Saturday, May 28, 2011

El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of May 30, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves

La Reina del Sur – as of Friday, May 27

We viewers are having almost as much trouble as Teresa in saying our goodbyes to this amazing story.

In its last full week, we see Teo finally exposed for the rat he has always been. When Flores and his men lead a raid on the decoy ship, Teresa knows without a doubt: Teo is the Judas. Teo has to die.

When Pote takes Teo from his home and forces him to join Teresa aboard the Sinaloa, he deals with the police bodyguards Culichi style – dead men can’t talk. And Teo earns himself a burial at sea.

Spanish Comisario Flores wants the pleasure of seeing Teresa Mendoza punished. He wants her in jail, on Spanish soil.

Willy Rangel wants Teresa back in Mexico to testify against the now presidential candidate, Epifanio Vargas.

The U.S. Ambassador, he of the atrocious Spanish pronunciation and flawless Spanish grammar, wants to keep Mexico from becoming an official Narco Republic.

We still don’t know what Teresa – and her unborn child – want.

Flores has good reason to hate Teresa – she did threaten his children early on in the story and he felt forced to send his family out of Spain to protect them from her. But now his personal need for vengeance has blinded him to any sense of the greater good.

For us at home, Flores has been one of the bad guys. Willy Rangel, on the other hand, has become more and more sympathetic; and the actor’s portrayal more and more credible.

Flores has been waiting for the judge’s order to arrest Teresa. Now, even though his star witness, Teo Aljarafe, is missing, with the death of the Spanish police guards, the balance tips in Flores’s favor. The police comb Marbella looking for her.

It is Teresa’s soulmate, Oleg, who takes her in – and incidentally introduces her to the wife and child she never knew he had – and then helps her escape out the back way when the wolf, i.e. Flores, inevitably arrives at the door looking for her. By then she has already agreed to Willy Rangel’s proposal – now that she knows it was Epifanio Vargas who ordered el Güero’s death, that instead of a friend, he has always been her enemy – she is willing to return to Mexico and testify against him. She and Willy will meet at the airport where a private jet awaits them.

Twelve years ago, Teresa – hobbled by cheap blue tacones -- ran for her life through the streets of Culiacán. Now once again she runs for her life – still hobbled by ridiculously high heels, even if they are on expensive and stylish boots – this time down a steep flagstone path in the south of Spain.


Last night, in the penultimate episode of our story:
Teresa gets to the airport ahead of Flores. She has had a chance to say her goodbyes to Conejo – Oleg had her brought to his house earlier – but she doesn’t want to leave without saying goodbye to Pote as well. Surprise! Pote is already on board the plane. He scoffs at the danger that awaits them in Mexico: Pa' morir nací, he says plainly. I was born to die. It’s a good thing to be able to choose the place to do it.

Pote reluctantly surrenders his gun to Willy and the plane takes off.

During the flight, Willy asks Teresa what she did with Teo. “What would you have done in my place?” is her answer. “I’d never be in your place”, says Willy rather smugly. “I’m one of the good guys”. (Soy de los buenos.) “De los buenos” repeats Teresa. “¿Cómo ves Pote?” She and the guarura exchange weary smiles.

She acknowledges that learning the truth about Don Epifanio Vargas has turned her life upside down (se me revolvió la vida). But it’s not a thirst for vengeance that is bringing her to Mexico – what she wants is to stop running:
It’s time for her to decide how she wants to live.

Back in Mexico, the President won’t take Epifanio Vargas’s calls.

And Don Epifanio won’t take Batman’s calls.

Batman and his two little boys are being followed by another vehicle. The Batman knows a hit when he sees one. He coolly calls his wife and tells her he and the boys will be home in half an hour. Then he pulls his camioneta into a clearing, inviting a confrontation with the other vehicle. Two guys get out and take aim at the Batmobile. But the Batman proves too wily for these cut-rate sicarios. He starts to drive, gunning down one with his left hand, while steering with his right. Then he runs over (and over) the second. Now we know what “rematar” really means.

Then Batman turns to his sons in the backseat:
¡Qué calor está haciendo! Les invito a una agua de cebada. ¿Qué dicen?(It’s getting hot. How about a cold drink (barley water)? What do you say?)
Both kids nod. Just another day in the family business.

In Marbella, Conejo is telling Ramos and Alberto about her secret farewell meeting with Teresa – she felt like she was in a spy movie, she confesses. She doesn’t think Teresa will be coming back. But the good news – Teresa left them the yacht, the Sinaloa. “¡Que viva México!” says Dr. Ramos happily. The trio’s toast to Teresa is cut short when Flores arrives at the door. He has a judicial order to inventory all of Teresa’s property. The beyond wilted Flores tells them they will have to testify in the proceedings against Teresa; all her property will be seized; and they are not to leave the country.

When Flores leaves, Dr. Ramos says ruefully: Adios, yate! But he brightens quickly when Conejo tells him about the second part of Teresa’s severance package for the faithful trio – a stash of twenty million Euros. She cautions them:
Va a ser muy difícil pillar la pasta.
(It’s going to be very hard to get hold of the dough.)
It’s hidden in plain sight in the living room of Teresa’s house, Las Siete Gotas!

Back in Mexico, Ratas gets the call: the idiots they sent to kill the Batman are dead. Now Ratas wants to do the job himself but Epi talks him down – Batman is old-school, he’d never betray them. [Really? After they just tried to kill him?]

Now Epifanio gets the call: “Hay piedras en el camino” he tells Ratas. Teresa gets in tonight. “Habrá que darle la bienvenida” replies Ratas.

And the Batman tells his trophy wife, who has been waiting anxiously at their NarcoMansion, that things have changed. He used to be the boss and now he’s the black sheep. He knows too much. Epifanio just tried to kill him. Mrs. Batman wants to get the hell out of Dodge. “Vámonos pa’ el Gabacho” she says. Batman agrees but first: “Vamos a medir el agua para los camotes” (Let’s analyze the situation first, let’s figure out what’s what.) If Epifanio gets the presidency, he’ll be able to get to them wherever they are.

Teresa’s arrival is imminent and Ratas is assembling the troops and their weapons. He literally has a small army of men who will cover all areas of the airport and runway. He holds out a million dollar reward to “quien se tumbe la morra” (the one who shoots the girl.)

In the DF, Don Epifanio is ignominiously turned away when he tries to see the president. And he reflects:
Se me hace que el señor Presidente ya sabe de todo.
(I think the president knows the whole story.)

Teresa’s plane lands and she, Pote and Willy walk onto the tarmac, right into the sights of the snipers. But before Ratas can give the order to shoot, Epifanio calls him and aborts the mission. He needs to talk to Teresa in person.

Teresa is introduced to the army officer who is in charge of her security, Col. Ledesma. She and Pote demand – and are given – their personal guns when she reminds Willy that this is Culiacán, not Spain.

