Wednesday, November 10, 2010

La Verdad Oculta #040: Roberto the Highwayman

In the club office, frustrated and perplexed Roberto and Carlos dither over why Juan José is hiding his name and throwing around so much money -- when only recently he was desperately poor. Carlos suspects Juan José is behind the Mirador purchase, too; and Roberto keeps momentarily mum on the name deception to uncover the truth.

Out in the bar, Adolfo conversationally pumps unsuspecting Bertha about Mario and his family and quietly plays on her resentment and ambitions, even initiating familiar address to foster intimacy. Some innate sense leads Bertha to disavow her interest in David when Adolfo asks.

Secretly content to hear Mario seems ill, Adolfo assures her he himself is happy to help with whatever she might need, which pleases Bertha. When she exits for the powder room, Roberto enters; and Adolfo cuts Roberto's grinning wink about Bertha short, disgusted Roberto lost his entry to Mario's and now Adolfo must cultivate another way with Bertha.

Absorbed in a family photograph, Gabriela weeps in her new bedroom at Mario's; when David enters, he assures her Santiago will improve seeing Gabriela is happy. She's comfortable with Mario, and David insists he will deal with problems Bertha might cause. She entreats him to never cease loving her, and David in turn that she never hide anything; and they seal it with a kiss.

Back at the club, Adolfo exits with Bertha for more private digs; and Carlos approaches Julieta demanding why his dad is with Bertha. Julieta wouldn't know and irritably blows him off; whereupon David rudely and publicly reminds her she's just a waitress and can't come in late just because Gabriela married David. Julieta turns and shouts that Gabriela married a real man -- and quits the building.

In his office, Mario expresses his pride in Alejandra and that he's now going to fill her in on the rest of the plan, which she will need to know. She watches him switch the cameras on, and they exit the secret door; inside the tunnel, Alejandra points out Juan José's old well spot, assuring Mario Juan José suspects nothing.

Luckily outside Julieta's apartment, Leonardo pulls up the same time as her taxi, so he can lend her the fare, having left her purse behind. She explains the dust up; and Leonardo will help her find another job, as well as retrieving her things. Julieta gives Leonardo a tender look as he pays her taxi.

Emerging into the tunnel house, Alejandra insists they must replace the louvers and set an alarm against another break in. Mario amazes her with the studio; but as they sit, most surprising is Mario's contention of who and what Juan José really is. She is horrified and incredulous to hear Mario painfully tell the frame-up murder story and his unwitting part in it.

When Alejandra shoots to her feet, begging to know what harm she herself did to make Juan José want to use her like that, Mario guesses it's to approach himself and Adolfo. Mario can see Juan José likes Alejandra and hopes she can uncover his intentions -- and help him prove his innocence. Weeping bitterly, Mario begs her to convey how deeply sorry he is; and to keep up a friendship with Gabriela.

Leonardo accompanies Julieta to her apartment door; and she kisses him goodbye on the cheek, securing a promise he will take her to the movies. At breakfast at gorgeous Juan José's, Asunción's relieved Juan José took his Elsa pep talk alright; it's just the truth, Juan José says. However, it's also true that he likes Alejandra very, very much, Juan José rhapsodizes -- before informing Asunción they're finalizing the hotel sale that day.



Dora introduces herself to Gabriela, sitting lonesome at the big breakfast table -- the workers already gone and slacker still abed -- making Gabriela feel a little more comfortable. In town, a generously smiling Mauricio introduces an apprehensive Elsa to her new job and explains the company will invest in a new wardrobe commensurate with their image. So, there will be shopping; and Elsa is smiling.

Julieta cheers lonely Gabriela up on the phone with her good-natured envy; just then Leonardo rings the bell, and she greets him with a smile and the uniform he'll return to the club for her. When asked, he admits Gabriela's marriage surprised him and that he really liked her. But now Julieta reminds him he's taking her to the movies and kisses him on the cheek goodbye again. He'll return with her purse that evening.

Juan José phones Gabriela to meet about the subject of his name change. And then there's a segment of complete identity change, revealing how Santiago becomes Mario in the studio. When he's finished, Mario frightens Santiago by insisting he try the disguise out right away.

At Mario's, Alejandra is gushing over dozens of red roses anonymously sent to Bertha, when "Mario" zips by dismissively in the hallway, prompting Bertha to observe he's getting nuttier every day. David enters to speak urgently with "Mario," who dives to close the office draperies. David insists the Ávilas be invited to the wedding to downplay the importance of the beach-house flap.

"Mario" seems to have passed his first test, as he heaves a sigh once alone again. At a restaurant, Juan José and Gabriela agree to keep each other's secrets: his fantastic tale -- and that she met him at the market. Her husband is the jealous sort, and Juan José makes it plain he can definitely see why. They agree to be friends.

