Monday, January 31, 2011

La Fea Más Bella #191-192 1/31/11 The old dogs have to learn new tricks.

Capitulo 191.
Read Alma’s original recap, then come back here to discuss it.

1. Erasmo says that he and Humberto resolved everything. Lety is to blame. MamaJ insists that Fernando used Lety.

2. The HaHAs say that Lety will turn over FI. Conceptos’ attorney, Manuel Santamaria (MSM), says Lety need to come to a meeting. Teresita objects to Lety coming to Conceptos.

3. Rosales flirts with Alicia. Sara flirts with Sanchez to try to get chisme.

4. MSM says liquidating FI won’t solve their $6M debt problem. Marcia suggests they sell off parts of Conceptos, and Humberto nixes that. He says they should sell their personal property. Ariel jumps up, refuses to sell his property for Fernando’s mistakes, and starts shouting at Humberto (and stops calling him “Papa”!).

5. Lety arrives home and Erasmo chastises her for deception. She says she committed no crime and she’s an adult. Lety’s afraid the Mendoreals humiliated Pop, but he says Humberto was a gentleman. Lety says she did it all for Fernando; she got nothing for herself. Then she had problems with Fern and told the board the truth. They treated her horribly. She had to get away and put her life in order. Now she’s ready to fulfill her responsibilities. (Remember, Acapulco is to restore you so you can return to the real world and function again). Pop forgives her.

6. Teresita’s not willing to sell their housES. Ariel says they need to sell off Conceptos assets. MSM says they can’t, since they’re embargoed. Marcia says FI will lift the embargo tomorrow. MSM says if it does, the banks will embargo Conceptos. The only solution is for FI to continue the embargo. Teresita throws a tantrum and pounds the table! Marcia tries to run away and hide under her bed.

7. Lety tells Tom about Aldo, while Aldo tells Caro he can’t stop thinking about Lety. Tom says Julieta knows all about her romance with Fernando. Lety realizes Mama read her diary.


Capitulo 192.
Read Julie’s original recap, then come back here to discuss it.

1. Tom says Lety shouldn’t have left her diary out. Lety wants to get rid of all those memories. Tom asks if she stopped loving Fern, and does she hate him as he deserves? She forgave him but it will take a long time to stop loving him.

2. MSM tells the board Conceptos can recover if Lety continues the embargo. She probably knows that they are in deep kimchee if she doesn’t help them. Marcia adds her tantrum to Teresita's because she'll have to deal with Lety. Humberto is disturbed because of the friction with the banks.


3. Lety knows what MSM knows she knows, but that’s their problem. She’s eager to be done with it. Alicia prays for Baby Jesus to send her a boyfriend. One with a new car.

4. Humberto gives the board the choice: beg Lety, or say goodbye to Conceptos. Ariel says sell it off and split whatever’s left. Humberto calls him a fool and wonders how he can walk away from the company his parents sank their life into. Ariel pouts that it was Fernando’s fault. Fernando says they’ve been shown a way to save the company, and Ariel wants to destroy it just to get revenge on Fernando because he didn’t get the presidency.

5. They vote: liquidate or keep it afloat.
A. Ariel votes to liquidate as a way to stick it to Fernando.
B. Fern votes afloat, to recover what he lost.
C. Omar votes to talk to Lety – interesting his orientation.
D. Humberto wants afloat, for the sake of pouring his life into it.
E. Teresita votes afloat, but only for her husband’s sake.
F. Marcia votes afloat for Conceptos and her parents’ memory. She smacks down Ariel for having no loyalty to their parents’ memory.
MSM says one of them should entreat Lety, but who will bell the cat? She has pésimo relationship with each of them except Humberto

6. Lety and MamaJ have a heart to heart about Lety’s diary, Mama’s place in her life, and how Lety has grown. She tells Mama about Aldo, and she’s glad she won’t see Fernando again.

7. Meanwhile Fern tries to convince Marcia that he won’t see Lety again. Marcia observes, very accurately, that when Fern came back to her, he thought Lety had stolen his company. But now that they know she hasn’t, Marcia suspects Fernando has changed his plans. Fern says that he and Lety are finished, and she knows it. He doesn’t have any opportunity to get back with Lety. He knows he has to forget about her, and he asks Marcia to help.

Labels:


Comments:
I included a lot of detail in the #192 recap because I thought many small details had real significance. Also because Conceptos is at a huge turning point, so I wanted to give you a picture that was as detailed yet concise as possible, of who stands where and what brought them to this point.

