Caray, Caray!

Friday: the real Lirio easily fights off all three baddies, and the police, none of whose helmets fit right (they look left, the helmet keeps looking forward – too funny!) are swarming. Gretel finds the briefcase with the cash, but the Lirio politely takes it from her.

******

Outside their house, Muñeca is playing with the kids, and Lorenzo comes running up, grabs both of them and shouts to her to say he’s not home, he’s at work. Brandon comes running up just after, and tells her that the Lirio struck again.

Mau tells Garduño that they ought to go back to the house and look for the hidden money. Dandy figures that the Lirio wouldn’t have left without it. Mau takes this opportunity to diss on Lorenzo – if he’s Garduño’s big deal new right-hand man, then why isn’t he there with them now? Garduño, who must be enjoying being the prettiest girl at the dance, tells Mau he better zip it, or he’s going to be below number two, or four, in fact he’s going to be belowground, got it?

There’s a mighty knocking on the door, and the three don’t seem concerned. Dandy goes to answer and it’s Oliver, alone, but threatening. He calls them Mafiosi and tells them that the police have their eye on them, and they’re all going to end up in jail. All three burst out laughing at him.

At Netty’s the judge is still holding a gun to MariVicky’s throat, while Netty hysterically begs her to just hand over the papers. MV says never, and she’s going to see to it that all the people who abused and defrauded Marianela end up in jail.

Ooooh, says the judge sarcastically, my knees are shaking. You can’t do anything to me, but I can do a lot like you, like send you to the cemetery. I wonder if I will…

When baddies in these shows take their time indulging in verbal flourishes, we know they’re going to be foiled, so it’s no surprise to see the Lirio coming in through Netty’s door. The judge turns and points the gun at him, but of course doesn’t shoot, giving the ladies time to give him a hefty shove from behind. His gun flies into the Lirio’s hand, and now he’s the one at gunpoint.

Brandon tells Muñeca that the Lirio just stole money from the mafiosi and now he’s for sure going to come give it to her for the orphans. Muñeca assures him he won’t, because he knows the house is being watched. Brandon knows the Lirio won’t rest until that hospital is built for the poor little kiddies, and Muñeca sighs dreamily that he’s a man who finishes what he set out to do. Brandon asks her if maybe the Lirio might come by the orphanage to give her the money. Does anybody else thing this is a flamingly stupid question for a policeman to ask?

Muñeca gets it that he wants them to go there now, so she says she’ll go get her purse, and she lies that Lorenzo left for work a few minutes before.

She goes in, and here comes Ilitia up storming up the walkway, furious at Brandon for telling her mother about them.

Lorenzo is lying on the bed, still dressed as the Lirio. Muñeca demands to know why he’s in that garb and, patting the bed, he tells her it’s just for her, so they wouldn’t keep fighting. Did you steal that money? she fires at him. I did, he says, they found me out. I’m the Lirio! No you’re not, she says, slapping him. You don’t deserve that exalted title. You’re just some little worm dressed up like him to get back the money you stole from the agency.

Meantime the real Lirio is handing out justice, telling the judge in stentorian tones to leave and to never bother these people again. Okay, sure, says the judge, but (he tells MV) you’re going to give me those papers whether you want to or not. Eugenio gives him a shove with his delicate, sugary fingers, and out he goes.

Eugenio is star-struck and asks for the Lirio’s autograph, setting off Netty, who tells him not to be so familiar. MV and Netty fill the Lirio in on the backstory about the judge being bought off by Fedra so she could get Mari’s house and now he wants back the papers that could put Fedra in jail.

Ilitia thinks Brandon is jealous and is trying to wreck her marriage. Brandon points out that he didn’t tell her husband, and besides, she can do whatever she wants with her life because as he’s said before, he’s not interested in somebody like her.

Of course not, says Ilitia. I’m “nice”, classy. C’mon, says Brandon, I know Muñeca isn’t your mother.

Muñeca tells Low that she’s going to go get Brandon right now, she’s had it with him. Wait, no, I’m the Lirio, says Low, putting on the ski mask, then adding the leather mask over it.

Don’t! says Muñeca, getting a lustful look in her eye. When you look like that I just can’t think straight. Camila! says Low, pushing her down on the bed while she weakly resists, protesting that she’s mad at him. Shut up and kiss me, she says, pulling off his mask.

Brandon must be thinking that it’s a very big purse.

But after the ads, we see he’s not thinking purses at all, he’s telling Ilitia not to try to fake him out, he’s seen her records at the orphanage. So what? says Ilitia, you don’t have my upbringing, you’re just a “social climber.” A what? he says. She translates for him. (trepador, for those who haven’t seen a gazillion telenovelas.)

