Caray, Caray!

Friday: Fedra thinks she’s having a heart attack. Mari leaves for Spain, having given Netty a letter to give to Emanuel, who’s come too late to the airport and gets held back by security and told off by Netty.

******

Okay, let’s see if my turkey-addled brain is working. Bear with me!

Weeping Emanuel is dragged off by security.

Kristel is visiting Mauricio in jail and after a little smooching, she tells him he’s going to get out and guess who’s going to do it? Fedra! His number one enemy, who yeah, still hates him, but Kristel’s got something on her. More coochy-coo smooching until Mauricio’s lawyer the mafia guy comes in and says he wants to talk to him alone.

The lawyer smilingly tells him he had to grease some very important palms, but he’s going to get Mauricio out, tonight! Mauricio wants to know how that Eman-exterimation plan is coming, the one to break Fedra’s heart. It’s in the works, the lawyer assures him. They chortle evilly.

Instead of holding him as a terrorist suspect and giving him the deluxe body search, the airport security guys deposit Eman on his Eman-mobile and tell him to get lost. They go inside and he sits on the thing and weeps and opens the envelope with Mari’s letter in it and reads:

Goodbye Emanuel. You must be wondering why I took off so suddenly without saying goodbye. I just didn’t have the strength to look you in the eye. It’s best for both of us. I’m going to save you the trouble (ahorrar el trabajo) of lying to me. My love for you is so powerful that it blinded me to the truth. You never loved me.

Eman boo hoos a bit, then goes back to reading: I’m leaving because every word you say is a mockery of my feelings. I’m going far away so I can forget you. Live your life and leave me in peace to live mine, far from you. Goodbye forever.

Goodbye, Eman wails. But the problem is that I love you! He sobs and anguishes some more, and, fortunately for his machoness, there is not one single soul walking into the front door of the Mexico City international airport. Maybe security put out a warning because they think he’s going to explode.

A jet is taking off and Eman yells to it that he’s not going to give up until he finds her and gets an explanation. It’s not fair! All he’s done is love her.

Say, here come a couple of people to the airport, but they’re not passengers. It’s our favorite thugs Baldy and Moustache. Moustache jabs a gun into Eman’s side and the two escort him away.

Flora the maid is a bundle of nerves about missing Muñeca and wants Lorenzo to go looking for her. He says he has to wait for Garduño to call. He wonders where Ilitia has gotten to, and Flora says she’s off moving heaven and earth to save her mother.

We see Muñeca trying the windows at the very upscale home where she’s being held. Garduño comes in and in a creepily gentle voice says he’s not letting her go yet and that she should dry those tears and make herself all pretty like the muñeca that she is. He wants them to have some champagne together. He hands her a coat that might be fur and says he picked it out just for her. He leaves the room.

At the station, Oliver and Brandon are discussing Mari. Brandon thinks she’ll be gone a long time, but Oliver thinks she’ll be back very soon, as her family is here. Brandon thinks it’s best she stay away, but Oliver sees through him. Brandon says he has to get Mari out of his heart, it’s not gonna happen. Oliver says you never know. Ilitia bursts in, weeping please! Please!

Fedra’s in a hospital bed with the monitor beeping and the doctor asks Emil, Bernardo and Axel to leave, he’s doing everything he can. Bernardo jabs a finger at Emil and says if she dies, it’s his fault. Yeah, says Axel, she caught a heart attack from you asking for a divorce. Bernardo says all Emil cares about is romping with that actress. Emil snarls and grabs him by the lapels and yells at him to butt out of his family’s business. The only reason he’s let Bernardo hang around is to make Fedra happy, but no more. You’re just an employee. Get out.

The smallish doctor says “Gentlemen!” but stays safely in his corner.

Muñeca walks into the den or whatever at the Mob Hill mansion where Garduño is waiting. He tells her how beautiful she is and says that Low is crazy, if he were married to a woman of such beauty and refinement, he wouldn’t go chasing after floozies. Muñeca offers him as much money has he wants to leave her family alone. He pretends to be offended. He says he just wanted to have champagne with her, and points out that he just got out of prison and it’s been a very long time since he’s been around such a beautiful woman. Years! He wants to enjoy every second of her company.

