Caray, Caray!

Capítulo 139: The Good News? Enrique had the night off. And well … maybe there’s a glimmer of hope for Fernando The Bad News? Everything else: Jade gambles big and loses; both Zein and Lucas are left longing for Jade; Dora and Daniel are bereft; Cris and Escobar get Maliciated; and Albieri – Albieri doesn’t see what all the fuss is about.

We see Daniel walking alone, head down, hands in pockets, along the wet, dark Miami streets.

Leo is at home staring at a photograph of Diego.

Dora and Estela are still fuming after Albieri’s visit. With all the needy children in the world, all the orphans, why on earth does he have to be fixated (encaprichado) on my son?

Albieri is at home whining to Luisa:
Dora se niega a entender. Nadie consigue entender.
Dora refuses to understand. Nobody understands!
Actually Luisa is among those who fail to understand. She says she’d have a heart attack (a mí me daría un infarto) if she found out she had a clone. Albieri contends that cloning will soon be commonplace. And people will just have to get used to it. (Tendrán que acostumbrarse.)

At Mohamed’s house, Jade tells Zoraida:
Ya tomé una decisión – Si Said no me toma de vuelta, me voy a quedar con Zein.
I made a decision – if Said doesn’t take me back, I’m going to stay with Zein.

Said is at a desk in his house, looking very much the western businessman. Rania hovers subserviently in the background. For once her hair is loose. Jadiya bounds in and asks her father:
¿Qué decidiste? Mi mamá va a volver o no?
What did you decide? Is my mother coming back?

Said doesn’t answer her directly. He picks up the phone and calls Mohamed. He learns that today is the day Jade must decide whether to accept Zein’s proposal. (Remember that when you are wondering later whether Said has manipulated the outcome of events.) Said tells his brother he’d like to see Jade.

Then Said tells Jadiya: Voy a hablar con tu madre. (I’m going to talk to your mother)

Since Amina hasn’t been lurking behind a column listening in, Rania has to run upstairs to tell her what has happened. She vows to make Jade’s life a living hell if she does come back.

Jadiya announces merrily to the Naz that her mother is coming back and then she runs off to call Zoraida with the good news. The Naz indulges in a good old exhibicionista/odalisca rant and Said has the good fortune to come on for the I raised wimps not men wind-up.

It’s all smiles for Jade, Latifa and Zoraida when the news reaches them that Said has asked to see Jade. Everyone assumes that Said’s willingness to talk to Jade means that he is going to take her back.
Says Latifa:
El destino te está dando una segunda oportunidad.
Destiny is giving you a second chance.

Daniel comes back to Dora’s sad little apartment and starts filling his backpack. He tells his grandmother he is going to Morocco, to the desert, to find the woman of his dreams. She convinces him not to leave without talking to his mother.

Pablo and Alej are working out at the gym. Pablo thinks it would be a good idea for Natalia to get a job and help out. Alej is resistant: Natalia is special, she should finish her education. And Pablo says:
Si estudiara, entendería. (If she were studying, I would understand: estudiara: imperfect subjunctive because it’s a contrary to fact conditional. She’s not, in fact, studying. entendería: conditional)
Besides, continues Pablo, working would give her a sense of responsibility.

Well you know what they say about great minds thinking alike. Leo presents the same argument to Lucas, Marisa and Rosa: why not give Natalia a job at Empresa Ferrer? Marisa, of course, rejects the idea because… well, Marisa is kind of Debbie Downer, isn’t she? Lucas and Rosa are on board. Leo pontificates:
¿Sabes cuál es el peor cancer de la juventud? La inactividad!
You know what’s the worst cancer in young people? Idleness!

Cut to a shot of a desolate Natalia, alone in the apartment. We hear Leo’s continued voiceover: Natalia’s problems are very serious -- we can help her but she has to do her part.
[As we look at Natalia, we know that she isn't ready for the classroom or the boardroom -- try a hospital room, geniuses. This girl is sick. Yeah, yeah Debbie Downer is right, but for all the wrong reasons!]

A hopeful Zein arrives at Mohamed’s place only to learn that Jade has chosen to go back to Said. Ali tells him:
Zein, una familia que ya está creada habla más alta que una familia que aún no se crea.
Zein, a family that already exists speaks louder than one that is yet to be created.
And ever the mensch, Zein accepts his disappointment gracefully:
Se feliz para que mi dolor valga la pena. (Be happy, so my pain isn't meaningless).

Meanwhile Cris, who is sure Jade is at this very moment, taking Zein back, is telling Vicki how she decorated Zein’s suite to receive Jade.

And Zein returns alone to his room where rose petals are strewn on the floor and bed. (This is a visually arresting scene, the stark white of Zein’s shirt and jacket, the black of the background, the blood-red of the rose petals.) And he says: Y ahora ¿qué voy a hacer sin ti? (And now what will I do without you?)

Lucas is also thinking of Jade, remembering how she danced for him: ¿Qué voy a hacer sin ti, Jade?

