Saturday, December 18, 2010

El Mundo de Telemundo: Week of December 20

Discuss amongst yourselves

Thanks to everyone who commented last week: Novelera, Vivi in DC, Ann-NYC, Hombre de Misterio, NJ Sue, Urban Anthropologis, Lois, shallowgal, CanuckFan, Erin, Blusamurai. (NJ Sue – have a great vacation! Travel safe!)

Best of all – Jean is due back this week!

With your terrific posts, you guys are bringing this space to life as a real discussion.

For those of you who are new here or missed last week’s page, I’m reposting our suggested format changes:

In the interest of Chaos Control:

1. Please put a clear topic heading on every comment, preferably in caps. Also, to avoid spoilers, where appropriate, add the day of the week. (Adding the day is Novelera’s idea – Thanks!) For example:

AURORA -- Tuesday
Pila melts frozen the heart …

or:

GENERAL COMMENT
Telemundo seems to be more concerned with…

That way, we can decide right up front whether to keep on reading. I realize that a lot of us are already doing this, but to those who aren’t – hey, it would help.

2. It’s hard to get away from the recap mindset – I’m the worst offender with the wordy Aurora screeds I’ve inflicted on you – but I do think comments or questions about what you’ve watched or what others have said are the way to go here. Considering the number of novelas in one place and the fact that the link is for an entire week, when we do post plot updates, it might be best to limit them to brief summaries, basically bullet points of daily episodes.

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The latest on Telemundo:

El Fantasma de Elena is in últimos capítulos and Los Herederos del Monte seems to be its replacement. Meanwhile, La Reina del Sur is still on the back burner. The Telemundo website says only that it is coming próximamente. I assume that La Reina will take the 9 pm slot when Alguien is done.

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Updates on current shows:

AURORA – as of Friday

Tonight was the Second Coming of Aurora. The absurdly complicated sham reanimación finally takes place. It is an electronic-age magic act, a media spectacle with switching of bodies and loss of screen image at strategic moments. In its wake it leaves a fake Aurora in a coma from which she is unlikely to recover; and the real Aurora with the burden of pretending to be two people: her true self and her daughter.

Collateral damage: Liliana tried, she really tried, to be a soulless, money-grubbing apostle of the great Gustavo. But in the end, she couldn’t do it. And now she is bound and gagged in a back room and at the mercy of Dra Elizabeth. Who has none. Mercy, that is.

While Aurora is recovering from the fake defrosting, she hears Lorenzo declare his love for her. She realizes that both Natalia and Vanesa were lying: Lorenzo never betrayed her. He was and is the love of her life.

But she also realizes that she has developed feelings for Martín.

She’ll have to figure out who she really is and whether she wants to look to the future with Martín or pick up the pieces of the past with Lorenzo. She continues to remind us that her love for her daughter Blanca is more important than her love for any man.

[Since telenovela writers love the conceit of the double identity, I’m thinking we’ll be seeing double Auroras for quite a while. How is the actress going to make them distinct from one another? Cloncitos, I’m sure you join me in hoping that no head-scratching will be involved.]

Meanwhile the Blanca-César-Vanesa triangle is getting ever more sordid and maybe a bit dangerous. The writers keep teasing us with situations where César almost removes his shirt giving Blanca a chance to see the telltale tattoo and realize he’s her kidnapper. But on Friday’s episode, it is Blanca who loses at strip poker. And once again, César gets to keep his shirt on. (It’s interesting that when Martín and Vanesa walk in and find her topless, Blanca seems unembarrassed.)

And in the Department of Cozy Domesticity: We see Natalia and her nasty gnome, Nina, sitting at the kitchen table nursing their Hatred, their Jealousy and their Thirst for Revenge.
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ALGUIEN TE MIRA – as of Friday

There’s no doubt now – Daniela is Julián’s next target. Julián knows that when the police investigate, they will find a trail leading back to Rodrigo. What he doesn’t know is that Mauricio has photos of him and Daniela together.

When Julián’s son is looking for family photos for a school project on genealogy and rummages through his father’s memorabilia, he finds a photo of his grandmother, Julián’s mother, in the famous black dress. (We hear her name for the first time: Fabiola. Well, that's assuming Julián is telling the truth.) Julián is furious at the perceived invasion but interestingly, Emilio continues to ask him questions fearlessly. This is a very secure little boy who has never been abused. We understand how controlled Julián’s violence has been up to now, how skillful he is at compartmentalizing his life: One part loving father, one part charming, skilled physician, one part controlling ex-spouse, one part monstrous serial killer…

Tatiana has given the police compromising information about Benja and tries to paint him as the killer. (Apparently there was a bloody shirt. He claims he hurt himself changing a tire. But how weird to burn it.) She won’t let him near his children. She is determined to make him pay for hurting her and her strategy is working. He starts to fall apart under the pressure.

Mauricio believes that Benja truly is the killer and that Camila is in imminent danger from him.

Rodrigo is hurting from Piedad’s rejection. Even so, he is determined to stay clean. His unborn child is his strongest motivation, although as Benja suggests, if he sticks to his rehab, he has a good chance of winning Piedad back.

Nevertheless, Rodrigo doesn’t lack for admirers. Valeria is sweet on him. So is Daniela, for that matter.

Piedad says that she’s giving Julián an opportunity. But Rodrigo is the one she's always thinking about. And Eva’s ghost tells Julián that Piedad will never love him. Who does that remind you of? she asks. Oh boy. Probably not a good thing to remind Julián of Mama.

With $5000 cash in her purse, Lola drags the reluctant Yoyita to her meeting with the hitman, El Buitre (the vulture). The women, disguised as a couple of plus-size Avon Lady drag queens, are met by an armed man who orders them into his SUV. Is he The Vulture they’re looking for? Or just a random predator looking to pick their bones clean?

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And now it's your turn. (Ya te toca a ti.)

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Comments:
ALGUIEN TE MIRA - Friday

Thanks, NovelaMaven. You continue to amaze me with your succinct mini-recaps, giving me just enough meat on the bones to trigger a comment.

I know Lola and Yoyita's visit to the car park is meant to be comic relief, but all it does is annoy me. I was annoyed at the high-handed way the high-maintenance Lola insisted that Yoyita also come along: ¡ni loca voy a ir sola!. Poor Yoyita is well aware they could go to jail for this, but Lola obviously considers herself above the law.

I hadn't considered that the guy with the gun might just be a stickup artist and not El Buitre. Love that name, by the way.

That fight between Benja and Tati was very well acted, by the way. Kudos to both of them. She's also pretty high maintenance. It's all about her, and she seems only to think of her pain. She loves her children, but not as much as she loves herself, or she would not insist on his not seeing his children. I speak as someone who discovered infidelity and automatically decided my son's relationship with his father was too important for me to vent my feelings around my child. We split up as soon as I found out, but I never tried to sour their relationship. This is all many, many years ago, but it's why I'm hard on Tati.

Julián appears to be losing it. His behavior when Emilio discovered the photograph was telling. The mask dropped. There's a high risk to him that Emilio will tell Mathilde about his behavior, maybe even about the black dress. He also fails to see how much Piedad hates it when he bad mouths Rodrigo. A smarter move would be to go along with her when she says Rodrigo is doing well. But he can't disguise his possessiveness with her any more than he can with Mathilde
 

ELENA:

ok, so I just finished last night's episode, and some thoughts:

Michel & Milady
What a crazy fast wedding! I'm glad Clara came around--it seemed sincere to me, but I'm not entirely sure (maybe her conversation with Mauricio in the beginning revealed more, but I didn't catch everything that was said).

What was up with the musical score they had on during the boda? I felt I was watching Indiana Jones or something...and expecting somebody to swing into the room.

Too bad Jesusa was not there--you would think she'd be invited (and heck, how were they even going to get married w/o any witnesses had Clara/Mauricio/Lucia not shown up?). Is the convent not near the Church? You would think Andrea could have been there with poms poms in the front row....

In any case, I'm happy for M&M...although I think it's a bit weird that they're moving so quickly...and doesn't really follow their whole "we shouldn't be too happy right now with Tomasito baby-napped" conversation a few eppys back...it's like the A and B storylines aren't running concurrently .

