Caray, Caray!

LA REINA - VIERNES

Thanks, NovelaMaven, for putting up the link and musing about reactions to the TN in México. As you said, could be a stunt.

I enjoyed Humberto Zurita's hosting of the 20 favorite moments by those who voted. And, I was also surprised how many votes were given to the most graphic moments. I thought I would briefly list them for anyone who didn't see it.

20. Scenes of Dris Larby, setting up Santiago and then getting hung off the bridge.

19. Lalo Veiga falling off Santiago's boat and his subsequent beatings and cutting out of his tongue (ew!)

18. The big fight with Sheila. This was kind of fun, especially when she called her a dummy for calling her Sudaca since México is in N. America.

17. The awful scene with Manolo Cáceres where she has to be sexually humiliated by him to get out of jail. I was not happy they left out the scene at Abdelkaber's party where she relates that he needs the little blue pills.

16. The scene where she goes to bed with Chaib, and then his asking what he has to do to pay for it.

15. Finally, a scene I agreed with: the very strong scene where Santiago is wildly jealous after she comes back from sleeping with Chaib. They exchange hard slaps and then she tells him: sí, yo soy una zorra, pero tú eres un chulo, mí chulo.

14. The murders of Chino, Brenda and Teresa's ahihados by Gato and Pote.

13. Another one I loved: the meeting in Gibraltar where Fast Eddy calls Teresa Muñeca and she goes right after him, calling him muñeco. The amused look on Santiago's face was priceless.

12. Many scenes of Teresa running from the Santiago cartel guys after they show El Güero saying: corre, prietita

11. The amazing scene of Santiago trying to save the children he was transporting after two fell off the boat, his complete devastation when one drowns.

10. The shooting down of El Güero's plane. And our first knowledge of what a sadist Ratas is when he lit a fire near the still barely alive Güero.

9. Teresa's beatdown of Makoqui in the prison. I kind of liked this one as well because I thoroughly hated the creature by then.

8. Teresa and Patty drinking in their cell before T's release and the sweet kiss they exchanged.

7. Teresa telling El Güero that she wasn't much good at making love and his assurances it would be very good with him. And this is the first time we hear pa' que digo no que si sí.. I enjoyed this one.

6. The rape by Gato (ugh).

5. The kidnapping of Mohamed, cutting off his fingers, and Fátima's confronting Teresa about bring them to the mainland (¿Qué?)

4. The deaths of Mohamed and Fátima in the Turk's hideout.

3. The chase by the Aduana and the crashing of the boat that kills Santiago (otra vez, ¿qué?)

2. A lot of wonderful scenes with Santiago, several times where he lifts her and she wraps her legs around him. These were great and I watched them a couple of times. That Iván Sánchez is hotter than hot!

1. Teresa's vengeance in the cellar where the three Mexicateers are suspended and helpless.

So, I was baffled by so many thousands of people voting for scenes where good people were killed and/or tortured.

But Zurita did an excellent job of moderating the program.
 

REINA

Novelera,
Thanks for listing the specific scenes selected as the 20 best. I can only echo your bafflement at the choices made.

About my posting -- I wasn't speculating about the reaction to the novela being a stunt. I was just quoting the Mexican op-ed writer, Alvaro Cueva (in my own clumsy translation); and HE was being sarcastic. He was saying something like:

"This government official's reaction to "La reina del sur" is nuts. It SOUNDS like a joke or a stunt but unfortunately it is not -- you know and I know that it is for real."

I'm sorry I didn't make that clear.
 

Reina - viernes

Thanks very much, NovelaMaven, for your very interesting observations about the reactions to "La Reina del Sur" in Mexico. And thanks, too, to Novelera, for detailing the list of selected scenes. I certainly share your dismay over the preponderance of very violent scenes. I missed the first few last night, and now that I see what they were, I'm just as glad that I didn't turn on the TV in time.

NovelaMaven, your comments about the reaction in Mexico made me think of an article I read today thanks to a link on the TNWorld forum. According to the article, which you can find at http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/03/running_scared.php, there had been plans to make a movie of La Reina del Sur in 2009. At least some of the filming was to have been done near Sinaloa. Jonathan Jakubowicz was to be the director, and the film would co-star Eva Mendes, Josh Hartnett, and Ben Kingsley. However, plans for the film were scrapped after Jakubowicz and his family in Los Angeles received death threats.

I think Ben Kingsley would have been terrific (presumably as Oleg), though I wonder whether even Kingsley would have been as good as Alberto Jiménez. And I'm sure the other two actors wouldn't have been nearly as effective as Kate Castillo and Ivan Sanchez. But what's more interesting than the cast differences is the difference in response between now and then. Although some idiot in the Mexican Ministry of the Interior may have been unhappy with the telenovela, apparently the narcotraficantes and other nasties didn't repeat the threats of two years ago. I wonder what if anything had changed. True, the TN was filmed primarily in Colombia rather than Mexico, but I wouldn't have thought that would make much difference. Anyway, I guess we may have narco death threats to thank for the fact that a film didn't preempt our amazing telenovela.
 

REINA

Juanita, Thanks for the great comment and link.

"I guess we may have narco death threats to thank for the fact that a film didn't preempt our amazing telenovela."

Indeed. Talk about the law of unintended consequences (and for once, those consequences are desirable!).

I knew there had been talk of a film with Eva Mendes, but didn't know why the project had been abandoned. I'm glad you were able to shed some light on the subject.

I suspect that the Telemundo production team, like the narrator/journalist in the book, knew who to talk to and how to talk to them. (And it probably didn't hurt that the project was in Spanish and intended for a Spanish-speaking audience.)
 

REINA -

Thanks, NovelaMaven for the topic and links, and Novelera for the list of the scenes.

I think the producers and writers are making sure we know who are the "good criminals" and who are the "bad cops", so we can root properly. For example, while we like Teresa, Patty, Oleg and Pote, we hate Ratas, Gato, Siso Pernas, Caseres and all the Turks. We also hate Flores, and aren't too wild about Willy. This leaves us with some characters in the middle, which are some of the most interesting: Don Epifanio, Batman, Chaib, even Juarez. These are people who have done bad things, but have also helped Teresa.

Over all, I think they are showing us that someone's moral worth is not as simple as what team he/she is on - it's what they DO with the situation they're IN. All the characters have choices. Generally the producers have shown Teresa and others we are rooting for as making choices which are moral, brave, self-sacrificing and fair. The ones we don't like are selfish, cruel, disrespectful of people and property and self-agrandizing.

But the characters in the middle (and maybe Willy and Veroncia cold be placed there) really make us think.
 

Novelera: Hi, I don't usually post here because I don't get the Telemundo channel anymore and Televisa shows the Telemundo novelas months later than in the US. But I was intrigued by the story of La Reina so I thought I could chime in with what happened with the Secretary of Media Normatvity (I think that's how his position could be roughly translated).