Don Epifanio apparently thinks he can BS his way out of this one. He phones Teresa and asks her to meet with him. He waxes philosophical, Culichi style:
Pues ni modo mi hijita, al toro hay que agarrarlo por los cuernos. Mira, mi hija, en esta vida lo que te toca es para ti aunque te quites y lo que no, pues, aunque te pongas.
(Let’s take the bull by the horns. In this life, when it’s your turn it’s your turn, no matter what you do. [literally, ‘it’s yours although you may try to take it off and what’s not…well … although you may put it on.]

We see Ratas in what I think of as the Culiacán branch of the Bada Bing Club where he channels Scarlet O’Hara: Tomorrow is another day, he tells himself. Then they can eliminate all of their enemies: Teresa, Pote and Batman.

He heads to the bathroom. We see the pointy-toed black boots and the black trousers of the man following him. Then we see Batman himself reflected in the mirror. Batman aims at Ratas but doesn’t take the shot. He pauses and listens to Ratas’s phone conversation and learns that Teresa Mendoza is in Culiacán.

Now a black camioneta drives up to the secured property where Teresa and Pote will stay. That the army is guarding the outer periphery and the federal police are inside the grounds reassures neither Teresa nor Pote. She knows the Sinaloa cartel can buy off the guys who are there to protect her.

She announces, to the chagrin of both Col. Ledesma and Willy, that she will need transportation tomorrow. She’s going out. She’s not a prisoner, is she?

Tomorrow: The Last Goodbye
Tuesday: Cristina and the cast at 9pm/8central

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Mi Corazón Insiste

This is the replacement for Aurora. I watched a bit of it and realized it’s not for me. Jean, are you going to watch this one? Hombre, thanks for getting the discussion started on this show.

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Aurora

Just in case anyone missed it, Urban Anthropologist wrote a terrific wrap-up on the last few episodes of this oddly ill-conceived novela. You can find it in the comments of last week’s Telemundo page.

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La Casa de al Lado

This is the replacement for Reina. It looks intriguing but if I watch it, I’ll be a day behind in the conversation because I’ll be watching the online version. (My dance card is full at 10pm/9c.)

Ok. Your turn!

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Comments:
Sorry I was so late in posting this. I see that Juanita wrote a great comment earlier on last week's page. I copied it so you can read it here:

Reina - viernes

Friday's episode shows us Teresa escaping from Oleg's house (i.e., escaping from Flores and his men). I was amused to see that she was wearing boots with high spiked heels. Does this woman never learn? She knows that the police are looking for her, she's on the run, but does she wear shoes in which she can move quickly and easily? Sigh.

Before leaving for Mexico, she said goodbye individually to the Transer Naga crew: Alberto, Dr. Ramos, and Conejo. We get to see the very moving goodbye between her and Conejo. After Teresa has left, Conejo meets with Alberto and Ramos and informs Alberto that Teresa wants him to have her yacht. He's ecstatic, but he doesn't have any time to enjoy it. Flores and his men arrive at Transer Naga with an order to seize all of Teresa's property. "Adios yate," Alberto replies philosophically after they leave. However, Conejo then informs the other two that Teresa has anticipated that her property might be confiscated, and she has left them a "consolation prize": 20 million euros in cash, hidden in the center of Las Siete Gotas! If I remember correctly, that is the house Oleg gave her. (Do the police not know about this house?)

Speaking of goodbyes, as Teresa is about to board the plane that will take her and Willy to Mexico, she tells Willy that she first has to say goodbye to Pote. He appears from inside the plane and makes it clear that he is going with her. She protests that he could be killed, and he tells her that it's good to be able to choose where you die.

As Teresa is flying to Mexico, Ratas is giving instructions to a large band of thugs whom he has put together to kill Teresa, preferably as soon as she arrives. He offers $1 million in cash to whoever kills her.

Another interesting aspect of Friday's episode involves Batman. He has his two sons in the car, and he's being followed by people Ratas has hired to kill him (apparently without Epifanio's order or knowledge). There's a great scene of Batman driving with one hand and talking on the phone with the other to his wife, assuring her that all is well and that he'll have the two kids safely back home in a few minutes. Talk about bravado! But the bravado turns out to be justified: Batman manages to outmaneuver and kill his would-be assassins and brings his sons home as he promised his wife.

Batman's wife wants the family to flee, but Batman says he has to take care of things first. He's convinced that Epifanio has ordered his murder, and he tells his wife that he has to deal with that. Moreover, if Epifanio becomes president of Mexico, he'll be able to find Batman and his family no matter where they are.

Epifanio apparently did NOT order the hit on Batman, however. He tells Ratas that Batman is not a traitor and is of the old school, like Epifanio: his word is gold. Hmmm.... So it looks as if Ratas is the same loose cannon he has always been.

One thing I'm not clear about (one of many) is that Batman tracks Ratas down (all we see at first are Batman's long pointed shoes); unseen, he is about to shoot Ratas, but he overhears Ratas' conversation with Epifanio and learns that Teresa is in Culiacán. For some reason, he then decides not to shoot Ratas and leaves. I'm not sure why Teresa's being in Mexico would affect Batman's desire to kill Ratas.

This was originally longer, but apparently it was too long for the site to accept. I kept chopping away...

Sat May 28, 11:01:00 AM EDT
 

Great posts NovelaMaven and Juanita. Loved the "Bada Bing" part ;) Ahh, those first 4 or 5 seasons of the Sopranos...

I was kind of wondering how Teresa got the invitation from Epifanio. Must have missed that part...

I thought "La Casa" was going in the same time slot as Reina. No?

I agree with you NovelaMaven, I saw a few dabs of Corazon and wasn't at all interested. Although "La Casa" looks pretty good...

Lately these novelas that Telemundo has put out have been a lot more fun for me...Mas Sabel El Diablo, Alguien Te Mira, El Rostro, La Reina.

I liked all of those, still wondering what they did with "Ojo por Ojo"?

I also liked "Al Corazon Abierto". I saw a website where you can see season 2 but I don't have time to watch one on the computer...

Well anyway, this was the best one yet without a doubt and it was fun watching it with all of you guys :)

Hopefully some of you will hang around for "La Casa"

Rand.
 

Reina - viernes

NovelaMaven, thanks very much for your excellent recap and for moving my comment over from last week's page. I wasn't sure when this week's page would go up, and I was afraid I might forget what I wanted to say if I waited.

Special thanks for including a number of Spanish sentences. You picked out the very ones that puzzled me. I was interested to see Epifanio say lo que te toca es para ti aunque te quites y lo que no, pues, aunque te pongas. That saying appeared earlier in the telenovela as well, I think. I'm not sure whether it was spoken by Epifanio that time, too. To my surprise, it also turned up not all that long ago in a different telenovela as well. Is it a frequently used expression?

I was amused to see that you, too, took note of Teresa's high-heeled boots. Some years ago, many women banded together to call attention to the harm and discomfort caused by the shoes we were expected to wear. I confess I feel some frustration that that insight seems to have been lost on today's young women.

