Caray, Caray!

Hey, no te preocúpes -- Life happens! Good luck at work!

Thursday – As I remember…

María stands strong against Max’s serenata until LindaHo pours cold water on his dreams – literally! María rushes downstairs to apologize for her slutty roomie, she and Max lock Bambi eyes, and the next thing we know, they are ‘te quiero’ing’ in an ice cream parlor. Diabetic viewers, better check your sugar.

LindaHo feels she’s not cut out to be a Mexican Avon lady. She soaks her feet. We’d like her to go soak her (own) head. Nathy wears a low-cut nightie that reminds us that even minor Televisa players have had a little work done.

At work, Queen Victoria runs around screaming ‘Off with their heads!’ She fires two models when she learns that one is pregnant and the other is getting married.

His producer’s wife puts the moves on Osvaldo although he seems uninterested. She needles him about how Victoria is neglecting him. She makes sure that the press will be present at the post-production party at the Sandoval home that night.

Things are tense between V & O at that party. Finally, when she refuses to watch Flamenco dancing with the rest because she has to get up early for work, O reams her out in public while V’s enemies and rivals look on with satisfaction.

Padre JP hears María’s confession and advises her on her love life. He reminds her that when sex is taken too casually, the woman always ends up the loser. He reminds her of the importance of love. She feels very comfortable with him, so protected. He’s so… fatherly.

St Bernard(a) overhears Tomasa tell JP that his mother seems very troubled and has nightmares. Perhaps she has something to confess. When JP leaves, St B attacks Tomasa, forces her to kneel and ask forgiveness for talking out of turn. Then we see St B in bed in her Beelzebub Black jammies, hair flowing down her back. She dreams of the hellfire she herself set when she disposed of JP’s bio father and his family.

William Levy in a kayak.
 

And of course -- please add, correct, whatever. Thanks!
 

Thanks, NovelaMaven,

Frankly, I don't watch any scene with Daniella R in this novela even tho I loved her in Sortilegio.
I detest this character - far too melodramatic for me. Mostly,
I am interested in whatever transpires between MP & WL.
I would like some more details of their conversations. I find it difficult to hear dialogue with the background music. First,
I think Max agreed to no more
visits to apartments; then I think
Maria wanted him to share his feelings and hopes for the future.
If you can enlighten me on this,
I would appreciate it.
 

NovelaMaven to the rescue! Muchisimas gracias!

I fell asleep just when St. Bernard was yelling at Tomasa. I woke up seeing Buff Billy in the kayak! Achis! Achis!

Who was the actriz putting the moves on Oz? She looks so familiar, but I can't place her. Also...the PR lady...was telling her she was looking better and better each time. She certainly looked confident strutting around the back lot of Televisa.

Victoria is making it so very, very hard to like her. She really does think she owns her staff?! if so, Maria of the goofy braids is in for the shock of her life.

Totally OT, but I was trying to remember the name of the TN that had Edith Gonzalez and Cesar Evora. Evora playe the galan. Edith was evil, but St. Bernard beats her by a long shot.

Can someone tell me the name of that TN?

I was watching the end of Llena before Eva Luna. I was thinking that if Evora just lost some weight, he could still be an older galan. His voice is so beautiful and he enunciates as beautifully as Julio Aleman. I love listening to both men. They could charm me with their voices alone!!

Thank you again, NovelaMaven!

Susanita
 

NovelaMaven/ LLV: Stuff happens at least once in every recapper's imperfect life. Not to worry! Thanks NovelaMaven for jumping in with that wonderful snark of yours.

* I would only add that Max disagreed again with his mother's machiovellian management methods. She is a total blood-letter and insists it's them or us in business. The first one who blinks loses.

I'd say Vicki finds it very hard to turn the cybotics off when she returns home. The wall she's put up between her and Oz is really difficult to figure. She's extremely sensitive to criticism from anybody, not just Oz. The way she shut down the two-timing producer's wife at her party was great , but out of character for a sympathetic protagonist. Well, I'd say Fernanda at least comes by that bitchiness honestly!!
 

