereabouts. Maybe you were the one who told him that Alex and I were going to the Domincian Republic. He tells her to open her eyes and realize that she is nothing to him. He leaves her crying but her eyes don’t look any wider.

Vicki and Felipa go to Raquel’s house. It’s morning but Raquel is already enjoying a cocktail, and it’s probably not her first one. Raquel says she changed her mind about the abortion, and also that Roberto is giving her a divorce. She says sadly that Ulises doesn’t want to see her anymore but the thought that this might be because she is simply intolerable doesn’t enter her mind for an instant. She wonders to herself if Roberto is driving him away. If it’s true (she bares her teeth and looks pretty fierce) he will PAY!

Arturo helps a very awkward and pregnant MariaJose out of the car. Bruno traps her on the stairs and says she better vote for him or he’ll send her father to jail, and just because he’s innocent now doesn’t mean no evidence from before. She refuses. She goes inside and goes upstairs with Paula, who can’t understand how awful Raquel is to Roberto. If she were Roberto’s wife, she says, she’d take good care of him.

This next scene I’m not sure I understood, so if anyone has any changes please help us out. Rufino, Pedro’s old partner in crime, is stopped at the side of the road and his car is being searched for contraband. He insists that it’s not his, that it’s been planted, but what I’m not sure of is whether or not we can know if it really is a plant (he is a pretty nasty criminal already, after all.) But we see Erik standing in the background watching, so I suppose he must have set it up. Anyway (and I’m combining scenes again), once Rufino is in Jail Erik goes to visit him and says that he represents “a friend.” This “friend” has excellent lawyers – the best in Mexico, and can make sure that Rufino goes free. What Rufino has to do in exchange is testify that Pedro Samaniego is in on it with him. Rufino asks several times who the “friend” is and Erik finally tells him that his name is Mario Aguirre.

Bruno and Kartia are at the restaurant and Bruno is telling Katia that he has to deny everything related to her and that they can’t be together, because if Fer finds out it will ruin his chances at getting the presidency. He leaves her at the restaurant because of course he can’t take her home, and she looks sad and disabused.

Roberto visits Alex at Lombardo construction and says he wants to keep the baby but will need money to do that and Raquel has cut up all his credit cards. Alex thinks Roberto is there to ask him for a handout but Roberto says he wants a job. Alex is surprised but Roberto reminds him that people can change – Alex himself used to always be with a different woman, but now he’s only with MariaJose – and he wants to change, too. A time comes when a man looks around at his life, sees how all around him are false, and wants something different, something better, something pure; he thinks the baby can be that for him. I love the way Roberto has developed in this story!

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