While "Mario" sweats it out at the big house, Mario and Abelardo wait at the tunnel house, where Mario explains that tomorrow after the wedding he will set off for Veracruz and the ocean liner carrying him to Europe -- never to return. He's leaving behind a letter for David in case Santiago is discovered.

Susana lays on Elsa's doorbell to no avail, when Carlos appears and seizes on Susana's mistaken assumption that he's Juan José to spend time with her and pump her for information. At a restaurant, Bertha greets Adolfo affectionately and flatters him for sending the flowers while he gathers intel about the family. Importantly, he learns Mario will be traveling by car tomorrow for Veracruz.

At a different restaurant, the less-deft Carlos makes a gaff, spooking Susana, who rushes away. He claimed he intends to spring Elsa's brother from prison. So he learns nothing about how Juan José suddenly acquired so much money. Meanwhile, Adolfo rushes to Roberto's condo to excitedly instruct him he will dispatch Mario on the road tomorrow!

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You Tube links for Episode #40:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5
 

Thank you for the great recap and for the pictures! :)
 

Jeri- Thank so much for this great recap. You had a lot to cover this episode. They really set up a lot of things.

It was confirmed that Mario knew perfectly well who Juan was at the dinner. Clever old guy. Not once did he let on that he knew. And JJ feels like he's so smart and fooled the old guy. I loved that he told Ale, and asked her to help JJ.

The wedding is tomorrow! As well as the assasination attempt on Mario. Wow!

Carlos and Roberto know about JJ, and are getting closer to finding out about how JJ got so rich all of a sudden. It doesn't really matter anymore as they got the gold legally and Medina helped them make it all legal and get it into a bank. So it's not like Rob and Carlos could steal it from him somehow. And now that Mario and Ale know who he is, they can't threaten him that way either.

Leo to the rescue once more. I love that Juli is giving him some real encouragement, while ackowledging that he has to have taken Gabi's marriage pretty hard. She's so cute. Your description of her good-natured envy was spot on. She is feeling a bit of envy, but it's not over the top as it usually is in tns, and it doesn't reduce her happiness and excitement for her big sister.

Faustiago (Faux Mario) is going to have to get better at playing Mario if he's going to fool anyone. It still amazes me that this is the same actor. He does so well pretending to be someone who is pretending to be someone else, who are all him. Lol! I'm even confusing myself!
 

Awesome, recap, Jeri -
beautifully written!
 

Can I just say how relieved I was that no one saw Gabi and JJ having lunch. Especially after she said how jealous David gets. Only she and JJ know about their friendship and prior meetings, and I want it to stay that way.
 

I didn't hear Mario tell Ale
about the observation of Dora
that Carlos was one of the 2 boys
involved in the death(murder).
I also wonder since he is so smart
that he didn't connect Roberto to
Carlos at the hotel. He knows that
Roberto was there that day and he
knows that the 2 guys are still
cronies. It didn't seem that he
passed on these clues to Ale.
Thanks for your help.
 

Good morning. :-) Floridia, I was waiting for Mario to tell Alejandra it was Dora who was the witness, but he never did.

He just sort of summed up what happened and concluded with the unfortunate frame up. He was mostly concerned with fixing the injustice, as he was very upset.

Anyway, so that leaves terrified Dora the task of overcoming her anxiety. She will have to come forward. It should be interesting.

The other one who knows it's she is Abelardo; and he has such a soft spot for her, I think he will help her. What a warm, loyal guy. One of many likable characters in LVO.

Vivi, about Héctor Ortega, the Mario/Santiago actor: he had me fooled.

I knew he was going to play two roles, but I had no idea for a while that he did from the beginning.

I thought he was going to start playing a double role later. Isn't that mad skills!

Adolfo showed why he is the boss last night. He is so freaking smooth.

I actually was compelled to understand why Bertha might take him seriously as a romantic partner, besides his wealth.

It's the first time I found him attractive. Ok, kill me now.
 

P.S. I have this awful sinking feeling that, despite the touching and heartfelt bedroom scene, Gabriela has not learned her lesson yet and will continue to hide things from David.

Her meeting with Juan José just confirms that. Bad, bad Gabriela! She white lies to her dad all the time; she has a terrible habit.

Well, not for nothing it's called "The Hidden Truth." I was noting yesterday that Gabriela is just another thread in the hidden-truth theme.
 

Jeri: Your words are like soft velvet, rich and sumptuous: "even initiating familiar address to foster intimacy", "momentarily mum" and "slacker still abed". Simply lovely.

Your picture of Juan was dreamy and the summery exquisite.

Faustiago (good one Vivi!) was certainly uncomfortable at his first attempt at masquerading. I thought the actor did an amazing job - his discomfort the entire time was palpable.

I'm also very uncomfortable that Gabi had coffee with David. This will come back to haunt her. Of course, both she and Juan should have been upfront when initially introduced that they had met before. They did nothing wrong - it was an innocent meeting but hiding it will only serve to fuel the fires of jealousy later on.

