Caray, Caray!

Fernando is reprimanding Katia for lying about the cell phone call and falsely accusing a work friend, but she refuses to back down and manages to shed all blame and enrage him at the same time. She calls Mari a fat cow and when Fernando tells her not to be rude she begins lowing like a cow: mooooo, moooooo. She says that Mari’s problem is that she doesn’t know how to defend herself/stick up for herself/get along on her own (no sabe defenderse), which sounds a lot like a justification Bruno would use. Fer fires her from her position at Lombardo Construction and Katia is astounded – why am I fired!?!?! And you can’t fire me anyway!!! Fer tells her she’s not trustworthy, and he CAN fire her, but she begins shouting blah blah blah (yes, those words exactly) over the sound of his voice to drown him out. She doesn’t put her hands over her ears but she does slam the door on her way out.

Alex is talking to a sad and tired looking Roberto in the hospital. Alex asks how the baby is and finds out she’s doing poorly. And how is Raquel? Fine, says Roberto. Apparently, there is no justice in this world. We cut to Victoria at Raquel’s bedside; Raquel seems very energetic (or maybe she’s just noisy) for a woman who has recently given birth. She’s shouting that she doesn’t want the IV drip OR the baby – all she wants is a drink. And by the way, she asks, do you know what’s going on with Ulises?

Maura is on her cell phone with Elena, who is asking her when she can come to them. Maura is nervous – she has to be careful now that people know they know each other – but Elena insists that she come.

Fernando’s tío abuelo (whose name I forget, so I’ll call him Tío) is at Porfirio’s bedside with Jorge and a nurse hovering over the other side of the bed. Tío wants Porfirio to go to a hospital, or at least Jorge’s clinic. (Did Tío receive a blow to the head in a previous episode? Can’t he see from Jorge’s stone face and cold eyes that Jorge is pure evil? Doesn’t he realize that our very own Jardinera has aptly named him Mexico’s Dr. Mengele?) Porfirio refuses – he says that even though Jorge would be capable of killing him he won’t do it because he knows the granddaughter will inherit all his (Porfirio's) money when he dies only if he (Porfirio) actually sees her again first. Jorge has to make sure Porfirio doesn’t die before the granddaughter shows up. And, Porfirio taunts Jorge, when my granddaughter does show up I’ll tell her not to trust you. This seems a crazy thing to say to a man you don’t trust who is standing next to your IV drip with a complete knowledge of pharmaceuticals and a loaded syringe, but Porfirio is a feisty old coot and doesn’t back away from anything.

A random collection of the extended Lombardo clan is sitting down to dinner. We see Victoria, Felipa, MJ and Alex, Paula and Roberto. Victoria is telling the others that Raquel doesn’t want anything to do with the baby. Roberto says he wants a DNA test but is ready to take responsibility for the baby no matter who the father is. He blames himself for letting Ulises get within a mile of his wife when he knew full well who and what Ulises was, and now he feels it’s up to him to deal with the mess. Alex says there’s no point in talking about the past, and Felipa gives Roberto a big hug for his good and generous soul. I think she even says “canangas” to him, an expression I thought was only for dogs but maybe it's just a general signifier of admiration and affection.

Katia is complaining to Lisette about the way she has been treated for simply answering the phone when Maura comes in and confronts her about the lie she told about Mari. Based on what Katia said Maura accused Mari, who began weeping uncontrollably (llorar como una Magdalena), which of course made Maura look like the creep she is. Katia finally admits she lied and Maura calls her a metiche (nosy – someone who gets involved in [se mete en] other people’s business). Well, being called a liar didn’t upset Katia much, but being accused of being a metiche – that just pisses her off! Maura exits stage left and Katia wonders why all the fuss just for a phone call.