I'm still puzzled by Batman's not shooting Ratas when he had the chance. Why should his overhearing that Teresa is in Mexico make a difference?
 

Reina-
Thanks for the excellent review of last week's episodes and the succinct, yet detailed, summary of Friday's episode including the Mexicanismos.

I have terrible problems with my feet and can only wear sneakers so it makes my feet hurt in sympathy to see these women in those tacones that we used to call, 'knock me down and f**k me' shoes.

I was also wondering what it was about Teresa returning that made Batmancito change his plan to kill Ratas. Was it because he thinks that Teresa will kill Ratas or does he want revenge on Teresa for capturing and torturing the guys he sent to Spain?

Batman's wife is played by the actress who was Milena in Victorinos. (I looked up her name.)

**************
As for the other Telemundo novelas, I am not planning to watch Mí Corazon Insiste or La Casa de al Lado. I assume that like others on Caray, I am going to watch Alborada at 10pm.
 

REINA -- viernes

Rand, about how Teresa got the invitation from Epifanio Vargas --
That wasn't explicitly shown. But we heard Epifanio tell Ratas over the phone that he needed to see Teresa personally "para arreglar un asunto". Then Teresa's voice said "Bueno" when she took the call. And then we heard Epi's "Pues ni modo mi hijita..." speech. Finally, at the end, we heard Teresa demanding transportation for something she had to do in the morning. So I'm assuming Epi invited her and that's where she wants to go. I could be wrong, though...

Juanita, my take on Batman's behavior is that he is doing exactly what he told his wife he'd do -- "ir a medir el agua para los camotes" -- figure out what is going on before acting hastily. He's been out of the loop and now has to figure what Teresa's presence may mean to him. Batman is the anti-Ratas, supremely calculating, never acting on impulse.

As for the expression "en esta vida lo que te toca es para ti aunque te quites y lo que no, pues, aunque te pongas" --
It's new to me. In fact, if Epi said it before in this novela, it sailed right past me. But in its pithiness and fatalism, I imagine it does come in handy pretty often.

Ah the shoes. I think that's the price short actresses have to pay to make cinematographers happy.
 

HEREDEROS - viernes

Paula's friend, Adela, arrives in a Mini Cooper. All previous cars on this novela have been Toyotas, a sponsor.

Pablo see Paula going into a drugstore and actually wonders why. Of course, we know that it is to buy a pregnancy test kit but it could have been for any of the 1000 things a woman could buy in a drugstore.

I think that this is first time that I have seen a woman on a novela get pregnancy results from the test kits you can buy in a store. Usually they faint and are diagnosed as pregnant by a doctor or they go to a hospital or clinic to get a pregnancy test done.

Paula shows Adela the stick, or whatever it's called, that indicates that she is pregnant. She is thrilled to be carrying Juan's child but sad that she can't tell him because of Julieta's illness.

Gaspar seems to be leaving Jose's team. He helps Lupe bring Simon to see Beatriz and when Jose chews him out, he says that he isn't Jose's ally any more.

Juan gets the results of the DNA test and finds out that Pablo is his biological father. Of course, since he doesn't know that Pablo is Emilio, he is angry at Pablo for abandoning him.

Berta and Modesto have a picnic. When she asks about his intentions, he does the old, 'we're just friends' thing. Berta is upset. Pablo/Emilio counsels Modesto to examine his feelings for Berta and not be afraid of commitment.

That was about it.
 

Reina

Rand and NovelaMaven, do you mean the formal written invitation that came in a blue envelope? Conejo gave it to Teresa and told her that someone had delivered it and said it was urgent, I think; however, Teresa was preoccupied with other matters (perhaps Teo, I don't recall) and didn't look at it until later.

The only other invitation I'm aware of is the one Epifanio delivered by his phone call to Teresa.
 

Thanks NovelaMaven, I thought it was kinda strange how all of a sudden she had the letter straight from his puno y letra ;)

When Humberto hosted the greatest moments show at the end of April he used that dicho a couple of times while talking to the audience. Love that one.

Rand.
 

Ahh, thanks Juanita!

Rand.
 

REINA
Thanks Juanita and Novelamaven for the wonderful recaps. I have to say that I was moved to tears by the Teresa/Conej0 goodbye. Except for Pote, Teresa has absolutely NO ONE --except herself.

I didn't understand why Batman didn't kill Ratas (I was hoping he would), but I think Novelamaven is right --that he is figuring all the odds and decided to wait and see what Teresa's "homecoming" would mean.

I haven't the slightest notion what the ending will be --except for the stupid avances. But that's what made this novela so great. it was totally unpredictable.

I have seen the shortened version of ALBORADA and will probably skip it. I like all the actors in AL LADO and am expecting another atypical novela, so will watch that. Will there be a "Discuss among yourselves" for it?
 

GENERAL

NJ Sue, I don't mind posting a Telemundo discussion page, alternating weeks with Jean as we have done all along. I may not have a lot to say about the current crop of shows but if others do, great. Also, I may pay more attention to La Casa de al Lado once Univisión's Triunfo del Amor is over.
 

REINA -

Thanks for the great recaps, NovelaMaven and Juanita. I got the feeling that both Don Epi and Ratas had ordered the hit on Batman, but when it failed, and Ratas wanted to do it himself, Don Epi decided to hold off on that part for now, sort of rationalizing about Batman's old school loyalty.

Batman could really fit in with the Sopranos or other Italian mob family, with his slicked back hair and cool, calculating (but deadly) demeanor. I agree that he decided not to kill Ratas, thinking it's better to get more info first. Don Epi did the same thing, calling off Rata's guys when Don Epi has snubbed by the President. Again, not wanting to act precipitously.

This all sets the stage for the big showdown at Don Epi's house. Should be good.
 

REINA -

Thanks for the great recaps, NovelaMaven and Juanita. I got the feeling that both Don Epi and Ratas had ordered the hit on Batman, but when it failed, and Ratas wanted to do it himself, Don Epi decided to hold off on that part for now, sort of rationalizing about Batman's old school loyalty.

Batman could really fit in with the Sopranos or other Italian mob family, with his slicked back hair and cool, calculating (but deadly) demeanor. I agree that he decided not to kill Ratas, thinking it's better to get more info first. Don Epi did the same thing, calling off Rata's guys when Don Epi has snubbed by the President. Again, not wanting to act precipitously.

This all sets the stage for the big showdown at Don Epi's house. Should be good.
 

El Corazon Insiste:

I know not too many people are watching this, but I'm enjoying it, so I may just post about it every few days.

This one has all the telenovela cliches. The hero and heroine fell in love, got separated (she was in jail) for a few years, but just before his wedding to the villainess, he meets up with the heroine again, cancels his wedding, and they're in love, never to be separated.