Baby-napping

I LOVED crazy gemela and Dulce in the car...they're like two peas in a pod! I thought our heroes were a bit slow with the bomb...I mean, why didn't they break the glass earlier? and, if there was a kid inside the bassinet, wouldn't you notice movement, noise?? babies aren't logs...and man, does Elena Lafe faint and whole lot...and that TINY boat everyone else escaped in?? how did they all fit?? *rolls eyes* ... well, lets hope Eduardo is a super fast, just like he was a super good shot and super invincible during the gun shootouts..

MC/Kalima

GO KALIMA! I want some of that powder he blew into MC's eyes...might come in handy ;) ...and him shooting like he did blindly--a bullet should have ricochet off his SUV right into his body. Camping with MC and Kalima should be interesting...

I think we just have a week left? That was #104, so 109 makes it Friday...
 

ALGUIEN TE MIRA

Yippee! I strained my brain until smoke came out my ears trying to remember the word for what I think is happening to Julián. It's decompensation. This is the stage in psychosis where the person gets worse and worse, losing the ability to pretend normalcy. If there are any psych majors out there, maybe you have a better definition. I have a friend with a schizophrenic sister, and she's described these cycles to me.
 

ELENA - Friday

CanuckFan, you said everything I was thinking, such as too bad Jesusa wasn't at the wedding. At least Eduardo realized almost immediately that he had less than 30 seconds to get out of there (don't know how he knew that, the displays didn't seem to show 30 anywhere, but let's not quibble). If we weren't in final chapters, he might get amnesia from the blast, but I think it's too late for that (thankfully).

Lots of things don't make sense. If Gemela wanted to kill the whole family, since the baby wasn't actually there, if they were all killed by the bomb, what was she going to do with the baby?

Montecristo was leaving for the airport, but I don't think both Elena and Eduardo signed over the hacienda to him (Elena did, but did Eduardo)? Where was he going, and with what money? He never did throw 3 races for El Greco, only one, right? Of course, now that Kalima is using him for a sacrifice to appease his ancestors, I guess that's all moot.

Did anyone notice that Eduardo and Elena first arrived in broad daylight (I think in the morning), but it was night when all the action started? Were Dulce and Gemela sitting in that car all day?

Despite all these little things (and those pointed out by CanuckFan), I'm greatly enjoying these episodes.
 

ALGUIEN Friday:

Whether Julian kills Daniela or Valeria, Rodrigo will be a prime suspect. But not only that, could one of their deaths drive him back to drugs? Hope not.

I do sort of remember Benja coming home with a little blood on his shirt. I'm not sure if it was from some wildness with Camila, or from burying that heart out in the wilds, but he did lie to Tatiana about it, and I do think he burned it.

Did Piedad think to herself (someone did) that if the police got that picture of Benja and Rod at the sight near where Eva disappeared, it would be really bad for Rod? But I still think it would be good, because someone else TOOK the picture, as many of us have pointed out. Angel (I think that's the DA's name) would jump to the wrong conclusion, but Luisa Carvajal wouldn't. And what's with their romantic relationship, which she's putting on hold until they find the killer? Isn't he a little wimpy for tough Luisa?
 

ALGUIEN TE MIRA - friday

A last comment before I leave on vacation. (Thanks for the good wishes, by the way). I taught psychology for 25 years and also did therapy for a couple. I have been trying to figure out what is wrong with Julian. He is not a schizophrenic because he is in reality and does not have hallucinations or delusions. I am not sure whether he is supposed to be a psychopath because I think he does experience some guilt reactions, and is capable of empathy. After he killed Eva, for example, he really was upset, and as I recall fell into a deep sleep in Piedad's bed. He obviously has a Personaltiy Disorder -- highly intelligent,charming, angry, paranoid, turns on a dime in reaction to people, even the ones he cares for. Probably being abused by his mother and a little of some of his other symptoms of abnormal behavior make him a composite crazy. Possibly as time goes on, we'll have a clearer diagnosis --or not, since this a telenovela. But Novelera is right that he is really losing control. It could be that the conflict of "having" Piedad and not "having" her is making it difficult for him. Every time he feels rejected by her, he goes back to his plan to seduce and kill Daniela. He probably feels like a yo-yo because he feels near to having what he wants (e.g.mommy) and then she slips away. I think this is more of a motivation for his losing control than the cops focusing in on the socios.
 

Elena

Canuckfan i was thinking the same thing too why are they having a wedding and no Jesusa is even there. Wrong sequence by the producer to show that scene for this episode. Jesusa raised Milady since she was a baby and for not to be at her daughter's wedding is not believable.They should have just had other scenes with Walter and Corrina or Nena and Anacleto trying to locate gemela.

Clara was up in arms once again about Michel marrying someone beneath him. Mauricio quickly shut her up with do you think this is a repeat of us again? Is this why you're acting this way towards your own daughter and Michel? He told her she should be there to support Michel because no matter what she thinks or wants. Michel is going to marry Milady they love each other that much.

Hombre De Misterio ita they must have been waiting around for the others to show up. It took Dulce's phone call to bring Latona and Rebecca to go to the house and they still didn't bring Andrea like she wanted.

I didn't understand what gemela was going to do with the baby by keeping it now. Really Eduardo you know nothing about disarming a bomb but you want to be all macho and try it any way without a expert?
 

Alguien

Hombre De Misterio i was thinking that Benja did come home with blood on his shirt i just can't remember from what? It can't be when they buried the heart remember Piedad was there when they did that.I know it was something he did that now that Tatiana has brought it too the police's attention he's scared about telling them the truth.He might as well come clean and stop being childishly defensive about it because like Piedad said unless the cops have proof to convict all they're doing now is trying to gather evidence and he shouldn't be worried about it.

Hombre what i think Piedad believes what she told Julian when he was trying to convince her that he the killer because of that picture. She told him no if anything it proves that the killer was there watching them and he took it.
 

Alguien

I got a kick out of Lola and Yoyita dressing up in their disguises.

Piedad is now it seems not going to let Lucia get away with trying to destroy Pedro Pablo marriage like she wants. Maybe to make up for keeping her mouth shut about Benja cheating on Tatiana.

Tatiana actions from Friday looks like she's putting a bullseye on her back after Julian finishes with trying to kill Daniela.

Is she justified in what she's doing like i said she isn't killing anyone. I can't call what she's doing is ego either. I have a BFF who's husband cheated on her with her cousin and got her pregnant also. She threw her cousin right out of her house when she found out. Told her husband if he ever cheated on her again that was it. She even had a affair to pay him back herself let him know how she felt when he cheated on her. I asked her why she didn't just leave him. She told me at that time he was the breadwinner and they already had a child and she was pregnant with their second child when this happen.When i met her my BFF in college she has since graduated and is doing quite well.I ask her if she has forgiven him she tells me yes for her children's sake he is their father but she can never trust like she did before and the love she used to have for him it's not the same.The cousin who got pregnant by her husband at the time she was just like Camila they were even close like sisters. She was staying with them because she didn't have any place else to go. After throwing her out of her house she has never asked or wonder what happen to her at all. It really depends on the woman, i've known and have seen some woman using violence when finding out their man is cheating on them with another woman. Yes some woman react just like Tatiana is doing by wanting to keep their father away from his own kids or poison their kids towards their father.

Infedility is bad but when a man cheats on his wife, fiancee or long time girlfriend with a family member i just believe it takes it to a whole new level of low down and dirty.
 

ELENA:

After some more thought last night, I think the main reason why Jesusa was absent from her daughter's wedding is that she was most definitely needed at the Casa Giron...I mean, I would bet that she was waiting at the dock/water landing to fish out the line to the little boat for our impt heroes...you know, since they are her FAMILY after all...or better yet, when she found out she wasn't invited to the wedding, she justified by saying "Milady is an adult now, she can decide what to do..." harhar

Somebody on another site said that she's read that there's going to be 120 eppys for EDFE and that it could end by Jan 10...does Telemundo usually preempt their regular primetime/novela programming during the holidays for other stuff???

