Caray, Caray!

Alternate Title: Rest in Peace Don Mario


“WARNING! This episode contains scenes not suitable for those under 18.” I knew this episode would be eventful when this was the first thing I saw on my recording. Of course, despite this warning, and despite the fact it’s on after midnight, American censors decided our over 18 year old eyes could not handle the heat generated by Gabi and David on their wedding night. My advice…watch the complete YouTube version. I’m jumping ahead of myself, so let’s start from the beginning.

We get a replay of Mario saying farewell to Alejandra and Bertha. Ale runs upstairs trying to hide her tears. Outside, in front of the waiting car, Dora nervously hands Mario a letter she’s written. She asks him to read it later when he has time, but Mario prefers to read it now in front of her. He reads part of it and looks up at her in surprise. “But this is very important Dora! You’re David’s mother! Why didn’t you tell me all these years?” Dora tells him she was afraid. He touches her face gently. He wants to give the letter to Abelardo who will know what to do about it all until Mario returns. He sends the chauffer to get Abelardo and gets more details from Dora about how this all came about. She explains that at the time she had been abandoned by David’s father. She was young, alone and hungry. She had befriended a maid named Maria in Mario’s household, who told her that Don Mario and his wife were not able to have children. “I thought my son would be cared for, and I wasn’t wrong.” They look at each other tenderly.

When Abelardo arrives, Mario hands him the letter, asks him to read it, keep it in a safe place, and tells him he’ll know what to do. He tells Abelardo he’ll be in contact tomorrow and gives them both a fond pat farewell before entering the SUV. Abelardo holds Dora close as they watch the car pull off.

We next see Mario and the chauffer at a gas station, being stalked by Roberto in the trailer truck, Pink Panther disguise and cherry lollipop firmly in place. On the lonely road to Veracruz, outside of the city, Mario and the chauffer notice that a trailer truck is riding their tail. Mario tells the chauffer to slow down and let the truck pass, but they soon realize the driver has no desire to pass them. The truck starts to ram them repeatedly from behind, then pulls along side of them. We and Mario see Roberto with a gleeful, crazed look in his eyes. He is enjoying every minute of this. He starts to ram them from the side, pushing them closer and closer to the edge of the steep cliff. Finally he succeeds, and the SUV careens over the side of the highway, bouncing and rolling down the mountainside, until it lands in the ravine, crushed nearly beyond recognition. If we had any hope that Mario and the chauffer survived, all of our hopes are dashed when the SUV explodes into a fiery ball. We watch the fire in horror, and Roberto admires his handiwork from the side of the road.

Far away from all this ugliness, David and Gabi arrive at their oceanfront honeymoon suite. He carries her right through and past the living room, and straight to the bedroom. They are both looking lovely and ready for the tropics in their white linen pants and tops, but David seems eager to get those clothes off. Gabi admires the swan shaped towels, rose petals, and “feliz luna de miel” on the bed. David quickly deposits her right on top of all that foolishness and starts to get down to business.

We draw a veil on the two lovebirds for a while, and head back to Mexico City. Yolanda is still in her wedding duds, enjoying her favorite green drink and in deep thought on Adolfo’s couch. He comes down the stairs, having already changed into his “casual bad guy wear”, complete with black leather jacket. He’s none to happy to see her. “Todavia estas aquí?” (You still here?) He’s looking as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof, and wants her to go. “Largate!” (Beat it!) She gets up to go, but complains that she doesn’t know why she puts up with him (te aguanto- from the verb aguantar). He knows it’s because it’s beneficial to her (te conviene). “True. But one of these days I’ll get tired of it.” She puts him on notice and smashes her glass to the floor on her way out. (Are we looking at Elsa and JJ in 30 years?)

Things are moving right along with Gabi and David in the honeymoon suite. Gabi has unpacked her special wedding night lingerie and wants to head to the bathroom to put it on. David seems perfectly content to continue, without the lingerie, but gives in when Gabi shows it to him. As soon as she enters the bathroom, he starts ripping off his clothes. Shoes, shirt, buttons flying off, and pants…In five seconds flat he’s down to his striped boxer briefs and “casually” reclining in bed under the covers. But wait! He forgot the champaign. He dashes to the minibar and grabs the champaign bucket and flutes, dashes back, and resumes his “relaxed” pose. Ooops! He forgot the music. He dashes to the living room, turns on the sensual sex music, oops, I meant sax music, and runs back into the bedroom, dives into the bed, and re-assumes the position. He grows impatient and calls out to Gabi. “Mi amor!”

