Thursday, January 06, 2011

Triunfo del Amor #3 1/5/11 A triumph of Daniela Romo's mad acting skillz

So, Max and Maria have gotten a look at each other. Max's lips move while the music plays over whatever words he's uttering…I was trying to lip-read, but I'm too distracted by the lyrics of the song:


A partir de hoy, (From today on)
Tu mirada es mi reflejo (Your look is my reflection)
El reflejo de mis sueños (The reflection of my dreams)
Cuando sueño como un beso (When I dream of how a kiss)
Se transforma en un "te quiero" (Is transformed into an "I love you")
Un "te quiero" de tu voz (An "I love you" from your voice)

A partir de hoy, (From today on)
Has cambiado lo que siento (You've changed what I feel)
Siento que a cada momento (I feel that every moment)
Se desaparece el tiempo (Time disappears)
Cuando estoy contigo amor (When I'm with you, love)
Solo estamos tu y yo (There's only you and me)

No hace falta más (I don't need anything more)
Que estar junto a ti (Than to be with you)
Porque tengo el amor que me das (Because I have the love you give me)
Porque tu tienes todo de mi (Because you have all of me)


Damn! I sure hope that's on iTunes! Sheet music would be too much to ask. Maybe a karaoke track? But I digress…

Um, anyway, Maria helps the Madre down from the runway and turns down another opportunity to talk to Victoria…go figure! She helps round up the other orphans and get them down to the bus while Max chases after them so he and Maria can exchange longing glances...


Que no puedo estar sin ti porque te extraño (I can't be without you because I miss you)
Es para ti todo mi amor (All my love is for you)
Todo de mi, a partir de hoy (All of me, from today on)

A partir de hoy (From today on)
Te acompañan mis latidos (My heartbeats go with you)
Vas conmigo en mis sentidos (You go with me in my senses)
Y es que sé que estoy contigo (It's that I know when I'm with you)
Ya no hay nadie alrededor (There's no longer anyone else around me)
Sólo estamos tu y yo (There's only you and me)

No hace falta más...

A partir de hoy te entrego el corazón (From today on, I give you my heart)
Mis secretos, mi destino y mi ilusión (My secrets, my fate, and my hope)
Cada lugar, cada rincón (Every space, every corner)
Mi locura y mi razón (My insanity and my reason)

A partir de hoy te digo que te amo (From today on, I tell you that I love you)
Que no puedo estar sin ti porque te extraño...

El destino hizo un par casi perfecto (Fate made an almost perfect pair)
Nos queremos con errores, con virtudes, con temores (We love each other with our mistakes, with our virtues, with our fears)
Nos amamos a pesar de los defectos (We love each other despite our defects)


Oh. My. I tell you now, when they get married at the end (not a spoiler, just a given for this genre) no matter how much this plot gets messed up in the process, no matter how impatient I get, no matter how much I curse the writers, I know they're gonna play this song, and I'm gonna cry.

Victoria chews out Osvaldo, reminding him of all the sacrifices she's made to get to where she is. He doesn't think that gives her the right to be so mean to a poor girl who was just trying to please her. Victoria accuses Maria of flirting with Osvaldo right in front of her. He says she has no right to demand anything of him, because she promised to change and devote more time to him, but he can see now that it was just work. He informs her, he's off to Spain soon to shoot a new show. He's sorry, but she's not keeping her promises and he's tired of it.

Antonieta, having heard the argument, comes over and tells Victoria not to let Osvaldo leave like that. "Go after him!" She tells her to think of only one thing--her husband loves her. Victoria runs after him.

At the elevator, a very tall woman in a very short skirt…the same one who was all over him at the house…has some trouble freeing herself from the cage. She hugs him and says she changed her mind. Osvaldo's glad and says she's the only one who can get him out of his funk. They hug again. Victoria sees them and stalks over. "I'm glad you decided to come," she says, almost scowling. They finally break down the deception, with Victoria calling her "hija" (daughter), smiling and hugging her. Max joins the family reunion and chides whatshername for being late. Osvaldo says it was a great show, as always, and suggests they go out together to celebrate. The suddenly happy family all get in the elevator together.

Meanwhile, down in the barrio, Juanjo and Milagros debate the nature of love. Juanjo believes it shows up on it's own. Milagros says nah, you've gotta give it a push. You mean an "arrimadita" don’t'cha, ma? (a little "arrima," from "arrimar," "to pull up, to push," maybe he means, "a little shove"?…we debated this one and Mr. 5ft says he's making a motion like you do when you're in front of the goal trying to block a penalty kick and you're jockeying for position). Well, wouldn't he like a girlfriend to hang out with, have some fun, and then eventually marry her? Juanjo says with his mom being a "mandona" (from "mandar" to order; a woman who orders people around) why would he want another one? But ma's serious. Well, so is he. "You know I'm not into love." She warns him he'd better find himself a woman or she'll marry him off to the girl they passed in the street. Juanjo decides to go back to the firehouse or she'll try to marry him off to the next woman who walks by selling tamales. She gives him the wordiest blessing I've seen in a TN thus far…"Que la santa y bentida cruz baje del cielo subre de tu cuerpo se extienda de todo mal y peligro de una muerte repentina y violenta la santa cruz te defienda Amen." (May the holy and blessed Cross come down from heaven to extend itself over your body. From all evil and danger, from a sudden and violent death, the Holy Cross defend you.)

At dinner, the family chats. Victoria excuses herself, wishing she could tell them the truth and then maybe their lives would be different. But she doesn't dare. Bernarda and Juan Pablo destroyed her life and if she ever comes face to face with them…it's on!