If it's really 120 episode...QTH is going to happen??? You would think after this whole bomb thing is resolved...then it'll lead to the happy happy montages. So, Hombre...there might be a chance for Eduardo to have amnesia and be cured in 4-5 episodes!

At the pace M&M is going at; perhaps by episode 120 and the projected finale, Milady not only would have been great with child, but she has already given birth to a set of twins (named Mison and Midaughter), no longer works as a criada (she has her own Help to boss around, but with compassion, since she's been in their shoes), graduated from a top notch University (with honours!), and she and Michel are still giving each other gaga eyes. Oh, and she's found world peace (and all during this time, Clara is still beside her self since she's now a freakin' ABUELA and she's just too young for that...).

FIN. fade to black
 

ALGUIEN--general

I may have posted my last comment under the wrong "week" (bottom of Week of December 13), but still am not clear on the profile of the victims/Rocio.

Were all of the victims mothers? And was Rocio a mom? I don't remember hearing whether or not she was. At any rate, I'm as worried about Matilde as I am about Daniela.

So far, it just seems like each victim was pretty sexual. I hope this later points to el cazador's motives.

Lookin' forward to this week... :-)
 

ALGUIEN-

Erin, yes it appears that each victim was either a single mother, or a mother who had lost custody of her child through divorce or her own problems. Rocio had lost custody of her child to her rich/controlling husband when she divorced him.

Julian seems to consider someone a "bad" mother for a number of reasons. It might be someone who he thinks has chosen her work over being a mother (e.g. Eva); someone who is sexual/dates/brings a new man into her child's life (Benja's lovers; Matilde); truly bad moms (the drug dealer); or mothers who are not the primary caretakers/lost custody (Rocio, Eva).
 

ELENA

I have been watching this TN since day one, and I can tell you the wheels have really come off in the last few weeks. I expect it's because they keep being commanded to change the number of episodes. First they cut, and then they expanded some, and I think lately they've been told to expand even more.

So things have been really sloppy lately. Not that the story ever made that much sense after the plot was totally changed after the first month, but it has really lost it during this final month. Some episodes have bored me enough that I've been sneaking over to STuD and fortunately was able to catch some of the exciting bits there.

Audrey
 

(Thanks Vivi--what a difference in details missing a few capitulos makes! Que aprendemos más acerca de Fabiola, pronto.)
 

GENERAL

Shooting "al aire" is a mixed blessing for Telemundo. While it allows them to fix what's wrong with a series they also succumb to the temptation to drag out a series at their convenience or because it's successful.

Pasion de Gavilanes was the perfect example of that: After its initial good reception they shortened the episodes to have them 5 minutes shorter than usual. That was bad enough, but dragging out the final story arc to twice the length it should have been actually made me impatient for the end. I think they shortened that on the first rerun.

I dearly wish for some consistency in novelas. If you're going to make the Giron males all werewolves at the outset of the story, stick with it. At least they seemed to stick to a time period in EFDE, unlike some others they've done.
 

ALGUIEN

Great comments this weekend! I found especially interesting the exchange between Novelera and NJ Sue on Julián's psychological underpinnings.

I've said before that a person's reaction to a novela character is a sort of Rorschach test that reveals at least as much about the commenter as the subject. In that spirit, let me say that I completely get Tati. She is doing all the wrong things and will surely come to regret her behavior later. But the person I absolutely detest (after Julián, that is) is Benjamín. He thinks he is above the rules, no matter who gets hurt. I wouldn't want my kids internalizing those values either.

About Julián decompensating --

I'm not sure I see it that way. "Decompensation" assumes that a person's illness was controlled and then it worsens and gets out of control. In Julián's case, it's hard to think of his long-term efficient two-faced killing machine persona as a state of 'remission'. I see him rather as someone whose mask is slipping. And unless "Unregenerate Evil, not otherwise specified" makes its way into the forthcoming DSM V*, I doubt we'll find a psych label that will suit him.

*Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
 

ALGUIEN:

While I have no idea how to label Julian's "problem", and I'm sure it has a lot to do with his mother, I feel that he himself is primarily responsible for his actions. If he were so psychotic that he had no idea of what he was doing, that might be different. But I think he's fully aware of what he's doing, and needs to pay the price, not just get treatment. In El Fantasma de Elena, the "bad" Elena killed about 4 people, but instead of prison, they put her in a clinic, after which they pronounced her "cured". Of course she's a killin' all over again.
 

ALGUIEN GENERAL

I am also enjoying the back and forth about Julián's condition. I agree that perhaps my "decompensating" theory may have been too facile. I probably absorbed it from one or two movies/novelas about serial killers. But it could be true.

And, Hombre, I never meant to suggest that Julián doesn't know what he's doing. His chilling, full of pride comments before he killed Eva certainly showed that he does. I don't think he'll end up getting what he deserves in the conventional justice system, though. In TNs the murderers usually get killed off.

But he's apparently been successful in hiding his murderous side for many years. He hinted there may have been others before he got the El Cazador name. There have been hints he may have killed his mother. Lately he has let the mask slip with several people. This may be the way that someone (besides the cops) begins to suspect him.
 

AURORA

First of all, thank you, NovelaMaven for your wonderful mini-recaps. I truly appreciate everyone's comments- it makes the novelas so much more fun!

Monday's episode reinforces the need for "chemistry" between actors. The shower scene with Martin and Aurora was awful- he looks like he was just thawed out instead of Aurora- and what's with the lipstick and the eye shadow-he still appears blue and cold. And she looks bored sick, or is she also convinced that he is gay? These two don't work as a loving couple- it's just weird.

But thankfully we also have Cesar and Blanca. They literally sizzle on the screen, and I like that they are each also developing into
somewhat more complex characters and not just eye candy which they also certainly are. Oh, and I think I was a little too critical of Pila when I said he wasn't measuring up to his performance in Donde Esta Elisa. Maybe it just took him a while to accept the weight of being the main protagonist because he now seems a lot more relaxed and engaged. And he also has the most beautiful smile in the world. The novela is really getting interesting now that Lorenzo has found out that his wife had a child with his best friend, and Aurora I is alive.
 

AURORA -- Monday

We definitely have a serial killer here; Elizabeth enjoys this more than Dexter does. However, I think she's getting careless. Who knows if there was a witness? And didn't we see el gordo in tonight's episode of STuD?

My opinion of Natalia gets lower every time I see her. I'm not buying her story. While I don't exactly like Aurora's current attitude I can't fault her for the zinger she threw at Nina about Natalia.

Nina is a useless brat as well.

Not all actors should try to sing. Eugenio Siller is great eye candy, but needs a lot more voice instruction before singing a novela theme. Telemundo spends real money on these productions; they should have been able to afford Victor Manuelle for the revised theme song.

Cesar should really consider getting that tattoo removed. When Blanca finally sees it he will be in very hot water. Or maybe not; she's just perverse enough to get off on him having been her kidnapper.

On the chemistry issue, I think Blanca and Cesar had better dialogue to work with. I also think that the shower scene was meant to be awkward. Aurora has to be more than a little freaked out that she is bedding the son of her first great love, especially since she knows that the masquerade can't go on forever. I also think there was a lighting problem here. I agree that his complexion didn't look right.


General -- will comment on EFDE tomorrow

Is anyone else as annoyed as I am that neither network starts or finishes on the top of the hour?
 

AURORA -- Monday

Matilda1, thanks for the nice words.

I agree that the shower scene was painful to watch but as Urban points out, it probably was intended to be awkward. And the lighting WAS ghastly. I don't think the actors had a lot to do with the failure of that scene.

Urban, I'm not sure, but I thought I saw the unscrupulous Dr. Gordo on Eva Luna -- playing the unscrupulous Dr. Gordo.

I hope that Natalia is telling the truth about Nina's father. That way the brat isn't a blood relative of Aurora and Blanca. Too bad Lorenzo has to lose a friend though, and by the looks of things, his only friend.
 

GENERAL

Thanks again, NovelaMaven, for continuing T-Mundo discussions.

I will be on vacation for a couple of weeks, and will probably just be enjoying reading posts/comments when possible, but not commenting.