Julieta might want to give Leo a little time to get over Gabi. One or two kisses on the cheek are fine, but she may not to make her feelings too obvious, too soon.

Jeri, I howled at your comment on Adolfo: "It's the first time I found him attractive. Ok, kill me now". I also thought last night that he is certainly skilled at turning on the charm! :)

I'm off the next few days so will look forward to catching up on Monday.

Thanks again Jeri.

Diana
 

Diana, "turning on the charm" is exactly it. :-D You're always missed; come back soon!
 

Thanks Jeri. So the plot thickens. Carlos and Roberto are on the hunt to find out how JJ obtained the money and Gabi agrees to keep JJ's secret. From the sound of it, Mario did recognize JJ and knows what he's up to. That was a clever move on the writers part. I loved the scene when Mario had Fausto try out his disguise to see if the plan will work. That was funny. I hope Roberto doesn't kill Mario on his way to Veracruz. I don't want Mario to die. I'm anxious about tonight's show.
 

Thank you so much Jeri! Since Mario knows who JJ is, I'm certain he must also know that Asuncion is working for JJ. He knows exactly who is buying his hotel. Mario is becoming a willing partner in JJ's revenge scheme.

I too was surprised Mario didn't tell Ale that Dora saw who killed the hotel maid.

Bertha and Adolfo, the nightmarish creepy power couple. I hope we don't get any amorous geezer-in-bed scenes. Must. not. go. there....

I'm confused, I must have missed something. How did Leo connect Marcos to the diamonds?

Faustigio needs to be careful about zipping around when he's "Mario". Mario shuffles along because he's sick. Those quick movements will give things away.
 

xlnt, not sure what you mean about Leonardo, Marcos and diamonds. Leonardo's been looking for Elsa because of Marcos's jail break, but not in this episode.
 

Xlnt:
I'm confused, I must have missed something. How did Leo connect Marcos to the diamonds?

From Vivi's Friday recap:
Ramon brings up another case they’ve been working on—diamonds that were reported stolen in L.A. (what a coincidence). One of the diamonds showed up here in Mexico, and the description of the guy who sold it matches with the description of Marcos.
 

Thanks Aribeth! It must be the physical description (height, weight, build) that Leo connected with Marcos and not the details of his appearance since Marcos disguised himself with long hair, bad clothes and cool shades.

Jeri, I'm sorry. I should have put that I was confused by a previous episode.
 

Thanks Jeri for the great recap.

Loved how Santiago/Fausto did that about turn when he saw David and rushed into the office. That was so funny. He was not feeling very confident with his disguise when faced wth David. Good scene.

Gabi is making a big mistake. I also hope no-one saw her with JJ and reports back to David. She knows he has a big problem with jealousy.

If Mario has taken Ale into his confidence about tunnel, etc an also who JJ is, why hasn't he done the same thing with David. Don't really understand why.

Margaret
 

xlnt, not at all; I just barely remember that scene myself. And I was thinking the same thing about "Mario" zipping around. :D

Margaret, he was funny; I was thinking, though, the only reason David asked him if something was wrong was because he was acting so strangely. He was doing fine!
 

Margaret- I think Mario knows David is too much of a hothead to tell him Adolfo is threatening to accuse him of a murder and has been blackmailing him to be his business partner for 20 years, and that their entire business is at stake. David's first and only instinct would be to confront Adolfo, and Mario knows that's a big risk. Also, David would likely ask more probing questions about how he and Santiago know each other. The good thing about Ale is that she doesn't ask any questions beyond what Mario is willing to tell her. She respects his privacy that way. I did not see the episode when he told her the plan to have Faustiago pose as him, so I don't know how Mario told her. I assume he did not tell her that the murdered woman was Santiago's wife/Gabi's mom. Or did he? He certainly didn't tell her that he had a child by the murdered woman.
 

By the time Marcos sold the diamond that tipped off the police (this in not one of the first two he sold to Yolanda's contacts), he had the streaked hair and contacts, not the wig/hat/sunglasses. A description of his face, facial structure, body build, height, etc, would make him pretty easy to connect to Marcos if they did a drawing. The cops would expect things like hair color and cut to change. And really, how many people in Mexico have blue eyes. You can totally tell that he has contacts in. :)
 

Jeri, great recap and I love the pic of Juan....so handsome.

So far, Roberto has been a screw up so I hope he is unable to fulfill his assignment to kill poor Mario. I hope he doesn't because he has a conscience not because he is thwarted in some way. But since we saw him throw the defenseless hotel worker over the railing without remorse, that seems unlikely. Since kidnappings are, unfortunately, a risk for the wealthy, Mario's chauffeur may be well trained for this or the car may be bulletproof. Mario needs a miracle cure so he can be reunited with his family in the finale.

GinCA
 

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