Caray, Caray!

Thanks Jean and NovelMaven for persisting with the recaps. One of these days it will end. I lack the patience with all of the repetitive action and I've been cruising from St Petersburg to Moscow. I wonder what the reaction to this telenovela would have been if it were on US TV.

Lynne
 

Thank you, Jean. Not only is the writing, as usual, superb, but the screen shots today are particularly tasty!

The Fez fuddy duddies -- hahaha, exactly!

And in the department of useless memories rattling around in my brain --
I think Malicia's reaction to the news of Cris's wedding was the SECOND hint of the Leo connection after the mag cover scene. The first was when Luisa was trying to find a job for her and told her it was too bad she had'nt come a bit sooner because Leo had just hired a new secretary, Clara.

Novelera,
I seem to be running a day late in these comments, but I can't let your extremely gracious and kind posting go unremarked. Thank you!

Possible romances?
It seemed last night that the writers were having fun with us about Anita. First she was all cozy with Escobar and then with Julio, so I guess either one is possible. But I still think sticking her with the Chump would be a dirty trick:)

And the Fez Fuddy Duddies -- well they are so comfortable together that maybe Yaser and Abdul will decide to live together and Zuleica can be their live-in carnero preparation supervisor.

Pablo doesn't know how lucky he is -- it looks like he'll be escaping while he still owns his truck. And he and Andrea do seem to have a connection.

I don't see Andrea with Alej. Even though they like each other, there is a best friend taboo that I can't see either one violating.
 

Thank you two, Jean and NovalaMavern, for all you do.

Didn't Mohamad give his word some 20 years ago that he wouldn't take a second wife? What? Promises to a woman don't count?

Somewhere I saw the comment that this prolonged drug scene was necessary to explain why Lucas could not be with Jade at this time. Well, okay, but do we need the constant repitition of Enrique's explanations as well?

Still can't understand Albierti's overgrown ego. So he made a human Dolly; the process was already known and used. He only took it to an ethical dimension, and I do foresee that will happen someday, maybe even soon. But its only questionable, not crow-worthy

I'm glad Roberto is being outed in both his playtime and worktime efforts. Sorry for his wife, but OPEN YOUR EYES.

Lynne asks the reaction to this telenovela if it "would have been on US TV." Well, it was, it is. It started out more well liked than it is now, but some like me (a minority probably)still like it. It's richness has made Univision formula stories a bit harder to appreciate (and no less repetitious). I'm so glad I've watched this production (gladder because Jean and NovelaMaven help me even understand it) and not eager for it to end. On the other hand, were I cruising from St. Petersburg to Moscow, well, I probably wouldn't care. I'm so happy for anyone who it able to travel to far-away places in reality instead of through stories. Can you give us any idea of your travels, Lynne?
Lois
 

Lois, I always appreciate your comments here very much. Thank you!

As for Mohamed's promise: Yes, after Amin was born, he did promise Latifa that he wouldn't take a second wife. And she reminded him of that when she went to Fez to 'rescue' him. She asked the same question you did: Doesn't that promise count? He had no answer.

From what I've read, the drug theme (Enrique-type character included) was a big part of the success of the original. I wonder how the theme resonates here with the intended audience of this novela. (And we are not that audience; we are a tiny group on the margins).

I completely agree about the worthlessness of Albieri's science. He has more in common with Nazis doing unspeakable human experimentation in the name of 'science' than with anyone responsible for real leaps in knowledge.

Yeah, Roberto is in danger professionally and personally. He hasn't really done anything wrong as a lawyer; but he has allowed people to overestimate him and didn't insist that Enrique take credit for his work. Remember that he wanted Enrique's name to appear on the document he gave Leo. It was Enrique who declined.

On the personal side, we've seen him flirting and goofing off but we've never seen him with a lover. He flirted a little with Karla at the club and later had a drink with her. The rest is pure sKank plot. (By the way, have you noticed how Karla keeps trying to back away from the scam even as Hilda keeps pushing it forward? What does she know that she's not telling Hilda?)

It's interesting to imagine this as an English-language daytime soap in the US. I think it would be wildly successful! But if it were shown with English dubbing or, more alienating yet, English subtitles, I doubt that people would get past its 'foreignness'.

It's very rare to see non-English original movies, for example, achieve popular success here. Even movies like "Frieda" and "Love in the Times of Cholera" were made in English to break out of the tiny 'Foreign Film' category.
 

Great recap Jean wonderful work again on this episode and NovelaMaven yours also the past few days.Thank you both so much.