I guess Los Herederos won't be starting til 2011, huh? sooo looking forward to that. I thought 'ultimos capitulos' meant last few episodes, not weeks. why is EFDE still going on for what it seems like another week, or 2, or 3? I expected it to end last friday.


Happy holidays to all!!
 

AURORA

I'm sure Aurora and Blanca would be much better off to not have a blood tie to Natalia. I hope Martin can manage to get a DNA test on that.

It's been a long time since I've seen a novela whose female lead gets it on with both a father and a son; this can't end well. To the previous point, it would be hell for Lorenzo to lose his best friend.

I hope the actor playing Cesar gets a lead role soon; he has a gorgeous smile.


EL FANTASMA DE ELENA

Eduardo has to be alive. Somebody has to rescue the baby. Ls loca will really suffer for this one.

I suspect there will be a lot of preemptions between now and the end of this series. Dulce and Montecristo are out of action and Kalima has bitten the dust, so unless Montecristo escapes (still a possibility) there isn't much else left to the story.
 

ELENA

Wanted to give Jesusa a hug last night. Glad that Milady finally remembered her, but timing of everything sucks.

Lucia volunteers to get the champagne at the 24 hour store? haha...what is she going to come back with, sparkling cider? Is she even 21 yet? Maybe her character is...how old are all the "youths" supposed to be????

Looks like Elena is out for revenge...look out! And re: gemela...the guy who picked her up is just some random dude waiting?? Seems awfully nice to do that...her new disguise/character is too funny...

Lets see how many episodes they drag out Eduardo being dead...
 

GENERAL

De nada, Shallowgal! Have fun -- we'll miss you!

Over on Univisión they are dragging out STuD to next Monday and its replacement (Triunfo del Amor) will start January 3. I suppose the two networks are keeping a close eye on each other and don't want you to get hooked on the new show of the competitor. They make sure everyone leaves the starting gate at the same time.

Also, as Urban points out, during the holidays there's lots of special programming. Nobody wants their NEW and IMPROVED novela to fall between the cracks. Much better to catch people's attention with something flashy AFTER the holidays.

Is anyone else as annoyed as I am that neither network starts or finishes on the top of the hour?

I used to think this was ineptitude but now I'm almost certain it's strategy. It makes it very hard to switch channels and it's a challenge to record a show in its entirety. Annoying? Yup. But probably effective.

BTW, I've signed on as a recapper for Triunfo del Amor so I won't be watching Herederos del Monte. I'm counting on all of you to tell me what I'm missing:D
 

ALGUIEN TE MIRA -- Monday

Can someone explain the Lola/hitman scene to me? I came late to this show so I don't have all the backstories straight. But it sure looked like Lola and el Buitre recognized each other when she climbed in that van. Who is he? Was that a quasi-romantic clinch they had?

He doubled the asking price for his services on the spot, right? How did Lola come up with the money? Or did she?

I'm quite anxious to see what condition Luci was left in last night.
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So now Luisa is looking squarely at Julián as the killer and her boss is dismissive. Arrrgh! There are so many red herrings on this show but it does look like both Piedad and Matilde are looking at Julián suspiciously. Unfortunately it will probably take another death before they connect the dots.
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Camila told Benja on the phone that she had something to tell him. Is she pregnant? I hope not.
 

GENERAL

Is anyone else as annoyed as I am that neither network starts or finishes on the top of the hour?

I used to think this was ineptitude but now I'm almost certain it's strategy. It makes it very hard to switch channels and it's a challenge to record a show in its entirety. Annoying? Yup. But probably effective.


It's definite strategy. TBS was infamous for this strategy dubbed "Turner Time"...where their shows would start 5 minutes past the hour (half hour) so that viewers would have to stay watching (and hopefully lead viewers to stay on the station for the next show). TV Guide even honoured the 5 mins lag by listing all of TBS' shows in their guide as 8:05, 9:05...so essentially TBS got their own column and would stick out from a massive listing for 8:00, 9:00 ...

TBS no longer does this (they stopped by in the early 2000s) ... but I guess the brass at Telemundo believes it's advantageous for them to do this for their 3 hour novela block in primetime.

I'm curious at the statistics as to if this strategy actually works...I guess as long as you know of the lag, you can plan accordingly?
 

General

This scheduling is definitely a strategy to keep people tuned in. I have worked at three different Hispanic ad agencies and I've addressed this issue with representatives of both major networks, none of whom have commented. The sales departments of both networks are kept in the dark about a lot of this stuff.

However, Univision is the ratings leader by far. This is mostly because about 60% of US Hispanics are of Mexican origin or descent and most of the other 40% are familiar with Televisa's programming because they also see it in other countries. Not all Latin American countries produce novelas because they're expensive to produce compared to "reality" and competition shows, so TV, TM, and VV have instant markets.

I did find a website with a Chilean novela de epoca about a vampire if anyone is interested. And if anyone gets the network Latele you can get stuff from Argentina.

When I first started watching novelas (the 1993 Corazon Salvaje was one of my first) I preferred the Televisa programs because of the accents and because -- compared to the Venevision stuff -- the actors at least looked somewhat individualistic. They also articulated better. This may be the reason that Univision is also more popular with gringos who watch novelas. If you check IMDB you'll see English-language message boards on the TV shows but not on the TM ones.

Also, Telemundo has theirs online so one can always catch up to them.
 

ELENA - Monday

Shallowgal, I've heard that Telemundo is faster than Univision, but on Univision, final weeks usually means 7 weeks, and final chapters means 5 weeks (I know, it's unbelievable!). So we've been in final chapters for several weeks now, and as some have pointed out, there don't seem to be too many story lines left. Usually, the gran final is announced about two weeks in advance. So I'm expecting them to announce that any day now. There was some strange promo on last night which said that this Thursday was going to be something special. Maybe they'll announce the gran final then.

Last night's show was strangely somewhat boring, even though 1) Kalima was killed, 2) we don't know if Eduardo is alive 3) Gemela played with Dulce's brakes, Dulce's in a coma (but her son is okay), and Montecristo was apprehended by the cops. I still like this show, but they're really messing up the dramatic timing or something. Alguien was far more gripping last night, even though nothing really happened on it.
 

ALGUIEN- Monday

NovelaMaven- Lola and the Vulture don't know each other, but I think he enjoyed giving a clearly yuppy soccer mom a hard time by feeling her up and doubling the price. I'm not sure where she got the rest of the money. That beat down of Luci was brutal and Lola is going to be in deep doodoo. Pedro Pablo is a saint for putting up with her crap. Don't know how he's going to help her out of this.

Although Rod and Benja have their major faults, and turn a blind eye to each other's defects too often, I do admire their frienship. I was touched by how Rod hugged Benja (and I think even gave him a manly kiss) when he saw how much he was suffereing. Then brought on the tough love with smashing the liqour bottle and thrusting him into the shower fully clothed.

I can't feel much sympathy for Benja though since he brought it all on himself. Now he's beginning to see that things with Camila aren't so fun, lighthearted and carefree when they aren't sneaking around behind Tati's back. She just might be more demanding than Tati. She's certainly more needy.

Tati seemed to be regaining some sanity this episode. I hope it lasts and she gives Benja access to the kids.
 

ALGUIEN - Monday

I really felt for Matilde when she saw Julian, Piedad and her son behaving like a nuclear family. I noted that the kid (Emiliano?) took home his project. Maybe he'll tell his Mom about that picture of his abuela in her dress that Julian didn't want the kid to see.

I'm not sure, but I think that Lola did not know El Buitre, but he was putting the moves on her, apparently willing to do more for her, if she'd do more for him. I think she'd already given him the $5000.00. So she pulled away, but he still kept up his end of the bargain. Lucy must definitely be in bad shape. For a second I thought she was going to get the best of that thug, but he was just too big and too relentless. As Pedro Pablo said, Lola is really in deep trouble now (although we won't know until we find out what happened to Lucy).
 

ALGUIEN - MONDAY

OT - Yes,yes yes, I have been extremely annoyed by the "strategy" of running past the hour and/or starting the next one late. My DVR will record in increments of 5 minutes after the hour, but it won't start 5 minutes late, so I get to watch some cliffhanger from the novela I'm not watching before the one I am starts.