However, Andres' Mom is such an alcoholic that she has to go to a clinic in New York (the show takes place in L.A.), run by her sister, Sofia. Sofia insists that Andres accompany his Mom on the plane. As he's about to leave, Lola sees his image blur a few times, cluing her in to danger. She tells him not to go on the flight. He does, anyway, and of course, the plane crashes.

Everyone in first class was killed, and Andres was in first class, right? Well yeah, but he went to the bathroom just before the crash, and wasn't in that doomed section. In fact, it looks as if he's wandering the street of New York now, having lost his memory! How's THAT for a telenovela cliche?
 

GENERAL:

I'm going to be watching La Casa al Lado. I know Alborada is good, but I just love some of the actors in La Casa (Maritza Rodriguez and Catherine Siachoque), and it looks like another thriller, sort of like Alguien Se Mira meets Desperate Housewives. So I'm in, and will be commenting.
 

LA REINA - VIERNES

Thanks, guys, for all the really great comments. I especially appreciated the translation for what Don Epi said to Teresa. I was scratching my head over that one. I knew all the words, but couldn't put the sense of it together.

I've got this ghastly flu that is causing me to ache all over, so I haven't had the energy to post my thoughts. Actually, thoughts are beyond me. One thing is for sure, I didn't delete Friday's episode after watching. I plan to watch it again before the gran finale.

Gosh, what a fabulous telenovela! They should ALL make you wish they were longer, instead of wishing it would all be over soon. Is there any chance someone would notice this and start a trend: more shorter, well-written novelas?
 

Is anybody watching La Pola?
 

Reina - lunes

Well, it's over. The last episode seemed a little rushed and less satisfying than I'd hoped. I must confess, though, that they did a good job of maintaining suspense almost to the very end.

The episode begins in the St. Malverde chapel where Teresa meets with Don Epifanio, as she did twelve years earlier. Epifanio wants to know why she's planning to testify against him. She tells him that it's because he gave the order to kill el Güero like a dog. Epifanio still tries to strike a deal with her. He's tired, as president he can do good things for Sinaloa, he'll pay her twice what the gringos are paying her to testify. She makes it clear that money isn't the issue, and no, she won't make a deal with him.

The telenovela shifts back and forth between the chapel and Batman's house, where his wife and children try to hide from Ratas and his thugs, who have come to kill her. For me, this was one of the most painful scenes in the entire telenovela. Ratas finally finds them, kills them, and then caresses the dead woman's body, perhaps implying that he had done more that we didn't see.

After his unsuccessful meeting with Teresa, Epifanio gives Ratas the order to kill her. Most of the rest of the episode focuses on that attempt. Teresa and Pote are staying in a house supposedly guarded by the police, but Pote notices that they've all left, and he and Teresa are alone. Moreover, all phone lines have been cut and even cell phones don't work. Teresa realizes that the people who are supposed to be guarding her have been bought off by Epifanio. A prolonged gun battle ensues between Teresa and Pote vs. Ratas and his thugs. Though vastly outnumbered and outweaponed, Teresa and Pote kill many of the thugs and then try to escape from the house. They make it to the lawn, but Pote is killed, I think by Ratas. Before he dies, he yells "¡Corre, Señora, corre!" bringing the story full circle. Instead of running, however, Teresa kneels over Pote's dead body. Ratas approaches, his gun pointed at Teresa, and he informs her that no one will prevent Epifanio Vargas, mi papá, from becoming president of Mexico. Teresa is stunned to learn that he is Epifanio's son. She tells him to shoot her, and he does--except that his gun has run out of bullets. She then shoots him, first with a single shot, and then with half a dozen more. At this point, Willy and the troops finally arrive (where were they?).

The next thing we see is Teresa coming out of the courthouse, after testifying. A short while later, Epifanio comes out of the courthouse, in handcuffs. Batman is standing nearby, staring at Epifanio with at least some satisfaction.

In the final scene, Teresa is in some humongous house that she has probably bought. She's visibly pregnant, and the house contains a crib. Where is the house located? Who knows?
 

La Pola

Pasofino, I'm watching and occasionally commenting on it here although we're not doing recaps. Your thoughts on this wonderful show are welcome.

REINA - final episode

Wow, Juanita -- thanks so much for writing an excellent, pithy wrap-up of this last chapter. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I was still on the edge of my seat as I watched. And yes, seeing Batman's family killed was heart-breaking -- one of many tragic moments in this novela.

I'm going to watch this again and will probably have more to say...

Novelera -- Hope you're feeling a bit better today.
 

NovelaMaven: If you put a title up for it, I will try to do a summary. But, I don't know if I can do it every week. Thanks.
 

LA POLA -- GENERAL

Pasofino, if you mean a succinct summary that will fit into a single comment space, you can put it on this page. All we ask is that you put a heading on your comment so we know what show you are talking about. Take a look at Juanita's summaries for excellent examples of the art of the mini-recap we are honing here. Or look back at past Telemundo pages -- Hombre de misterio has lots of wonderful examples too.

If you mean you'd like me to post a separate, one-time page to gauge people's interest in La Pola, I can do that.

But if you mean you'd like a new blog page with links on the sidebar, that's something for our blogmom to decide so you should probably check with Melinama.
 

What I had in mind was similar to what Juanita is doing. I'll try to do one for this week's episodes. I just didn't want to tread on anyone's territory without permission. Thanks.
 

La Pola - general

Pasofino, That sounds perfect. I think I've said before that, in my view, La Pola may be the best thing on Spanish language tv at the moment, especially now that La Reina has stepped down from her throne. I look forward to reading your summary. Thanks!
 

Reina - lunes

Thanks very much, NovelaMaven, for your kind words. I was quite nervous as I was writing the summary of this last episode, since I recently had a message rejected by the site because it was too long. I thought this one was at least as long, but....

Like you, I knew pretty much what would happen, since I'd read the book, so I was all the more impressed with how successfully the telenovela created and maintained suspense.

I also liked the way the telenovela came full circle--first with Teresa's meeting with Epifanio at the St. Malverde chapel, then with Pote yelling "¡Corre, Señora, corre!" echoing the words in the phone call at the start. Also, at the very end, we hear the song "Si nos dejan," which I think was a special song for Teresa and el Güero.

I had expected to watch the episode again and keep the recording, but I was so concerned about taping "Alborada" tonight that I accidentally set my recorder (a VCR, not a DVR) to capture channel 15 (Telefutura) rather than 18 (Telemundo). Duh.

I've been crazy about this telenovela. I'm going to miss it, and also the great group of fellow commenters. I'm afraid I won't be continuing here at "El Mundo de Telemundo," at least not right away, since I'll be switching over to watch "Alborada." I hope to see some of you there.
 

Los Herederos - martes?

well, finally this show is getting exciting, at least i guess so. i saw Casa del Lado is starting and mistakenly thought it was in the del monte time slot! i forwarded one day on the DVR and it wasn't there! so i was all concerned that it had been cancelled and i can't wait to see how the incestual relationship is handled! but i'm a moron- it's not cancelled.
can somebody tell me why they're keeping juliette's parents in the dark? everybody else in the world knows.