His call is answered when we see Gabi’s head peek out from behind the corner. Then we see a tanned, shapely, high heel-shod leg, coyly teasing David. Finally, sweet innocent Gabi, wearing a not so innocent honeymoon outfit, emerges. She has transformed into Playmate of the Year, in a sexy white lacy teddy and white panty bottoms. Only the robe covering her teddy, and her shyness, hint at the demure Gabi we and David have known up till this point. David is blown away. He mutters “wow!” and quickly hops out of bed to greet her. He takes her all in and tells her how beautiful she looks. His obvious admiration chases all of Gabi’s anxieties away and she falls into his arms. They kiss, and then start to do what comes naturally…in the bed and in the jacuzzi tub. I won’t go into details, but I will say this: we get more than an eyeful of David’s and Gabi’s assets; Gabi may have gone into the honeymoon suite a virgin, but she’s a fast learner; and David came prepared with massage oils! Fill the rest in with your imaginations, and/or with your memories of the episode.

That’s the only happy part of this episode folks, so I hope you enjoyed it in all its NC-17 glory. Now on to the grim matters at hand. Roberto calls Adolfo in a post murder frenzy to let him know the job was done. Adolfo orders him to meet him in Roberto’s apartment.

At the Genovés house, Dora and Bertha are being awakened in the middle of the night by the ringing doorbell. It’s the police, and they inform the ladies that Mario’s car was in an accident on the highway to Veracruz, near Jalapa. Both passengers appeared to have died (falleceron). Ale comes downstairs in time to also hear the news. Bertha is shocked, and Ale and Dora hug each other in devastation.

At Roberto’s, Adolfo is grilling him about whether he is sure Mario is dead. Rob tells him he saw it with his own eyes, but looks like he’s sleepwalking. He has come down from his homicidal high, but Adolfo is just getting started. He laughs happily and tells his protégé to cheer up. There’s always a first time for everyone. [Well, actually this is Roberto’s second murder (that we know about), and just how many people HAS Adolfo killed? Yikes!] He tells Roberto that tomorrow he’ll be rich and he’ll feel better.

It’s the morning after, and David and Gabi are strolling along the beach smooching and flirting. David’s cell phone rings and he gets concerned immediately when he sees it’s home. Bertha immediately breaks the news that Mario “se murió”. She actually appears to be grieving, well at least she’s crying and wearing black. David is beyond belief impactado.

In JJ’s hotel suite, Elsa has gotten Caramelo ready for school and is coaxing her to drink her milk so that they can head off to school. Caramelo is stalling so that she can see JJ and Limon. Just then, JJ and Limon wander out of their rooms, drinking their hangover water. It’s obvious that Elsa had to spend the night, and she reproaches JJ for coming back so late. The lies about some business thing keeping them late begins, but Elsa isn’t interested in hearing it. Since he’s here and up, he can take Caramelo to school, as usual. Elsa will pick her up from school, as usual. Before he walks out the door with Caramelo, he tells Elsa that he wants her to stay, so that they can talk when he gets back. She reminds him that she has a job that she needs to get to. JJ seems surprised for some reason that she actually took that job with Medina. (Hasn’t he noticed her new look?) He looks put out at this news.

At the beach, Gabi is speaking on the phone with Juli. She tells her what happened with Mario and that she and David are returning immediately to the city. She tells Juli that David is destroyed by the news, and we see a devastated David in the background, rooted to the spot where he heard about his father's death. Gabi hangs up and hugs the weeping David.

At the Genovés house, Ale and Bertha talk about poor David. Bertha then decides it’s a good idea to call Adolfo and tell him the news, since he’s Mario’s business partner and all. He’s still in his jammies, and does a fair job at acting shocked at the news, all the while grinning. He uses every single expression of surprise in one sentence to show Bertha his devastation. “No! No me digas. Que barbaridad. Que horror. No lo puedo creer. Que desgracia. Lo siento mucho.” He tells Bertha that he’s there for her if she needs anything, anything at all. He’s on his way over to offer his support.