Thanks to 5 ft for a second week of triumph!
 

Susanita:
Totally OT, but I was trying to remember the name of the TN that had Edith Gonzalez and Cesar Evora. Evora playe the galan. Edith was evil, but St. Bernard beats her by a long shot.

I guess you're talking about Mundo de fieras (1996). I also love his voice, too. And his acting. And his charisma. And his face. Everything. :)
 

AnonG
Here’s the María/Max conversation, as well as I could understand it:

María apologizes for the cold shower but says she can’t forgive Max for his previous behavior. He begs her to go someplace warm to talk about it and promises: No more apartments! You pick the place. Ok, says María, just stop shivering.

At the soda shop María explains it isn’t what he did so much as why he did it. He just wanted to be with her, he says. It was just a mistake in judgment…
About what? she asks. About feelings, he says. He tells her he thinks of her all the time. He can’t get her out of his head. I’d rather be here, she says touching his chest.

Do you believe in love at first sight? he asks. She tells him love can begin in many ways, like a seed dropped by a bird that, with much care, can flourish and grow into a tree with strong branches. He’s impressed. (Me not so much. I can’t stop thinking that the seeds get dropped in bird poop.)

He asks her: What does love mean to you? Her answer: Giving (dar). Flowers fall so that fruit may grow.

Your way of thinking is really beautiful, he says. I didn’t know you were like that.

He takes her hand and says: Here is where our story (lo nuestro) begins. We’ll see where it goes from here.

She corrects him and tells him they have to think that it will last. He agrees. And his mantra will be: Quiero a María Desamparada, quiero a María Desamparada…
 

Jardinera, thanks for the additions and clever commentary, amiga!

Susanita, de nada! Yeah, that actress is so familiar but I can't put a name to her face. I think she's been typecast as a perra though.

I'm rather enjoying the way Queen Victoria is being set up: the good person behaving badly, inviting comparison to St Bernard(a), the epitome of evil who puts on a face of goodness. Sorry, I guess I'm a sucker for the obvious:)
 

Thanks, NovelaMaven for translating in detail the MD/MS scenes.

I'm w/ AnonG re >ff> Romo's scenes; and others too that don't involve Max/WL.

That said, much as I adore WL, I'm really not buying Max/Maria's love for each other. Is it just me? 'not really feeling it. escpecially from him.
 

Victoria is behaving like many people who have had toxic bosses by being one herself. This is a lot like children of toxic parents becoming toxic parents themselves. They don't know how not to repeat the behavior and have to be taught, but first they have to have the mirror held up.

She should be made to be a contestant on Undercover Boss. Oh, what she would hear being said!

Since Max loves her she couldn't have been that bad a mother to him. When did she become an orphan herself, I wonder, and was she in an orphanage run by nuns?

Victoria just worships a different god from Bernarda, Bride of Satan. Who designed the Beelzebub Black PJs, anyway?

After that performance with Tomasa I think Bernarda could end up as Satan's widow.
 

LLV, good luck with your work. I hope you will join us whenever you have the opportunity. I really enjoyed your first recap and was looking forward to your recap each week.

NovelaMaven, thanks for jumping in.My TIVO bumped this for a repeat of the Office so I missed the first 20 min.

Unflattering looks at both Ozzy and Vicky lat night. Maybe time to ask, "Can this marriage be saved?"

Urban Anthropologist, Vicky said that she was reared by her madrina if I'm not mistaken.

I have to admit, I was with Linda last night when she told Maria to dump him. Of course she wasn't awawre that he's rich. That might alter her opinion... not mine.

Carlos
 

Thanks NovelaMaven- eres espectacular....and funny!

I appreciate the support- thanks for taking my blunder in stride all!

Carlos- thanks...we'll see if I dare show my face after this episode (pun intended).

Ok all, Happy MLK weekend. Que viva la paz y justicia.
 

a quick comment before I start reading.
FC will be on Sal y pimienta Sun night 10:00 PM EST after El gran show.

LLVL, as they say mierda happens, Tks for your efforts.
 

Tks for jumping in guys.