La Pola
pasafino! i am watching and am certain to find your comments useful.
what made the alcalde accept la pola as a wife instead of a mistress? her chutzpa? or is he planning some crazy switcheroo at the last minute. he seemed like a creep by the river, but now i'm wondering if he's going to support her crazy political leanings and be a decent husband.
she hasn't bit anyone in a while.
--mai tai
 

REINA -

Thanks for a wonderful summary of the final episode, Juanita. At several points, Don Epifanio realized that someone had told the President, and later the press, about him. We never knew who. I know Batman had some satisfaction when he saw Don Epi in handcuffs, but I doubt he could have made the call. Maybe Willy did.

It's pretty amazing that all Ratas' other henchmen were killed, as we only saw Pote and Teresa kill 2 or 3, and there were about 6. Also, it was funny that Ratas ran out of ammo just when Teresa told him to kill her.

Apparently, Chaib, Sanchez-Godoy, the Pernas, the Italians, and of course Oleg and his guys are all still in business, although Teresa probably won't be contacting them anymore. She always felt she was being pushed into places she didn't want to go. Finally, she and the baby can relax, and build a new life, Si nos dejan (if they let us).

And I guess Conejo, Alberto and Ramos found the $20 million. All right!
 

Reina

I'm looking forward to the cast show with Cristina tonight at 9 pm, but there's also an excellent 25-minute video entitled "en vivo con tus actores" narrated by Gabrial Porras and featuring interesting remarks by a number of the main actors in LRDS, including those who play Teresa, Patti, Oleg, el Güero, Santiago, Conejo, Epifanio, Teo, and Ratas (and perhaps others as well, I might have unintentionally left someone out). I think the video is on the Telemundo web site. The long URL is long URL but in case that doesn't work, I've made a tinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/3s83flx.
I think it's definitely worth a look. (Thanks to someone named Tuly, who posted it on the Telenovela-World forum.)
 

Quite an ending. Although a bit unbelievable that Teresa and Pote could have taken care of all of Ratas's guys. I thought it was interesting how when they brought don Epifanio out to take him to jail he was wearing a bullet-proof vst. I was hoping that Batman would shoot him, but that would be part of his character. And I really appreciated the fact that they didn't show us the killing of the children. the wife's end was bad enough.Incidentally, the actor who played Batman was incredibly good, as was the actor who played Ratas. Each of the 'bad guys' had their unique personalities, which is not often the case. and the actors were consistenly believable and interesting.

I also couldn't tell where Teresa was at the very end, although at first I thought it looked like Southern Spain because of the sea and the architecture. But I really liked the fact that we didn't know, and just saw her walking out and looking at the sea, at peace ...it was just the right note of mystery, and Im glad they didn't wind things up in a tidy way.

Thanks all for your great recapettes and comments. It really added to the experience of watching this terrific work.
 

LA REINA - GRAN FINAL

I feel like I do when the Santa Cruz Boardwalk roller coaster rolls onto the final flat stretch. Wow, what a ride; and I wish I could get right back on again for those thrilling, fast curves.

As many of the rest of you, I had read the book and knew the outcome. A friend who emails me about the novela kept saying: "God, I hope Pote survives!" And I had to keep mum. Just one grammatical point about Pote. He did not say ¡Corre!, like El Güero. He never used the familiar form of a verb with Teresa. It was always usted. So he said: ¡Corra, señora, corra!.

The scene in the church was FABULOUS. So well acted by the two of them. Epifanio trying to throw the dice for the last time, hoping to recreate their former relationship, trying to be El Padrino. There were so many great moments: Teresa tells him Así que, agarrense bien de la brocha mientras le quito la escalera, Don Epifanio, porque por a eso vine. Willy: Ella lleva 12 años esperando este momento. ¡Yo pagaría por saber que le esta diciendo al candidato!. Willy tells the soldier that Vargas won't harm her. He has a lot to lose, but Teresa has already lost everything. In my notes at that point I wrote: No lo creo.

When Vargas tells her he had to kill Dávila, that she knows there are rules, she says: Estas reglas incluyen ajustar cuentas con quien te la debe. ¿De veras va a venir a mí a cantar corridos a estas alturas? She also tells him Como sea cabrón y de la DEA, era mi hombre y lo ame con toda mi alma y al matarlo ustedes me obligaron a vivir una vida que yo nunca pedí vivir.

After the scene in the church, Pote tells her: Señora, en mi vida he conocido a dos fieras bien valientes - uno fue el toro que mató a mi papá por andar haciendose el torero y la otra, pues, usted mera patrona. Le dejó la boca sin palabras (la boca de Epifanio).

If I remember the book correctly, there was some political reason the soldiers could not enter the property to help Teresa and Pote. The police were meant to do that on the property, but they were paid off.

Pote had some great lines near the end: ¡Que Dios nos agarre confesados! When Teresa tells him she's afraid to die, he tells her Pero eso del miedo nos pasa a todos, pero mientras nos matan o no nos podemos llevar unos cuantos de estos al infierno.
 

Reina

Novelera, thanks for all the Spanish and for the corre/corra correction. You're quite right: Pote always used the formal Usted form with Teresa, even at the end. BTW, I loved your roller coaster analogy.

NJ Sue, good point about the differences in the personalities of the bad guys. You're right--it's one of the many ways in which LRDS is far superior to almost all other telenovelas. (Strike "almost"!)
 

MI CORAZON INSISTE:

One week into the show, we've reached the point where the entire world has gone bad for Lola, our heroine. The love of her life, Andres, was apparently killed in a plane crash (he's actually lost his memory, and is wandering around New York, charming art dealers with his super guaposity).

Yesterday, Lola's aunt died (with a smile on her face, after SWEARING she'd never leave Lola), plus Lola's mother went totally crazy (diagnosed as catatonic schizophrenia, she's in a bed, staring straight ahead).

But that's not all, someone says the dead aunt owed a ton of money, and it's time to collect. I think he want's to seize the aunt's truck (she was a truckdriver).

It's time for Lola to fight back!
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

I don't know if anyone will be watching this, but here are a few observations about the gran estreno last night.

I liked it. It was so wacky, you can hardly tell what's going on, but here's a stab at it. Gonzalo (played by the guy who was Gato Fieras in Reina) is the hero. He's just married Ignacia (Catherine Siachoque). And guess who's living in the house? Lorenzo, the twin brother of Rodolfo, deceased husband of Ignacia (played by the guy who was Benjamin in Alguien te Mira). Rodolfo died recently, fell out of window. Or did it himself. Or was pushed. Leonardo, the brother, is paralyzed and can't talk.

Ignacia is an artist, and she has 5 or 6 painting covered up. They're all of Rodolfo. Gonzalo, the main character, is not too happy about this. He also wouldn't be happy if he new his bride went to a hotel room, stripped, and had fun with some other unidentified person.