He tells her she just can’t accept who she is, that she doesn’t have blue blood running in her veins. She tells him to leave and never come back, but he tells her that he came to talk to her mother who by the way is a real lady, something she’ll never be.

Brandon tells her she’s more like her father, no scruples. He pretends to be a businessman, but he’s just a common thief.

Ilitia huffs off, and here comes Flora with a message from Muñeca who said not to wait, they’ll go to the orphanage tomorrow, because one of the children is running a fever, and they’ve gone to bed (leaving out who “they” are.)

The Lirio tries to give MV the briefcase, but doesn’t count on her x-ray vision, because she says she can’t accept stolen money. Eugenio, trying not be too drooly, says the household is in need, but they just can’t accept it. The Lirio says it’s not for them, it’s for the orphanage but he can’t deliver it due to the house being watched, so he’d like MV to do it.

Netty grabs it and says she’ll be glad to deliver it. The Lirio proclaims that he’s always on the side of truth, justice and the Mexican way, and, chucking MV on the cheek, says he’s always on her side. Off he goes to leap astride his pawing white steed.

Netty is beside herself – He’s in love with you!

Eman comes home to a darkened house. Whew! that was close, he tells himself, not seeing his father sitting on the stairs, so he’s startled when Emil greets him. Emil says he was waiting for him, and what’s this? he takes the ski mask from Eman’s hand. Eman says it’s just some costume thingy from work. Emil thinks he’s acting strange, coming in at all hours, showing up late to work or not showing up at all like today.

Trust me, Eman says. I wouldn’t do anything to destroy the trust you have in me. I’m very proud to be your son, which is something I couldn’t say about my mother. Yes, says, Emil, every day she’s getting worse.

Gesturing with the hand that’s holding the ski mask, Emil says he found Fedra drinking, then she went to her room and didn’t want to talk to anybody. Right, says Eman, discreetly trying to snatch the mask with each gesture. Emil finally hands it to him.

We see Muñeca and Low in bed, basking in a post-Lirio glow. He strokes her arm and tells her it was wonderful that she got rid of the policeman and stayed with him. Muñeca tells him yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that he stole from the agency and dressed up pretending to be the Lirio. He tries to insist he’s the real Lirio, but she scoffs while saying she just can’t help herself when he’s dressed up that way.

She wants to know if he’s the one who took the money from the Mafiosi. Yes, he admits, he took it because he has debts. Yikes – did you see that? He has a huge tattoo of a hawk or eagle on his back! Anyway, he says that the real Lirio beat him out which means (he strokes her arm) she’s about to get a big donation.

Muñeca is mad that he’d get messed up with mafiosi – they could have killed him, or the police might have nabbed him. He strokes her some more and says none of that happened, and he likes dressing up the like Lirio because it drives her crazy. She melts a little bit, then tells him he’s nothing like the real Lirio, who takes money to do good for other people, not for himself. Low says the main thing for him is not to let Vicky send him to jail.

Muñeca thinks a few years in jail would be good for him, and he points out that she could end up there too for accepting stolen money. He kisses her hand and tells her they have to think of their children. Muñeca laments that she loves him so much, and she doesn’t know what to do with him, what to do about their marriage.

Wine in hand, gaze unsteady, Fedra is staring at herself in the mirror. Somebody is knocking on her bedroom door and she tells them she said she wants to be alone. It’s me, Eman! he calls out, and she quick dabs her face to look presentable. She walks to the door as steadily as she can and leans against it, saying The son who abandoned me! I’m not important to you! He pounds some more and says he wants to make sure she’s okay.

Ah, my son, she says opening the door. I’ve been dying to hug you. They hug and she plants some kisses on his neck. He asks her why she’s been locked up like this, drinking, and she tells him it’s because of him, because he doesn’t love her.

How can I? he says, when there are so many lies falling like dominoes? The receipts with Eva’s supposed signature have shown up.

I don’t know what you’re talking about, she says, sitting back down in front of the mirror and taking up her wine glass. The receipts, says Eman, that were used to take Mari’s house and inheritance away from her.

Doris unpacking a suitcase and she tells MV that she hopes that once she gets her house back, she’ll give up on this whole revenge thing. Not a chance, says MV, I won’t be happy until Fedra begs me on her knees for forgiveness, until I see her writhing on the floor like the snake she is.

And if she finds out you’re actually Marianela before that happens? MV swears that won’t happen, and didn’t Doris have a plan? Yes, indeedy she did, and she’s been working on it. She pulls a fat suit out of the closet, gratifying all of us who wondered what one looked like, and leaving MV speechless.