Yes, Lola is a major idiot. That scene with the two bewigged gorditas running for their lives was pretty funny. It's kind of crazy that a maton would all but rape his "client", though.

I'm thinking that, when Luci winds up in the hospital, her non-pregnancy will be revealed.

I wish Mathilde would just haul off and smack Julián when he tries to run the life of his EX-WIFE! Piedad definitely told him the truth and he didn't like it: Mathilde has a right to see anyone she likes.

Camila sure was outrageous last night. Ye Gods, doesn't a person have a right to say they've had a rough day and want to be alone? It's so great to see Rodrigo sober and supportive of his friend.

I STILL can't figure out why Luisa was so sure the killer was Benja and then just switched to Julián for no apparent reason. But it looks like Mauricio, who I thought was smarter than that, thinks it's Benja.
 

General

There will be some preemptions during the holidays of our shows it's to be expected during this time. Now how they will go about it i don't know but i believe what NovelaMaven said probably will happen.

Aurora

Matilda1 i'm LMFAO about your comment i don;t know what it is about Eugenie Siller but i think that every time i see him.I did manage to like him in Mi Pecado he does look better with darker hair. I'm not feeling him with Aurora though. Yes Dr. Elizabeth is turning into quite a serial killer herself. I mention this before that there was a possibility that Ernesto is Nina's father let's hope it's true. Nina is a nasty little skank who can't accept that she's not on Aurora's level.
 

Elena

Hombre De Misterio i agree i don't like how they're ending this novela and it seems like it's out of sequence. They should have at least has Jesusa at Milady's wedding after all she did raise her all of her life. and has been there for her.

I was upset that they killed Kalima last night, i'm holding out hope that maybe he'll rise from the dead again and exact his revenge on Montecristo.

Dulce how stupid was she just to believe that gemela would give up the money that easily. It looks like from the preview she ends up paralyzed from the accident.

Gemela has definitely unleashed hell upon herself,Elena Lafe is most definitely out for blood. That's why she asked Chapparro to get in contact with anyone she knows who has committed crimes to help her out.

Previews gemela is caught and locked up Hannibal Lecter style but in her case she has a metal mask covering up her face hilarious.

Maybe Thursday is when they catch her i don't know but they are making a point of saying watch Thursday episode.
 

Alguien

NovelaMaven great and excellent point concerning Benja i feel the same way.They showed Benja using a condom with Rocio so let's hope he was still practicing safe sex with Camila.

Vivi i liked your point of view also on how Rodrigo was there for Benja and accepting his faults and not abandoning him. I guess he recognizes he's on the same level as Benja and is trying to help him. I like that Rodrigo is helping Valeria and Benja to overcome their addictions and at the same time recognizing he has to do the same for himself.

That El Buitre dude is big i can't even imagine how Lucia will look after her beating.Lola made a big mistake by doing this let's hope they find out that Lucia isn't really pregnant because if she is it's big trouble for Lola and Yoyita.

Vivi great point Benja is not too keen now that he's not sneaking around with Camila is he?

I think Luisa switched all of her focus onto Julian from the pictures that Mauricio showed her when they came to Eva's marker where she is buried. Remember she suspected him before when Eva was alive.

Piedad and Matilde if these two ever sit down and talk to each other then it's over for Julian. I believe that Emilio will mention seeing his abuela's picture at Julian's to Matilde jogging her memory of where she saw that dress before of the picture that Mauricio showed her.

Piedad she is starting to believe from her conversation with Benja about the picture of him and Rodrigo that maybe the killer could be someone at the clinic who knows them.

They showed form the previews that Julian will kill again the question is who Daniela,Matilde and they showed Camila? My question is before he is caught how many more will he kill.

Tonight's preview showed Mauricio showing Matilde the picture of Julian with Daniela. This is another reason why Luisa strongly suspects Julian how can someone who professes to love someone quickly be in another relationship with someone else?
 

GENERAL

So I guess we're all agreed -- the weird starting and ending times for the primetime novelas is irritating, deliberate and may or may not be producing the desired effect for the stations. Urban, thanks for the insider info.

ALGUIEN -- Monday

The consensus, then, is that Lola and the Vulture had never met before and he was giving her the special treatment because she looked like money. Thanks, all.

Yeah, I think Julián's son Emilio is going to tell Matilde about the photo. She may be disturbed by Julián's behavior, but unfortunately it's very unlikely that Emilio will describe what his abuela is wearing in the photo. I wonder if Julián will keep the photo or, having some inkling of the danger it poses to him, will destroy it before one of the adults can see it.
 

ALGUIEN MONDAY

Novela Maven, I'm pretty sure that photo is going to be Julián's downfall, so doubt the writers would have him destroy it.

Did Mauricio get a photo of Daniela with Rodrigo? I was hoping that would help put Julián in the hot seat. But if he also has one with Rodrigo, then they're both there.
 

ALGUIEN -- Monday

Novelera, Good point about the photo. It serves the plot to keep it in play.

I thought Mauricio had taken a photo of Rodrigo and Daniela jogging together in the park.
 

General

NovelaMaven, you're welcome. Telemundo will have to work a lot harder to attract Mexican viewers. Pasion de Gavilanes was their first attempt, but it failed on that front because it had no Mexican actors in it. When Televisa found that out they made plans for Fuego en la Sangre whose entire cast was Mexican.

I still prefer Televisa's programs because they are about universal human stuff. I hope Telemundo has come out of its love affair with drug cartel stories (which was an attempt at capturing more male viewers) because they may not have much export value in comparison. I'd rather see them do more classics like Dona Barbara.


AURORA

Gustavo will probably need Viagra if he goes through with his marriage to Elizabeth. My money is on Dr Williams eventually bumping her off in hopes of a reward Gustavo can't pay him. BTW, is Dr Palmer still alive or has Elizabeth knocked him off as well?

Maybe something will stop the wedding, but that's not a guarantee.

Ines will have to find out about the murders sooner or later and she will lose it.

Federico is even sleazier than I thought.

Aurora can't live a double life for long. As they said on I, Claudius "Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out."
 

Alguien

Mauricio did indeed take pictures of Rodrigo jogging with Daniela in the park together. That's why he asked Matilde how does both he and Julian know this same woman?

Benja i am not at all sympathetic with his meltdown, he made his bed now he has to lie in it.

I thought i did see a little softening with Tatiana though last night. But then she made that phone call to Angel and got a lawyer to keep Benja away from his kids.

Piedad it seems is having second thought about her decision to break up with Rodrigo. Julian is aware of this and not happy, as Rodrigo came to the clinic to recruit Piedad to support Benja through his crisis.

Lola and Pedro Pablo tried to find out what happened to Lucia. who later called Lola about the attack on her.

Daniela tried to help Benja recommended by Rodrigo about his usage of alcohol to solve his problems.

I believe that what Rodrigo told Piedad with Julian might have put a big bullseye on the back of Tatiana her accusing Benja of the murders and keeping his kids away from him. Benja had a dream of being with his kids for the holidays. Tatiana yells from the other room he goes and sees her stabbed and holding her wound being attacked by the masked killer.

Matilde tells of Mauricio about his investigation causing her problems and she refuses to believe that any of the friends is the killer much less the father of her son, Julian. She wants him to leave her alone about this.


Previews Matilde remembers the black dress talking about it over with Mauricio.They keep mentioning that Julian will kill again but we have guess who?
 

AURORA -- Monday

If there were awards for Least Erotic Sex Scene in a Telenovela, Maldonado and Siller would be shoo-ins for last night's absurdity. All those close-ups of expanses of pasty white. And this isn't an acting failure -- it's the fault of whoever shot, lighted and edited this dreck.

On the other hand, Blanca and César's food fight was fully charged. Tracy and Hepburn they're not, but their sparring is fun and often a distraction from some not so fun plot threads in this story.

Urban, I don't know if Dr. Palmer (Parker?) is alive. I don't remember him being done in though. It would be ironic if the only way to get rid of the murderous Elizabeth and her claims on Gustavo is for Williams to murder her and replace her claims with his own.