As you all must know we have a big problem with violence in the country and there are thousends of deaths announced every week. That means our news reports for every single day contain stories of deaths and narcos. It meant lots of violent images every day where shown on tv, so Televisa and Tv Azteca decided to create an anti-violence pact and asked smaller networks to join in it. The idea was to stop using violent images in the news (no more headless bodies, bloody images, shootings, etc.). So now we still hear from the things that happen every day but we are not shown the corpses or the shootings on screen.

What Hector Villareal critiziced was that Televisa, being one of the biggest promotors of this campaign decided later to air a novela containing violent images with a story of narcos.

And while I agree usually with Alvaro Cueva's opinion on novelas (we tend to have the same taste), I don't think there's a problem with Villareal stating his opinion too. The government so far has not censored LRDS and I don't think they will (An extrañamiento has no real legal power, it's basically a public letter saying they don't like what you are doing). And the novela is pretty successful here too.

I'm strongly critical of this "war on drugs". But I don't think the government has crossed any lines with the comment on LRDS. As long as it doesn't go farther than that everybody has a right to express their point of view.

Now, I haven't watched it so I don't know how violent it is (I'm just too tired of the narcos right now). But in my opinion we have lots of violence in other shows and movies so anything showed here is nothing new, in fact I get the impression that our networks are less censored here than in the US. And from what I understand the story is entiredly fictional and pretty harmless in that it's not pointing fingers to real figures (unlike the movie "El Infierno" which created quite a commotion two years ago). So I have no problem with the novela being shown but as good as it might be I just can't find any desire to watch it.


Jarocha
 

LA REINA - VIERNES

First, regarding my list - for #12 - I must have had Iván Sánchez on the mind. I said Santiago cartel when I meant to type Sinaloa cartel.

And secondly, thanks so much, Jarocha, for commenting about the current position of the media in México regarding showing narcotraficante violence. I enjoyed reading what you said. It was very interesting. I'm not watching any of the Televisa-produced novelas on Univisión, so I miss being able to read your comments.
 

LA REINA - VIERNES

Hombre, that was an excellent description of how the writers have led us to view each of the characters in this excellent novela.

A man in my weekly Spanish class had recently read La Reina del Sur and had only seen a couple of episodes of the telenovela. He disapproved of how much nicer Teresa Mendoza is in the TN than in the book. I responded to him, in Spanish - there is NO English in our class - that the TN was an adaptation of the book and, in my opinion, very well done.

Those who saw Doña Bárbara know that it had many things added that were not in the book, and the character of the protagonist was somewhat different. This was also an excellent telenovela.

What I mean to say is that good writing is good writing. This telenovela has used some language directly from the book and has included many gripping, well-written scenes that were not in the book at all. So we are the richer for having both versions available to us.
 

Novelera: I think this is a touchy subject for the administration of Felipe Calderón because the public opinion is blaming his choices (and thus the government) for the violence we are living with. Not the cartels, not the drug users. I don't think people see the cartels as anything more than criminals and I doubt they could be seen as heroes or anything honorable. People know they have no scruples but they NOW feel our government has no scruples either and doesn't care about its population at all. Which is why any portrayal of simpathetic narcos could seem dangerous to them. I saw a caricature a couple of months ago that had an image of Calderón making a sign that said: "To stop drugs from reaching your kids... WE ARE KILLING THEM". That simply captures the feel of all of us right now.

And I know what you mean about adaptations, I'm currently watching HBO's game of thrones and I'm loving it but I read the book years ago and in book fan sites there are always book purist complaining about some details changed from the book. The thing is that TV requires more simpathetic characteres than a book because you'll have to be willing to watch the story unfold for several months and some times those changes work better than what was written with the visual factor and the restriction of the actor having to portray the emotions but not full pages of descriptions for his actions.

Jarocha
 

REINA

Hombre,

I like your analysis of the characters. You’re right that in some ways, the line between the good guys and the bad guys gets awfully blurry. In part, it’s thanks to the fine finish on the tv characters who have had their rough literary edges sanded down and varnished over. But in some ways, making these ‘bad guys’ likeable, (and that’s especially the case with Epifanio Vargas), is really insidious: we are lulled into accepting this corrupt figure who has risen – and continues rising – to power standing on the burial mound of his victims. And if I understand the issue at all, this is precisely what Héctor Villarreal is upset about.
 

I missed the top moments episode. I had seen the choices on Telemundo's site and was somewhat surprised by them, since I wouldn't have nominated many of them. So, I think people kind of had no choice but to pick a lot of violent scenes because those were the choices available.

This recent stunt by Telemundo reminded me of why I had such a distaste for the network. Way back before they were NBC's property, the main reason to watch Telemundo was Brazilian novelas. I'm talking Xica, El Clon, Doña Flor Y Sus Dos Maridos (a short, wonderful little novela that sadly nobody has uploaded on YouTube in anything other than Czech), and so on. They would constantly run other programs and leave people hanging because they knew how hooked everyone was. My mother stopped watching Telemundo for this very reason (plus no more Brazilian novelas). So, they're pretty notorious for this sort of thing and I expect they'll do it again before La Reina is over.

-S
 

REINA -

S, I agree with you that the antics of Telemundo can be frustrating. I remember they did something with Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso that bothered me. First they made it 1/2 hour, and then either they switched it to daytime, or maybe made it start at 10:15, something like that. Of course Univision does things, too, such as moving Corazon Salvaje to midnight, Hasta Que El Dinero Nos Separe to daytime, and their recent two hour per night stints on Triunfo, then Teresa (I might have some of this wrong). It's all strategy to get the most viewers, who being hooked, follow along dutifully. Sometimes viewers get fed up (such as with your mother, and I also stopped watching Teresa because of the 2 hour thing), but usually, the cagey networks know just how far they can push us.
 

Hombre, Univision does it, too, but I feel they've gotten better about it through the years. They don't interrupt normal programming nearly as much as they used to. I do remember I was ticked at Uni for moving some really great novelas to daytime. It's bad enough when they broadcast some great shows in the afternoon from the get-go, but it's even worse when they would get you hooked then decide to change the schedule.
Telemundo was also guilty of heavily editing Brazilian novelas broadcast during daytime, like Celebridad and Señora del Destino to shorten them. Of course, it was from this site that I learned that Uni did this with Llena de Amor, which I didn't watch on a regular basis. So, it seems they've picked up each other's bad habits!

-S
 

AURORA -- Part One of Two

When I left off two weeks ago Lorenzo's trial was still going on. Felix continued to attempt to sully Lorenzo's and Angela's characters, which the judge finally stomped on him for. Angela's assistant finally found the witness who was able to clear Lorenzo and closing arguments were given. When it finally ended he was declared innocent. He went home to his daughters, but decided he couldn't live in Aurora's apartment without losing his mind. Angela decided to help him look for a new place.

At the end of her bender, Catalina attempted suicide. She was taken to the hospital. She survived, but her repentance is hard to buy after all her previous antics.

Victoria remembered that it was Ernesto who wore the mask and that Diana was his accomplice. Martin called Angela and they met to discuss next steps. Angela informed them that without any material evidence they would need a confession. She came up with a plan which could work but was very dangerous. Victoria was willing to do it because she couldn't take living with having to look over her shoulder all the time.

