Caray, Caray!

So gang, we've reached capitulo numero 200. Seems like only yesterday that we began this joyous journey. Let's proceed.

In the barrio patio, Mauricio has come to share good news with Estrella. "You've found Aldo?" Estre is hopeful. No, not that good news, but he has the proof to prove to Moni that he and Estre are innocent of any hanky panky. His cell phone rings. It's the porky detective. He's located Aldo. He's staying in a cabaña in Ajuzco. Now that is very good news. Estre hugs Mao and at just that exact moment (timing is everything) Moni rounds the corner and spots them. Oops. Oops again, because from out of nowhere, a pistol, with Oscar at the other end, cocks and is aimed at our detective's head. This could be a setback for the good guys. Oblivious, Mao follows Estre into her apartment as Moni, her heart in tatters, sadly watches.Coni's having another mother daughter chat with Jaqui. Coni tells her that she'll be needing a new place to live when she returns from Italy since she's selling the house. Jaqui ignores this and brings up Groupo Sermeño. She knows that Mao is back in charge. Coni couldn't care less, she's selling her part to Daddy. Jaqui is aware that she's gathering the money to settle up with Jero. Coni ushers Jaqui and shuts the door. She doesn't look happy.

Back in the Boondocks, Oscar, flanked by his toady Jerónimo, holds the pistol at the head of our chunky detective's head. He wants to know with whom he was talking on the phone. Jero correctly guesses that it was his cousin on the other end. Oscar dismisses a worried Jero, "What are you going to do with him?" and orders the detective back into his car. We barely got to meet this guy, don't even know his name, and now it looks as though he will soon be abruptly departing the show. Dang.

Nieves and Marcos are seated at her table. She no longer looks like a derelict geisha. He invites her to come with him to the reinauguration party at Groupo Sermeño. She eagerly agrees. He will have a surprise for her, a question to ask. She tries to guess but he insists that she wait. As he gets up to leave, she offers her hand which he kisses. Then they playfully rub noses. He leaves, Nieves rejoices with a little victory dance, and Beto emerges looking very un-naco in shirt and tie. She pumps Beto for more information and after her appeal to him as his mom, he confirms her hopes, telling her that yes, "He asked me for your hand." she swoons, he eases her to the bed complaining that she will cause him to have a hernia.

Marcos has yet more business in the 'hood. He drops in on Isabel. As she opens the door, he bursts in and takes a seat. He has heard that the Dr. has told her that she doesn't have long to live. She rightly surmises that this must be good news for everyone. He appeals to her to open her heart and show love for Monita. She rejects this so he dispenses with charm and goes right for the throat. Actually he whispers in her ear, giving us a glimpse of the source of some of Coni's social skills, "Soon you will be dead and I will then have lots of time to get close to Valentina and to undo all this harm you have done. Your life has been useless." At this point (well after a few commercials) Monita comes in and orders him to leave. At this point the snake morphs into a crippled lamb and cowers behind Monita as the angry monkey castigates Marcos. As he leaves, Marcos calmly and warmly tells Moni that he will see her soon and undo the damage Isabel has done. As she slams the door behind him, Issy collapses against the door, this time in genuine tears with the realization that Marcos is right. This scene is uncomfortably satisfying.

In Estre's apartment Mao assures Estre that now he will set everything right. He'll meet with the detective (good luck with that) and get all the details about Aldo and they will reveal the fraud perpetrated by Snake Lady. Mainly, is is essential that Estrella attend the fiesta tomorrow at Groupo Sermeño. Of course she'll be there.

At the Domicile of Doom, Jero's soliloquy is interrupted by Oscar. The robbing an swindling he has no problem with, but Jero feels that the killing was not in the job description. Seeing Jero taking to himself Oscar speculates that Lorenza's insanity is contagious. Jero wants to know what Oscar did with Plump PI. "I took care of him so he won't be opening his mouth again." As he makes himself a drink, hey, don't you think Jero could use one too?, He blames Jero for being careless and warns him that if things go bad, he will be in jail for a long time. Jero tries to reassure him and tells him that he reminded Constanza that it would be healthy for her to give them the money. Oscar reminds Jero that if he betrays him, "You are a dead man." Well, I'm certainly glad that we all understand how things stand.