Aurora's willingness to believe Vanesa (when the latter shifts all blame to Natalia) is disappointing. But Vanesa is entertaining enough -- you gotta love her sitting in the Cryonics cafeteria fingering her rosary anxiously while she is watched watching the Aurora Show on tv. And I love that she has very sharp claws but they are retractable when, say, she is being a loving mother.
 

ALGUIEN - Tuesday

So now we have Rodrigo, Julian and Benja all linked to Daniela. Also, Mauricio has been photographing her (with Rod and Julian separately). So if Daniela does get murdered, there will be lots of suspects.

But it's still possible that Julian would try to kill Daniela and accidentally kill Valeria. If that happened, I think Rodrigo would be the prime suspect.

We now know Lucy isn't dead, and suspects Lola sent the goon. This show really makes you want to see the next episode.

I'm glad Luisa was disgusted with Angel trying to get a little too friendly with Tatiana (on the phone, he switched to the familiar voice, and asked her to do the same).

All the children in this show are having a rough time, with their parents involved in so many shenanigans. Of course the parents try to shield them, but it doesn't always work.
 

ELENA - Tuesday

We now see the tremendous effect high heels have on a character. Although Andrea is quite tall, when she wears flats next to Elena in heels, Elena towers over her. I think the director makes lots of conscious decisions to make characters appear taller or shorter to enhance dramatic impact.

So Eduardo was found, unconscious, burned (although mainly just on half of his face), and without ID. Why no ID? Uh, right, so we can extend the show a bit.

That was funny when Elena stuck her pin in Dulce's leg to see if Dulce was faking. I don't think that would be allowed. Also, wouldn't it bleed? Ironically, it almost seemed as if Dulce COULD feel it, at least a little, and was about to wake up, although the doctors said that was IMPOSSIBLE.

Remember Doctor Ronald, from the clinic, who stated that Daniela (who was actually Elena Calcagna) was totally cured? Why isn't he being sued? He sure was incompetent.
 

ELENA - Tuesday

I also thought Detective Martin's kicking of Montecristo was a bit selfish. He should let EVERYBODY kick MC.

Gemela's small town Mexican accent and dress are a riot. Imagine wanting to go BACK to Mexico, but her husband hasn't sent the money. Yeah, right. But the guy she's latched onto seems to want to help. See IS so sweet, after all :)
 

Oops... sorry. I meant Aurora on Tuesday, not Monday.
 

Elena

Hombre De Misterio i said the same thing a couple months back myself that Dr. Ronaldo and his whole crew of Drs. needed to be sued for determining that gemela was sane. ROFL i know Martin is selfish isn't he why can't everyone associated with the Giron's get to kick Montecristo too:)

Aurora

NovelaMaven too funny where do we go to vote for that award boy was that painful to watch.
 

AUOROA THIS WEEK

Haven't watched Monday or Tuesday episodes yet, but after reading about them here and at Telenovela World, I'm not sure I want to or even can.

To have Aurora dallying with a man other than Lorenzo seems okay if not really necessary to the storey. Given L's personality, he surely would understand and forgive. BUT NOT WITH HIS SON!

We're talkin' Aurora 1 here, and when Lorenzo figures that out and realizes Aurora knew who she was all the time even though Martin didn't. Well?

I will watch this and tonight's, too (maybe). Just having a hard time understanding where and why the writers are taking us. Having given up on mostly drug gang issues, is it now time for the family porno hour? If so, I'm gone, Lois
 

Aurora

Oh gee! Lois we hope it's not the family porno hour here but this has been done in novelas before the female lead being intimate with two male family members.Well we can look forward to Reina Del Sur in the New Year i guess Telemundo has to get back to their drug connection:)
 

AURORA -- Tuesday

Thanks, NovelaMaven; I was sure that wasn't made clear about the doctor who spilled the frijoles to Eduardo. It would be interesting if he turned up again with a blackmail scheme, but his life wouldn't be worth a dime.

Blanca and Cesar remind me a little of Princessa and Martin in Rebeca; there's a Swept Away dynamic but with a lighter tone. Until we remember that Cesar kidnapped Blanca. If Vanessa ever figures that out he's cooked.


ELENA -- Tuesday

This does feel out of sequence and if the loca gemela is trussed up tomorrow night what's left to do? I suspect she will dispose of the infant before being captured so the remaining episodes -- however many there will be -- will be concerned with finding the baby. Montecristo could escape and have a "last stand" as well. I don't know what this is doing in the ratings, but Telemundo has extended etapas finales before.
 

Can someone just give me a little help on Aurora- I just got back after missing a huge chunk and now my captions aren't working (I only read spanish, can't much speak it). I thought there was only one Aurora who was pretending to be both frozen Aurora and Aurora junior. But sometimes I think there are really two Auroras? Are there one or two?
 

ELENA

Ok, it's driving me crazy the amount of scenes being repeated at the beginning of the episode from the night before and the flashbacks...I understand that they must be doing this because they have to drag out the episodes to a certain number (lord knows how many more episodes), but it's maddening to see 10-15 minutes of scenes from the night before and Elena flashbacking to the EXACT SAME THINGS over and over...at least make new flashbacks!

ugh.

If Milady and Michel are really are on Luna de Miel, it would really put a damper it the parentals went, too! hahaha...I guess those two are the lovebirds, too. (I still can't see Clara as this "nice" person; I'm waiting for her to wake up and snap and eat her own...) Jesusa was so...Jesusa sending Milady off...could someone recap what she was fussing about? I heard "sharks" in there....glad M&M are happy, but....what now???? Nieto for Jesusa as mentioned last episode??

How convenient for gemela that there's another random girl who dresses like her and with a baby carrier hanging out at that bus stop/rest area....Chapparo looks like she's dressed up as a birdwatcher--she needs to be in camouflage as she's really hunting down the girl ;)
 

ELENA

Another thought I forgot to post in my above post...

Yes, the show seems to have been extended and added a lot of filler to get it to a certain date. I'm sure we'll get a lot of pointless stuff from now until the end, but I do wonder if there will be any of that stuff with Montecristo.

Reason being is that they shot all this add on in the last weeks of shooting, and I'm pretty sure by then that Fabian Rios was already down in Colombia shooting his other show...so, I'm thinking however they resolve MC's character, that it'll be done as it initially was set out...they might drraaaagggg it out and show just small bits...we'll see?
 

AURORA

Anon 10:13, there's still only one Aurora. As you recall, her 'reanimación' was kept secret and the 'daughter of Aurora' persona was invented to protect her privacy. But she was frustrated by the lies and the secrecy and above all, by being unable to tell Blanca she was her mother. So she asked her father, Dr. Gustavo Ponce de León, to stage another thawing so she could return as herself.

Right now, she is pretending to be two people, Aurora mother and Aurora daughter. Stay tuned...
 

AURORA -- Wednesday

Lies only beget more lies, which I think is the theme of this series. Whatever trouble Gustavo would have gotten into for going against the decision of the partners' meeting is kid stuff compared to the web of deceit that's happening now. It's going to take a long time for Lorenzo to find out the truth and he will never trust anyone again.

Blanca is regressing to brathood. Aurora is going to hate having paparazzi tail her all over the place, and Federico will chase her again for his own purposes (which will be no good, of course). Makes me wonder whether there will be another mad scientist turning up as a villain, maybe the doctor who spilled the frijoles.

Nothing has ever been said about Martin's mother, who abandoned him and Lorenzo, not even her name. Can we expect her to turn up?


ELENA -- Wednesday

Chaparra is closing in on La Loca and the truck driver has the baby. I suspect that Chaparra will bring in the crazy one without the baby and the truck driver will hold him for ransom or reward. Until anyone knows that Eduardo is alive nobody will know that Tomas is alive because La Loca won't talk. Unless Dulce comes out of her coma with an intact brain and the willingness to talk. She might, if only to get back at La Loca.

As an aside, what do the other ladies think of the two leading men in this series? I think Segundo Cernadas would be a lot hotter with a shave and a better haircut and Fabian Rios is smokin' hot. Great casting with him and Mario Cimarro as brothers in the next series.
 

