Caray, Caray!

Update: Wikipedia now says that because of an unprecedented ratings surge in Uzbekistan, Tanzania, and across a broad swath of western China, El Clon has been extended to 263 episodes. In the United States, it will run through Groundhog Day 2011. Hahahahah!!! October Fools!!!

Before the new episode begins, we get one more chance to enjoy the incredibly satisfying bofetada: Slap! Again, we imagine Cris’s hand print on that rodent face.

Now to the business of the evening:

Faced with the prospect of living in Fez at Tío Abdul’s mercy, Samira does what any sane person would do: she runs away. The Naz blames Mohamed for threatening Samira with such a hellish fate. Abdul takes umbrage at the idea that living with him is an infierno. Then, to his family’s immense relief, he scuttles off to catch his plane.

The Naz turns to Latifa next and blames her for supporting Mohamed’s plan. But Mohamed, surprisingly, assumes responsibility for what has happened.

Things are looking grim at the Del Valle home. Lucía’s not buying Roberto’s protestation of innocence. Andrea suspects that Consuelo is mixed up in all this, but she doesn't know how. Roberto is having the DNA test repeated: he’s sure the positive result was an error or a scam.

Let him repeat the DNA test as often as he likes, crows UbersKank. It will turn out the same. Still, Karla is worried about all the money her mother is spending in anticipation of their windfall.

Alí and the Naz take to the streets in search of Samira.

Gloria tells Alí that when a girl runs away, it’s always because of a boyfriend. While Alí is explaining that in his culture there are no novios, just esposos, Ramón comes along and tells them just by chance he saw Samira tiptoeing out of her house, carrying a suitcase early this morning. He just happened to see her meet up with a boy.

Here's how the Naz searches: She walks along the water screaming Samira’s name, and growing ever more frantic. By an amazing coincidence, Pablo is in that same spot. The second bofetada of the evening: Pablo slaps the hysterical Naz to bring her to her senses. Ay, me pegaste, Pablo! (Oh, you hit me, Pablo!) The shock on her face turns to a delirious smile and she gives Pablo a long, passionate kiss, while Diana and Pedro look on in amusement.

The unpleasant Albieri’s finally confront one another. He can’t understand why she turned on him. His only sin was giving a reporter an interview. But according to Luisa:
¡Me excluiste! Eso es lo que no perdono!
(You excluded me! That’s what I can’t forgive!)

He doesn't understand why she's so mad. He isn’t in love with Amalia, although he does love her admiration, her interest, her questions.

And finally, Luisa storms out with her suitcase and her rage in tow. [And given her wardrobe, for once we can believe that everything she owns is in that one bag.]

At Dora’s apartment, Daniel vows to follow Jade wherever she may go. Not if Dora can help it!
She implores Jade to stop putting ideas in Daniel’s head and accuses her of trying to get from Daniel what Lucas owes her. (Tú quieres cobrarte con todo lo que te debe el otro). Besides, what are you going to live on when Daniel can’t even support himself?

Jade remembers the young Lucas promising to go away with her. Then she hears the present-day Daniel say:
Yo voy a estar contigo siempre; yo no te voy a dejar nunca.
(I’m always going to be with you; I’ll never leave you.)

Responds a saddened Jade: I waited all my life to hear those words. And now it’s too late.

With no explanation, Daniel hurries out of the house.

Once he’s gone, Jade tells Dora not to worry; she’s going to a place where Daniel won’t find her. But she takes off her jade pendant and gives it to Dora. Please give him this and tell him I lived the most beautiful time of my life with him.

She explains that through Daniel, she came to realize that her experience with Lucas was real and beautiful; that she didn’t throw her life away.

She gives Dora a parting gift, a filmy orange veil [clearly, the Naz gives better presents], and leaves, pulling her magic telenovela maleta behind her [because unlike Luisa, Jade, even in exile, maintains an impressive closet].

So that’s where he was going!
Daniel shows up at Casa Ferrer. You said I could ask you for anything, he tells Leo. Well, I’d like a ticket to Morocco. Leo is amused that his sons are so attracted to the place. He promises Daniel his ticket.

And Jade shows up at Zein’s place – he said she could ask him for anything -- requesting shelter (posada) for the night.

Natalia and her baby come home to Casa Ferrer. Leo and Lucas have gone to the hearing and Daniel has just left. When Nati takes the baby upstairs, Marisa confides to Rosa that even though Nati is abstinent now, she’s on shaky ground.

Because Marisa is also on her way out, she asks Rosa to call Gloria to come to visit Natalia and the baby.

I guess Marisa is truly changed, broccoli band dress notwithstanding. She is in a support group for parents of addicts. She listens respectfully to the other parents and speaks with some humility of her own problems, her losses and her failures.

Back in Casa Ferrer, Nati looks very depressed. She seems uninterested in the baby, doesn’t even want to look at him. Marina comes in with a breast pump: Natalia has to empty her milk or she’ll have problems.

Gloria arrives and fills the room with her energy. As she holds mega-baby (He looks just like her baby, she says), she announces she’s there to take Nati and her grandson back to her place. She’s the one to supervise his care. Rosa defends the home team: The baby looks like both parents, she says stoutly; and she and Marisa raised Natalia – they can surely take care of little Alejandro. And Nati assures her suegra that she’s going to take very good care of her grandson.

In the courtroom, Roberto is advocating on Leo's behalf. The DNA results show clearly that Leo and Isabel Ferrer are Daniel’s biological parents. And furthermore, both Lucas and Daniel share a genetically transmitted trait, the famous mancha, that they could only have inherited from Isabel. Both men are called up to show their manchas to the judge.