Looking very cute in a pink nighty, Moni tries to console her mommy. She tells her they will make the most of the time she has left. Isabel(clad in cute brown pajamas dotted with daisies), whining that she doesn't want to die, wants a little more than that. She wants a promise that Moni will not allow Marcos near her once she's dead. Moni objects that she's not good at this hate thing. Marcos words, meanwhile, echo in her ear, "Your life was useless." Sweet dreams, you bitter old biddy.

It's morning on the patio and Estrella is sharing the good news with Paula. Paula notes that Estrella is beginning to show. As they rejoice they are joined by Lobo. Does this guy ever frown? Both are delighted to see him (almost as much as our Julia). Before Estrella gets too excited, Paula reminds her that Lobo is married. "Was," he corrects her. Both ladies express their regrets as each inwardly rejoices and are even happier to learn that he is hoping to stay for a couple of months in the neighborhood.

At breakfast Moni tell Isabel that she bumped into Lobo. "¿Lobo? He didn't bite you?" That's our Isabel, a laugh a minute. Moni tells her that he inspired her boxing, he is very handsome, they have a platonic friendship though they did share a kiss as children. Isabel is underwhelmed. She tells her how he met and married a girl who lived three blocks away and they ended up moving away. "So he's married?" "Nope. Divorced" Issy scowls as who then should appear at the door but Señor Wolf himself. "You look precious!" Mamá does not approve.

More commercials before Moni introduces them. He's delighted. She looks like someone farted. Before they head off to the gym Moni tells Issy that they'll eat together later. Nope. Issy will be gone for today. She must make a trip to Moroleón. After the two bounce out, Isabel grumbles to herself, "One more to keep away from Valentina."

They pass Nieves who is busy at the communal sink. She doesn't look happy to see Moni with Lobo either. She is joined by a perky Estrella who announces that Lobo is moving in. Nieves sees this as an impediment to M&M's already shaky relationship.She thinks that Lobo will influence Moni with sweet talk (engatusar... I really like this word). I think that it's safe to say that we join her in her concern.

Meintras tanto, at the Count's Condo, he tells Nice Nurse that he wants both Sal and Loriloca to remained locked in their rooms. He doesn't want either wandering about. "Don't worry, Licenciado, I'll take care of it." As he is making another drink (Oscar seems to be drinking quite a bit these days) he turns to Aldo, who asks if someone is coming, and orders him to his room as well without answering his question.

Back in his office, Mao informs Gabi that last night, Bocanegra (well at least now we know his name), the detective, called. He tells her that all he knows is that Aldo is in a cabaña in Ajuzco. Much better at algebra than Mao, Gabi calculates that he is in the clutches of Oscar and Jero.

Apparently in no hurry to get to the gym Moni and Lobo pause in he park to catch up on old times and conveniently fill us in on Lobo's troubles. He asks Moni if she remembers Jairo (Isn't he the guy who ran Las Copatonas where they had ladies' mud wrestling in Fuego en la Sangre?). She does. He was the boxing manager with ties to the Mafia (only one?), who's now in jail. (Anyone care to bet on who's gonna be gettin' outa th' slammer very soon?) Well, he ordered Lobo to take dive in the third round of his last fight with Rayo Gonzales, offering him money. "And you told him to shove it?" "No, but he threatened to make my wife disappear." "But you won that fight!" "By a TKO." After the fight he and his wife and got the heck outa Dodge. After several years and separating from his wife, he decided to return to Mexico and sniff around Moni. OK, I added that last bit.

Wow, Beto looks right at home in his new office wearing a starched light blue shirt and solid pink tie (no macho hangups for our Beto). He invites Nieves in. She is impressed and even wants to take his nameplate home. He stops her as she is placing it in her giraffe purse. He shows out by calling for capuchinos calientes, not tepid (tibios), no sugar (he's dieting) for him and his mom. Paula (his secretary) is not there but the lovely Alejandra will bring them in.

Back in the park (don't these kids need to get on to the gym?), Lobo is heart-broken. Well shut my mouth, so is Moni. "Beto?" No a new guy. "So you're single (soltera)? "Right now there's no one else in my life." He tells her that he likes her very much. She shyly blushes. Uh oh!