Fedra: You’ve come to bug me, haven’t you? You’re very inconsiderate with your mother, aren’t you?
Eman: Don’t start. We were talking about something very important.
F: The important thing here is this pain I’m feeling. When you, who are the most sacred thing I have in this life, mistreat me and judge me the way you’re doing.
E: How I wish I could have a different relationship with you, but you don’t let me, you’ve never let me.
F: Listen to me! You are completely different from your brother and sisters, and yet you have kicked me to the curb.
E: I adored you. And you – what did you do?
F: (shrugs)
E: And why do you insist on making me believe I’m different from my brother and sisters?
F: Because you’re the same as your father.
E: That’s what you said last night. Who are you talking about, Emiliano? Or Jose Maria Sevilla?

MV and Doris are laughing, horsing around with pieces of the fat suit, and pretty soon we see our old gordita, with Doris putting the last makeup touches on her. MV can’t wait to see herself in the mirror. Doris puts her glasses on her and MV runs to the mirror where she suddenly looks serious when she sees herself.

Fedra is pouring the hard stuff now. Eman takes the glass from her, and begs her to stop drinking and tell him what it is that makes him different from his siblings. His origin?

F: I’m your mother and I know why. Because you’re the only one who has fire in your veins, because you’re brave, because you’re not afraid of anything, you don’t tremble in front of anybody, not even your mother.
E: Because I’m like my father.
F: Yes, my love! Because you have his eyes, his gaze, his character, his courage.
E: The same as Jose Maria Sevilla..
F: I can’t believe after all these years you stubbornly go back to thinking that Chema had something to do with our lives, when you know perfectly well that he killed my parents. I’m talking about Emiliano!

She toasts Emiliano. Emil says he can’t figure out what to do with her, that she’s lied to everybody, to him. It just kills him not being able to believe in her, he feels like his whole life he’s been lied to.

F: If I’ve hurt you I’m sorry.
E: I’m not the one who needs to forgive you. You need to forgive yourself for all the damage you’ve done to your children, and to my papa. You believe that it doesn’t hurt me to know what you’re capable of?
F: You’re condemning me again.
E: No, no NO! I’m begging you to give up this hate, to stop destroying your family.
F: I’m not going to let you say anything more. I won’t let you talk to me as if I was the lowest trash in the world. I’m your mother! Get out, traitor!

If you missed the episode, or I should say this scene, you missed an awesome performance. I had to rewind a lot to get the dialog down, and it was a treat to watch over and over.

Back to our story…

Mari looks in the mirror and says it’s who she used to be, the weak girl who had to flee. Doris tells her she’s not allowed to be sad, she just has to finish her mission. Mari thanks her and says it’s so odd to have a big stomach, and arms like Popeye. Doris says it’s just a practice try-on and the second time it’ll be exactly right. Mari says she doesn’t have a lot of time, and Doris says it takes some work, but she’ll end up looking just like she did before.

Jorge knocks and Mari hides, excited. She bounces out and Jorge is amazed.

In Max’s basement, Emil is telling him that his children are everything to him, and that’s why he stays, to protect them. Max thinks the best way is to throw Fedra out. Emil says that’s what he plans to do at the right moment, but right now he’s waiting for the investigator to get more information on her past. Max is sure that the Curiels who died in the shipwreck were not Fedra’s parents – they’ve seen the report that the Curiels didn’t have any children. Emil says to protect his children, he needs to know who Fedra really is, who he really married.

Max reminds him that he married someone he found wandering on a beach and he’s just now asking who she really is. Emil knows he’s right. Max tells him to leave this woman who’s sucking all the life out of him. Emil says he will when he has the proof of her deception in his hands. It’s all quite difficult for him. She’s their mother! Max tells him he’s sacrificing himself for children that might not even be his.

This is the sort of bald statement that might make a fellow impactado, and indeed that’s what Emil is.

This time it’s Eman sitting on the stairs in the semi-darkness, looking at a photo of his mother and him, and he’s thoughtbubbling out loud that if she was capable of locking up Gretel and traumatizing Axel when he was young, for sure she was capable of lying to him. JM Sevilla – Eman is sure he means something more in her life, in his own life.

Emil hits the roof – how dare Max suggest the kids aren’t his! Max tells him to get real – he knows that Fedra is capable of any sort of low stuff. No way, nothing like that, rants Emil. The children are mine! Max tells him he’s a good-hearted man.. Emil cuts him off and tells him not one more word, don’t turn his life into a nightmare.