Ignacia's sister is Carola (played by the one who was Camila in Alguien). She's mischievous again, and secretly kissing Rodolfo (who was Benjamin) again.

The other main couple is Javier (played by Miguel Varoni, who in real life is married to Catherine Siachoque) and Pilar (who was the villainess in Perro Amor). Pilar is a psychologist. Javier is mean.
They both have secrets.

Also, the help are having affairs.
The whole thing is a bit over the top, but the mysterious revelations should make it fun to watch.
 

LA CASA:

Correction, the dead guy was Adolfo. And Carola is kissing Leonardo.

Ignacia also has a brother Emilio, who has some secrets, and mean parents, Eva and Renato.

The gardener, Pedro, turned up dead, and who knows if it was an accident.
 

REINA - Cristina show

I enjoyed the Cristina show. Rafael Amaya (Guero) and the one who played Paty were on video from Spain.

Santiago, Conejo and Teo, all Spanish actors, were in the studio. I can barely understand Teo, whose real name is Miguel de Miguel.

When Cristina asked who was the best kisser, Santiago, Teo or Guero, Kate de Castillo reponded that it was Paty!

She also did almost all of her stunts, included some speedboat rides with a helicopter only feet away from them (flown by a real policeman from Spain who had a small part in the show).

Ratas (the actor playing him) was recently divorced. Also, I think he had some major groin problem from playing soccer, and this cut down on his athleticism for a while (but I never noticed).

The character playing Oleg had glasses and had let some hair grow back. He knew no Russian, and was joking about how the producer told him it would be minimal, but when he looked at the script, every other line was "speaks Russian".
 

Reina

Thanks very much, Hombre, for your account of the Cristina show. I loved Kate's response when asked who was the best kisser!

The show made me dislike the guy who played Teo almost as much as I had disliked Teo. He hardly let anyone else speak. Also, I was interested to hear him say that Teo was not a bad person, just ambitious. Yeah, Teo would say that. (And probably no one else would.)

I love Oleg, with glasses or without glasses! He also wore glasses in the 25-minute video of brief interviews with many of the cast members, En vivo con tus actores. I was amused by what he said about his dismay that the script called for a good deal of Russian, a language he didn't know.

The guy piloting the helicopter is the same guy that Pérez-Reverte mentions in the novel, Javier Collado. He also played himself in the telenovela, though his role there was smaller than in the novel.

I confess that I've never been a Cristina fan, and last night didn't change my opinion. However, I very much enjoyed the show.

I'm really sorry that Pote did not appear either on the show or in the 25-minute video. I don't understand why he was left out.

I'm really going to miss this telenovela and the great little community we've formed to discuss it.
 

La Casa
Thanks Hombre for getting comments started. I'll be watching this and hoping others join in. I like the cast. Gabriel Porras is an especial favorite of mine. Unfortunately, I did not see/record the first episode. Hope there are other comments about it. Lois
 

MI CORAZÓN INSISTE - MARTES

Thanks, Hombre for all your excellent opening mini-caps. I think you and I are both probably going to be on overload soon. Or I'm going to have even more dust bunnies due to hours spent telenovela watching.

I'm enjoying Corazón so far, but La Reina has spoiled me for the kind of baddies represented by the blonde and the evil guy who knew all along that Andrés was not his son but did it for the money. The baddies in La Reina had some nuance, in my opinion. I can't stand the blonde and don't know if I can watch so many episodes of her maliciousness.

The guy in the stretch limo that saw Soledad at the airport is an interesting development, but it's probably going to take months to find out the back story. Obviously, Soledad somehow convinced an infant not to cry while escaping from whoever. And she can't cry to this day.

I'm going to be impatient if they keep up the amnesia too long. That's so hackneyed.
 

CORAZÓN

Whoops, two more things. If I had a stomach like Carmen Villalobos, I'd never cover it up either.

It's interesting that Jencarlos' character in Mas Sábe el Diablo was a graffiti artist who ended up painting canvasses and making a bunch of money. And he's painting on walls again in this one, although he isn't poor as was the other character
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO

Yes, the first episode was interesting, although I had to keep pausing it to write down the names of the characters so I could keep them straight. It was like one of those historical novels that have a genealogy chart at the front of the book and you keep looking back to keep things straight.

It looks like Carola (Camila in Alguien) is a semi-baddie. She DID try to warn Gonzalo he would be in over his head. But she's not too kind to her sister.

The mother of these siblings is a real piece of work. She's named Eva Spencer and is the classic older, evil blonde. She's paid off the cop who was investigating the accident (murder?) of the gardener who was trying to clue Gonzalo in about goings-on in the Conde house.

Miguel Varoni is chewing scenery again as a major bad guy, Javier Ruiz. He's pathologically jealous of his wife, the psychologist. He is a corporate lawyer, and flames spit out of his eyes when his major client, Renato Conde, wanted to give his hotel legal business to his new son-in-law, Gonzalo. By the way Renato is played by our favorite from El Clon, Sidi Ali.

The guy who is the husband of the cook in the Conde house and wears some kind of uniform is getting it on with Karen, the maid in the Ruiz household. I haven't seen this actress in a while. She was the simple campesina wife of Mario Cimarro in El Cuerpo del Deseo.
 

CRISTINA SHOW RE LA REINA

I thought the show was excellent! It was definitely improved by having no studio audience to clap and vocalize, further compromising my comprehension.

Interesting. I understood Miguel de Miguel better than Iván Sanchez. It's true that Miguel de Miguel did dominate the part of the show where the galanes were sitting with Kate. I wanted to hear Iván Sanchez speak more. But when they showed a few clips of those smoldering lovemaking scenes with Kate, he could just not talk so much and I'd be fine with it. He did say that he has two young daughters and loves being in an all female household.

Miguel de Miguel got pretty graphic showing off his athletic tongue. He didn't annoy me as much as he did Juanita. I thought he was just one of those big-time extroverts, always the life of every party. It was funny when Cristina said he had a reputation as un pulpo, an octopus (all hands). He denied it.

It was fun watching Humberto Zurita showing off his narco accent that he used for Vargas, saying that he was from the North so it was easy to do.

The actor who played Oleg was SO charming. I think they did something to his teeth for the role. As Oleg, his teeth looked like they had metal fillings showing. But his teeth looked fine last night. He said that when he got to see his young child after a long absence, the kid touched his cheeks to be sure he wasn't an image on Skype. I think it's his first child. He said he was either a premature grandfather or a tardy father. They didn't indicate one way or the other if the child in the novela was actually his child.

Also, Jimenez (Oleg) said that he went to a Russian school in Madrid. A woman translated the lines in the script from Spanish to Russian, but they were so complicated that he said he'd never be able to say them. He said no one would know the difference and to make the phrases very simple.

Conejo brought, I think, a tortilla de patatas to the show. I think it was meant to be some kind of joke about Teresa and Pote craving Mexican food and having to settle for that Spanish staple. She apparently cooked for the actors during filming and was a great cook.