Martin called Diana, pretending to want to be rid of Vickie. He went to her place and they talked some more. I think she coerced him into sex, which he couldn't get out of. Vickie called Ernesto and asked him to meet her in the theatre's wardrobe room.

The room was wired for sound and video.

Vickie gave the performance of her life pretending to love Ernesto as she got a confession out of him. When Diana and Martin arrived and her guilt became evident Angela gave the word to the police who were hiding nearby in the theatre. Ernesto finally pulled out a gun and pointed it at Vickie's head. She managed to elbow him in the midsection, allowing the police to arrest Ernesto and Diana.

It eventually came to light that Ernesto murdered Lorenzo's twin back in the day, which adds another charge.

Ernesto phoned Martin from jail with a creepy threat.
 

AURORA -- Part Two and Comment

It looks like Christian will end up with Nina. They went to Miami with Martin and Vickie. Cesar started a new career as a race car driver, but didn't tell Blanca; they fought again, por supuesto.

The police were transferring Ernesto to another facility and there was a highway accident. He escaped. He has grown a full beard. Angela and Lorenzo were informed of the escape. There was a report later that he was recaptured, but by the time they knew the report was false, Ernesto had made his way to Miami where he somehow found Vicki and Martin. Angela made the necessary calls; Cesar called Martin.

Ernesto stalked Vickie and Martin and waited for Christian and Nina to go off by themselves. Martin and Vickie had some romantic moments on the beach at night and fell asleep there (How stupid was that?). Ernesto made his move, grabbing Vickie and threatening to shoot Martin if she didn't leave with him.

Martin woke up and realized something had happened. He looked along the beach for half a scene and finally called the police. Unfortunately he also called home and Vanessa went ballistic. Either Federico or Vanessa begged Catalina to use her connexions in Mexico to help. Angela speculated that Ernesto might attempt to escape to Mexico, although Lorenzo said he had no relatives there.

Cesar and Blanca appear to be back together for good. Elizabeth is still at liberty and Cesar is thoroughly creeped out by her obsession with Angela having been the recipient of Aurora's heart.

Ernesto stopped at a gas station to fuel the car and buy some food. The attendant got suspicious when he heard something pounding the door; it was Vickie, who is bound and gagged on the back seat (why didn't he see her?). However, as he pulled out the attendant wrote down the plate number.

Vanessa and Federico arrived in Miami and she screamed at Martin that he failed to protect Vickie. The police found the identified car, but not its driver or his prisoner. They found the silk flower Vickie had worn in her hair... and some blood. One more call later they're at the morgue to identify a body.

Which turns out not to be Vickie. Ernesto made another taunting call to Martin, taunting him by saying they've just crossed into Texas. The police speculate that Ernesto will try to go into Mexico, where they have no authority.

At nightfall Martin checks into a motel, unaware that Ernesto and Vickie are in the next room. Ernesto tells Vickie that "the time has come. Your time." and prepares to rape her. She hears Martin's cycle and begins screaming his name.


COMMENTS

The finale is likely to be in the next 72 hours. The avances' voiceover talks about it being "controversial." In view of the outrage the writers provoked by killing off the title character, this series will probably never be rerun. I am wondering whether it will end with Angela's and/or Vickie's death. Or Martin's.

Telemundo has shelved Ojo por Ojo for whatever reason and this one is tanking in terms of quality. They can't afford any more mistakes.

I am barely paying attention to Herederos at the moment and I'm two episodes behind on Reina. The series that replaces Reina sounds interesting, but I will not be watching Aurora's replacement. I am having a 10PM issue because of La Pola coming up soon; it sounds interesting but my DVR only has two tuners.
 

REINA - Lunes

The excitement is back! We had another great show, with love, betrayal and violence.

We found out that Conejo's real name is Marcela, and she and young Alberto shared a passionate kiss! Why? Well, Teresa didn't want to deal with French heroin dealer Nene Garou, who was shown injecting heroin into a young girl, then shooting another young addict who said "why don't you just kill me now?" He did. These girls were essentially slaves, so combined with that and the heroin, Teresa called Garou a pig. Big mistake, as his thugs attacked the offices of Transer Nava. Almost everyone was out, but Conejo has to escape to a high up airshaft ("didn't know how she got up there"), later to be consoled by Alberto's kiss.

Teresa needs more guards, and Oleg is distancing himself, so she visits Chaib. He's got 5 guys, but Tere recognizes one of them as the driver of the car who shot Teo! Small world, huh? They torture him and his buddy, and find out that Eddie was behind the hit.

But not JUST Eddie! Teo's wife Eugenia took out a 30 million Euro life insurance policy, and she paid Eddie $100,000 to kill Teo. Why? She had a classy name but no cash. Teo had cash, but she had signed a prenup. So now, after being fed up with his myriad affairs, she's wants her part. We see her arguing with Eddie in a church (he's playing priest), where each wants the other to finish the job.

Juarez suspects this dual connection, and he also seems to be the only one who suspects Veronica.

Eddie still hasn't gotten rid of his phone, which has a bunch of evidence. He wouldn't let Alberto check it.

One more thing. How did Eddie hire the two Moroccan thugs? He called Dris Larby, of course! Small world indeed. Teresa is not happy about this.
 

Great recap, Hombre.

Last night was a very violent episode, but the hardest scene for me to watch was the opener with Garou shooting up his prostitutes. It made me feel pretty sick seeing them all strung out begging for their poison.
Teresa's odd moral compass at work once more saying how she won't deal in heroin because it leaves people like ghosts of themselves.

Veronica was in bed with Patty when she got the call from Conejo, so yeah, she has no qualms about getting it on with her.

I totally called the Alberto and Conejo hook-up being that he has shown so much interest in her.

I did not call the Eugenia plot twist. She's pretty twisted.
Teresa suspects Eddie is too much of a spineless coward to have come up with eliminating Teo on his own, though she doesn't at all suspect Eugenia. I am reminded of Poirot and his "cherche la femme".

I missed Oleg last night, who is staying away.

I thought it funny that pretty much everyone got called a pig last night.

-S
 

REINA- I watched about the first 10 minutes of last night's episode and I finally figured out why the actor playing Nene Garou looked familiar - he's the guy who played the mentalist Ragner in Victorinos.
 

Reina - lunes

Great comments, Hombre and -S, about last night's episode. I was rather surprised that Teresa was so insulting to Nene Garou. He certainly deserved her contempt, but it seemed so unwise to be so open about it. But then I realized that Teresa has always spoken her mind, no matter how impolitic her words may have been. In some ways, I've regarded that as a virtue, something I admired, especially in her treatment of Manolo Céspedes. The encounter with Garou may have been the first time her usual behavior didn't work. As La Reina del Sur, she needs to be less like Patty (i.e., saying what she thinks and to hell with the consequences) and more like Oleg.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. I was prompted to comment simply because I was so surprised at Teresa's response to Garou, and then found myself wondering why I was so surprised.
 