I believe in fate but this is ridiculous, María works for mamá & confesses to papá. Even Mejia has stretched it.

The serenade was so bad I thought Pablo Montero had entered the picture. OK I'm in a minority here but after Ave Maria in FELS----

Those lines between María & Max, obvious they weren't from Emily Dickinson.

And Oscar has found a new bitch to haunt, just came right over from STuD.

But I'm enjoying this
TN, honest, so far.
 

How sure are we that Victoria isn't going to end up a villain? She's really working hard on it. Models aren't allowed to have any personal life; they have to be 100% devoted to putting on some clothes and posing in them? Really? Seems like exactly the kind of job that can be done on a schedule and allow for vacations and such. It's not like being the only doctor in a remote village or something, where you need to be on call all the time.
 

Variopinta, that wasn't added to this story; the Job Interview From Hell and the First Confession scenes are very similar to EPDA. There are two main differences so far:

1. The backstory was told as a prologue in EPDA.
2. The acting in EPDA was far more restrained.

Even then I thought that the whole All-The-Chickens-Are-Coming-Home-to-Roost aspect of this was over the top. However...

since telenovelas -- like romance novels -- are fairy tales for big girls, this is not too surprising.

BTW I couldn't access the TN Bingo cards. If we were playing that I suspect someone could win in a single episode.
 

Am I the only one that could care less about the Maria/Max story line? (Well, maybe I care a little.) I just find myself really interested in Victoria, Os and Antonieta.

And LLVL, está bien. Mierda happens and sadly RL trumps fun stuff sometimes.
 

Urban
Forgot about the remake, who did that one?
 

Aribeth: Gracias, amiga! That's the TN! I loved Evora in that one...I lpve him no matter what. I think Cristina loved him,too as he was a frequent guest on El Show.

UA: Undercover Boss! Wowsers. That would straighten out Victoria in a minute!

Vario: Gracias for the infos! Goyri will be on the programme, too!

NovelaMaven: We've got to figure out where else we have seen two timing producer's wife.

So, why did Linda Ho drop the water on Max? Remember...I was asleep for most of this.


Susanita
 

Tks, it will be great to see FC & his 8 year older father.
 

Susanita,

So, why did Linda Ho drop the water on Max?

--There was a sort of serenata impasse. MD wouldn't acknowledge MS and he wouldn't stop the serenata until she responded (he was hoping to soften her heart and make her forgive him for acting like a jerk). So LindaHo stepped into the breach saying she knew how to get rid of guys like that. She went into a back room, filled up a bucket of water and dumped it out the window before her roomies could object.

I suppose it's meant to go along with the portrayal of LindaHo as impulsive and thoughtless (think of her storming the gates of Televisa and calling the Sandoval home late at night) as well as basically hostile to men. She sees them as walking bank accounts. (I suppose at some point we'll find out what they did to her back in Argentina to turn her into a user. Meh. Who cares.)
 

Am I the only one that could care less about the Maria/Max story line? (Well, maybe I care a little.) I just find myself really interested in Victoria, Os and Antonieta.

----------------------
I'm not interested in Max or Maria either. I'm much more interested in Victoria vs. Osvaldo and the backstage shenanigans of Televisa.

I just realized that "Victoria," "Osvaldo" and "Guillermo" are played by people named...Victoria, Osvaldo and Guillermo.
 

El Privilegio de Amar was produced by Carla Estrada. Liliana Abud was one of the head writers of that as well; some of the dialogue is identical so far.

Cesar Evora was Padre Juan, Marga Lopez his mother (not remotely as crazy as Romo's Bernarda). Helena Rojo and Adele Noriega were the mother and daughter.

I think the entire series is on YouTube.
 

Sorry for your problems, LLVL. We won't despise you for having a real situation. There are way too many TN characters for us to despise.
I'm afraid my interest in this TN is moving into the tepid range. I like checking on hunky WL, but don't find him as believable as he was in Sortilegio. When he was fronting the serenade group, he looked mildly estupido and uncomfortable. He did try to sing a little right before the water treatment. Oh well, I'll keep checking in. Thanks for all the recaps and comments.
La Paloma
 

Hey Susanita, I think I've got it! Another inside joke in this sly, self-referential novela:

The producer's wife, Ofelia, is played by the actress Andrea García. She is the daughter of Andrés García who played Andrés Duval, the Osvaldo Sandoval character en EPDA.
 