I was very impressed with all the Spaniards. They all seemed clever, nice, and fine actors. Hope this kind of international production can happen again.

Kate said she had an audition with Oliver Stone. She's had lots of nibbles because of what she called the "boom" of La Reina.

I was also disappointed we didn't see Pote. They didn't even mention his absence.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO -- martes

Hombre, thanks for getting the ball rolling with well-written synopsis of the first episode. And thanks to Novelera for the added detail.

I love mysteries and I like the actors and the understated style that is the hallmark of Telemundo novelas. So I'll be here to give this one a try and might chime in with a comment from time to time.
 

CRISTINA -- La Reina cast

Juanita, thanks for the link to the Telemundo video. That's where Miguel de Miguel made his remark about Teo not being a bad guy, just ambitious. Between that remark and Cristina's comment about his reputation as "el pulpo" -- well, he really does come across as a jerk. (Not to mention the superman underpants that he wore for the sex scenes! Thanks for small mercies that he wasn't wearing them on the show!)

On the Telemundo video, Alberto Jimenez comes across as so animated -- I realized I had never heard him laugh before -- that it seemed he had to make the greatest stretch, as an actor, of all the cast. Then on Cristina, Carmen Navarro made a big point of saying how sensitive he is, how he needed her mothering more than anyone because it was so hard for him to be away from his family.

When Cristina asked Kate about the Patty/Kate kiss, Kate laughed and said that's what everyone wants to know about. I don't think we mentioned it here but in Mexico, Televisa made a lot of folks mad because they actually censored the kiss.

I agree that it would have been fun to hear from the actor who played Pote.

By the way, all of this material is available on the Telemundo website.
 

La Casa de al Lado

Thanks, Novelera (and others) for your comments and additional explanations. BTW, the actress who plays Karen the maid was also the mother of a character on Perro Amor. Her "son" from that show is currently Andres' best friend Camilo on Corazon. And on Perro Amor, she was being wooed by the guy who plays "Pepe" on Corazon. The chauffeur who is wooing her now was also on Perro Amor (a great show that I hope they bring out on video). Sometimes it gets confusing when I see the same actors in different roles, but they must be good, so producers don't have to search for new faces, having seen these veterans act in many previous shows.
 

Cristina and Reina video

Just a quick thank you to Novelera and NovelaMaven for clarifying so much that I missed (and some that I didn't realize I'd understood) in the Cristina show and the Reina cast video.
 

LA REINA: CRISTINA
Great comments everyone about the show. I understand that Jimenez (Oleg) got a script where it would say "Russian" and he had to explain that he didn't speak Russian. That was funny. I agree he was so charming and it's funny that this Russian "Mafioso" was so homesick and needed a lot of TLC. Ditto about Pote not being on; that was disappointing. And I think that less of Ratas's discussion of his divorce would have been appreciated by me.

AL LADO
Thanks for the summaries, hombre. the only thing I would add is that Ignacia said that Adolfo is NOT dead. Is that who she went to visit at the hotel? However, she does seem to be happy with Gonzalo.
I can't figure out whether she's a good guy or a bad guy. Or rerally crazy? Time will tell.

And yes, it's nice to see so many of our old "friends' in this.
 

CASA -- Estreno

I'll be a day behind this one, as usual with Telemundo viewing. This reminded me of El Fantasma de Elena and ... same executive producer, por supuesto.

This promises to be just as perverse. Maybe more. Good times!
 

AL LADO: Wednesday
More confusion:
1. Ignacia tells her father that Adolfo is not dead. He doesn't believe her, and she swears that she's not loca. She brings Leonardo to her studio, where all her paintings of Adolfo have been cut up. Somehow he is able to draw a stick figure of a man being thrown out the window by a woman with a red scarf. Later on, Gonzalo sees it. Ignacia calls the man she meets at the hotel to say she can't come. She takes a pregnancy test and finds out she is pregnant. Her father appears just as she has dropped the test. He picks it up and is thrilled to find that it is positive; she is not. She makes him promise not to tell anyone yet, for at least 3 months. She feebly tells him she will tell Gonzalo.

2. Gonzalo: He is very busy playing detective and trying to understand what's going on. He finds out from Ignacia's father that Adolfo had embezzled money from him, and the next day commited suicide, making him feel he is responsible for Adolfo's death. (I am thinking that Adolfo is not dead and is pretending to be to escape this debt, and maybe Leonardo was killed and Adolfo is impersonating Leonardo). Gonzalo sees in the film of his wedding a fight between the gardener and the butler (?). When the police report comes back that the gardener died of natural causes and the case is closed,Gonzalo goes to speak to the police chief and steals the crime report (unbelievable that the cop would leave Gonzalo in his office alone), which confirms that the gardener was strangled. He has previously seen Ignaica's mother pay off the cop-in-charge. When he confronts her, she says it was to avoid a scandal. He is completely confused and once again meets with Pilar-the-psychologist for help. She, a probably battered wife,seems to have fallen for Gonzalo, and tries to help him in spite of her husband's pathological jealousy and warning to stay away from him. Said husband, another lawyer in Ignacia's father's firm (I can't remember his name) is also ready to kill Gonzalo because his father-in-law has handed over shares of the company (I think) to Gonzalo.

4. Added to all this are problems with other family characters --Pilar's son,Diego, and Carola, Ignacia's sister.

I think this is going to be a story of many threads and complications. So far, so good, except that I can't help wondering why Gonzalo and seems obsessed with
figuring out all the strange happenings in the house. It just seems too much too soon-- although I must say the viewer is definitely pulled into to trying to understand all the strange goings-on.
 

LA CASA - Wednesday

Thanks, NJ Sue for a great summary. I was really floored by this show last night. So much is going on!

Pilar's husband, the mean rich lawyer, is Javier. He's mad that Renato (Ignacia's father) keeps giving favorable things to Gonzalo. One of these things was a hotel. Adolfo wrote a suicide note on the hotel stationery, but that stationery wasn't printed until AFTER Adolfo died! So maybe he's not dead. Javier is also jealous, thinking Pilar likes Gonzalo (and there may be some truth in this).

Pilar and Javier's son is Diego, played by the same boy who played Julian's son on Alguien Te Mira. People keep sending him threatening messages on his computer ("I'm gonna kill you").

The butler in the Conde home (Gonzalo, Ignacia, her parents Renato and Eva, her sister Carola, brother Emilio, and Leonardo the twin all live there) is Nivaldo. His wife, Yolanda, wants to know where he was when the gardener Pedro died. Nivaldo can't tell her he was having relations then with Karen, the maid from the Ruiz (Javier and Pilar) home.

Also, Nivaldo's niece, Hilda has come to work in the Conde home, and Emilio likes her.

I think Ignacia, though a bit crazy, is very attractive. There's something about her which draws me to her.

NJ Sue, you may be right that Leonardo is really Adolfo!
 