REINA – lunes

Thanks for the snappy recap, Hombre, and the interesting comments, S, Juanita and Jean.

In the scene where Garou shoots up the women with heroin, I couldn’t get past his using the same damn needle and syringe for everyone. So if those women don’t OD or get shot, they can look forward to hepatitis or HIV!

S, I was surprised – and touched by the romantic moment shared by Alberto and la conejo, but boy, I sure didn’t see it coming. And the ‘cerdo’ thing – so funny! I didn’t even notice until you pointed it out!

Yeah, Eddie is a dead man but there are also a lot of arrows pointing at Eugenia now:
--The Moroccans say they were paid 50 mil Euros to kill Teo but Teresa realizes Eddie is so cheap, he’d wouldn’t spend a penny to kill someone, no matter how much he hated him. So SOMEONE ELSE must have bankrolled the hit. (BTW, that someone else, Eugenia, paid Eddie 100 mil, so he came away with a 50 mil profit!).
--Nino Juarez finds that Teo’s life is insured for 30 million euros with Eugenia as beneficiary.
--Eugenia’s bodyguard, who answers to Teresa, caught out Eddie and Eugenia in the confessional and may have overheard part of their conversation.

I loved the scenes between Oleg and Juarez with Juarez playing hardboiled detective and puzzling out the solution to Teo’s shooting. And then the scenes in the church between the wannabee black widow and Eddie, the latter emanating that special miasma of meanness and envy, a sort of reverse charisma. I felt like I was in a wonderful noir film for a few minutes – a place I’d much rather be than in Chaib’s state of the art torture chamber.
 

AURORA
Thanks so much, Urban, for the updates!

About "La Pola" -- I watched the first episode last night on Telefutura (7pm eastern, 6pm central) and I was very impressed. It looks like the kind of novela you can watch in the evening and still respect yourself in the morning:)
 

NovelaMaven, I burst out laughing at "It looks like the kind of novela you can watch in the evening and still respect yourself in the morning:)." That's a phrase I'm definitely going to save--and perhaps even use, though I don't think there's usually much opportunity. :-(
 

La Pola

I found it online and may start watching it that way.
 

jajaja! Juanita, so true. Really, almost no opportunity!
 

AURORA Lunes and Going into the Clubhouse Turn

Vickie managed to free her hands and untie her feet when Ernesto went out. She pulled the bedoover over her feet and put her hands behind her back just in time for him to walk back in. He tried to kiss her (ew) and she slowly and carefully grabbed a bottle off the nightstand, but only hit him on the back. This turned into a fight, but Vickie didn't escape. Ernesto kept threatening Martin's life and Vickie told him she wouldn't try to escape if he stays away from him. She even handed the ropes back to him. (???)

Meanwhile Martin is in a bar not far away. Diana called him from the jail's pay phone to tell him she wanted to help. He was skeptical at first but followed her directions, which took him across the border into Mexico. The smug grin on her face as she hung up spells "trap."

Meanwhile in NYC while everyone worries about Martin and Vickie, Bratty Blanca makes a comeback. She can't deal with the idea that Lorenzo is going into partnership with Angela to buy a restaurant. Cesar is in favor of the idea. When they're finally alone to talk about her reaction it's obvious that Blanca can't accept the possibility of her father loving another woman after her mother. She is also skeeved or freaked out about Angela having Aurora's heart despite that having been Aurora's wish. Elizabeth enters, having clearly heard at least the second half of this, and tells them that she's going to the lawyer's office to sign the divorce papers.

There has to be more to that.

Martin calls Angela to update her and she warns him not to do what he's planning. He tells her he knows what he's doing and before he says he will kill Ernesto she reminds him where that could lead.

Lorenzo and Angela visit Diana in prison, but she refuses to talk to anyone except Martin.

Ernesto now has Vickie prisoner in a shack in a Mexican border town just south of Brownsville. He rants about how they will live in paradise and she will eventually love him. He gets more verbally violent at any mention of Martin's name. Martin finds the place and prepares to go in. Ernesto sees him, then picks up his pistol and a bottle containing a clear amber liquid, which he throws in Vickie's face before escaping through the back door. She screams in pain.

Martin breaks in and finds Vickie on the floor with an acid burn on her left cheek. He gets her to an emergency room and calls Gustavo to get him to get a surgical team together for when they get back to NYC, then calls Federico to fill him in. Vanessa collapses into her mother's arms at the news.

Later in the NYC hospital Vickie asks Martin for a mirror, but he won't give her one now. In his office in the next scene he explains to Vanessa that Vickie will have to endure multiple surgeries, but that she will not be the same. Vanessa grabs her purse and says she's going to see her and Martin asks Federico to accompany Vanessa. This was so he could speak privately with Catalina. Angela calls to tell him that Diana wants to see him, but that they need to talk before he goes.

He tells Catalina he needs her help to find Ernesto. Catalina starts to ask if he plans to kill him. He answers that he wants him alive because "I have other plans for him." He then extends his hand and asks "Deal?"

"Trato hecho." is the reply and they shake hands.


Comment

I am constantly disturbed by the novela cliche that guns are so easy to get. Why hasn't Martin been ticketed multiple times for riding a motorcycle without a crash helmet (must be because he's gorgeous)?

Finally, the cliffhanger line is disturbing. Will Martin put Ernesto in a cryonics capsule alive so he freezes to death or does he have something more dire in mind? Will he turn Dexter on Ernesto? I wouldn't blame him if he did. It would be a serious rulebreaker if nothing else. It won't be long, mi gente.
 

Aurora -

Urban Anthropologist, I'm sort of half watching this show, and I just want to let you know I've greatly appreciated your summaries and insights.
 

Reina - Martes

Teresa has defeated or frustrated the Mexicans, the Turks, the Gallecians, the police and a number of other people and groups. Tonight the French mafia guys (actually just one, Nene Garou) tried their luck. But one group (the DEA) seems hardest for her to shake.

Fast Eddie finds out that they know he hired the guys to kill Teo, and runs out of the office before Alberto can check his phone. Juarez pursues, and after a car chase, Eddie picks a half constructed highrise as the perfect refuge. Not! About ten floors up, he gets so flustered by Juarez's questioning that he accidentally falls off the edge to his death. This is too bad, because he hadn't mentioned Eugenia at that point.

Still, Juarez strongly suspects Eugenia, tells Teresa what he knows, and Teresa goes to confront Eugenia at her mansion. Somehow, she manages to twist things to say Eddie was blackmailing her, she had nothing to do with the shooting, etc. Teresa's not totally buying it, and also, unbeknownst to Eugenia, Teo, half in coma (but now waking up) heard her say "you're worth a lot more dead than alive to me and the girls".

Nene Garou is furious that his guys didn't cause more damage in that raid that ended with Conejo in her bunny hole. So he sends his thugs to kidnap Patty and Veronica. Veronica swiftly disarms the two with her training, to Patty's amazement. Later, Veronica/Lupe says "yeah, 3 older brothers, karate class". Patty buys it, and is so enamored of wonderful Lupe that she hires her as her assistant, whether Teresa and the guys like it or not!