Fer is ranting to Victoria about Katia. Victoria first suggests sending her to a boarding school (internado) where the school would have the sorry job of trying to control her, but then admits that she doesn’t know what to say or how to help. She couldn’t deal with her own children, she says, so how could she help him. Fer gets that googly-eyed look again and says that the only way to help him is by loving him.

MJ and Alex are leaning over Tony’s crib in the nursery and talking about what an overall stupendous being they have created, and how lucky they are to have found one another. Back in their room MJ wonders if her dad will be free in time for the wedding. Alex says “Maybe…and uh…by the way, your mother wants to see you, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s something strange about all this, but …oh never mind, I think I’m just paranoid.” Alex! Doesn’t the fact that Maura (yes, the Maura who unwound the Mario Aguirre plot which almost led to the destruction of your marriage and the death of MariaJose – yes, that one) is involved in this, and that you think that Bruno is too, mean anything to you?

Arturo is helping an impatient and cranky Raquel out of the car. Motherhood has clearly not improved her. A nurse is waiting for her, along with Victoria, but Raquel refuses the nurse's help because she doesn’t want a JAILER. She tries to flee in her wheelchair but clearly didn't wheel away fast enough because in a later scene we will see this same nurse hovering over her trying to convince her to take her medicine.

Ulises goes to see Elena. She seems to be a little flirtatious, maybe working the cleavage thing, probably because she can sense that Ulises is furious. He drags her to the barn and flings her inside, angrily accusing her of trying to cut him out of the deal. No, no, no, no, no – no way, says Elena. In fact, she and Jorge were just going to call him – they were just waiting to talk to Maura to get some more information.

Now Ulises and Elena are in Jorge’s office and Ulises is demanding to know what’s going on. While he’s talking, Jorge casually goes to the desk behind Ulises (Ulises’ back is to him while they're talking –eek!!!) takes a syringe from the drawer and fills it. I can’t believe that the wily Ulises is so guileless here! Jorge asks him if anyone else is aware of what they’re talking about, and when Ulises tells him “of course not” (as in, "of course not, I’m no dope, what do you think?") Jorge plunges the syringe deep into his neck. Yech – I can’t watch. When I peek again, Ulises is slumped down and clearly unconscious.

Ulises’ building concierge is telling Roberto that Ulises left a couple of days ago on a trip. Roberto tries to call him but gets a message that the phone is off.

Jorge is telling Elena that he collected all the papers from Ulises car and got rid of them. Did he say he somehow hid or got rid of the car, also? I don’t recall hearing that, but I can’t imagine what good it is to hide his papers if the car is still there. Anyway, they are not sure if anyone knew that Ulises was coming to see them, but agree that if someone does comes looking for him they will say he never arrived. But what about the CAR? Wouldn’t that be a dead giveaway? Did I miss something?

MJ and baby Tony, Victoria and Felipa are talking about what a wreck Raquel is when Maura, that two-faced dog, arrives with some fashion magazines showing the latest wedding-dress styles and offers to help MariaJose draw up the guest list – it’s so important to make sure only the right people get invited. Victoria turns down her offer and Maura, chipper in the face of rejection, says that’s no problem, because it will give her even more time to work on finding a house for MJ and Alex. Vicki is impactada – she didn’t know MJ and Alex were planning on moving. Maura apologizes for spilling the unhappy news and twirls off to visit Raquel. MJ explains to the stricken Victoria that they want their own place because they don’t want to be around when Bruno is nearby. Vicki and Felipa understand and agree with her reasoning.

Maura is with Raquel, listening to her rage hysterically that everyone is against her (which is actually true, so at least she’s not paranoid). She’s out of her wheelchair and refusing to take her antibiotics. She wants alcohol only, and begs Maura to bring her some as proof of their friendship. Maura refuses and Raquel orders her to get out, but before she goes Raquel reminds her to find her a divorce lawyer. At the end of the scene Raquel finally decides to take her medicine so that she can get well and get out of there that much sooner.