Friday's summary got a flurry of new comments last night and this morning. You may want to check if you missed them. A few people made a point on that page, and I want to chime in: I'm thoroughly enjoying the quality of discussion coming out of this show. Gaitán's masterpiece deserves analysis, and I'm glad to see that we're digging into it. This board has been a real delight for me.

The HaHA’s crack up Camil and he laughs for almost a minute straight. At one point his shoulders are quaking. In the meeting, somebody’s phone rings. Camil, who IS the sharpest knife in the drawer, reaches to silence his cell phone to cover for someone else’s mistake.

Very interesting exchange between Fern and Ariel. Fern charges that Ariel wants to destroy Conceptos for revenge because Fern got the presidency. Keep in mind, when Fern took big risks early in his presidency, he knew (Lety warned him 10:1 odds) he was risking the destruction of Conceptos, but he plowed ahead because the alternative was letting Ariel win. Is it really that different from what Ariel is doing? OTOH, I see a major shift in the way Fernando responds to Ariel. I might even call it a milestone. I just can’t put my finger on it. I know that it’s far different from how he used to deal with Ariel. Is it that this time his focus is Conceptos instead of his personal rivalry with Ariel?
 

I just checked the late posts of Friday's episodes and find that Aldo is still taking quite a beating. I still like Aldo. I hope he finds a more lasting and deeper love one of these days and lets our Lety go to recover her lost love for Fernando -- but for now I just enjoy watching him --crinkly eyes and all. (Though I do wish he would shave -- too much grey in that beard.)

He had been hanging around that beach wallowing in pain and isolating himself for such a long time . It was natural that he would recognize that same level of pain in Lety when he saw her for the first time. It didn't look like a scavenger trying to suck life from her. It just felt like empathy to me.

Whatever it is about Lety that makes Caro love and respect her is the same thing to which Aldo -- and Fernando - respond. Sure, Aldo did take her on as a project, as did Caro, but they both fell under her spell. I don't see the emotional scavenger thing at all.

Güera (old enough to love a few wrinkles on a man) from Syracuse
 

Hi Paula, thanks for the recap. Loved your pictures. There were a few tantrums for sure.

Lety's lawyers are so funny together. I love the Sanchez character. I love how they always travel arm in arm. The scene where Rosalis almost tumbles on Alicia's desk is halarious. Fern's giggling at their antics was fun to watch as well.
 

Fernando is dealing with Ariel better; not trying so much one-up-manship. But, and this is a big BUT, he is still lying to Marcia. Inside herself, she knows he's lying but she wants to believe because she loves him. He, though, is mooning over Lety and is eager to see her again. His actions totally belie his words to Marcia. When will this man stand up straight, speak the truth, and live with the consequences of that action instead of trying to manipulate people with lies. I find Fernando frustraing and a vacillator. Can't trust him and Lety better not do so when she returns to Conceptos. Eventually Fernando will grow up but until then, he'll keep on using Marcia as his fall-back love. He'll string her along, probably not sleeping with her, until she is so heartbroken because of his deception. Fernando has great possibilities, but he keeps relying on his same old methods. I would ask him, "How's that working for you Fernando?"
 

I was really disappointed by Fern in today's eps. Loved the HaHa's and I was wondering if the laughter by Fern and Omar was scripted or not.

Good bit of trivia in regards to Jaime turning his mobile phone off in that scene Paula H.

I really thought Lety looked great today - anybody else notice her glow and self confidence from the moment she got out of the cab, to when she was sitting at the table facing Erasmo. I really enjoyed those scenes today and I was so proud that the growth and development she found in Acapulco seem to be working for her. Or maybe it was just her fabulous tan! Whatever the case - I was really happy for her!

I enjoyed the goofy smile Aldo had on his face when he was thinking about his Lety...I'm a sucker for a sap and I don't mind him and his mooning. I thought it was great that they intercut his scenes mooning over Lety with the scenes of Fern mooning over her pic in his office. It was nice to see she has options (even though she doesn't think she does).

I really didn't care what went on with Lola, Jazmin and her ex-hubby, but I guess they had to bring that story back around to have something else going on besides the company drama.

I'll be patiently waiting for the big meeting with Lety & Humb now.

PS - I really enjoy the debate we have here. Often I'll get a new perspective that my own experiences in life wouldn't have allowed me to catch. Thank you all for that!
 

I also enjoyed watching the HaHas in this episode, Pata. There was some great physical comedy. There was the bit when one of them (I don't have the names straight) leaned over to pick up his briefcase. He and Sara le-e-e-a-n-e-d together until she almost fell over backwards. They are both actors I enjoyed in Gancho & Dinero and they play well together.