I have a feeling that even though Veronica keeps having close calls, Teresa and Co. won't find out who she is, until it's too late!

And now, we're in últimas semanas!
 

Thanks for the recap and comments, Hombre.

I was thinking yesterday how it's getting really sticky for Teresa. She's got a million things coming at her from seemingly every direction. She's so occupied that she hasn't even interacted with Veronica, so only Patty has witnessed all the suspicious happenings around her. Heck, no thought's been given to why only Patty's cell was bugged.
Eddie's death, accidental as it was, will cause more complications. Juarez shot him in the head (very graphic scene) so as to avoid suspicions of murder. I doubt that Juarez is right that they won't investigate and see that he died from a fall and not suicide.

The Eugenia connection was made because she kept calling Eddie trying to get news. When he died, his phone was in his car ringing non-stop. Then she called Teresa not knowing they were seeing the same cell phone number on both phones. I doubt Teresa will buy her story, and hopefully Teo will remember what Eugenia said.

As usual, Willy and Flores are scum. They practically looked giddy to know Eddie turned up dead since it's related to Teresa.
Juarez told Veronica that he's going to figure out who she is soon enough, so I hope he at least follows up on that. Veronica said he was like a bloodhound.

I still miss Oleg. :p

-S
 

AURORA -- General

You're welcome, Hombre de Misterio. This series had such unrealized potential. Only the cast is keeping me in until the end.

Pablo Azar (Cesar) has real charisma and I hope he gets cast in future productions. He and Lisette Morelos were the most interesting couple in this story.

It's time the writers recognize that trials are conducted in English in the US, in addition to what I mentioned in my previous post.
 

Aurora -

Urban A, I agree that Pablo Azar has charisma. I recently watched the DVD of El Cuerpo del Deseo (2005), where he played the son of the housekeeper. I think his hair was bleached a bit in that, and he definitely showed charisma. He's the kind of actor who can play both the good guy and the bad guy.
 

Reina - martes

Thanks very much, Hombre and -S, for your excellent summaries. I have nothing to add, but I did want to let you know that I greatly appreciate your work.
 

REINA - martes

Thanks, Hombre. I especially liked the image of la conejo "in her bunny hole".

And -S, as always, I enjoyed reading your take on last night's episode.

I have a hunch that even though Veronica has been ridiculously lucky so far, her luck is going to run out very soon. I'm starting to wonder, too, about where she is, emotionally. Will she be able to maintain her distance from Patti? Or will she end up being truly in love with her and compromising her own role as an undercover agent?

I liked the fleeting smile on Pote's face when E, feeling cornered by Teresa, decided to change her strategy and starts lying her head off about Eddie. I doubt that anyone is buying the story. Not only do they know about the life insurance, the phone calls, and the money, but the bodyguard remembers E's lengthy "confession" with a "cura" who looked nothing like a cura. And I'm betting Teo heard what his would-be widow said about his family being better-off if he were dead.

It's interesting that two despicable characters -- Dris Larbi and Eddie Alvarez -- who live to tell the tale in the novel, get their due in the series. We TV viewers need our wish fulfillment, even when our wish is for vengeance.

And whatever may be Teo's ultimate fate in the series, it looks like we're being asked to see his "romance" with Teresa as something true.
 

LA REINA - MARTES

I would say this week we've had world class mini-recaps and comments. I'm thrilled with the way Telemundo World has evolved. Yesterday I was MIA buried in work.

Eddy was run to earth by the perro sabueso (bloodhound) as Veronica called Juárez.

The way they've developed the relationship between Patty and Veronica is fascinating. I was pleased that Patty was being tough with Vero, trying to get her out of there pretty harshly when they were talking about the first attack by the French mafia.

But then Vero's mad skills defeating the two thugs made Patty adore her even more.

I knew the phone would be Eugenia's downfall (if she doesn't still wiggle out of it) when they kept showing it ringing away in Eddy's car.

Eugenia,la muy descarada, even tried to get $2 million out of Teresa to "pay" Eddy to save her children. Now that's chutzpah.

This is NOT a spoiler. I have no idea where they're going with this. But I don't think Teresa is going to rekindle a romance with Teo. I think she'll either realize he's kind of weak tea, or she'll decide any man who is close to her is at risk.
 

NovelaMaven, thank you and I agree with your comments about Teo. The thing is that I think it's a bit much. Granted I can only speak for myself, but as a viewer it's hard for me to be invested in this supposed romance after seeing two wonderful romances already. Borrowing phrasing, Teo is weak broth. Someone had mentioned to me that in the book Teresa and Teo's relationship is more physical than anything. I am not surprised that they'd try to paint it as more romantic, but I am a bit disappointed. I'm not buying what they're selling.
So, I hope novelera is right about her hunch.

And novelera, agreed on the Patty-Veronica relationship. I think Veronica is seeing what Willy told her about Patty being stronger than she seems. When the chips are down, Patty is loyal to Teresa first and foremost and she does what needs to be done. Meanwhile I think Veronica likes this and is developing real feelings for her. I don't know how that will affect the plot though.

-S
 

LA POLA!

NovelaMaven and UrbanAnth--i hope you do watch! I could use a little help, especially with the political stuff. where did the 98 peso debt come from? and of course it turns to 130! and they're mentioning english pirates, but i didn't catch why.

i love the costumes. it's funny how it seems like the metizes (sp?) wear a scarf on their head and the espanol wear a scarf on the necks. it's like star bellied sneetches.

and the sisters are all so cute, flouncing around wanted to get married, and tying their hair up to at night for the curls. trouble is, reading the CC means i can't always look up at their faces. how many young girls are there? the one little brother seems like a fun smartass.

and polly, herself, what a spitfire! she's a biter, a hitter, a stealer, but still so likeable!

i wrote the blog mom about creating space for la pola, but if you telemundo people don't mind, you are the first people to mention La Pola in a week.


-mai tai
 

REINA - Miércoles

Those French guys, headed by Nene Garou, think they're SO clever. They make a meeting with Teresa, where she has to come alone in a train station. She tells them she'll do the heroin deal. But she tells Pote to call the new Moroccan guards, and give the French a "culichi" style surprise (don't really know what that means). The French shoot what they think is Teresa, but it's a dummy, and they're all dummies, as they all get killed except Garou. Pote breaks his spinal cord with a baseball bat, tells him Teresa will let him live, to send a message. But he'd better shut his trap. Later on, we find out that he doesn't, as from the ground, he tells Flores who it was: "La Mexicana." Uuuy.

Veronica escapes detection from Patty again, Willy wisely telling her to shut off her cell just before Patty calls from right outside the door (Willy was in there). And she's officially hired at Transer Naga. Several people seem suspicious of her, and no one has revealed anything yet, but it's just a matter of time.

Flores and crew discover that Eddie was shot in the head AFTER he was dead, and that Juarez was chasing him. Flores didn't have quite enough evidence to make an arrest, but the Garou thing might change that.