Come with me, he says quietly. I don’t want to have to make you, but I can. He takes her by the hand and sits her in a chair. He sits opposite and flips open a board game, telling her that his jailmates were too stupid to play it, but she should make a good opponent.

Ilitia is beside herself and can’t exactly explain to Brandon what happened. She tells him she doesn’t know the guys and that it was a simple kidnapping. He tries to calm her down, and Oliver comes in and tells him that Mauricio is getting let out

The board game seems to be some kind of Trivial Pursuit. Muñeca reads from a game card and asks Garduño who wrote the lyrics to the Ode to Joy. He guesses wrong, and she gets to move her marker. He’s very upset, so she quickly says she counted wrong. He’s furious when his cell ringing interrupts the game. It’s Baldy, reporting that they have Eman, who indeed we see out cold in the back of a delivery van.

Now the van is on its way through the rain. Some guy is driving and Baldy and Moustache sing to the radio, then get into a fight about bad singing. In the back, Eman starts to come to, and starts yelling to be let out. Somebody tells him to shut up.

We’re in Madrid! And so is Marianela who has arrived at Carlota’s. Carlota gushes about how fabulous Madrid is then notices that Mari doesn’t look too red hot. Mari says the flight made her kinda urpy and… she passes out.

We are snatched back to Mexico, where Netty is sitting at the kitchen table with her gal pals lamenting that she misses Mari. They try to assure her that Mari’s just off on a trip, not dead. Netty curses the Ruiz y de Teresa in general and Emanuel in particular. Lightening strikes. Doris drops a bomb – she’s applied for a student visa in the U.S. She wants to go to L.A. to study makeup. (Judging from these telenovelas, we don’t have as much makeup happening here as in Mexico, but I guess she means Hollywood.) Gladiola doesn’t want to let her little chick fly the nest.

Fedra asks the doctor if she’s dying and he tells her she’s healthier than he is. It’s must’ve been a chest cramp from stress and he’ll prescribe some sedatives. She offers him big pesos to say she has some fatal illness.

Mari’s in a hospital bed too, with Carlota hovering over her. A handsome doctor comes in and says she has something I didn’t catch, but it sounds like general galloping body rot. He’ll have to run more tests. Mari’s life is in danger.

More of Eman pounding on the sides of the truck. The baddies, one of whom has a gun in hand, decide to pull over in the wooded area.

Mari says it’s not the first time she’s passed out, and Carlota remembers it happening in Mexico. Mari says the family doctor said she had anemia. And here comes the Spanish doctor with the results – they’ve found traces of poison. Is this our takeaway lesson, that Spanish medicine is superior to Mexican medicine? Or maybe that the rich-folks’ clinic is superior to a neighborhood doctor who is unlucky in love?

Mauricio is picking up his things at the prison, and the prison guard hands him a piece of paper, saying somebody left a message for him. It’s signed Garduño, who says welcome to the big leagues, show up at this address. And none of the guards read this paper that’s just folded, and not in code, gives an address and is even signed by a mob boss?

While Axel and Bernardo listen, the doctor tells Emil that Fedra has suffered a bad heart attack and any upset could do her in. Bernardo remarks pointedly that a new life – alone – will be very stressful for her. Axel tells his father that if he divorces her, it’ll kill her. Fedra, pretending to be asleep, smiles a tiny smile.

Mari tells the doctor that Paula always fixed her meals and she trusts her completely. He asks her to remember whatever else she might have eaten regularly. Mari remembers the chocolates and freaks out. We see flashbacks of her receiving chocolates and eating them, even once being fed a chocolate by Eman. I hate him! she wails.

The baddies get out of the van and one ties the gearshift securely and tromps on the gas and then jumps out. They run to a car they had waiting by the roadside. Eman is being tossed around in the out-of-control van.

Emil says that all that time he had eyes only for Fedra, but then one day, everything changed and he realized… Axel finishes his thought You realized she wasn’t the person you thought, but still, if you leave, it’ll kill her and none of us will forgive you. We can tell Fedra is enjoying this enormously. I can’t leave her right now, says Emil.