There are lots of comedy bits lately where the characters make fun of one another's habits & ways of speaking. People are always mimicking Alicia and today she was mimicking Marcia. Very funny. Alicia is another character who is making some subtle development. I really enjoy that aspect of this show. So many of the characters have grown over the course of the show.

Güera from Syracuse
 

The comments and behavior in the meeting were very informative. Not about the legal ramifications, but about everyone's state of mind.

Teresita is conflicted: she doesn’t want to deal with that woman, but she wants her husband to be content. IOW were it not for Humberto, she’d rather lose the company than deal with that woman. Geesh! See how her attitude mirrors Ariel’s against Fern?

Marcia has more reason to hate Lety than anyone there, but still she votes afloat for the sake of Conceptos and her parents’ memory. She glances at Teresita when she says that’s more important than any personal feelings – she’s clearly morally superior to MamaT in this case. It will be said later that Marcia is the only one who loves Conceptos as much as Humberto, and we see that here. Then Marcia reams out her brother for having no loyalty to their parents’ memory, and no integrity. I wonder if she would’ve stood up against him, if Fern had not taken her back? I’m sure part of her assault was in defense of Fernando, which she promised, going into the meeting.

As much as we have against Humberto, and he deserves it, notice. He was brutal to Fern for losing Conceptos. But he’s also pretty harsh to Ariel when Ariel wants to destroy Conceptos. MamaT loves Marcia and Ariel more than her son; is it any wonder that Fernando is starving for love? And Humberto loves Conceptos more than his son; is it any wonder Fern loves the presidency more than Lety?
 

Hi all. I also don't believe that calling Aldo a scavenger is quite fair. If he were I would assume he'd have tried macking on some Acapulco tourist much sooner. I agree with Guera, I think he recognized something in Lety that helped him come out of himself. Maybe it's not love, maybe it is, but clearly he thinks it's worth pursuing. Poor guy, he doesn't realize what he's up against.

I never used to enjoy the boardroom scenes but these past couple of days have been very interesting what with the shifting dynamics and all. It seems like Fernando is learning better ways to deal with Ariel, just let him talk a noose around his own neck. Too bad he doesn't seem to know how to deal with Marcia; he just keeps falling back into the same "comfortable" trap.

I enjoyed reading all of Friday's comments. Paula, thank you for sharing that personal story about yourself. I'm not sure I would have had the strength to share something like that.
 

Very funny watching Omar and Fern try to keep from losing it completely during the endless junta.

I was surprised to see Humberto rip into Ariel for a change.

Marcia does have to the most to lose when Lety returns and she is smart enough to know it.

Lots of foreshadowing in the junta about who is prepared to sacrifice to save the business and who isn't. There is much fun coming as that all shapes up. Very astute of Omar to say the Lety detests him since he knows she correctly blames him for the letter.

I think that Caro took on Lety as a project because she has her own issues. She wants a happy marriage and a family of her own but has blown three marriages because of her obsession with her job. I think she feels that her dreams are gone and helping someone like Lety makes her feel good. Unlike Dr. Phil she doesn't want anything from the woman.

Considering how upright Erasmo is it surprised me how quickly he let Lety off for her transgressions. My father would have killed me for sullying our family name.
 

I know most of you will disagree with me (and that's part of the fun), but I don't think Fernando is lying to Marcia at the moment. Fall-back plan? Yes. Lying? Maybe not. Certainly not the bald-faced lies like the old days.

* He told her he's willing to give it a chance. He never told her he's attracted to her or any of that.
* At her apartment after the fight, he pulled away from the kiss and said his face and everything hurt to much. Marcia indicated that it was his heart that hurt too much, and he didn't deny it.
* He made no secret that he got back with Marcia because he thought Lety was gone for good. He never pretended that he stopped loving Lety.
* Now that Lety's back, Marcia asserts that Fern will pursue her. Fern never denies that he wants Lety back. He only says that he doesn’t have any opportunity with Lety, which he totally believes. Note that he told Omar that he didn't go looking for Lety yesterday because she hates him.
* He tells Marcia that he has to forget about Lety, which he believes. He asks for Marcia's help because that seems like a reasonable approach.

I think there are a bundle, a tangled bundle, of reasons Fern went back to Marcia: he's afraid to be alone, he thinks Lety will hate him forever, Marcia is comfortable like old shoes, he thinks it's upright and noble after how he treated her, she's the fall-back plan, he's grateful, it's the path of least resistance, and his heart is in agony and he'll try anything to make the hurting stop. He's a fool to go back to her. And cowardly. Weak as water. No strength of convictions. And really, really stupid. But I don't think he's lying to her, except where it's a result of believing the lies he's telling himself.