Teo tells Teresa he knows what's important now (her). He doesn't admit what Eugenia told him. But later he tells Eugenia he knows. And Eugenia's phone, being checked by Alberto, may do her in.

Teresa muses about killing. It's terrible to have that power. Someone (I think Conejo) tells her, "you've already crossed that line".
 

Thank you, Hombre.

Is it beanie time again? All I could do last night was wonder why on earth if Teresa was going to leave Garou alive she didn't have her guys grab him and either dump him somewhere or at least hold him until after they found all his men.
Culichi means Culiacan-style.

This Veronica thing is killing me. Just her asking so many questions last night should have raised suspicions. I would hope Alberto would bug her phone. Honestly, I'd be surprised and annoyed if they didn't take that precaution at least. I know they're the bad guys and that obviously this has to come to an end, but it just bugs me that it would be at the hands of such smug, above-the-law scum like Flores and Willy.

Bah, more Teo romance. She did sort of draw a line, but they did keep trying to sell the idea that this is for real.

Pote was once again hilarious and awesome. The cavalier way he shot a guy as he approached Garou, his excitement at Teresa's words about planning a surprise, the look he gave as Ramos kept stepping in it with Veronica's questioning, and his speech to Garou about how he's not going to keep harming his prostitutes (Teresa also wanted to make sure that they got released).

Mai tai, I'm watching La Pola and it is wonderful (I've already gotten ahead on YouTube), but this isn't the place for discussions on it and I think it's best that it had its own space for the sake of keeping things from getting too convoluted.

-S
 

GENERAL

What does our little community think about adopting "La Pola"? Even though it's not a Telemundo series, it is sort of an orphan on CarayCaray.

As long as posts have a topic heading (La Pola, miércoles), things shouldn't get too murky. No one is writing encyclopedic recaps on this space, so things flow pretty smoothly even when we are juggling a few novelas at a time.

[Besides, once "La Reina" ends, I'm not sure I'll be watching ANYTHING on Telemundo, or anyway anything worth talking about.]

I'm not talking about committing to following the series -- I am just suggesting opening the page to postings on the topic. If there's interest, great. If not, so be it.

Entonces, ¿qué dices?
 

LA REINA - MIÉRCOLES

When Nene Garou heard that Teresa was going to meet him alone, he had what can only be called a lupine smile.

Veronica knows Juárez is a threat. She says that he has olfato de policía or a policeman's nose.

I'm not sure if it's any more than not wanting Patty to saddle her with her lover to train, but Conejo didn't look too thrilled about Veronica coming on board. Maybe her years in the pen gave her a heightened awareness of ulterior motives.

Willy Rangel is the most charmless man I've seen in a long time. He must have had a charisma extraction when he joined the DEA.

S, I completely agree with your comment about Pote. I know I probably shouldn't like a killer so much, but I can't help myself. The first thing I mentioned to my Latina co-worker this morning was what did she think of him shooting that guy on the train while still moving! Also loved al estilo Culichi. Pote understood immediately what needed to be done.

At least Teresa told Patty there would be no husmeando or sniffing around the files of Transer Naga by Patty's new "assistant", and she put Patty on notice that it was her responsibility to monitor this.
 

NovelaMaven, I would certainly enjoy discussing it but I do wonder if we can't get it to have its own space. There is a lot going on. All the developing stories are interesting to me, which isn't always the case with some novelas. Though my soul in a sense is with the main plot and eventually Catarina's plot, the Magdalena/Nariño/Jorge Tadeo storyline is one of the most nuanced, well-developed, and touching stories I've ever seen in a telenovela. The way it develops is so subtle and interesting, and truly wonderful. It's a refreshing portrayal of a different sort of love.

The acting is topnotch, both from the child actors and the adults. And there's eye candy to go around. =)

Mai tai, Don Francisco demands the money for taxes. This year they've introduced a new tax and Joaquin can't pay it. He points out that there's a law that says that if you can prove you're unable to pay, you get three months. Don Francisco points out it's for white people, and Joaquin says they are white. When asked to prove it, he says the natives get a grace period, and Don Francisco says they're mestizos, so they don't get that right. Anyway, he says he's feeling kind, so he'll give him two months to pay, adding an additional 32 pesos for being late, so $132 total. After the whole trouble with Pola he gives him just ten days to pay. Joaquin figures since he didn't get two months, then just $100 is all he owes, but being the jerk that he is, Francisco says he's short and takes mules and the horse as payment to make up for it.

Joaquin and Mariana have nine kids total. The three girls --- Pola, Catarina, and Clara--- and six boys.

-S
 

REINA -- miércoles

Great comments Hombre, -S and Novelera. Thanks! And Hombre, I don't always take the time to tell you -- although I should! -- how much I appreciate and enjoy all the thumbnail recaps you've given us. You've really polished the form -- a clever precis that is the perfect jumping-off point for discussion. Really excellent.

I found myself thinking about the perfect casting of the actress playing Eugenia. That haughtiness, that all bone and sinew look of hers that embodies the Spanish imperialist you love to hate and is the perfect foil for the Tercermundista de Teresa. Just wonderful!
 

GENERAL

-S, in the best of all possible worlds, there would be enough viewers, readers and commenters to sustain a page of its own for "La Pola" on CarayCaray. But as Jean and I discovered when we were recapping "El Clon", as soon as you leave Univisión, the pool of interested parties shrinks. Although I adored "El Clon", it was burdensome when only two of us were writing; and some days, it seemed only a handful of people were reading what we wrote.

We started this page with the idea that by eliminating the big-deal recap and just opening a conversation and posting weekly rather than daily, we could talk about interesting shows, despite the fact that there are only a few of us here. And so far, it seems to be working.

If you wrote to our blog mom, Melinama, and proposed a page for "La Pola" and she agreed to set one up, I would be there reading and commenting. But we might be the only two people at the party -- and I can't say I'd be there every day either! In the end, it boils down to critical mass.

I would love to hear from people telling me I'm wrong!
 

LA POLA

Mai Tai,

About the English pirates -- the tax collector, Don Francisco Sabaraín, tells Pola's father about an additional tax he has to pay for the expense of an armada to protect shipments from Spain from English pirates.

By the way, I think there may be a fourth sister, Andrea. Pola and the sister she is closest to -- I don't know her name -- talk about two sisters, Andrea and Catarina, who get special treatment because they are lighter-skinned.
 

LA REINA - MIÉRCOLES

NovelaMaven, I was thinking along the same lines about the actress portraying Eugenia. There have been lots of close-ups of her face, and she's perfect for the role. She was brought up as some kind of aristocrat, thinks others are beneath her (note her treatment of the poor maid/nanny), and will do ANYTHING to attain the lifestyle she thinks she deserves.
 

NovelaMaven, well, if no one minds then there can be three of us commenting. :) I'll have to go back to the chapters though, since I'm currently in the 30s on youtube. Heh, I'm hooked on it.