At Empresas Ferrer, Clara gets another bouquet of flowers from Escobar. Caro thinks his courtship efforts are kind of sweet, but Clara says he’s the same clueless idiot as always.

Enrique breezes in looking happier than we’ve ever seen him (well, except when he’s making fun of Roberto). He has made up him mind, he tells Caro. Tomorrow he’s going to look for his family. Now that he has Carolina at his side, he’s ready to face his past.

Mohamed’s house is still in turmoil. Samira’s friends haven’t seen her. Mohamed refuses to believe Ramón’s story about seeing his daughter with a boy. And he thinks the circumstances are too shameful to involve the police. Suddenly Alí realizes the Naz is missing. She went out looking for Samira, says Zoraida, and she never came back.

Apparently the Naz has spent the day with Pablo. Maybe they were looking for Samira together? Now he has brought her home and before saying goodbye, he tries to kiss her. She refuses. Kissing is for married couples. The earlier kiss? That was in the heat of the moment. Say, she says, why don’t we get married and live in Morocco? Think about it! And off she goes leaving Pablo with a silly grin on his face.

Diana, who has just witnessed this exchange, can’t believe it. Neither can I, says Pablo. But did you see the powerful chemistry between us?

Once upstairs, the Naz announces blissfully:
¡No encontré a tu hija pero encontré a mi marido!
(I didn’t find your daughter but I found my husband!)

Zombies Paula and Fer are hanging out on their favorite ledge when Paula spots a police car and runs away. Fer, stretched out dopily, reacts too slowly. The police question him, find the gun he got from the Scary Drug Guy, and take him in to the station. Fer calls Clara and tells her he’s been arrested.

At Casa Ferrer, our third zombie’s recovery is wearing thin about now. Ahora comienza el infierno (now the hell begins) Natalia tells Rosa. She asks her to take care of the baby. And she says: Don’t let me go out -- even if I scream or kick or make a scene.

Gloria expresses her doubts about Nati’s recovery (Me cuesta creer en la rehabilitación de Natalia), but Alej believes in her. And he is on his way to visit his son.

In Said’s house, Jadiya is talking to Jade on the phone. They are planning the details of their escape. Jadiya has her suitcase packed. She diverted suspicion by telling everyone it was full of doll clothes she wants to bring to school to show her friend. As Jadiya talks, Rania is approaching ever so quietly. She catches Jadiya saying: But where are we running away to, Mommy? To Fez? Okay.

Rania can hardly contain her joy. She whispers the good news to Amina and swears her to secrecy.

Clara spends another miserable evening in the police station. Fernando was caught with a gun and he had drugs in his pocket and in his bloodstream. Clara has no money for bail, so he’ll have to spend the night in jail.

Lucas shows up at Salamandra. Why? Who knows. But Zein spots him in the crowd and we get to enjoy a few seconds staring at beautiful Zein staring intensely at Lucas.

When Daniel gets back to Dora’s apartment, he learns that Jade is gone. And once again, he rushes out without telling Dora where he’s going.

Just as before, he lands at Casa Ferrer. This time he is here to see Lucas. He prefers to wait outside.

As soon as Lucas drives up, Daniel asks him accusingly: Where’s Jade? Where did you take her? Lucas is puzzled: Isn’t she at your house? No, says Daniel, she left and she took her luggage.

We see Jade sitting in a yellow taxi.

Jadiya is ready for school. Said wants to know what’s in her suitcase. Doll clothes, says Jadiya. Said would like to see them. [Really? Said wants to see Jadiya’s doll clothes?]

To keep Said from discovering what is really in the suitcase, Rania tells him the doll clothes are carefully folded; he’ll get them all wrinkled if he opens the suitcase.

Then Rania can only watch in mute admiration as Jadiya gets Said to sign a paper for her by telling him it’s a permission slip for a school trip to the zoo. [I suspect it's a permission slip for a rather longer field trip.] When Jadiya finally leaves, Rania smiles and smiles and smiles.
She would probably break into her awkward emu dance, but it might arouse Said’s suspicions.

At Mohamed’s place, however, the Naz feels quite free to dance with joy. She looks about 15 years younger than she did the day before. She and Zoraida agree on one thing:
Es muy triste el destino de una mujer sin marido.
(The fate of a woman without a husband is a very sad one.)
Alí, unobserved, is listening to this conversation and seems surprised to hear Zoraida’s sadness at her life without husband or children or her own. [So maybe Zoraida will get a husband after all].

Amin rushes in with the latest: They found Samira. There’s a boy downstairs who wants to talk to Mohamed.

Mohamed finds Carlos standing at the front gate. He tells Mohamed that Samira is fine; she’s staying with a girlfriend. And he explains that he is Samira’s boyfriend and is prepared to convert to Islam for her. Mohamed says, as if in a trance state:
Tu… Carlos… occidental… musulman… novio de Samira…
And then he faints dead away.

Back at the clone trial, Dora’s lawyer gets her turn to speak. She tells the judge that not only is Leo’s paternity claim morally repugnant, there is no solid legal or scientific basis for it. Dora gave birth to Daniel, she raised him, gave him a home and a family.

Furthermore, if Daniel were shown to be a clone, why would the court assume that Leo is his father? Why not Lucas?

Mohamed has been helped up to bed and Zoraida now serves him a calming tea. He tells the family he had a terrible nightmare.

Carlos takes Alí to the house where Samira has been hiding. He convinces her it’s safe to come home.

In the final scene, Jade is still sitting in the yellow taxi. At last, Jadiya arrives at school. And when the coast is clear, she gets in the cab with her mother.

Credits roll.

Labels: clon