Back in Beto's office, Nieves is so proud (orgullosa). She gets up and goes around the desk and hugs him. He shoos her back to her chair, puts his feet upon his desk, and then very professionally asks,"How can I help you?" Dang, he's convincing. He tells her for the second time today to get Georgina (apparently giraffe purse) off the desk. She's nervous. He tells her that's natural but once she's married... No, she nervous about the return of Lobo and his interest in Moni. Beto's just happy to learn that Lobo's back in town.

Well, I think we all saw this coming. The Serpent Woman has arrived at the Count's Chalet.She thanks him for shooting her and now she has another job for him. She is dying and after she does, since she doesn't wish for Moni to be happy, "Valentina has to die." Not an unreasonable request for Satan's Spawn to make and who better to ask than Satan's envoy?

Well L&M (not the cigarette, Lobo and Monita) have arrived at the gym and since their little téte a téte has stirred up the hormones, they hop into the ring for a little sparring. They dance a little. He wants to see what she's got. He drops his guard. She demonstrates. After decking him she celebrates, pumping her fist, then drops to her knees. He's impressed. Their eyes lock. He reminds her of that childhood kiss. She remembers. He offers to show her what he's learned. He moves in. She leans forward expectantly. We gasp... time for a commercial break.

She must have thought better of it during the timeout because even though close... no beso for you, Wolfboy! Too soon. Besides, he's her idol. Nope, you guys can be friends and help each other through this tough time. He less than enthusiastic about this proposition, but agrees... "For the moment... friends." Yeah... friends. I bet it's not for nuthin' they call you Lobo. Baaa for now. We've seen your kind before.

Even Oscar is surprised by the coldness with which Isabel is facing her own death and by her desire to off her offspring. After thinking about the beauty of her selfish hate, however, surprise turns to admiration. She wants a potent untraceable poison (veneno). Not even painless, you craven old cow? He agrees.

The welcome home of Lobo continues. Costeño is happy to see him. They share man-talk with Costi telling him that he's found an insatiable woman and needs to get his strength up. Gosh, now who could he talking about? They are interrupted by a strange looking Luchador in a red dog mask, "Phone call for Costeño in Cesar's office, some Ximena." ¿Qué? Hmmm.

Lobo turns his interest back to Moni. He tells her about Jimmy's offer to train a Momia but declined when he discovered that she is training to fight Monita. Well... Moni says, "Why not?" She thinks it's a splendid idea. "She needs all the help she can get." Moni doesn't want an easy fight. "You sure? I guess we'll see each other later." "Let's eat together," Moni suggests. "Say no more!" Cesar approaches, "Hey, that was el Lobo, the world champion welterweight!" Cesar's surprised to see him back in Mexico." "Yes, and he's training la Momia." "¿Qué?" "I asked him to." "¿Qué? ¿Por qué?" "Because she's my sister and I don't want to kill her in the ring." Don Cesar is rendered speechless.

Beto is thrilled with the return of Lobo. They're pals. He expects they can pick up where they left off: cantinas, beer, dominos, cards. Nieves shouts her disapproval. Beto asks her not to shout. He's an executive after all. She's worried about Monita. Beto says that it's not as though Moni is Red Riding Hood and... Nieves thinks that's exactly the case. Moni's mad at Mao because she thinks he betrayed her with her best friend, "And what if Monita ends up telling Lobo?"

Turns out Oscar's favors come with a price tag. He want to be sure he collects. She gives him her word. He offers to show her to the door. Aldo appears. Oscar reminds him that he was to stay in his room and calls him a booger-snot kid (mocoso). "That was Monita's mom, wasn't it?" Aldo asks. Oscar warns him about meddling in his affairs. Kinda mild for Oscar, I'd say.

Hair in French braid, Coni's in Gym Jimmy ready to train. Jimmy tells her that he's lined up one of the best boxers in the world to train her but no go. She tells him that money is not a problem. Jimmy tells her that money is not the problem. As she turns to pout, Lobo swaggers up. Jimmy introduces them. She gives him a look that only our Coni can, "What will it take to change your opinion?" "For me, that smile and those eyes are enough. I came back to accept your offer. From this moment on, I'm your official trainer." He winks. She inspects her acquisition.

Carlos

Labels: gancho