I expect a lot of disagreement. Have at it. One of these days, when the plot is in the doldrums, I'll tell you my theory about the villain of LFMB. That day you'll REALLY disagree with me.
 

Please ignore the typos and subject/verb agreement error of my post. If I can ignore it, you can!
 

Paula, thanks so much for your devotion to keeping up the new re-caps. The depths of the discussion are fascinating. I've missed watching a lot of episodes lately due to work and have to dig into my memories of the original.
Lots to contemplate in these characters and how they treat one another.
La Paloma
 

I don't actually disagree with what you've said about Fern, Paula H. I'm just sadly disappointed that he isn't stronger after all he's gone through. You're right - I truly don't think he actually lied to Marcia, but he didn't tell the truth to her either.

I'll say it again - I don't think Fern and Lety would survive being together if it were to happen today. Fern isn't strong enough right now - he has too many issues (mommy, daddy, ex-fiance, jealous brother) to be in any relationship actually. I feel badly for him because he got shafted in the parent lottery. :(

Interesting points about the motivations in the meeting. I really miss a lot of the dialogue with my limited spanish, but now I want to re-watch those scenes to get more out of it. Can't wait to get to my DVD's now!

As far as the motivations for Caro - I think she see's the potential in Lety. She sees her "light" and wants to help her continue to shine. It could be motivated by her own failures in the past, but I simply consider her to be sort of a guardian angel to Lety. Always sort of showing up at the right moments, to comfort or give guidance.

Good point about Erasmo letting Lety off quite easily. I wonder if he noticed the change in her like Julieta did...I couldn't really tell and didn't understand all of the back and forth, but I felt he was still treating her like his little girl & not the strong woman she's becoming in their scenes together today.
 

I'm going for the gold here. Fernando is lying to Marcia by giving her false hope. He doesn't really want to work it out with her; he wants to work it out with Lety. Not only is he lying to Marcia but to himself as well. Fernando can't seem to get past his old way of thinking and acting. He has monumental issues that need to be resolved but also has the potential to be a warm, generous, and loving man. Fernando just has to stop relying on his old ways that have cost him his presidency and the love of his life. The problem right now is that Fernando doesn't realize that his love for Lety should be greater than his love for Conceptos but he'll learn. A company will never be as fulfilling as the love of a good mate. It can't be because God did not create us that way.

I want to see Fernando healed. Maybe when he sees how much Lety has changed, healed, and matured it will propel him to follow a similar path. I think Aldo arriving in MC will be a great motivator for Fernando to change to become the man that Lety in her heart sees him as but he has not yet obtained.
 

One step forward: I figured it out. Fernando doesn’t feel the need to dominate Ariel or humiliate him. His rivalry has evaporated. Of course he'll stand against Ariel when necessary, like when Ariel wanted to liquidate the company. But Fern is no longer looking for a fight every time he sees Ariel.

Another step forward: Fernando is not lying to Marcia.

That doesn't mean that today he's a hero. Remember, he's on a journey of 1,000 steps. He only has 995 to go. Notice that he's chipping away at his lesser flaws first, like whiskey therapy. I think he still has to do some maturing before he's capable of tackling the bigger monsters in his character.

Sylvia, it was hard to put that story out in the open. But Fern's transformation brought it to mind, and I guess I wanted to honor what Dennis and Terri did in my own transformation.

I think Erasmo forgave Lety quickly because of his tremendous love for her. Yes, ethics are crucial to him, but his princess knows she was wrong and repented - she changed her ways. That's enough for him.
 

One more thought on Erasmo. (Pardon me for repeating part of my last post in this argument.) Contrast how Erasmo responded to Lety's failure vs. how Humberto responded to Fernando's failure.

Erasmo came into it as a father, and his aim is to shape his daughter's character. So when she failed, he laid down the law so she would change. When he saw that she had changed, his mission was finished and he forgave her.

Humberto did not come into the situation as a father. In the Blow-Up Board Meeting, he did nothing to change Fern or shape his character. Humberto's priority was his own anger because Fern had destroyed Humbo's first love, Conceptos, and Fern had shamed Humberto. Rather than loving correction, Humberto gave angry rejection. He fired Fernando - not in his role as president. He fired Fernando in his role as son.
 

Paula, good point about Humberto's first love being Conceptos. If that is true then it makes perfect sense that Fern holds the same value. I guess with that in mind I view him a little less harshly. Lety is following her family values and Fern is following his.