What Clara says to Pola is: "otros como la engreída de Catarina . . ."
Others like stuck-up Catarina look more like their white ancestors.

-S
 

La Pola

Gracias, S, that makes sense!

By the way, when you comment -- would you mind putting a topic heading on each post? That way people can choose to read about the show they're watching and not get bogged down in something they don't care about.

And yeah, I guess you'll have to backtrack since this is definitely a "no spoiler" zone. Tonight is episode 4, I suppose.

Any objections, folks? Jean, are you good with this?
 

La Pola (and other shows)

Although I'm not watching La Pola, I have no objections to it's being included here. I'm thinking of watching one or both of Mi Corazon Insiste and La Casa del Lado, and will probably be commenting on them. As long as the posts are labelled, I don't see any problem.
 

La Pola (I guess?)

Sure thing, NovelaMaven. I keep meaning to and always forget. Sorry about that!

-S
 

GENERAL

I don't have any objection to La Pola being part of our community here. But I'd prefer that it be succinct comments like we have now. I think Mai Tai might have been hoping for La Pola recaps. Long recaps would be a bit annoying to scroll through looking for the Telemundo comments.
 

AURORA -- General

oh but I love Pablo Azar! He's also on a 12noon/2hr novela called Sacrificio de Mujer. He's kept my interest since the start, along with Mujica (a hoot in her sexy outfits), and of course Pila and S Smith. I started liking Siller without the curls and his stupid juvenile outfits in the beginning. Chocarro is adorable as well.

I love that the subplots don't stagnate for long, even though it does get silly sometimes (and what tn rarely doesn't).
 

GENERAL

Hombre de Misterio: since I am a Telemundo fan, I too will be watching Mi Corazon Insiste (looove Jencarlos Canela) and La Casa del Lado. 'hope they're good.
 

GENERAL

Yes, Novelera, definitely succinct. Terse even. (rhymes with 'choice) :-)
 

S and Novelera...

Couldn't agree more about Pote, the guy is Gold, as S has said before. LOVE Pote! Loved watching Pote in charge and letting the Frenchie know what's up...must have watched that scene 4 times :)

Rand.
 

AURORA -- Miercoles, Pt I

Lorenzo and Angela embrace and she tries to get him to think positively. After all he has a business and a daughter to live for. He's still a little doubtful.

Cesar tells Christian (via cell phone from the hospital cafeteria) that Vickie will have the best doctors and for now she should just remain calm and be with Martin. Blanca enters, they embrace, and she said something about how things may never be the same. Before they can say any more Elizabeth enters and Cesar asks “what are you doing here?” She says something about being a skin specialist (gee, we never knew that) and that she wants to help Vickie. Neither Cesar nor Blanca are ready to buy that, in view of the fact that she had been responsible for Vickie's death in the first place. She says she owes it to her. Blanca excuses herself and leaves. She visits Vickie accompanied by Vanessa and Federico and tells her she'll bring her the latest fashion magazines and arrange for them to go to the spa, the beauty parlor, and shopping. Vickie thanks her but says she only wants to be with Martin right now. Speak of the angel, he's there at that moment.

Gustavo tells Cesar that Elizabeth has the expertise to do this and he's in favor of her doing so (whatever he was smoking when he said that, I want two pounds of it). Cesar now seems to be on the fence but Blanca's opinion hasn't changed. They fight about it again later.

Lorenzo prepares to leave Angela's place and she suddenly turns her ankle while accidentally stepping on a rock. He picks her up, they share the Amor a Premera Vista look and kiss. It starts raining hard, as it did when they first met. Vickie and Martin kiss simultaneously.

Lorenzo is so freaked by this he excuses himself and leaves. He almost has an accident, so he drives onto the shoulder and stops to collect himself.

Martin brings Vickie home (They really need a normal-looking place with better windows) and she expresses fear that she will look like a monster. He tells her that he loves all of her, not just her beauty. Abrazo y beso.
 

AURORA -- Jueves, Pt II*

*Correction from previous entry


Thunderstorm – with lightening – continues through the episode and ends before the last two scenes.

Vanessa shows up at Martin and Vickie's angry at the possibility that something else will happen to her. Martin assures her that Vickie will not go out alone nor be left alone until all this is over.

Angela discusses this with her sister and admits she has fallen in love with Lorenzo. Two packages are delivered; one is a Chinese take-out pail box with a big silver bow. The note inside is from Felix, Angela's ex. The contents are candy. As she eats one we have to wonder whether they're poisoned.

Ernesto checks into a hotel or motel room and the manager asks for his papers. He claims they were stolen earlier that day. She says they will revisit this tomorrow. Why is there no APB out on this guy with photos?

After discussing his problem briefly with Natalia, Lorenzo goes back to Angela's place in the middle of the night and enters her bedroom through the garden door. She wakes up with a start and is justifiably pissed that he did this. A few minutes' discussion of their feelings leads to “we can't let ourselves feel this way about each other.” OK, that could have waited until morning.

A phone rings in Martin's apartment and Vickie answers. It's Ernesto with another creepy threat. She freaks and throws the phone onto the couch. Martin picks it up but Ernesto hangs up at the sound of his voice. He calls Angela to tell her this and she tells him that the next time he calls they have to keep him on the phone longer so the call can be traced. Vickie is willing to do this so the nightmare can end. Martin tells Vickie he has to see Diana at the prison because she will only tell him anything about Ernesto.

The next day he leaves Vickie with her mother and stepfather and visits Diana in the prison. She tells him she's sorry about what happened to Vickie; he's not buying it. She's willing to come clean with him if he will drop the charges against her. He tells her he will get her a good lawyer after this and she tells him something which we suspect – and soon learn – is a lie. She calls Ernesto as soon from the pay phone as Martin leaves and the word “beneno” comes up. As Martin gets onto his cycle, Ernesto shoots him with a rifle with a silencer. The shot lands in his right shoulder. A bystander comes to his aid. We are not shown what attention he gets from this, but as the episode closes he's back on the cycle and off after Ernesto.
 

La REINA - Jueves

Eugenia: Dreams of being arrested, takes pills and drinks to calm down, drops the bottle, cuts her finger, when Teo is better a month later and wants to divorce, she tries everything, but he knows she's only in it for the money. She heads off to Patty's big birthday party for Teresa, to do some damage.

Teo: Fully recovered from gunshots a month later, will divorce Eugenia, and will CHANGE HIS WILL to cut her out, a little shocked that Teresa killed all those French guys, but he gets over it, gives Tere a necklace at the party.

Lupe: Hasn't found anything in a month, but she's also trying to seduce Alberto (not too sucessfully), since he's suspicious. She's very jealous when Patty publicly hugs Teresa at the birthday party and says she loves her.

Oleg: Gives Teresa a brand new house (called Las Sieta Gotas, or the Seven Drops), and feels awkward when she deeply hugs him (it's hard to hide his real feelings of love).

Pote: Calmly smothers Garou with a pillow. Sorry, Flores, no witness.