Bernarda thanks God for making her dream a reality--having a priest for a son! Wow, that's…different. But whatever floats your evil boat. Tomasa comes in and Bernarda gives her the stink eye. Tomasa just thought Bernarda would like to set out a votive to give thanks for her son's return.

Bernarda flashes back to a fire. Someone in her flashback screams.

Bernarda beats her breast and chants "They deserved it, they deserved it, they deserved it for being traitors and I don't repent anything I did…nothing! If I were born again, I'd burn them alive again!" Omigosh…this woman is nuts! Don't the baddies usually wait until about halfway through to show off the extent of their insanitevil? Is Tomasa still in the room? Bernarda is now kneeling and addressing the cross, saying "Thank you for having given me the power to make justice in your name, with my own hand! If I have to fight evil with evil, I'll do it. I know you'll be with me always, always…for you, for you my lord…" She breaks into a rousing chorus of the Our Father as she thinks about the fire again.

Freakishly Leggy Daughter (I'll get her name eventually) points out to Victoria that every time she does one of these gigs for the orphans she gets all moody after. Wow! Legs AND brains! Vic says this is a time for celebration, not having actual meaningful family conversations that lead to greater connection and deeper relationships. So let's all raise our glasses to celebrate your dad's new project that I'm pretending to be glad about, except that…wait a minute, I actually AM glad because I just realized while he's in Spain I can fully indulge my workaholic tendencies without him making puppy dog eyes at me for ignoring him…hmmm…note to self: hire an assistant to do nothing but send sexts to Osvaldo on my behalf while he's in Spain. Or not. FLD's like "Wow, y'all work hard!" Osvaldo says the paper (he makes the international hand gesture for moolah) calls to him. Max excuses himself, saying he also has another project. FLD jokes to Mama Vic that it's a "skirt" kind of project. Max says goodbye and tells his sister to behave…"But call me if you don't!" Ja, ja, ja. She claims to always behave. Mama Vic wishes that Max would find a nice girl and "sentar cabeza" at last (literally, seat his head; i.e., get his head on straight, settle down). She toasts to Osvaldo's project again.

"Me hiciste tuya con engaños!" (You made me yours by deceiving me [and we all know what she means by "made me yours".) It's Bernarda, sweating in her $500 black satin PJ's from EvilOutfitters.com, where their motto is "If no one can tell just by looking at you that you are 100% pure EVIL…it's not our clothes, they're just tragically stupid," and also offering a free "Classic Tortures of the Inquisition" 2011 wall calendar with every $200 purchase during the month of January. And that was all totally a joke, but I just went to see if there really is an "EvilOutfitters.com" and it says "coming soon." I'm leaving this in to see if they ever find it and try to sue me for ruining their good name…or want to steal my motto and promotional scheme. Whichever. Sorry, I'm easily distracted tonight. "And now I discover that I'm pregnant, you tell me you're married and you have a child. Damn you!" Flashback!Bernarda slaps her impregnator. Next we see her uncapping a jug of something flammable, splashing it all over the outside of a house, and lighting a match. As an adult male attempts to save his wife and child inside the burning house, Bernarda stands outside, smiling and caressing her belly. Ah, evil and hypocrisy. It's like chocolate and peanut butter, only less tasty.

Victoria and Osvaldo get home. Ossy tells Vic the story of how he got the job, adding that Alvaro wasn't even upset about it! Vic says that's what a good friend is--someone who rejoices in their friends' good fortune. Tragically. Stupid. But then again so is Alvaro for taking a friend to an audition. I figure he did it cause he knew deep down what would happen and he wanted one more reason to hate his "friend."

Alvaro is sketching as a blondish woman in a toga asks him why he took Osvaldo to the audition in the first place. "It's all a question of karma. When something does something you don't like, life sooner or later takes care of evening the balance." He brings a glass of wine over to her, then starts dipping a paintbrush in a bowl of honey. "But I didn't invite you here to talk about Osvaldo. Much less to talk." He does the expected with the brush and the honey and maybe I'm supposed to find it hot, but I don't. More food is molested as the scene continues.

Mujeres Asesinas 3…the third time hurts the worst! Woo hoo! Who's with me?!

Bernarda's flashback continues: "I love you so much that even though the child you're expecting isn't mine, I'll love him as if he was. I'll give him my name." That was Bernie's currently dead hubby. In a later flashback he says that he's going to go to the seminary to find out if Juan Pablo really did knock up the maid. She forbids him from destroying JP's "spiritual peace," especially since he's not JP's "real" dad. Well, JP loves him as if he was…so isn't it time for her to come down off her cloud? "We both know why you were so determined for him to be a priest…to wash away your guilt!" Bernarda wakes up and says she doesn't have any guilt or regrets, because all she did was justice, in the name of God (To: Bernarda, From: God, re: This whole justice/vengeance/whateveryouwanttocallit thing…LEAVE ME THE HELL OUT OF IT, YOU WACK JOB! Seriously.) "After my revenge against Victoria, I never saw her again…but if I ever saw her again, I'd be capable of killing her without feeling any pain or pity for that slut!" Really! This is just too much…my hat is off to Daniela Romo for delivering these lines without cracking up laughing. Madam, I aspire to your greatness!

The slut in question finishes getting ready for bed. Osvaldo says he never tires of looking at her. She's so beautiful! He loves her more every day. Vic says she loves him too. Osvaldo says their problems are because he just needs her near him all the time. Victoria says nothing will make her leave his side. He carries her to bed and she laughs.