Paula and MJ are looking at wedding and bridesmaid dresses in magazines as Paula wonders whether or not their father will be free in time for the wedding. She wonders something else, too, but I started writing about the next scene and didn’t finish writing this one down. Sorry!

Roberto and Hernán are looking at the baby, who is crying inconsolably in the little protective contraption they put newborn babies in (I know it’s not a humidor, but that’s the only word that’s coming to me right now). Roberto wants to know why she is crying so much and Hernán explains that now that the baby is born she is no longer receiving a steady supply of cocktails through the mother and so is going through alcohol withdrawal symptoms. He adds that the baby will need long term care, and then delivers the final blow – the DNA tests came back and the baby is not Roberto’s. Roberto does not look impactado at all, but more like he has been expecting this very news even while hoping for something else.

In the Lombardo living room Paula is blathering on to Roberto and he is clearly not interested. Vicki arrives and asks if he Roberto knows where Ulises is. Roberto says he can’t find him but wants to so that he can claim legal parental custody (patria potestad) of the baby. Paula says that they will all take care of the baby, but that is clearly not the issue for Robert – he wants the baby to be his. So, even knowing that the baby will most likely be sickly and need constant care, Roberto is fighting to take responsibility for her. I love him!

In Alex’s office, Alex is handing off a contract to Fer – the first one they’ve gotten since the series of scandals began – and it looks like business is picking up. Alex wonders where Bruno is, and if maybe he has given up. Fer, who has been acting a lot more clever than Alex recently, says Bruno is like a dog with a bone and won’t give up. I wonder if Alex is so desperate to put all the family’s problems behind them and return to a normal life that he is now deliberately refusing to acknowledge anything that might upset their precariously normal existence.

MJ is playing with Tony in front of the house when Bruno walks up. Wasn’t she just saying they wanted to move because they don’t feel safe with Bruno around? Now she’s practically luring him out by playing alone with the baby when no one else is in sight. Anyway, he comes out of his lair now and says to MJ that the baby could have been theirs. Even if it’s not his, he says, the baby and MJ both have his blood running through their veins (though it’s a hot day I think MJ must be shivering at her narrow escape). Bruno asks if MJ was ever in love with him and she answers no – true love is...something that I don’t catch because Tony is crying too loudly. She bundles up the baby and walks off and Bruno grumbles that Alex has taken everything –everything! from him. He flips a coin and murmurs that the war isn’t over yet.

Alex is telling Fer that MJ wants to meet her mother. Fer offers to ask his uncle about Elena but Alex says no - he doesn’t want anyone to know about the relationship between Elena, MJ and Paula, and it’s better to just leave the past behind and move on. Fer points out that the past is coming back to bite them in the butt and explains that it's Don Porfirio’s money (which Sandra is heir to) that is keeping Jorge’s clinic running. Alex agrees that this is interesting.

While they are talking Maura comes in to let Alex know that Raquel is in bad shape, to let Fer know that Katia didn’t come back to work, and to let them both know she’s going to be gone for a few days. Alex reminds her of the board meeting and insists she be there. She seems to agree, and though she doesn’t look happy about it she’s not so upset that she can’t caress Alex’s shoulder on the way out. Fer warns Alex that Maura is after him but Alex just gives a kind of a smirk, claps him on the back and tells him they have to go to the church What’s the deal, Alex? Are you happy to let this go on so that you can make MJ jealous? Reacciona por favor!

Maura is telling Elena that she can’t come to see them and Elena tells her to fly to Toluca for the day. Maura asks why Elena and Jorge don’t come to her and Elena explains that the situation is too delicate and that they don’t want to risk anyone seeing them.

MJ, Alex and Tony, accompanied by Vicki, Fer and Felipa, meet the priest to arrange the details of their marriage. The priest seems a little confused at the order they’re dong things in and asks who the baby belongs to; they explain that the baby is theirs and they want to arrange a baptism, also.