Marisa and Rosa watch him from behind. Rosa is still convinced that Daniel is Diego reincarnated. She remembers how Diego used to appear to Natalia when she was a little girl. (We’ve been waiting for someone to make this connection. Too bad Marisa doesn’t pick up on it.) Marisa keeps trying to orient Rosa to reality, the way you do with the cognitively impaired, (Daniel is a clone, he isn’t Diego and he isn’t Lucas) but is finally reduced to talking about “the Lucas in the livingroom” to distinguish him from his dead brother and his living clone.

Marisa is daydreaming too. She remembers her brief contact with Daniel, how they started to kiss. His simple words: Eres tan bonita.

Daniel assures Dora and Estela that he isn’t running away from them. He needs to get away from everything:
Yo no soporto que la gente me mire con miedo. Yo no aguanto esta idea de ser clon.
I can stand people looking at me with fear. I can’t bear this idea of being a clone.
You’re not a clone, cries Dora. You’re my son!

At Casa Ferrer, Leo declares that Daniel is coming back to him. And if his mother refuses? asks Rosa. She’s not his mother, insists Leo. His real mother is Isabel.

And at her apartment, Dora tells Daniel that although she is sorry that Leo’s son died, she has no intention of letting him take her son as a replacement. Leo notwithstanding, Daniel is determined to leave. And he wants nothing to do with Albieri. Dora pulls away his backpack to keep him from leaving. Fine, he says, I’ll go without my bag.

Roberto tells Leo he has some advice for him now that he has consulted with two colleagues with more experience in family law (I guess that would be Enrique and his other brother Enrique). It would be best to come to an agreement with Dora and only take the dispute into court as a last resort. Leo is convinced that his truth is irrefutable. Albieri made a clone of his son and now that clone belongs to him. Nevertheless he finally agrees to pay Dora a visit with Roberto, unannounced so they will have the advantage of surprise.

At Cris’s request, Malicia shows up at the bar to talk. Did you enjoy your trip? asks the rodent. Yes, very much, answers Cris, but not as much as you did. You managed to get a job and a boyfriend out of it. Malicia goes into action, twisting truth into unrecognizable forms. Now Rogelio is responsible for losing Cris’s report. And Rogelio has been acting odd Ever Since He Started Seeing Clara.

Clara is at home with Fernando and is distressed to discover that money is missing from her wallet. She confronts Fernando forcefully. At first he is defiant and aggressive, but Clara doesn’t give up. She manages to reach him at last. He breaks into tears and confesses. And then he says the magic words: Necesito ayuda, mamá! (I need help, mom). Estoy contigo (I’m with you) replies Clara.

Daniel has wandered into a park. Along comes Karla, all giggly and flirty. Daniel wants to know if Karla knows any clones. [I'm sorry but you know you don't get out much when the sKank is your Science Guy] Anyway we can all swell with pride at our public education dollars at work as Karla recites: A clone is a person who is exactly identical to another. The first clone in history was a sheep named… oh some country singer.
¿Tú sabes si un clon vive mucho tiempo? asks Daniel. (Do you know if a clone lives long?) Karla, who thinks Daniel must be kidding, says: They don’t exist. But if they did – they’d be an exotic thing, half man, half wolf, with a squirrel’s tail and a chicken foot – as she is speaking Daniel slips away. He thinks:
Lo mejor que me podría pasar sería morir. Sí, morirme.
The best thing that could happen to me would be to die. Yes, die.

Cris recounts Malicia’s version of events to Vicki. Vicki is understandably skeptical.

Escobar arrives on Malicia’s doorstep determined to get her to sign over the apartment to Fernando. She’d love to sign over the apartment, she tells him, but Clara would throw her out and she’d end up sleeping under bridges. And after all, Escobar himself was responsible for her rift with her ‘Tía’. And the Chump, being a chump, buys her story and backs off. [In fact, if he had the euros, he’d probably go out and buy her a yacht right now.]

The final scene takes place at Mohamed’s place. He and Alí are discussing Jade. Mohamed is unforgiving; Jade has brought disgrace to their family. Alí feels it would be sinful to interfere with a couple who are trying to reconcile. Said arrives and joins his brother and Alí while Latifa and Zoraida are in the bedroom with Jade happily helping her prepare for her encounter with Said. We feel as if we are with a bride and her attendants, all slightly giddy with anticipation.

Jade joins the men. Alí leads Mohamed out of the room. On parting, he says:
Que Ala desate el nudo de sus lenguas para que puedan entenderse el uno al otro.
May Allah untie the knot of your tongues so that you can understand each other.

You wanted to speak to me? says Jade. Said says he is there because Jadiya asked him to take her back. Jade tells him how much she regrets leaving. She acknowledges her past errors but swears she has changed and she is ready to return on his terms. However she denies ever abandoning her daughter. Said insists that is exactly what she did. And he knows that she asked Lucas and Zein to abduct Jadiya and neither one would do it.
Said: Vengo a responder a la petición de Jadiya. (I’m here to answer Jadiya’s request.)
Jade: ¿Y qué decidiste? (And what did you decide?)
Said: Que no te tomo de vuelta. (That I’m not taking you back)

Credits roll.

Labels: clon