Max, meanwhile is attacked by Luci and her spiked heels. She's had too much to drink and he wants to take her home…she'd rather go to his place. Max doesn't want to take advantage of her in her drunken state. He suggests they do this another time. The lovely Luci calls him "aguado" (watered-down, dull) and says it's no wonder he doesn't have a girlfriend. She walks off and Max says he won't until he finds the woman of his dreams…

Max and Maria think of each other while their theme song plays again. Oh, hell, just keep playing that damn song and I won't care what else is going on.

Maria laughs at herself for thinking of him when she'll probably never see him again.

Max drives around thinking of Maria. He can't take it any more and says he's got to see her right now! He drives over to the orphanage, but hesitates before ringing the bell.

Maria is in her room, turning down her bed.

Max smiles and says "hello"…is he practicing?

"Good evening…Is that girl home? The one with black hair…you know the one? Really pretty, with these eyes and an incredible look…she's like…." He stops talking and we see he's talking to himself. He decides it's better if he leaves…"Puede que salga una monja enojada y me crucifique!" (It might be that an angry nun comes out and crucifies me!) Ah, William…you had me at monja enojada. He gets in his little green plastic car and calls himself crazy.

Maria hears him revving his engine and goes to the window. She thought bubbles that the car had been stopped at the door of the convent. She wonders who it could be at that hour…"Quien?" (Who)

Milagros, complete with traditional costume, comes into her bedroom singing. Okay, we're 30-ish minutes into the show and I've been at it for close to 2 hours! In my defense, it's because of fabulous scenes like this, where I cannot resist going into detail about everything people are saying, doing, wearing, and/or decorating with! Okay, first off, she's singing "Guadalajara Guadalajara" which is a traditional mariachi song, "Tienes el alma de provinciana, hueles a limpia rosa temprana," (You have the soul of a country girl, you smell like a clean early rose)…then, as she admires herself in the mirror, she says when Napo sees her he's going to fall at her feet! Especially since the bicentennial just passed…"We're all full of love for Mexico!" Despite the ill-wishes of all those "malandrines" (bad people; jerks). They can't keep us from loving Mexico the way we do! She goes into chipmunk mode as she dances around. Oh, Don Napo, she will not rest until she has her way with you! Milagros has her Chivas bedspread on the bed, a picture of a santo over it, a Star of David on the wall, belly dancing coin skirts draped over the furniture, a Ganesh tapestry over her dresser, a Buddha sitting on top of it, and she's wearing a pentacle necklace. Mr. 5ft observes that she's not a very good Catholic. Well, but, you see, she's a bruja, and brujas don't think there's a conflict with being Catholic and incorporating other practices in their spiritual work. If Ganesh is getting the job done, what's the problem? And when I say "bruja" I don't mean witch as in "I want to say 'bitch' but I think it's more polite" or as in "practitioner of Wicca" or as in "female pagan who chooses the label," I mean "woman who considers herself a good Catholic, but who incorporates indigenous and also possibly Eastern, European, or any other spiritual figures or practices in order to get the job done"…that job being limpias (cleansing rituals) like we saw her doing to get rid of the evil eye for the taco lady, or blessings, or all manner of stuff that takes care of the spiritual needs of the community, as distinct from their religious needs, which are taken care of by the priests and the Church. Which is not something we have a word for in English. So whether or not she's a "good" Catholic is entirely in the eye of the beholder. And this is why I've been at this recap for so long.

Don Napo and Juanjo have some coffee. The waitress is giving Juanjo the eye, but since Milagros is pushing him to get himself hitched, it makes him even less interested. Napo says Milagros thinks love and happiness go together, but he thinks he's perfectly happy being single, and the farther away the women stay, the better! They make the usual tired homophobic jokes about what Don Napo just said and establish that yes, he is a proper manly woman-loving man, and Juanjo better show some respect in deference to his age.

Bernarda has turned on the lights in her bedroom. She says JP will never find out how things really happened. Flashback. Dead husband is packing his bags and Bernarda accuses him of wanting to go tell a lie to JP. "Fine, if I can't stop you, at least take your blood pressure medication." She pours the entire bottle into a glass of water and hands it to him. Of course he drinks it. He stumbles, or tries to, out of the house with his suitcase. She coldly watches him struggling and gasping, asking for help and even pushes him down the short flight of stairs away from her…does this count as a death by escalera? He probably didn't die from the fall itself, so I think this one goes in the poisoning column. She sits on the stairs, looks dispassionately at his body and says "You're dead. I warned you, but you didn't want to listen to me." Then she gets up and starts the show "Octavio! What happened! Tomasa, come quick! Oh no, he's dead…don't leave me, don't leave me!" A slow-mo glycerine tear of puro dolor that we all know is puro FAKE rolls down her cheek. She raises her hands to heaven and begs God to take pity on her. "Octavio, Octavio!" Back in the present, Bernarda takes out a picture of them on their wedding day, then smashes it on the floor. She picks up a rosary. "Lord. I only kept an injustice from happening. And that's why I acted in your name, fighting evil with evil as always. I didn't commit any fault. On the contrary. Victoria was guilty of all of it, which is why I took charge of punishing her like she deserved." Oh, Daniela Romo, may you entertain us all with these fabulous performances for as long as you can stand it!

Speaking of punishing…Osvaldo is flogging away at Victoria with snuggles and smoochies.