Bruno goes to see Maura but only Lisette is in. Lisette recounts with surprise how furious Maura was at Katia for answering her phone and then telling Ulises about the call but Bruno seems uninterested. He tells Lisette she’s not looking well at all (muy desmejorada) and asks what’s wrong. His concern seems real, and he gives her a kiss and tells her to take care and I totally see how Katia could be such an idiot about him; when he becomes a human being again he really is hot. It’s hard to know when he’s being deceptive and when he genuinely cares about someone, so I can understand why katia is confused (though it doesn’t explain the lying, the snottiness, the mooing like a cow when her brother tries to reason with her…).

With the information he’s gathered Bruno goes to Katia and they have a snuggle and a debrief on the beach. She’s crying because she lost her job and her friend for telling Bruno about the call. (I wrote Bruno in my notes, but shouldn’t it be Ulises?) Bruno is so sorry – he never would have asked her had he known…he was just curious...but now tell me about this woman Elena... Katia explains about Sandra, Porfirio’s heir.

Bruno barges into Roberto’s room for a little social chit-chat, which for him takes this form: so – do you know who the baby's father is? Once the niceties are dispensed with he asks Roberto what he knows about MariaJose and her family. Roberto explains that Sandra was Ulises girlfriend and was set to inherit Porfirio’s estate, but she’s a drug addict and the old man won’t leave her his money when he finds out.

MJ and Alex are in bed and MJ is wriggling with excitement at the upcoming marriage. Alex, in one of those intimate bedroom moments, swears he would give her anything. Anything? says MJ flirtatiously. It seems for a moment that there might be another hot scene between MJ and Alex but alas it’s not to be, and the next scene is MJ and Paula at the prison; what MJ asked for was for Alex to bring her to see her father.

When Pedro sees the girls he gets a kind of hunted look and turns around to walk away. The girls shriek and bang the bars separating them and he turns back to greet them. When he learns about the upcoming wedding he moans that he’d like to be there to walk MJ up the aisle, but since he can’t he’ll content himself with just a few simple pictures – that’s enough for him – don’t worry about me, etc., etc. (Perhaps in another life Don Pedro was a little Jewish grandmother?) Alex says that they may be able to get him out on bail within a few days, so there’s still a chance he could be at the wedding.

Maura apparently decided to fly to Toluca because she and Elena are getting out of a car on Jorge and Elena’s ranch. Elena introduces her to Jorge and even Maura must be able to tell she’s in the presence of evil; she stands far away from Jorge and extends her arm way out to shake his, as if she was afraid to get too close to him. Maybe evil is able to recognize evil without any information other than a soul-searching gaze, and this gaze reveals that Jorge’s soul is rotted through (and Maura’s is getting pretty manky).

The three of them visit Sandra’s bedside and Maura is taken aback at how exactly Sandra resembles MJ. She asks if Sandra will get better and Jorge gives a very emphatic No! It’s hard to know if that’s because he’s going to finish her off or if she’s really too far gone for help.

Later, Maura, Elena and Jorge are talking about Maura participating in something, though we don’t know what. Maura is worried – if Alex finds out about it he will kill her. Since he did find out about Mario Aguirre and it had zero affect on their relationship it’s hard to believe she will let that stop her. Jorge assures her that it would be absolutely impossible for anyone to find out and she protests only feebly – but I don’t wish MJ badly. Elena puts it to Maura in terms she can pretend are valid: you’d really be contributing to MJ’s HAPPINESS if you did this, because then she would be rich. Maura would get the love of her life, and it would be a win-win-win situation: Maura gets Alex, MJ gets wealthy, and Jorge gets funding for his clinic. What's not to like if the price is simply losing your rotting soul?

In the previews of next chapter we see Bruno with his hands around Maura’s neck, threatening to choke her if she doesn’t tell him what’s going on. He flings her onto the sofa and, to save her neck (literally), she tells him that “some guys” are planning to kidnap MJ.

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