So NovelaMaven what you're hinting at is that is why Malicia has been so nasty and trying to destroy Clara because she was late getting to Miami to get a job?I wonder how Zein and Rogelio were processing how nasty her comments were when she learned about Cris's upcoming nuptials.

Loved Diana getting her dig in about who she was taking and from the previews Pablo catches her redhanded and it's payback by him kissing who was that Andrea? Malicia didn't exactly like seeing that happen right before her eyes.

Didn't Clara already tell the security at her condo complex about letting Fernando in?

So the three drugged out zombies and the professional thief who looks like he's on drugs himself are supposed to rob Leo's guarded house?


Abdul i suppose Fez's own Chuck Woolery with the love connections huh?
 

I appreciate your appreciation, NovelaMaven.

I think I didn't pay close enough attention to Roberto. I thought his actions were worse. Maybe they were just lazy and stupid. Guess I hope he and his marriage are redemable.

I'm not sure about foreign themes filmed in English. E.g., Love in the time of cholera. Great book by my favorite author whom I discoveresd in Colombia in 1982 as signs on the street proclaimed: "Tenemos Nobel." (Garcia Marquez had been run out of the country a bit before that!)

Anyhow, particularly in South America there is this blend of magic and realism that defies the English language unless the translation is truly magnificent.
Gabriel has said he enjoyed reading one of his novels translated into English by Gregory Rabassa more than he enjoyed them in Spanish It's surprising that the English language with the most words has the fewest to capture emotion, fantasy, magic. Lois
 

The Enrique PSA's are a standard form of storytelling called the observer's perspective. One my favorite instances of this type of storytelling is the Star Wars saga. In Star Wars, C-3PO and R2-D2 served as the Enrique. They served to describe what was going on to the viewer.
 

Blusamurai,
Loved your line about Abdul -- "i suppose Fez's own Chuck Woolery with the love connections huh?" haha

I didn't mean to suggest that Malicia started plotting against Clara because of her job. (Sorry if I expressed that badly.) Although it IS fun to think of what mischief she would have caused in that organization -- she could have taken Enrique from Caro, traded him for Roberto and worked her way up to el jefe himself, Leo!

Lois,
You're so right that truly wonderful literary language sometimes seems to defy translation. But I'm not so sure I agree that "... the English language with the most words has the fewest to capture emotion, fantasy, magic. But I say that as someone who is in love with the English language. :)

Anon 6:41, I agree that Enrique is an observer in the novela, but far from the only one. Characters like Andrea, and Julio and to some extent Anita, Vicki and Diana also take on this role: they are involved in some aspects of the story, but not blinded by their passions. They are the truth-tellers.
 

Lois, what I meant was that I wonder what the reaction would have been if more Arab-speaking and in particular Moroccans understood this telenovela. As we have often mentioned there are gaping holes in the accuracy of how Morocco is portrayed. Islam is diverse dependant on the country to which one is referring. I have been to Morocco and a few countries in the Middle East but only as a tourist.

I travel a lot - going to central America on what is called the route of the Maya and then the Copper Canyon in December.

What interested me about Russia is that the people appear to be deeply confused. They don't appear to know if they are a democratic country as they have had autocratic rules for 1,000 years. I'm horrified at how some of the rulers butchered their own people - especially Ivan the terrible and Stalin.

Churches knocked down by Stalin are being rebuilt but the Russians had to be agnostic to retain well-paying jobs - so confusion seems to reign here as well. So the pattern manifests itself in many walks of life.

Lynne
 

Great comments, all!

I don't think that Karla's attempts to back away from the scam are because she knows something that Hilda doesn't. I'm sure that she believes that she is preggers by Roberto. But I think Karla is not as venal as Hilda. She keeps having a fantasy of marrying Roberto for love.

Anonymous 6:41, the scenes with Enrique & his psychiatrist might have been intended to describe to the viewer what goes on with a drug addiction but their frequency and repetitiveness have turned them into boring anti-drug PSA's. We all know how drug addiction can destroy a person and his/her family. ¡Ya basta!
 

Jean--wonderful recap, thank you much! I, too, enjoyed Blu's Chuck Woolery comment.
Now, as I recall, when Karla first told Daniel she was pregnant, he said "Is it mine?" And she said, "No, I am three months along already." So somebody may have miscalculated, eh?
Joan
 

I understand you Jean, but as long as the scenes are being played out then the PSA's will continue. Remember, Natalia's situation has not been resolved yet. For example, if Natalia goes to jail, then they would show a PSA where Enrique recalls the first time he went to jail. I don't have a problem at all with the PSA's and I suspect not many people either.
 