Down in the kitchen, Bernarda picks up a HUGE knife, knocks over the cutlery on the table, then starts picking it up when she hears JP calling for her. She tells him she had a nightmare. He offers her warm milk or some tea and she asks him to fix her a tea…"You know I'm afraid to turn on the stove." She tells him there was an incident when she was little and that's why she can't stand to be close to fire. She laughs off his suggestion to talk and jumps back from him as he lights a match. "Sorry, mom. I'm sure you're worried about something serious. Do you want to make confession to me?" She flashes back to Tomasa giving Victoria all her savings. She comes into the kitchen and tells Victoria that she talked to JP and he denied it, saying that nothing ever happened, even though Victoria threw herself at him all the time. Damnit, Victoria, and you believed her? "You see? He doesn't care about you or that child you're expecting. You don't believe it? Fine, I'll call him and you can hear it for yourself." Spineless Victoria says no. Bernarda says that's good, it will save JP the trouble of telling Victoria himself to leave the house and quit defaming him. That means Bernarda will get to do it herself. Goody! "Get out right now! I never want to see you again!" Present JP repeats his offer of confession. "No! I don't have anything to confess, just for a simple nightmare! Good night." She leaves a confused JP in the kitchen.

All the little orphanettes, plus the Madre Superior and the other nun sneak into Maria's room in shiny foil hats (except for the nuns) and a cake with a lit candle. Mr. 5ft: "Oh, they're getting ready to kick her out, huh?" That man cracks me up! He's seen enough of these to know that when you have an orphaned protagonista, she will start out at 17, turn 18 during the course of the show, and have to leave the orphanage. Only in this case, shouldn't she be 18 going on 19? They sing her Las Mañanitas as she wakes up looking way too cheerful and pretty for first thing in the morning.

Max swears to his work buddy that this time…THIS TIME…he has found the woman of his dreams. And he wants them to go over to the orphanage at lunchtime so he can show her off to his buddy.

The orphanettes send up a cheer for "Maria Desamparada" (and seriously, you couldn't have just called her "Martinez" or "De Dios" or "De Los Santos" or "De Jesus" or anything that isn't going to set up a self-fulfilling prophecy until the last week of the show?) and throw confetti. She blows out her candle. Any guesses what she wished for?

Victoria gives the maid some laundry to do. She finds the wallet that Ossy picked up yesterday.

The orphanettes chant for Maria to take a "mordida, mordida, mordida" (bite) and she obliges with a minimum of frosting ending up on her face. Because waking up looking perfect isn't enough? Then they move on to "que lo abra" (open it!) as she unwraps a very cartoonish Virgen de Guadalupe statue. There's lots of silly string and cheering in slow-mo.

Madre Superior prays to the lord to protect Maria. The young lady in question is ushered into her office. "You know the rules of this orphanage, which stipulate that when an orphan gets to be your age, and we can't mention what that age is because then all the viewers will say 'What? It's supposed to be 18? Who waits until 19 to kick out orphans?', she has to leave this house and confront the world and show that all we have taught her will allow her to live a moral and productive life. For you, that day has come. The foundation gives us a small sum for the girls who are leaving, for them to live off of while they find a job and a place to live." Not a lot of money, but enough to live off "for a while." The other nun tells Maria the doors are always open to her. Maria says she'll never forget everything they've done. The other nun says they'll never forget the day they found her, wandering the streets alone when she was little. The only thing she could say was her name, Maria. They baptized her as "Maria Desamparada." She grew up in the orphanage in Guadalajara until they conveniently moved the orphanage and all its inhabitants to DF so that she could meet the love of her life and have several months' worth of misadventures until finally when the viewers can hardly stand it, she marries her Prince Charming and rides off into the sunset. And I love the way they're telling her all this as if she just woke up that morning without a clue. Maria says she'll never understand why her parents abandoned her (to give us a plot for this show, of course.)

Osvaldo kisses Victoria goodbye as he goes off to work. He tells her the wallet belongs to the girl she chewed out yesterday. It fell in the elevator and he was planning to give it back to her. Victoria gets quiet. Osvaldo says she's never gotten jealous when he has to do love scenes, so why is she suddenly jealous of this girl? Vic says she doesn't know, but she's not going to let it get the better of her. She's going to take the wallet back to the girl and apologize for her behavior. Then she leaves the wallet on the dresser, picks up her coat and handbag, and leaves. They wish each other a good day. Osvaldo picks up the wallet and chuckles.

Maria is still saying her goodbyes when she realizes she lost her wallet. They think she must have left it at the hotel. MS also realizes that they never talked about why Maria never talked to Victoria about being a model. "Um…she was really busy, that's all." MS thinks that Vic will want to take Maria on as a model because she's sure that Vic really liked her.

At the church, Victoria cries to the Virgen that she was hit and she lost her daughter over 20 years ago…wait, wouldn't that mean Maria is maybe 21 or 22? What exactly was it that happened 20 years ago, cause it can't all have happened at exactly the same time? "Where could my daughter be? What could have become of her?" She begs for the miracle she's been asking for all these years…to see her daughter again, to hear her daughter call her "Mom." Padre JP hears her cries and wants to go talk to her, but Bernarda wants to talk to him ASAP. She sneers when he says he wants to see what's wrong with that woman over there. "I'm your mother. My needs are more important than anyone else's." He reminds her he owes himself to God and people in general…not certain specific ones above others. He says he'll go talk to the woman and then he'll talk to her after. She starts to follow him, but is stopped when a woman approaches with candles. Heh. She starts up her internal chant of "I regret nothing."

Padre JP comes closer to Victoria until they face each other and the music of "You!" plays. "Yeah, it's me, the Victoria you knew all those years ago!"

William Levy in a kayak.

Tomorrow: JP was a coward; Max goes looking for Maria.

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Comments:
So far, I'm having fun with this show...we'll see how long it lasts!

Updates:

--5ftLatina.com will be live by the weekend, or so Mr. 5ft assures me.
--If you go to my profile here on Blogger, I've started a 5ftLatina blog.
--If you check out the blog, there's a link to the 5ftLatina Twitter feed, which will include any singing, acting, or recapping news I have to share.
--I had a meeting with an agent today and I was offered a contract, which I am very excited about, however, I also have a meeting scheduled with another agent the week after next, so I don't want to make a decision until after that meeting.
--I had an audition for a theater production before the break that I thought went well, but I haven't heard anything back yet.
--I have an audition tomorrow afternoon and another one next Tuesday night.