Elena

Urban i guess you didn't see the beginning of this novela Segundo Cernadas was sporting a mullet style hair style that was just horrendous. Fabian Rios is gorgeous though.

I'm wondering how much more they're going to stretch this out? They're still not saying anything about the Gran Final yet.

Elena is getting Martin to go after Greco and his org. if she takes him down then Montecristo won't get out like he thinks he will.

Chapparro looks like she going to catch gemela but they show a preview where Martin and Gandica are chasing after her with their guns drawn so we'll see what's what.

General

Mario Cimarro who is in the next novela Los Herederos De Montes was also in a novela with his co-star Marlene Favela called Gata Salvage which is now being shown on Telefutura at 10AM.
 

Alguien

Last night was so good I loved and ROFL with the Benja and Camila make out session not able to be completed because it seems the thrill is gone for Benja. How funny was it the way they had the music sound like it went limp too just like Benja.

Emilio is starting to know a lot about his dad that is making him look weird.

Piedad had no right to go Tatiana trying to intercede with her on his behalf. That's why she got told off and thrown out, she was a little too late trying to speak with Tatiana.

I just wonder how far Tatiana is going to take this because it doesn't seem like she is going to ease up any time soon.

Still don't feel sorry for Benja he made his bed now he has to lay in it. Pedro Pablo told him last night that Tatiana is wanting full custody of their kids and want him kept away because of his association with the women who have been murdered.

Daniela surprised visit to the clinic she discovers Daniel is actually Julian by Benja tonight after she sees him in a picture of the friends working at the clinic.

Matilde after hearing Emilio talking about the picture and the woman in the black dress recalls wear she saw the dress before when Mauricio showed her the picture of it.She ask Mauricio questions.

Valeria is so trying to get with Rodrigo who is so unaware of her feelings for him because he wants to get back with Piedad.

Lucia comes hobbling in to Lola and Pedro Pablo's house, how this woman keeps getting in i don't know. She threatens them both saying her cousin works for El Buitre and she knows they hired him to assault her. Lucia promises retribution.

Previews tonight Matilde strongly suspects Julian now and tells Mauricio about the dress that Julian's mother wore was exactly like that. Uh Oh Julian sees Daniela talking to Benja and looking at the picture of the friends. He goes to her apartment putting on his gloves and threatening her. Is this the end for Daniela?
 

ELENA - Wednesday

Jesusa first told Milady that anything that made Milady happy, made HER happy, too. I think they may have offered to have Jesusa come with them on the boat, but Jesusa is scared of boats, so she declined. She's also worried about Milady on the boat, what about sharks, but Milady said there's nothing to worry about. I thought Michel and Milady's kiss was much better that Mauricio and Clara's.

Every day they toy with us a little in the previews. Yesterday we thought Chaparro caught Gemela, but it was just another girl who looked like her. Now it looks as if she draws a gun on her, but as someone else pointed out, it looks as if Gemela gets away again. Then what about that preview of Gemela in the Hannibal Lechter contraption? Well, that COULD happen. Or it could be a dream of Elena. We'll have to wait and see.

Thanks, Blusamurai for explaining why Elena is going after the mob - so they can't get Montecristo out. I couldn't figure out why. All they had said the day before was that she offered $1 million for the whereabouts of Gemela. I wonder if Chapparro will get that reward.
 

ALGUIEN Wednesday:

I agree, how did Lucy get in? I loved the kids' screams when they were told the evil Lucy was there. And now Lola has to explain that hickey she got from El Buitre. This whole story line provides a little humor to balance the tension of all the others.

Matilde was really shaken when she realized the black dress looked just like Julian's mother's dress.

It does not look good for Daniela.
 

ELENA

I am wondering whether the shark mentions are meant to be a premonition of evil things to come.

Andrea has to be out of her mind to resist the temptation of that gorgeous guy.

As to the mullet, I completely agree; that was horrendous. His present haircut is an improvement, but still not optimum. At any rate I'd like to see Telemundo keep this actor for the long term.
 

GENERAL

Urban Anthropoligist,you are so right: the Los Heredores del Monte should be really interesting- the combination of Mario Cimarro and Fabian Rios along with all the other darling brothers should prove very interesting. I love novelas with "brother" themes because generally they are more playful and comedic in places than other novelas. I miss the light moments that are usually given to minor characters in many of the more successful stories. For this reason, Aurora seems to take itself way too seriously. We all need some fun and lightheartedness over the period of a six-month long novela.
 

ALGUIEN -- Wednesday

Blu, I agree that last night's episode was chockful of crunchy flavor bits. And I agree with Hombre -- the Luci thing was a hoot and a much needed bit of black humor. There's Luci, looking like the bride of Frankenstein with her oversized cervical collar and swollen and discolored face, lurching into a house that is barricaded against her.

And how does she know Lola hired the Vulture? Because her cousin, the Tooth Yanker (El Sacamuelas) is a colleague of El Buitre. When he finds out Luci is practically family (and no one should really be surprised at this revelation), he turns on his employer faster than you can say 'huitlacoche'. Oh my!
 

AURORA -- Wednesday

Interesting question, Urban, about Martín's mother. There was an oblique reference to her a while back when Lorenzo explained that Martín inherited his affinity for dance from him, but owed his scientific mind to his mother. Since we haven't met any forty-something (surely blond) female scientist who fits the bill (Obviously it's not Murder-Lovin' Liz), at some point I expect she'll turn up and stir the pot a bit.

"Lies only beget more lies." Definitely one of the important themes here. But there are also very Clone-like threads where past and present intersect and the heroine has to choose between looking back and looking forward.
 

General

Matilda1, you must have been a fan of Pasion de Gavilanes and/or Fuego en la Sangre. I enjoyed both of those although I would have written Fuego differently. I think it should have been straight melodrama with occasional notes of gallows humor; Mexican writers are good at that.

AURORA

That murdering Liz could never be Martin's mother. That would be a crime, indeed.

The past and the present in collision mode is definitely a part of this, as in El Clon. Which I don't understand why they bothered remaking it almost line for line like the original. I told my contact there that Lucas should be more macho. He was such a freakin' wimp.
 

ELENA:

I was half paying attention to the episode tonight, as I was watching a live twitcam from Isabella Castillo's 16th birthday party--it was fun, although...a bit...odd...haha (also present was Liannet/Milady, Alex/Lucia, Katie/Rebecca and Mauricio/Michel).

In any case, could someone explain why Jesusa got all dressed up (and everyone else still wearing their funeral clothes? hahah).

At the end, where was Ruth/Elena at? At said party? The scenes shot at the club/restaurant there were the "last" scenes shot for Unit 1 according to twitter earlier in the month...I thought it might have been the more final scenes, but with all the add ons, seems like they shot whatever was final a loooooooong time ago!

I want a time skip to see where all these ppl are at the end...but I would assume we'll get Elena on her horse with family riding off into the sunset (or not).

Merry Christmas to all!!
 

ELENA

Jesusa is retiring and will still live with the family.

Of course Eduardo's leaving the hospital is going to further delay his return to Elena.

Dulce is faking something, I'm sure.

Chaparra will have to remember the truck driver when she has a nanosecond to think about it.

Feliz Navidad a todos!
 

Elena - Thursday

Yes, since Jesusa has served the family so long, Elena says she can now eat with the family, can still live there, and no longer has to work. They'll get her some new clothes, too (apparently she did have that outfit).

Couple of strange things from last night. 1) Elena is now going to BUY Dr. Ronald's clinic, I guess to put Gemela in. She certainly has lots of money, although I thought she signed over her interest in the hacienda to Montecristo, and her interest in Margot's house isn't too much, now that it blew up (I guess she had insurance).

2) Continuing with our theme of incompetent doctors or hospitals, Dr. Tapia said there's no way Dulce could move her arm (but we just saw her grab Rebeca's neck with lots of strength), and Eduardo, dazed, and with his head bandaged, is able to waltz right out of his hospital room and outside, with not one staff member even noticing. At least at hospitals I've been in, this couldn't happen, even in the middle of the night.
 