So far (and I know there is a lot of story yet to go) it seems that he has a much harder journey to make than Lety does. She started with "nothing" (that is no job, no prestige, no social standing) but was much richer in family support and vaues. Fern started with "everything" (good job, prestige, fame and social standing) but rather poor in the familial support department. Yes, he had a family but it was rather dysfunctional.

Humberto firing his son...yikes! No wonder Fernando has issues.
 

I was wondering if the laughter by Fern and Omar was scripted or not....
IMO, some of it was and some of it wasn't. At the beginning, when the diddle dum lawyers got there he was sort of holding his laughter, esp when one lawyer rubbed the other's head... you could tell he was not supposed to laugh but he was... I was laughing loudly right there with him...

On another note, I loved the fact that Don Humberto exploded towards Ariel and the faces Jaime/Fernando was making since this outburst from Humberto to Ariel would not be what Fernando would have expected... Jaime did a great job using his brows and facial expression to show his surprise.
I think this is what sets apart Fernando (and even Marcia) from Ariel... Ariel is all about the bottom line $$$ whereas both Fernando and Marcia care more about the company and the 'patrimonio'.
 

I believe, and have always believed, that Fernando lies to himself first and foremost. Like "this little deception involving Filmo-Imagen is okay because I'll easily get Conceptos back on track before it becomes a problem." Most of the lies he tells other people are based on the lies that he's already telling himself. That's why he comes off as so sincere!
 

ITA Paula, in both the analysis of Fernando's emotional roller coaster (there is a HUGE difference in what Fernando WANTS [Lety back with him] and what he is finding 'realistic expectation' in his mind [not a chance with Lety so he finds comfort and familiarity with Marcia]. Is he using her? Of course! Is he lying to her? well, I side with Paula that he is not really telling her lies orally even though his action of going back to her shelter will give her hopes again and he knows that.

ITA with the analysis of Humberto's and Erasmo's reaction to their child failing them... Erasmo is a father first and foremost, and even though Lety hurt him deeply in the values he thought he had taught her well, she is mature enough to admit to that and he is satisfied with that. Humberto just bashed at Fernando because he failed him as a son AND as the gatekeeper of Conceptos, his first true 'child'.
And that Fernando and Lety are following their corresponding father's example... And this is one of the reasons I had said Fernando had a much longer and steeper road to climb since he had to rearrange his values and priorities, something Lety has had clear and correct from the get go. Lety was only short in self-esteem and a sense of self worth. And she got a lot of help with that from Caro and Aldo.
 

Lety's been fighting her own demons in letting herself do 'wrong' things based on her love for Fernando winning over her 'values and priorities'. But she knows she has been doing wrong. and is much more conscious of that than Fernando, who knows the odds were steep against him but he still went through with the whole FI plan which led to the whole series of wrong moves to seduce Lety.
 

ALMOST any time you see Fernando put his hand up and put his thumb and forefinger on his eyebrows so his face is covered, it's to cover a laugh, even though it looks like he's deep in thought. He quickly finishes laughing and composes his face, then the hand comes down. You'd never know he was laughing if you didn't know what to watch for.

In the case of the HaHA's, he had it so bad that he couldn't recover. I'm pretty sure that the name Sanchez gave for Rosales was improvised, which provoked Omar's spit-take, then the two comedians improvised the head wiping, and Camil was just floored when he saw it. Usually it's only Sergio (Luigi) who can break him like that.

BTW, something to watch for, next Wednesday. The mother of all Fea bloopers. Camil nearly breaks his hand for-reals. Augie (Omar) gets so lost, he points at the teleprompter and says, "Where are we?"
 

I agree that Fernando has been working so hard at lying to himself and coaching himself that he could 'get away with it' that his lying to others seems much more easy to do and believable...
 

Paula, could you please remind us again on Tuesday that the blooper will be coming up next day? I know my sieve of a "brain" will forget that and I don't want to miss it.

What were we talking about?
 

Brain like a sieve? Not me! My brain is like a steel trap! Rusty, and full of holes!
 

Sylvia, I loved the way you put it that Lety started with nothing (job, prestige, social standing), on the things that are easier to get and also easier to loose...
and Fernando started with all of that but very little in the areas of family values and support since he came from such a dysfunctional family with all their focus on the 'patrimonio' more important than anything, including their kids emotional well-being.
 





<< Home

Newer›  ‹Older

© Caray, Caray! 2006-2022. Duplication of this material for use on any other site is strictly prohibited.

Protected by Copyscape Online Plagiarism Finder