Thank you for being my international fan club (I can claim that, right?). Your support and words of encouragement are very much appreciated! And I've noticed that the YouTube video of the short film has the most views of any other movie produced by that class...was that y'all? Behold the power of Caray, Caray!
 

Mrs. 5Ft, your recaps always make me laugh so hard. Perfection.

I know the nuns found Maria wandering the streets as a very young child and would have had to just make up a birthday for her, but they should have been able to guess within a year, right? So I wonder how old she is. Is Victoria just rounding off when she says all this happened 20 years ago? 20 years since she got pregnant? Since Maria was born? Since the accident and disappearance of her child who could already talk a bit?

Whatever. But it's a little odd that the nuns would throw Maria out and she wouldn't have seen this coming well enough to set up a job and look for a place to live ahead of time.

No showers today? Didn't Padre Hottie need to freshen up?
 

Thanks for the recap Kat and best wishes as you advance your acting career. Break a leg at your audition next week. I need to take your attitude about Bernarda being a role and not the sick twisted psycho she is. Loved your memo from God! I just don't understand if people like Bernie are so confident in their actions why they feel the need to add God. Own your crazy.

Also thanks for translating the song.
 

Oh, Kat! You and Mr. 5ft are just hilarious. Love it.

I also tried lip-reading. Wth did Max say? I gave up and told myself he must've said bonita or hermosa.

The theme song is definetely a keeper. Fernanda (Osvaldo' daughter)...not so much.

I'll be back tomorrow for comments. :)
 

5ft Latina love the recap as always another great one from you. I love Max and Maria's theme song as well anyone know the name of it? I think Maite is singing the female part i don't know who the guy is.

Karen i like that line own your own crazy, seems like the nutjobs in these novelas are either saying God gives them the right to be evil or they're blaming someone else for the reason why they do their evil acts.

Cielo de Levy yes indeed the theme song is a keeper and Fernanda not so much haha good one:)

Yeah sign me up for Mujeres Asesinas 3 i can't wait!
 

Fabulous recap! I laughed from beginning to end. This one is a classic. Is there a recap hall of fame? Some of my fave lines:

*She breaks into a rousing chorus of the Our Father as she thinks about the fire again.

*The entire paragraph that starts when FLD asks about Vic's mood swings post benefits.

*EvilOutfitters.com schtick

*Memo from God

And really so much more...

I love Bernarda's reaction whenever someone brings in a flame. Very Lugosi-esque. All it lacks is her hissing.

Julia- ITA about the time. It's possible that there has been some rounding. Or maybe the nuns like Maria so much that they decided to keep the child around 18 years...even though she was two when they got her. Maybe "the roolz" say a child can't stay more than 18 years....not that a child has to leave when they reach 18 years of age. Ultimately it boils down to how well adjusted your beanie is. :-)

Karen-I love your "own your crazy" line. So true!

I've been pleasantly surprised at how quickly this TN has captured my attention. Plus the awesome recaps!

I like the theme they've done for Maria and Max, but I actually like the sappy late 70's opening scene a little better. Guess my musical tastes sort of reflect my age, huh?

Good luck with all your endeavors, 5ft!
 

Oops! Forgot to add

The Fernanda/Osvaldo interaction is super, super creepy.
 

Thanks so much for the recap. Great summary and humor.

Two fast comments.
I never could understand why they had to make Bernarda pathologically evil. Simply evil and therefore redeemable at the end would have worked just as well. It's a dissonant point, for me, in what is otherwise a believable (within the novelita world) novela.

Second, I can't stand to hear people crow about how much better the original, any original, was. HOWEVER, Andres Garcia got the complex role of Victoria's husband (Osvaldo here) soooo right. I'm okay with everyone else here relative to the original. But I miss Andres' characterization. Oh, and he didn't have a creepy, sick relationship with the daughter!

Have a good day, all.
 

Kat, you are just so unbelievably funny! I would LOVE to watch with you & Mr. 5Ft, so I could catch the snickers & commentary live. I love your sense of humor & Mr.'s seems to mesh perfectly with yours. Thank you x 2 (one for you & one for your hubster)!!!!

A few of your classics that had me ROTFLOL: the insantievil, EvilOutfitters.com, Alvaro's food molestation (I felt sorry for the honey & the honey, if you catch my drift), Max's little green plastic car (Matchbox or Hot Wheels?), & the orphanettes. I'm still cracking up!

I watched last night's capitulo with my daughter, who I recruited as my FELS companion, & I must say, it is much more fun to have a snark partner (a snarkner??). The smoldering looks between Max y Maria (what a cliched fantasy for Max: virgin in a Catholic school uniform with knee highs), Bernie's overemoting & ageless time travel, Vicky's schizoid flashes from loving mother to workaholic to sobbing sad sack, Ossie's funky looking face, Alvaro's squicky seduction scene (which just brought us back to FELS & Fernando's weird habit of drizzling wine on his sexual conquests), & the midget Milagros. I totally don't get that side story but it's early...I'm sure by the Gran Fin, it will all be clear as mud.

So, net/net, I'm getting a lot of laughs out of this melodrama. Not sure that's what Maestro Meija intended!!

Maggarita
:-P

p.s. word verification: dillying (which is what I'm doing instead of working)
 

I was anxioulsy waiting for you to recap ETDA because you are such a good laugh!

Thanks so much!!
 