Dora brings in a tray to Ale and Bertha, crying the entire time. Ale thinks this is a nightmare. But Bertha is back to thinking about #1, herself. She tells Ale that if David tries to throw them out, she’ll throw the circumstances of his common birth into his face and use it as leverage. Ale stands up. She can’t believe what she’s hearing. She reminds Bertha that they promised their uncle that they would not reveal the secret of David’s origins, and they are going to follow through on his wishes. “Well, I think differently, as always.” (Yo pienso diferente, como siempre.) Bertha’s snotty reply is interrupted by Abelardo’s arrival. He has yet to hear the news, and backs away in disbelief when the girls tell him what happened. “No, no, no…”

At Medina’s office, Elsa is answering and transferring calls, and seems to have gotten the hang of the complicated phone and computer system. She has the perfect, pleasant secretarial voice. Medina walks in, observes her working and smiles. He asks how she’s doing and she smiles back and responds, using the formal address. He gives her another reminder to call him Mauricio, since he’s not just her boss, but also her friend. He then invites her to a meal after work. She declines, since she has to pick up Caramelo after work, but Mauricio has the perfect solution. His niece is staying with him while her parents travel through Europe for a few months. He invites Elsa to bring Caramelo over to his house. The two girls can play, while he and Elsa chat and hang out. After some hesitation, Elsa accepts the invitation for the following day. (Good girl.)

At the Guillen’s apartment, Abelardo has brought Faustiago the news. He can’t believe it. He admits that despite everything (their love and competition for the same woman), Mario was a good man. (A pesar de todo, era un buen hombre.) Abelardo talks about Mario’s frame of mind before he died. He was sad because he had to leave his children, but he was at peace. Faustiago asks if David and Gabi have been informed. “Yes. Poor kids. They’ve had to cut their honeymoon short. And the worst is that now they are going to lose everything (to Adolfo).” He wonders out loud to Faustiago whether it’s too late for them to do anything about it now. Faustiago gives him a sad, anxious look, but it’s obvious the wheels are turning in his head.

JJ and Mina are at his house, as construction and renovations goes on all around them. JJ asks where Ale is, and Mina breaks the news to him about Mario. He asks Mina for Ale’s home number and immediately calls her. Ale answers from Mario’s office. She starts to unburden her feelings to JJ, but then remembering that he is her uncle’s possible enemy, refuses his offer to accompany her.

At that moment, Mario’s worst enemy, Adolfo arrives. He is greeted with a hug by Bertha, while a disapproving Dora looks on. He spews a few more b.s. declarations of disbelief and condolence, but then starts asking about the whereabouts of the bodies. David will be taking care of all the arrangements (tramites) and he hasn’t arrived yet. He is now the head of the family. More b.s. from Adolfo. “Poor boy. Had I known Mario planned to travel on that dangerous road, I would have done something. So many years of friendship. Blah, blah, blah.” He asks Bertha how she’ll be taken care of. She tells him it’s up to David as the new head of the family. Adolfo assures her that David will take care of her, since she’s family. It’s his new wife that probably won’t like it. But she can count on him (Adolfo). She asks him flirtatiously if maybe he can offer her a job. Oh, no, no, no. She’s a woman with “class”, and working is not for her. (We need a wheel barrow and a shovel for all this bullshit Adolfo is dropping.) Bertha eats it up. She lowers her eyes in a faux display of demureness.

David and Gabi enter the room, still looking honeymoon glamorous, but with obviously heavy hearts. Bertha immediately clings to David. David asks for an update and takes on the task of going to claim the bodies. Adolfo offers his plane to take David to Jalapa, and David graciously agrees. Gabi wants to go with David, but he doesn’t want her to witness something so horrific. Bertha takes the opportunity to add her two cents by reprimanding Gabi for making things more difficult for David.

David kisses Gabi goodbye, and Bertha receives a kiss on the cheek from Adolfo. The two men leave and Bertha puts out her claws. She gives Gabi the death stare. When Gabi asks how the accident happened, Bertha starts yelling at her to not pretend like she felt anything for Mario. She knows she was just interested in Mario’s money, like she only married David for his money. “And what about Carlos Avila?” This question is so far out of left field that Gabi has no clue what she’s talking about. Bertha tells her that everyone knows what happened between her and Carlos in that solitary beach house. Gabi has had enough by this point. She tells Bertha that she doesn’t have a right to speak to her that way and she won’t permit it! And if Bertha continues, she will be telling David. Bertha then threatens back. If Gabi tells David, she’ll regret it (repentir). Gabi does not know what she’s capable of! They stare each other down and Gabi walks away just as Ale emerges from Mario’s office. She wants to know what Bertha did to upset Gabi so much. They promised their uncle they would treat her well. She wants to know why Bertha would go out of her way to upset her. “Because I hate her! Because I can’t stand her!” Her hissy fit shocks Ale.