Don Epi: Not too pleased when the President selects the OTHER guy as the next Pres., and Epi has to be his campaign manager. But when Batman tells him that Ratas is planning to KILL the other guy, Epi tells Batman to stop him, even if you have to use your GUN.
 

REINA:

I mean Las Siete Gotas.
Also, Alberto has a recording of Eugenia which proves she was working with Eddie, and Teresa and Juarez have heard it. I think Teo overheard it, too, so he knows.

One last minor thing - The Pernas family realizes they can't beat Teresa, so they'll try to work with her.
 

LA REINA - JUEVES

Thanks, Hombre. As NovelaMaven said yesterday, we all appreciate your excellent, succinct descriptions of our great novela. And we get a really good trigger to our memories for comments.

They didn't emphasize this much, but I remember it from the book: Las Siete Gotas is the tough barrio where Teresa grew up. From his expression when he heard the name of "Tesa's" new house, probably Pote is from the same neighborhood.

Alberto is one smart guy. He doesn't have any specific reason to suspect Veronica, but he's determined to protect Teresa's secrets from anyone without a "need to know". And maybe, like Conejo, he does smell something a bit "off" about her.

Ratas is an unbelievable idiot. The only thing keeping him alive is Epifanio's protection. So he tells him that if he has to wait six years (the Mexican presidential term and they can't run again) vas a estar usando pañales. Basically he's telling his powerful uncle he'd be in Depends.

I was too tired last night to write down Patty's remarks to everyone at the party about Teresa. But they were great. One thing she did say was that Teresa was mí versión Azteca de Conde de Montecristo. And, yes, Veronica looked extremely sour seeing the love between these two.
 

NovelaMaven, though I'm not watching "La Pola," I gather that several people here are doing so, and thus I have no objection to including comments on La Pola here, as long as the comments carry the appropriate identifying header.

In general, though, I think "El Mundo de Telemundo" should be reserved for Telemundo TNs. If it turns out that there are other non-TM novelas that people wish to discuss, perhaps they could ask for a separate page.
 

Reina:

Great comments, Hombre and novelera.

I thought last night's episode was a bit odd. They recycled scenes from previous episodes, and some stuff was a bit disjointed. Flores goes to talk to Teresa and there's nothing of it. Teo basically argues with Teresa last time we see them talk, then he's giving her a necklace as if nothing happened. I don't think he's over it, really.

I was once again in disbelief that Garou was not only back in his brothel after this incident rather than a hospital, but that he wasn't heavily guarded. I mean, I loved seeing Pote casually smothering him, but really? A guy who was almost killed and has a deal with the cops to snitch has no guards?

The Oleg and Teresa scene was lovely, and what a gorgeous house! I adore that man.

I wonder if with Conejo sharing her story with Alberto he's now going to start weakening with Veronica who keeps trying to seduce him. It seems an odd move on her part to do so, though, since everyone knows she and Patty are involved.

Flores was questioning whether Willy has a soft spot for Teresa last night. Willy raised a glass to the photos they have of her and wished her a happy birthday. He explained to Flores that he has basically watched her grow up and that he knows her. It was an odd scene and I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.

-S
 

Hi All: Sorry that I've been offline as it were. I've been superbusy.

LA POLA- I have no objection to succinct comments, appropriately titled, about that novela on the Telemundo postings. If the La Pola people want to commit to doing regular discussion/recap postings on the novela, the blog mom can certainly set them up to do so but it probably makes sense to try the waters here first. Maybe we should rename our postings: 'Todo el Mundo excepto Univision' ;-)

REINA- Thanks for the great recap-ettes, Hombre. I haven't been able to watch a single episode this week so your efforts help me keep up.
 

Reina - jueves

Thanks so much, Hombre and Novelera, for your very interesting and helpful comments about Thursday's episode. I can't think of much to add. I was going to ask about the name of the house, which sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. Thanks, Novelera, for answering my unasked question.

Hombre, I think it was in the avances that we see Teo overhear the recording of Eugenia and Eddy.

One thing I found somewhat interesting was the exchange between Willy and Flores after Willy wishes La Mexicana a happy birthday (not in person, just looking at her picture on Flores' wall). Flores seems rather annoyed that Willy does this. Willy's feelings about Teresa are considerably more complex than those of Flores. Willy apparently feels considerable admiration for her even as he is determined to bring her down. Flores, OTOH, seems singlemindedly determined to send her to prison.
 

Reina - jueves

-S, I enjoyed your comments about last night's episode. I didn't mention them in my comment because when I was writing my comment I hadn't seen yours. Every now and then I have trouble posting, and today was one of those days. I tried unsuccessfully several times. I finally had to close down my browser and reopen it before I was able to post my message.

I too was surprised that no one was protecting Garou, but then I realized that probably all his men had been killed at the train station, and he was in no shape to try to find more.

I see that you too took note of the interchange between Flores and Willy, and especially Willy's remarks about Teresa. Perhaps Veronica isn't the only one of that duo with mixed feelings.
 

Reina:

Juanita, I figured as much. You put the exchange and what I think it was meant to show into better words. I think the reason it was hard for me to come up with an apt description is Willy himself. At first I thought he was conflicted, but then his decision to drop everything to chase after her, and his recent behavior with Veronica, plus as mentioned here, his complete lack of charisma, make it hard for me to see him as any different from Flores. Maybe Flores has just been rubbing off on him with his obsessive, single-minded entitlement.

With Garou, I thought cops would be protecting him. They had a deal with him, after all.

-S
 

LA REINA - JUEVES

Juanita and S, I hadn't thought about Garou being unguarded. Now that I think about it, I'd put it down to Flores not being as smart as he thinks he is. His thirst for vengeance seems to blind him to good police work.

Willy's feelings about Teresa ARE ambiguous. It could be he thought she was attractive and interesting during their plane ride. But we weren't really able to see that as he was SO focused on trying to get El Güero's agenda.

Actually, I think this attitude of Willy's has been portrayed in other police procedurals, whether in a TV show or in a movie. The ace detective is chasing a mastermind criminal that he can't help but admire at times for the skill with which said criminal does his crimes.

Flores is just pure anger and vengeance. On the surface it seems to be about the threat to his children represented by Teresa sending him the photos. But I also suspect there's some misogyny at work there. He can't bear being outwitted by a woman.
 

la pola friday

thanks everybody for giving la pola fans a little space!

so in 25 words or less, what was antonio's crime, and from where and how did he escape?

and did gaspar question if don francisco was trying to kill his son after the horse accident? funny. yeah, i don't know if i'd want my daughter marrying a nutjob like that.

-mai tai
 

La Pola -- viernes

Mai Tai --

Antonio's crime was translating the French "Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen" -- a document associated with the French Revolution -- into Spanish. He spent 10 years in a prison in Africa (calabozo africano). I don't know how he managed to escape. Sorry :(

And yes, María Ignacia's father was appalled at don Francisco's indifference to the danger to his son when the horse was dragging him along the ground. And yes, absolutely -- I wouldn't want my daughter in that heartless man's family either, no matter how blue their blood might be!