Oh Kat! Loved it. That girl is his daughter? Creepy. But it doesn't sound like I'm the only one that thought so.
 

5ftLatina, excellente!

Let's open speculation on what happened in Bernarda's life to have made her this way. It certainly would have happened before her pregnancy. She will never "own her crazy" (love that concept!)

She is starting to remind me of Jacinta Vailladolid of Barrera de Amor, she who destroyed her own son and almost did the same to her granddaughter. More cliches from Liliana Abud's playbook. Somebody asked in yesterday's discussion about the "Elizabethan collars" and I will suggest that this is because Bernarda fancies herself a queen. I'm betting that her origins are almost as humble as Victoria's.

Jacinta was half gypsy and had a fetish about fire. She also killed her husband. Her religious fanaticism probably started as a cover-up and became real. I wonder whether we can say the same about Bernarda. It's just as likely that her own mother was a religious fanatic who was widowed or somehow abandoned by her husband (if she was even married to him in the first place).

One wonders what the orphanage does to prepare its charges for life in the outside world. You'd think that they would try to quash an ambition like "fashion model" knowing how much sinful temptation happens in that world and would have had the girls taught how to do office work or encouraged them into pink-collar jobs, nursing, or teaching.

I'm wondering whether Osvaldo's daughter is hoping to become an actress and is that why she plays up to Dad?
 

To dpd--are you recapping tonight? I was going to post a discussion place but I'd much rather read your recap. I don't have time to recap this show but didn't want to leave a big hole. You can email me at conniesnails@gmail.com if you want.8(:-P
 

Yes, Urban Anthropologist, another Jacinta in our girl Bernarda. In both stories, these very dark and evil women are way over the top. A simply troubled and therefore mean mother, like Josefina in Canaveral de Pasiones or Daniela Romo's character in El Mantanial would be much more effective. Can be redeemed or killed off!
 

Kat - Thank you for your recap! A fun read, and my favorite lines are----
"More food is molested as the scene continues." --- ROFLOL
"Mr. 5ft observes that she's not a very good Catholic." - love the dry, wry wit!!! (LOL)
Milagros probably has one of those "COEXIST" bumper stickers on her car, too.


arrimadita - maybe also "a little bump"

ITA with you, Kat, about Bernutsa showing her insanitevil hand early in the game. She's way more insanitevel than Gabriela in FELS.

So JP's real father wasn't Octavio….. (nothing new with that, in telenovelaland)
Didn't we just suffer through that in STuD? ack.

Wow…. Escaleracide in the 3rd episode, albeit via flashback; Is that a record?

RE: Bernarda, Gabby(FELS) and the Elizabethan collars . . . I think it's simply a fashion thing. Collars like that "lift" an aging face. As Vicky in Sorti, she didn't wear them and had her hair down, and she didn't look as 'alive'. Women of a certain age 'get' the concept.....

The Bernaradas, Gabrielas (FELS), a/k/a The Righteous who do horrible things with "God on my side" IMO are telenovelaland's way of reminding the masses of Viewerville that
This.
Is.
Wrong.
It happens in real life, all over the world, and at least in telenovelaland these people eventually get their just desserts.

I hope my DVR finally caught Levy in the kayak last night.
 

Thank you for your hilarious recap, Kat! It's funny, there was something about the father-daughter interaction right away that tipped me off from the first phone call.

It was a bad red-herring, though; too creepy to be worth a single scene of plot twist. What were they thinking.
 

Kat, I've always loved your recaps, but with this one you outdid yourself! It was magnificent! I laughed all the way through at your terrific snark, and then went back again to make note of all the helpful Spanish. ¡Muchísimas gracias!

Others have already called attention to many of the lines I liked best. I could add more, but I might wind up just reproducing your recap!

Best of luck with all your acting endeavors. I loved you in the short YouTube video you posted a while back, and I'm confident that you'll do splendidly in larger roles. Break a leg!
 

Thanks, 5ft. , for that wonderful recap...classic Kat. Best wishes for success on your auditions. I also appreciated the insightful comments everybody has made. Bernie's fire flinch reminds me of Luis's fascination with fire in Alborada. Besides provoking memories of her arsonist past , I think Bernie's reaction is foreshadowing the hot and flaming place where she will eventually end up. Her look makes me think of the Evil Queen in Sleeping Beauty. I'd like to see her routinely gazing into a mirror ...'''Who's the evilest of them all?'' So far, we've hit the ground running with this show. It's fast and fun. Onward.
 

Thanks for the very detsiled recap Kat. My favorite was the memo from God. That left me in stiches.

Bernarda is reminding me more and more of Gabby from FELS. The arson in black leather trench coat. Using the same gasoline container to douse the house. Slap on day 3.
Both with that darn hair in abun style. And yes the victorian collars........


Ibarramedia
 

Kat, this is great. I'm so glad that you're recapping this show... another good reason for me to keep watching. As Susanlynn said... "classic Kat."

Wow, third episode and Max is already a stalker.

And Bernarda is already BSC. Where does she go from here?

Susanlynn, I thought of you as I was watching an old Highlander episode last night.

Kat, good luck. I probably accounted for about 10 of the Youtube hits. Yikes! Maybe I'm a stalker.

Carlos
 

Kat- This recap, with all your and Mr. 5ft's asides and the memo from God, had me in stitches. :) I will have to stick with this novela just for the marvelous funny group of recappers. Thank you. And good luck with all the auditions. Glad our views of your video helped boost it to #1. Yay!

What a birthday present. Happy Birthday! Now get out! I love the way these orphans are always cruelly being shoved out into the world by the nuns who raised them, with no real skills. In Querida Enemiga, at least the nuns had taught Lorena how to cook, setting her up to be a top chef. Not sure if the nuns were able to teach Maria how to own the catwalk.