NovelaMaven: !!!!! Aren't you the smart one! Fantastico y gracias!!!

For one brief moment...the Ofelia character looked just like Kate Middleton...soon to be princess wife to Prince William.

Thank you, too, for clarifying why Linda Ho (and she is looking more and more like one) dropped the water on Marvelous Max. :))

Susanita
 

Thanks, Novela Maven, and good luck LLVL!
 

Awww...sorry, LLVL! It sucks when life interferes with recapping. I think the recording mishaps happen to everyone at one time or another. I was supposed to do the first night of STUD and missed it due to technical problems. So annoying!

@Julia: The talent contract and assorted unofficial FAQs for the agency that offered me a contract kind of read like that. Don't change your look without consulting your agent, be available 24/7 and if you're not available tell your agent ahead of time. They can't very well tell a client who says "The 5ft Latina! I want her!" "Oh, um, ok, let us check her availability...sometimes she doesn't call us back for a few days, but no worries...she always calls eventually...unless she's decided to go out of town for a few days...oh, and, um she added some blonde streaks in her hair...she can dye it back, no problem! But she'll need a little time to get it done...and she's had a little skin bleaching so she's not tan so much as, um, beige? But hey, I mean, that's what they make spray tan for, right? Right? Hello?" Victoria made it sound like "I own your ass," and she maybe took it a little too far...but not really.
 

Variopinta (and other Soup fans)- Watch the Soup this week. The clip of the week is from Triunfo del Amor. Funny, funny stuff. Lol!
 

Good luck with the job, LLV. NovelaMaven, thanks for stepping in and recapping. I didn't see much of this episode because I was watching a PBS show about my favorite glass artist Dale Chuhuily. Vivi~~~I saw The Soup last night. It was so funny watching the clips from TDA and hearing Joel's take on the storyline. He did a pretty good job of summarizing it. I agree with those who say that they are more interested in the OS-Vick storyline than the Max-Maria one.
 

Thanks to all for making this novela interesting.

Is anyone else having trouble understanding the actors, especially Levy? I can watch LFMB without CC quite easily, but need them for almost everyone on this show.

Does Wm Levy seem uncomfortable in this role? He just is not the same as in Sortilegio.
 

I really like the chemistry between max and maria. Their gazes that look so longing. I really see chemistry. REgarding commenters saying they are not interest in them and that they are interested in victoria and her life. Remember the last Novela with Fernando and Lucero. Everyone complained that there was not enough romance time to be seen by the viewers. This time we are getting to see the relatonship growing and their love for each other, but we don't want this, we want to her abut Victoria. Don't think we can please the writers, either way.
 

For "I can't believe I watched the whole thing"

I too have trouble understanding WL. And JuanJo and Napo aren't so easy for me either. I am completely without usable CC (more symbols and garbage than legible text) so sometimes I am at a loss.
 

I think Maria and Max's story is a bit tepid at the beginning mostly because of writer's choices and Willima's character is indeed a bit void at the beginning. So I was more intrigued myself by all Victoria/JP story but Will and Maite's chemistry is still there and very strongly, so I guess it makes up for the lack of imagination and originality from the writers' part.
 

Hello all.......i am stil here....Not to excited about this novela...I can't seem to get into Levy or Victoria Ruffo....she is just not believeable as a big time executive...she really dosent have the looks or fashion dress....I love to read comments still everyone does such a good job and giving of their time.....i continue to watch but not with the excitement i had for Colunga and Lucero....hope another one of thier novelas comes around soon....I will keep in touch...
BNinCA
 

LLV, I too want to wish you good luck with the job.
NovelaMaven Thanks for jumping in.

I'm also not feeling it with Max and Marie... yet I hope. Loved Sorti.

Sorry for such a late post. Playing catch up.

dpd