Garduño thanks Muñeca for the splendid time. She thanks him too, using Usted even though he uses tu, for the dinner and everything and can she go home now? It’s raining too hard, he observes. He tells his servant to take her to her room and keep an eye on her.

In comes Mauricio who thanks Garduño for springing him and wants to know if he took care of that Fedra thing. Yes, says Garduño, she’ll be getting a box delivered with her son inside, chopped into little pieces. Even Mauricio looks a bit grossed out. Garduño says time to sign a contract and he pulls a gun on Mauricio.

Maurcio is taken aback. Garduño tells him that as long as he does what he says, everything will be fine, but from now on, his life - and his death - are in Garduño’s control. He smiles and hands the gun to Mauricio as a welcome present. This fellow sure has a flair for the theatrical.

I think Brandon and Oliver are setting up a wiretap on the phone at Lorenzo’s house. Ilitia is very scared about her mother and Brandon promises they’ll get her back safe and sound. He takes Ilitia’s hand and presses to his heart (on the second try – first he presses it to the right side of his chest, then realizes he’s wrong – cute!).

Mari has some leftover chocolates in her purse which she hands over to the doctor for analysis. Mari is raving about how he gave her chocolates, how he was the love of her life, how he just wanted to kill her for her inheritance, all the time neglecting to say who “he” is. Finally Carlota gets it out of her – Emanuel. Carlota’s jaw drops. Mari explains the plot for Eman and Fedra to share the inheritance. Carlota just can’t believe it of Eman, and can’t believe that a Ruiz y de Teresa would kill someone of their own blood for money. Mari stuns her with the news that Eman isn’t a real Ruiz y de Teresa, that he’s actually Type F, and that he and Fedra are just out to take every centavo for themselves.

Eman’s face is bloodied, but I can’t tell if the van is still moving. He calls out for help. Somebody outside is shouting that his wife is bad off and Eman shouts that he’ll help if they get him out. Finally somebody opens the door and Eman sees a scene of horror – a huge pileup with lots of cars, one burning, and accident victims shouting and staggering about holding their sides in pain.

Low, Ilitia and Brandon and Oliver are waiting for a phone call. The phone rings and both Low and Ilitia jump. Low wants the police to answer, but they tell him he has to. While they listen, Garduño tells Low he doesn’t deserve a classy woman like Muñeca and that they had a lovely evening together. Low is furious, and wants her returned right now. Oh no no no, says Garduño, it’s too late, it’s raining and the city if very dangerous, you know. Low insists on talking to her directly, and Garduño hangs up. During the call, Oliver and Brandon watch a computer screen with maybe voice recognition software running.

Ilitia runs towards her father, then decides to hang on Brandon instead. Low peels her off and has her hug him.

Some locals have kindly taken all the accident victims into their home while they wait for help. One man is bawling inconsolably because he lost his wife. Eman tries to comfort him, and says he too has lost the only woman he ever loved. One of the accident victims runs in and says her daughter has fallen, and Eman runs off to help.

Mauricio has showed up at the big house and Kristel is thrilled. She exults that Fedra got him out, but he says it wasn’t Fedra, so Kristel wants to tell her off. Nereida says that’ll have to wait because she’s in the hospital and adds that she’s going to be a lot worse when she sees Mauricio is out. Kristel and Mauricio don’t pay a shred of attention because they’re busy smooching. Avert your eyes.

Low has gone to bed, but Ilitia comes down to the living room and tells Brandon she can’t sleep. Her poor mother! They’ve had such distance between them and she’s said such terrible things to her. I’m a horrible person, she says. Brandon assures her she’ll have time to fix things up with her mother. Ilitia says how wonderful her mother is, what good care she always took of her, the time she always gave her, even though she isn’t… What? says Brandon. Never mind, says Ilitia leaning into his arms.

Eman carries the wounded girl into the house and says she’ll be okay. He lays her on the bed while the mother cries with gratitude, then he falls over into a faint. The victims realize he’s wounded.

Avances: Carlota is astonished to find out Fedra’s real name. Ilitia and Brandon kiss. The Spanish doctor tells Mari she has to lose weight. Delicia, holding the phone, tells the family that Eman is maybe dying.

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