JJ is telling Limon about Mario’s death and how sad Ale is. Limon notes that JJ’s feelings for Ale are deepening, but JJ doesn’t want to talk about those feeling or what they mean for his revenge plan. He shushes Limon. “Calladito, te ves más bonito.” (The quieter you are, the prettier you are.) He decides to head out to Ale’s house. If Elsa asks for him, make something up. He leaves, and Limon starts muttering to himself, not at all happy with being tasked to lie to Elsa and noticing JJ’s self centeredness. “Todo yo. Todo yo.” (It’s all about me.)

Mina is visiting Ale and they are sitting in Mario’s office (her favorite spot). Mina hopes it didn’t bug Ale that she gave JJ her number. Ale doesn’t know what to think. JJ is so mysterious. She tells Mina who JJ really is. Mina is surprised and wonders at the reason for this ruse. Ale thinks perhaps revenge. There’s also the mystery of his relationship with Elsa. She explains about going to his hotel suite and finding Elsa and the little girl. Mina wonders if they are married and the little girl is their child. Ale is just plain old confused. She doesn’t know what to think, how to react, what to do. Mina doesn’t want her to stress about it. It will all become clear sooner or later. Just then, the doorbell rings. Dora informs her it’s JJ at the door. Ale refuses to see him. Mina thinks she should straighten things out with him, but Ale cannot deal with it at the moment. Dora delivers the message that Ale is not feeling well to a waiting JJ. She can barely look him in the eyes as she does so. JJ begins to leave just as Abelardo is driving up, hesitates as if to say something, and then leaves.

Carlos is at the Club, just getting the news of Mario’s passing. Like father, like son. He is smiling ear to ear at the news that the old man (viejo) died. He is sure David must be destroyed and that this ruined his honeymoon (jerk!).

Dora informs Abelardo that David returned and is in Jalapa collecting the bodies. She’s worried about him, and slips, calling David HER little boy. Abelardo, who has by now read the letter, tells her she has nothing to be ashamed of. She laments that the house will not be the same without Mario. They both cry.

Roberto is at home on the couch, replaying the crime in his head. Happy Adolfo arrives. He’s brought Roberto a case full of money, 5 million pesos to be exact, for a job well done. Adolfo is sure this will perk Roberto right up.

Back at the house, Gabi is keeping Dora company in the kitchen. Dora wonders why she isn’t with Ale and Bertha in the living room (sala). Gabi confides in her that she feels more comfortable in the kitchen with Dora, and that she doesn’t think she’ll ever feel comfortable with that class of people. Dora assures her that David fell in love with her for a reason. Dora will be here for her to guide her and help her with anything she needs. Gabi thinks she will need Dora badly, and expresses her gratitude.

Ale comes into the kitchen wanting to know why Gabi won’t join her, her sister and Adolfo in the living room. Gabi tries to beg off, but when Ale insists she admits her dislike of Adolfo and that they don’t get along. She tells Ale that she doesn’t think Adolfo is such a nice person, despite how he’s helping since Mario’s death. She doesn’t think he’s being sincere. Gabi expresses her condolences to Ale and her sincere sadness at Mario’s passing, although Ale might not believe it. Ale does believe it. And she knows what a great affection Mario had for Gabi. Ale knows it won’t be easy for Gabi to live in this house, but assures her it is now HER house and David loves her tremendously. She wants them to be friends. Gabi agrees, and reluctantly leaves with her for the living room. Dora has been listening to this whole conversation in the background with a look of concern.

In the living room, Bertha is assuring Adolfo that David will get tired of Gabi soon. She’s a common, vulgar woman, who doesn’t know how to carry herself or speak properly. Adolfo is sure that Gabi is good at something—“servicing” David (ahem), since waitresses are so good at that. They chuckle at their vulgar little joke as Gabi and Ale enter the room. Adolfo immediately starts with the insults. He asks Gabi if she’s sad because her passport to Europe died. Gabi defiantly tells him she’s sad because DON MARIO passed away, because he was a good and generous man. But, she points out, it looks like his death hasn’t affected the two of them. She tells Adolfo that he’s only there because he’s a no good hypocrite, just like his son! As Bertha starts her rebuttal, we see a pair of feet of someone walking in, and the shoes look a lot like Mario’s.

“How dare you speak to him that way?!” Bertha is winding up to hurl some more insults Gabi’s way, when suddenly they all hear a familiar raspy voice say, “Buenas noches.” They are all beyond impactados to see Mario standing before them, no one more so than Adolfo. “No! No. No puede ser!”

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