Alguien

Mauricio ask Matilde if she remembers seeing the dress before? Matilde is defensive and angry with him telling him he's trying to influence her thinking against Julian as Mauricio points out it was what she said Emilio told her about the dress.Matilde reluctantly calms down a bit and spills the beans on Emilio telling her about the picture and it's Julian's mother she still argues in his defense as Mauricio gets excited he tells her she needs to except the truth whether she wants to believe it or not this is very important and it may catch the killer of Eva.

Speaking of the killer he sees Daniela at the clinic and is very worried about it as Piedad wonders to him if Rodrigo told Daniela to come here on his behalf? They learn she is there for a consultation with Benja.As Piedad goes to talk to her.

Benja meanwhile visit his kids at school and sees the police protection that Tatiana has gotten for them.

Piedad has a one on one talk with Daniela who keeps telling her that nothing is going on between her and Rodrigo and that the only woman he is in love with is Piedad.

Rodrigo sits in his office looking at a picture of him and Piedad when he gets a emergency call.

Julian is so scared and distracted he's not listening to his patient.

Pedro Pablo chastises Lola and Yoyita for hiring thugs to assault Lucia and he's very upset with Lola from the hickey El Buitre left on her neck as a momento.
 

Alguien

Benja comes late for his appointment with Daniela as he examines her Tatiana burst in his office warning him to stay away from their kids since she's got protection against him. She then warns Daniela to be very careful about getting involve with him romantically since most of his lovers have turned up dead lately. Benja yells angrily for her to get out.

Tatiana storms out as Julian walks out another patient of his he tries to stop her but Tatiana isn't in the mood to talk e follows her out of the building insisting he's trying to help her. Tatiana sarcastically brings up the help the associates gave her by keeping Benja's affairs a secret from her. She tells him to but out of her business as she leaves.

Benja finishes up his checkup with Daniela who then sees the picture of the three associates she ask about Julian and if he's a lawyer.Benja says no he's one of the other associates who works here and how long they he has known him from university. He then ask if she knows him but Daniela tells him she may have mistaken him for someone else you can tell she is in a lot of shock.

Benja offers her if she wants to see him that he's working right now, but Daniela declines the invite.Daniela upon leaving does decide to see Julian but he's hiding outside as she goes into his office she sees a picture of him with Emilio.Piedad catches her in Julian's office as she ask if she wants something else? Daniela replies she was looking for her associate as Piedad tells her is it Benja or Julian you're looking for because this is Julian's office? Piedad under the wrong impression thinks Daniela came here to spy on her for Rodrigo but Daniela assures her that's not the case.
 

Alguien

Matilde is deep in thought over her conversation with Mauricio as Tatiana comes barging in to telling her she was with her lawyers and to complain about Benja trying to see the kids she went to his clinic.Matilde tries to tell her to stop doing that as Tatiana goes on about Piedad coming to her house on Benja's behalf to get her to stop her accusations against Benja.

Matilde ask her if she knows? Knows what responds Tatiana that Piedad and Julian are now together claims Matilde not very happy with this latest development.

Julian hides out in the parking lot as Daniela comes out and she leaves followed by a stalking Julian.Piedad ask Veronica where Julian isas she is told he followed Tatiana outside trying to talk to her.

Daniela sits in a cafe looking at her watch she calls the hospital looking to speak to Rodrigo she is told he is with a patient at the moment as Julian watches her from across the street.Julian decides to call her watching her reaction as Daniela sees it's him calling and turns her phone off.

Lola tells Yoyita if she gets arrested so will she, as Lucia tells Pedro Pablo about her terms he tries to deny everything but she tells him she wants to come over to their house tonight otherwise she will be calling the cops on Lola and getting her arrested for her attack. Pedro Pablo agrees to this.

Piedad ask Benja about Daniela as he tells her she a good person.

Rodrigo finishes his operation as his boss tells him about Daniela calling for him.

Daniela goes home followed by Julian in his blue mustang.

Rodrigo looks for his phone but can't find it.

Daniela leaves a message on his cell that she needs to talk to him about his friend Julian Garcia it's important.
 

Alguien

Someone knocks on Daniela's door she at least ask who is it and finds out it's Julian/Daniel at first she refuses to open the door and tells him to leave. He unfortunately talks her into opening her door for him.He smiles on the other side once she opens her door holding her dog in her arms.

Benja is in his office with Piedad as she is still talking about Daniela she brings up how she found her in Julian's office and wonders if she might have been here for a consultation with Julian? Piedad thinks Rodrigo ask her to come looking for Julian as Benja tells her no that's not what's happening.He tells her she is acting paranoid and if anything he thinks after Daniela saw the photo of them three she might know Julian.He explains about her lawyer friend she said that looks like him so he doesn't know maybe it's that as he tells her he has to leave for another appointment.

Julian talks his way into gullible Daniela's house, she goes to put her dog in the back. As Julian puts on some plastic gloves on his hands.He hides his gloves hands behind his back when she comes back into the front to confront him.

Daniela wants to know what's the reason why he lied to her like that as Julian ask her what she was doing at the clinic what her real reason was for being there. Daniela looks at him like he's crazy and tells him what in the world is he asking her? Julian responds to her no matter our relationship ends today.

Daniela tells Julian to get out as he makes a crack about her being such a good mother in her picture with her sons. Daniela tells him he's sick in the head as he has embarrassed her and her dignity by doing this.He attacks her as she tells him to leave again, she gets in a couple of good whacks and even hits him in the head with a object.

She then wrongly stops hitting him when he's down and runs into the back leaving him stunned for a moment on the floor.

Rodrigo comes home to his phone ringing it's Valeria asking him if he's coming to their meeting? He tells her he'll be right there since he had to stop home for a moment to get his cell phone.Valeria brings up that Daniela isn't there yet as Rodrigo tells her he's leaving right now as it looked like she wanted to say something more he hangs up.

Daniela runs into a back bedroom followed by Julian on her heels she locks the door he's trying to get in as she tells him to leave here please.Daniela screams for help but i have to ask where in the heck are the phones in her apartment?Julian looks for the keys to her door and finds several sets he comes back taunting her from the other side of the door as she continues to yell out.

Julian opens the door ala Jack Nicoholson in "The Shining" but he says hello in English as Daniela goes to the window which is down banging on it and screaming for help. Julian picks up a candle holder and gets a cloth to cover it.We see Daniela's face pressed up against her windows screaming in fear and for help.

Previews for Monday Julian lays a out cold Daniela down in her living room. Mauricio ask Matilde for Julian's mother's name.Fabiola Garcia he is told. Julian ties up Daniela and takes her to his killing lair. We then see Julian push his hair aside and a red knot left on his forehead where Daniela hit him with the object.
 

ALGUIEN - THURS. NITE

Thanks NovelaMaven and Blusamari
for all your Alguien recaps.

At the end of the episode they show Daniela letting Julian in her apt. and he attacked her.

Was it brought out that she had learned defense tactics??? She certainly put up a good fight but I'm sure he will kill her unless Rod can somehow save her, but I doubt it.

I can't wait for Monday nite.

Ann-NYC
 

Alguien - Thursday

I don't think we ever heard that Daniela knew defense tactics, and if she did, they apparently weren't good enough. If Julian does kill her, I don't think he's going to just lay her out somewhere. I think he'll very cleverly make it look as if Rodrigo, whom he hates, did it. Otherwise, it would be too obvious to many people that Julian was the one. So since we still have so much show left, Julian would have to make someone else the prime suspect.
 

ALGUIEN--Thursday, 12-23-2010

Oh, no, Daniela! What an edge-of-the-seat moment Thurs. night. :-) Part of me still hopes that Dani will continue fighting back; I have an inkling that something will make Julián’s plans for her go awry.

Matilde is so going to be Julián’s demise. She remembers the dress, and knows that he’s seeing both Piedad & Daniela… ¡Se acabó! The way she held her tongue was so perfect.

Juli & Emilio have such cute English… Luci, Benja, & Lola are just funny. And, Blu, you’re so right about Julián’s “Hello” being Jack Nicholson-esque—so scary!
 

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