So they sort of answered my question about why Victoria doesn’t suspect Maria could be hers- THE MOVE. She obviously doesn’t think it possible that her daughter would have left the Guadalajara area where she lost her and end up in an orphanage in D.F. Still pretty lame, but I’ll buy it.

Osvaldo and leggy daughter have the creepiest father-daughter relationship I have ever seen in a novela. Obviously they were trying to throw us off and make us think that this guy is a philanderer. But from the look of things, he’s an up and up amiable guy, who loves his wife madly, but is feeling neglected by her workaholic, preoccupied manner. The daughter does seem to be jealous of Victoria (is she Victoria’s bio child or also his from his first marriage?), and seems to have an unhealthy attachment to her father.
 

Carlos~~~OT~~~Are Highlander reruns being shown again on SYFY ? If so, what time are they on ? I'm too lazy to watch my ancient videos of my favorite series. [P.S. The guy from ''I Love Juan Q.'' had a very brief role on Trifuno, verdad?]
 

Gracias 5ft. Good luck on all your non-telenovela endeavors.

I got the feeling that legs for days was the daughter. She's gross. He however, is guapisimo. Way more my type than Levy. I won't get tired of looking at him. That's for sure.
What a change from the mother Daniela played on Sortilegio. Why do all these shows have an evil mother?
 

I was noting again last night the population of telenovelaland by perverted religious zealots with pretensions to angels of death.

Somebodies in the writers' room really like to prick the hypocrits for some reason. They are some kinda mad and holding a grudge.
 

Love this recap! I am watching to work on my Spanish knowledge (ok acquire Spanish knowledge) and for the gorgeous William Levy of course. Thanks for posting the song lyrics. The song is available on iTunes. :)
 

Muy hilarious as always 5ft.

We know we are in trouble when the orphans are wearing foil beanies.

Mejia certainly has a thing for fire, Gabriela in FELS, of course she didn't kill anyone that way like Rebeca Sanchez did in MEPS, but she tried.
 

Luis Miguel does some of the songs.
 

As always SUPERB by Kat .. thank you. Over the top !!

I'm really liking this so far, moving right along and "things" happen unlike STUD where nothing happened for weeks on end .. hope it keeps up.

I'll get crucified for saying this, but I think Colunga's acting skills have gone downhill. He seems to be overacting at times and really uses weird facial expressions. Perhaps the roles he's been playing just don't suit him. Don't like looking at Levy as much as Colunga but his acting abilities seem to be at a higher level than Colunga.
 

I was feeling that Victoria regrets her own mistake and that plays a part of why she will not listen to excuses/explanations from others.On the other end is Romo's mad woman who also does not tolerate excuses/explanations. But the Romo character does not walk away like Victoria, she rubs out the offender. Cold killer.
Looking forward to the rest of Daniela's performance. Got to mute the crying queen and crying princess.
Thank you brillant Recappers! You shine on all those dark tight conversations.
 

Thanks for a great one, Kat! And good luck with your career!

I'm liking the way this novela is taking off right away with the crazies and weirdos declaring themselves from day one.

I was thinking how lucky William Levy is to be young enough for them to leave his face alone. He actually has some texture and laugh lines, even a little weathering. In ten years, they'll probably make him as smooth as an apple and much less appealing -- at least to me.

Doris, seriously. You need to adjust your DVR. Those last few seconds of the shirtless Levy gliding along serenely in his kayak are like a cleansing breath (you ladies remember cleansing breaths from Lamaze class, right?) that take away the pain and concentrate on what's important like deciding whether Octavio's death was escalaricide or poison. IMHO, no contest, it counts as a poisoning -- and we saw it coming on the first day when the doctor told Bernutsa (love that, by the way) that more than 2 drops am and pm would be fatal. He might as well have handed her a loaded gun and warned her that if she pointed it at her husband's head and squeezed the trigger, he might get a little dead.
 

Kat, what an excellent, funny recap! Best of luck in your auditions. And congrats on landing an agent.

I also liked "food being molested".

We're already being treated to lots of novela-lengthening comic relief scenes, an example being Milagro's peasant costume scene. And did you all notice the trademark Mejía thing where Milagros turns into a chipmunk - just like Quintina did in FELS.

Marcos Méndez, who some of you have seen before, and is playing Fabian, to me looks exactly like Luis Fonsi.

Yeah, the red herring where we're meant to think Osvaldo is a skirt chaser, but the skirt in question turns out to be his daughter was veeerry creepy. In El Privilegio de Amar the daughter was Luciana's biological child with her husband (Victoria in this one). So far I can't tell if the girl is both of theirs. At one point she was calling her Victoria and being nasty, so maybe BOTH kids are Osvaldo's in this one.

I so agree about Daniela Romo. She's doing a fabulous job.
 

I am sort of an expert on Luis Miguel - he's my first obsession; WL, second. LM only sings the main theme - Tres Palabras.
 

Susanlynn, yes, Juan (from DQ) was on and promptly offed, and yes, Syfy is showing Highlander at midnight CST but I'm not sure which nights. My TIVO automatically records any Highlander episodes. It's not scheduled tonight.

I was hoping that Eduardo Santamarina would be around longer than a couple of days, maybe even doing a few calisthenics in boxers and cowboy boots for old times' sake.

So now is JohnnyP going to be confused because Vicky isn't glad to see him? Will he be left in the dark as to why? Seems like we've been down a similar road before a time or two.

Vivi:

"What a birthday present. Happy Birthday! Now get out!"

I wonder if she planned ahead.