Mari is excitedly telling Jorge that this is the way she used to be, and she even entered a beauty contest. Obviously taken aback by her appearance, he says she never told him about that, and when he met her she was already slim, not a ball like that. She asks he’d met her when she looked like that, would he still have been interested? He stutters no, it’s not that, it’s just that as ad people, appearance, you know…

She reminds him that interior beauty is what matters, and would he have fallen in love with her looking like that? Of course! he declares, but she tells him not to lie, and it’s okay, she’s not judging him. Jorge protests more sincerely that it’s a person’s values, their actions, etc., that count in love. He seems to be having trouble actually looking at her, his eyes darting this way and that. She asks if the physical aspect doesn’t count. Sure, it does, he says, don’t they say that love comes from sight? (What about winged cupid being painted blind? Is that just in English?) That’s why you have such a pretty, unforgettable face! Doh, the “pretty face” line! Loser. He quick changes the subject.

Jorge has brought wedding rings for them to wear and they yuck it up, but then he does a secret “whew.”

Eeewww, Bernardo and Nereida are in bed, he kissing on her, she more interested in getting to be the head housekeeper again. He says she lost it for being too ambitious, so get over it. She huffs that if he isn’t going to help her, she’ll just help herself. She knows a big family secret – she heard Fedra says Eman isn’t Emil’s son. Bernardo stops his kissing and stares.

Doris tells Netty and Gladiola to sit still on the couch, she has a big surprise. Jorge comes down the stairs, then it’s Marianela in her Gordita outfit. Netty and Gladiola are ecstatic and throw their arms around her. Just then Brandon, Oliver, and Mano arrive home. Oliver is thrilled to see Mari, Brandon looks confused and Mano smiles ear to ear.

Nereida is getting dressed, and tells Bernardo she’s worked like a donkey at the house for years and of none the money the Ryd Teresas have never has flowed her way, so she’s going to make it happen. Bernardo tells her not to even think she can threaten him or Fedra with her information, and of course she could end up dead. Nereida says the amount she’s thinking of is worth the risk. Just think how Emiliano would react if he knew Eman wasn’t his son!

Never gonna happen, says Bernardo. You might as well buy your cemetery plot now, because if Fedra hears what you’re saying, you won’t last two hours. I know, because I do the dirty work. Nereida smiles that he’s not capable of something like that, and he grabs her by the throat, scaring her.

Doris, Netty and Gladiola confer while Oliver hugs Mari. Netty thinks the disguise has just passed the test, the guys think it’s real, but Gladiola says look at how Brandon looks doubtful. Netty asks him if he doesn’t want to hug Mari, who’s here with her husband Jorge? Sure, he says, he saw the photo and even had it analyzed. Oliver wonders why, and Brandon tells him to ask Mari. He hasn’t heard back, but he just won’t let his Netty be tricked any more.

It’s one thing to try to protect Netty, it’s another to pretend you’ve just come back when you’ve been with us for months. Oliver is bewildered. And Brandon is even more bewildered that nobody else seems surprised. Mari says she had an idea he suspected when he helped her with the papers in prison.

Netty says she already knew, in fact everybody knew. Brandon explains to Oliver that Vicky and Mari are one in the same. Mari takes off her glasses and removes the stuck-on bangs and Oliver is agape.

Same Pillow, Different Dreams Part I: Lorenzo and Muñeca are lying in awake in bed, thoughtbubbling. He thoughtbubbles that he could have spent the night with Kristel and instead he was stuck here with Muñeca. He’s sick of it. Muñeca thoughtbubbles that the fortune teller said some young woman was going to steal him away – who could it be? Is the thinking of her while they make love? She shouldn’t believe the fortune teller.

She asks him what he’s thinking about and he says You.

Same Pillow, Different Dreams Part II: Ilitia is lying on the bed in a cute little nightie when Eman comes in. She notes that he stays out late, comes home and dinks around and finally comes to greet his wife who is waiting for him, all sexy. He says he just wanted to get some clothes from the room.

She tells him his place is there (pointing at the bed). He asks if she’s forgotten that he asked for a divorce and she asks if he’s forgotten that she said no. She tells him to come on to bed. He says he just can’t deceive her. She says she won’t be jealous, that thing with Vicky – forgotten! Not for me, sez he. He’s going to go stay in Mari’s room.

He leaves, and Ilitia thoughtbubbles that she’s always kinda creeped out when he says he’s going to sleep in Mari’s room

Avances: Kristel’s getting married tomorrow, says Mari. Netty again urges Jorge to tell Eman the truth and it looks like he’s going to.

Labels: llena