Lynne, would love to hear more of your interesting travels. I've done Mexico a lot, too. It's right next door to me. These days I don't get further than Nogales or Puerto Penasco, but fondly remember my favorite Mexican city: Mazatlan.

NovelaMaven, I love English, too. Have taught writing in junior college. Surprisingly, although having the widest vocabulary of any existing language, it can use the fewest words to actually get by. I guess it's not the language so much as a mind set with many authors that won't allow them to use the language to it's potential very often. Seems much writing in English is sort of gut level or below or so outside our experiences as not to be touchable. Does that make sense? Or am I just dim? Lois
 

"Dim", Lois? Hardly! :-)
 

Can someone tell me the meaning of the abbreviation PSA. I know what it is but can't come up with the words for the abbreviation.

I want to take this moment to say thanks to Jean and NovelaMaven for the great recaps. I enjoy it all so much -- the photos, and all the translations.

Ann-NYC
 

Excellent recap, Jean. I think this novela is doing what they all do: starting to get more interesting toward the end.

We'll apparently get to see Cristina's wedding dress Monday. I think it's going to be a shocker. And we'll soon get to see how Natalia, Paula, and Fernando's plot to rob Casa Ferrer after the wedding works out.

I thought that Anita jumped to the conclusion that Albieri was meeting Amalia for romantic reasons. She said she was angry because Luisa was her friend. As I've mentioned before, I'm fed up to the teeth with Luisa and her fussing over Albieri. I guess this is just part of my personality; I can't STAND controlling people.

I hope they tell us the whole background story on Malicia. I've wondered if she really is related to Luisa or somehow just picked her out as a mark. She was obviously enraged enough to let the sweetness and light mask drop when she heard Cris was to marry Leo. I don't know if that is because she had her own agenda with him or just because she truly hates Cris. She's completely green with envy about Cris and her effortless charm. She set out to steal her job and Pablo and succeeded. I don't know what the thing is with Leo. If she had wanted to get him, she'd have shown up at Empresas Ferrer and figured out a way to do it.

I'm admiring Laura Perico AND her makeup artists. She totally looks like a druggy. I can't see her coming back to the good side after all this.

Actually, since I don't like her much (more anti-controlling people feelings on my part), I'm looking forward to Lucía's reaction to the newspaper article. I agree that Roberto probably isn't unfaithful. He just likes to waste time at the club and flirt.
 

Hi Ann- PSA= public service announcement

Yes, Novelera, the previews, not to mention Vicki's reaction to Cristina's choice of dress, hint that her outfit is going to be a shocker for Leo and his fuddy duddy rich friends. Good for her. That place needs some shaking up. Maybe it's time for Rosa to retire!

I thought that Anita suspected Albieri of romancing Amalia, too. She may not know that Amalia is a reporter.

Laura Perico has been excellent in this novela. I agree with you about her makeup but even made up as a druggie, I think she is stunningly beautiful. I don't see her coming back from this either.

I wouldn't might hearing the 'story of Malicia' as long as she is telling it as she is arrested or is agonizada.
 

Jean, thank you so much once again.

The comments have been great this weekend, so there is not much to add. I can hardly wait to see Cris's dress!

Maybe we can pair up Abdul and Rosa since they are both "very set in their ways".

Rosemary
 

Rosemary, brilliant! What a pair Abdul and Rosa would make! I bet she could make an excellent cordero.

Of course, Abdul can daydream all he wants, but he'd last about 5 minutes with Gloria, who'd chew him up and spit him out.
 

Novelera, you are right the cordero, LOL.

I just rewatched the part with Malicia and I now believe that she had her money grubbing heart set on Leo for herself. She thinks she is so wonderful that she deserves him.

Rosemary
 

If Leo was Malicia's original target, she didn't go about it with her usual efficiency. Even though she didn't get a job at Empresa Ferrer, she didn't take advantage of the fact that Albieri was friends with Leo to meet him. It's hard to imagine that someone who had their sites set on Leo would settle for the Chump!!!
 

Jean LOL i know Malicia couldn't have done any better than to start off with the Chump?

Unless Anita last neuron is malfunctioning i can't ever see her ending up with El Chump especially after she overheard heard his nasty exchange with Clara on why he couldn't leave his job to try and help his own son. The way it seem to me he's starting to notice Anita but she definitely gave him the brush off. Now Julio that's not a bad paring i like it. He's level headed and balances off her hot headedness and ready to react before thinking things through more clearly.
 

Thanks guys for another great week of recaps! Always good for a much needed chuckle or two! Will miss the show, but can't be watching three of these things ever again!