I was surprised with the rather posh accommodations at the orphanage. Nice-sized private room... sweet.

Carlos
 

NovelaMaven - "...he might get a little dead." Too snarky! (lol)
 

Kat: Another terrific and very LOL! recap. Thanks for explaining the business about Milagros' spiritual duality thing. Muy confusing till it's been explained. Thanks also for translating the theme song, tho' I have to admit this melody is not in my all time top 10. I am eagerly awaiting to see your name in lights amiga!
 

Susanlynn ID'd the collars: Look for design elements on Bernarda that are reminiscent of evil Disney women!

Making Fernanda Osvaldo's daughter from his first marriage spares the slightly creepy thing from EPDA where Elizabeth had two half-sibs who married each other.

There could still be flashbacks to Octavio, so we're not necessarily saying "adios" to Eduardo Santamarina.

I can't wait to see who Salvador Pineda will be; I'm guessing his character will be the counterpart to Pedro Trujillo.

BTW, Diana Bracho(FELS) played the Bernarda character in the prologue of EPDA!
 

From a non blood relative standpoint, Fernanda with legs for days is hot. Quite a fox indeed. :D :) Oh, yes indeed! But it really is creepy when it seems like she is flirting with her dad. Agreed with the group right there.

How much money did Maria get and what can she get out of that? It takes time to find a place to stay, food,other basic necessities and a job. They could have had her look for a job 6 months before that. I really don't know much about what happens to orphans who are not adopted and are 'aged out' by the system here and in Mexico. ***Shrugs Shoulders***


Ibarramedia
 

I do know in the state of Florida, if you are in the foster program, you are out when you reach 18. However, there are other programs to help them make the transition.
 

Maggarita-I so agree about having a "snarkner." Sadly, I don't have one, so that's why I eagerly await each recap!

Urban Anthro- I like your take on the collars. I wonder if somewhere in this country there is a college course that really analyzes TNs in depth. I would love to take a course like that.

Ya'll are all so funny!

Now, for a serious question:

How long do you think it will take Padre JD to find out about Maria? It's a TN, so I can't fathom that Victoria will just come right out with it.

Or will she and the rest of the series will be full of Bernie's manipulations to keep the two from finding Maria?
 

He is going to know of Victoria's pregnancy tonight or tomorrow at worst. It will be a while before he knows that Maria is their daughter.
 

"I do know in the state of Florida, if you are in the foster program, you are out when you reach 18. However, there are other programs to help them make the transition."

Variopinta, perhaps some sort of half way house similar to ex- convicts transitioning into the free world. Maybe they have something like that for orphans who age out. I can't imagine a sudden transition from orphan to adult. There must be a gradual process or a preparation and transition period. Otherwise, they could end up as prostitutes or criminals and other derelicts of society.

Regarding Victoria, I will say again, unless they have been living under a rock, I find it hard to imagine that a now public figure like Victoria will go unnoticed. It is not like she is deliberately disguising herself a la Edmund Dantes from the Count of Montecristo. Victoria is in fact embracing her past as a domestic servant. Surely if revenge was her motive, she could get even with Bernarda since it seems she has more wealth and power than her.

It is not implied that Bernarda has a huge hacienda or inherited a big company from her dead husband. She is just a well to do upper middle class lady. That said, I know it is too early in the series to sort that out and it is logical to wonder about this things. I hope I'm not overthinking this but I hope you guys see my point here. I do need a extra strenght beany.

It would be like Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger getting even against their former masters who now has less money than they do.



Ibarramedia
 

Bernarda's home was in Guadalajara and now she lives in D.F.?
 

Is it just me or is the themesong here similar to that of La verdad oculta?



Ibarramedia
 

Ibarramedia- Both songs are by Luis Miguel and have a similar feel.
 

All songs Luis Miguel did after "Romances" sound the same to me. He even managed to make the boleros in Romances very simmilar even if those were written by different people many years ago. I prefer his earlier records.

Orphans have to leave the orphanage when they turn 18. But they know it beforehand so they look for jobs to avoid living on the streets. Maria Desamparada was living in the best orphanage I've ever seen.

Jarocha
 

Kat, this recap was the best ever in your distinguished history of recaps! I may be persuaded into actually watching this TN instead of just checking bits and pieces.

Best wishes with the auditions, agents, etc. Not only do you have your own skilz and talents, you have La Romo's example shining before you.

ROFL at: "It's Bernarda, sweating in her $500 black satin PJ's from EvilOutfitters.com, where their motto is "If no one can tell just by looking at you that you are 100% pure EVIL…it's not our clothes, they're just tragically stupid," and also offering a free "Classic Tortures of the Inquisition" 2011 wall calendar with every $200 purchase during the month of January." This reminded me of the wonderful magazine covers someone (was it you, Julie?) did that were so funny.

The mini-essay on Milagros' mixed spirituality was worthy of it's own framed section. And here's another quote worthy of the sidebar: "Ah, evil and hypocrisy. It's like chocolate and peanut butter, only less tasty."

Variopinta, thanks for "We know we are in trouble when the orphans are wearing foil beanies."

And now I have to keep thinking of WL driving not a hot sports car but a little plastic car.
La Paloma
 

The show is long over in our country and I didnt really like it at all.We had two runs of it and the second one i kinda enjoyed it more but ..eh .And now i found your recap and YOU actually made this novela sound watchable and i salute you for this . Truly though,you make me want to watch that horrendous Mejia production and i just wanted to say kudos for doing such a brilliant job! PS! Loved the 'Guadalajara' mention cause im from Europe and i would have never noticed such a simple thing. thanks for your work!
 

Can someone please tell me what's the name of the romantic song that plays when fabián and Fernanda are together
 

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