Mi Corazon Insiste:

Okay, this show has turned into a comedy. Tia Chabela, played by Angelica Maria, died. But she had promised Lola she'd never leave her until the day Lola ever cries (which may be the last day of the show). Since Chabela is dead, she's decided to come back as a ghost, which only Lola can see. Lola has to keep ignoring her trucker slang, her helpful? advice, etc. Lola almost falls off a building, but is rescued.

But meanwhile, Chabela didn't pay the rent, so Lola loses her house, too. She's got a few other friends, but when she snubs kindly old doctor Diogenes, he stops paying for her Mom's psych treatment, and Mom is sent to a public (gasp!) mental hospital, where all the patients make fun of each other.

Meanwhile, Andres still doesn't have his memory, but he fends off a clingy (and married) lady art dealer's advances by saying he's gay. His reward? She has him accused of rape and armed robbery! Yes, it's a comedy now.
 

MI CORAZÓN INSISTE - Miércoles

Thanks, Hombre, for your well-done capette of last night's idioteces. The multiple scenes of the supposedly bright Lola talking to Chabela in front of others were beyond ridiculous.

Talk about a cougar. If there's a slang dictionary of what that currently means, the woman who was after Andrés last night has her picture on that page. Plus that spurned woman accuses the galán of rape trope is so very tired.

I'm hanging in still because I like Carmen and Jencarlos. And everything else is either broad comedy (el viejo verde del médico) or moustache twirling Snidely Whiplash villainy (the "father" of Andrés).
 

Well, I saw about 1/2 of the premier of Al Lado and maybe my patience just isn't there anymore like it used to be for normal novelas.

I've got all of them on DVR and maybe this weekend I'll give it a chance.

I will say that Maritza with minimal makeup is outstanding to look at, that girl is beautiful.

Rand.
 

GENERAL

Rand,

¡Borrón y cuenta nueva! Nothing else on Telemundo comes close to the quality of Reina, nor is it likely to.

La Casa de al Lado looks like it could be fun so I'll stay with it for a week or two more and then decide.

Meanwhile, La Pola is the show I really look forward to watching every day. As different as it is from La Reina, it has in common with that show: superb writing, attention to visual detail, and actors, rather than stars.
 

Mi Corazon Insiste - Thursday

Although Lola got her Mom out of the violent ward of the mental hospital, with all the recent turmoil, she forgot to go to her weekly probation office visit. So unless she gets a buen abogado, it's back to the carcel. She grudgingly agrees to marry 70 year old Diogenes, so he can be her sugar Daddy.

Meanwhile, Andres got the lady to drop the bogus attempted rape and armed robbery charges. But since he can't produce ID, the cops decide he must be an illegal alien. And he's getting deported in a week. Andres asks "How can you deport me when neither you or I know what country I'm from?!!" C'mon Andres, that won't stop them.

What will stop them is that the private eye hired by Sofia has finally found something, the Doctor who treated Andres for amnesia. So there's hope.
 

La Casa Al Lado - Jueves

Gonzalo agrees to delete the picture of Eva paying off the cop, now that the cop is dead, and Eva says she'll help Gonzo find out the truth. Right.

The coroner's report showing the gardener was strangled was stolen from Gonzo's folder while he slept. Turns out it was brother Emilio, but he was seen by cute new servant Hilda. She says she'll keep quiet, but there's a price. How much, he asks? Take me out to dinner, she replies, batting her pretty eyes.

Just about everyone knows Ignacia is preggers, and most think it's Gonzo's kid. Ignacia tells the mystery man from the hotel that she's not sure who's it is.

Pilar continues to be the most mentally unbalanced psychologist we've ever seen, generally looking like a deer in the headlights (with good reason, after the abuse that pig Javier is heaping on her). Javier forces his son Diego to do karate and pushups, and pretty much forces Pilar to have sex (after brutally pushing her around earlier). He also smashed his computer and her cell phone in the same episode.

We've met Diego's sister, Andrea, who was Michel's sister on Fantasma.

And who is Igor Moro?!!!
 

Mi Corazon Insiste:

Good cop Rodrigo is gravely injured while in San Salvador.

I learned a new word. Dr. Diogenes proposed to Lola on bended knee. She said "get up off that floor". He said "No." She said "Why not?" He said, 'cause I've got a cramp!" The word for a cramp is un calambre.
 

La Casa:

Rand, I agree that Maritz/Pilar is very beautiful on this show. I also like Ignacia and Hilda. Someone remarked that this show may have the same producer as El Fantasma de Elena, which I enjoyed for 1) it's being way over the top, and 2) the beautiful actors/actresses in the show. This show has both of these attributes.
 

MI CORAZÓN INSISTE

Hombre, Lola's difficulties do mount up, don't they. She definitely contributed to that by not showing up for required meetings with the cops. Although, I thought a parole office would be assigned, instead of meeting with a police officer.

I can't believe she'll actually marry the old coot. I had some sympathy for him until the reveal that he'd ASKED that poor Soledad be put in with the violent lunatics for spite, because of Lola's rejection of him.

Regarding Andrés, why can't he just pipe up in a perfect, born in the USA, American accent to convince these cops he's not an undocumented person? Of course, that would get into the other problem that US cops all speak Spanish in telenovelas.
 

HEREDEROS - Jueves

This one is getting more interesting, often the case as they wind down. They've changed from etapa culminante to últimas semanas, so we're in the home stretch.

It looks like the replacement is going to be Flor Salvaje, for which we've only seen some female nude from the waist up, back view, in a pool in a jungle or forest.

José has been turned into a mad dog. He really thinks he can force Paula to abort Juan's child?

I was gobsmacked by Gaspar's out-of-the-blue mad lust for Adela. He's been completely in love with Lupe from day one. He says he still is, but he wants to set up Adela in a casita. I suppose this is meant to move him closer to forgiving Emilio Del Monte for his extra-marital activities. But it seems absurd.

And they had to do the cliffhanger ending, where Paula is about to tell Juan about the baby. I'd bet the farm something will impede that tonight.

And I'm very impatient with Rosario. I think they tacked on this rape story close to when it occurred in the story. There was no hint of any sadness about her before. In fact, she was always smiling, talking about horoscopes and trying to get closer to Lucas. If she'd screamed at the sight of the lout that raped her and told the truth, Nacho would not be getting the opportunity to try to make Lucas believe him instead of Rosario.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO

I've only had time this week to see the estreno, but I hope to catch up this weekend.

Our system of labeling recaps works well for me. I can skip over the no doubt excellent comments about this one and only read those for the novelas I've viewed. It's spoiler proof.
 

AL LADO; WEDNESDAY
Hombre, it looks as though you and I are the only ongoing watchers of this show.

I really like it. I can't believe that there has been so much exposition in two days. Everything moves at such a rapid pace -which I like. All the characters are clear-cut,but surpising.For example, I really was surprised that the brother (diego?) stole the papers and destroyed them. By the way, Hilda-the-Maid, who I think was Eva's sister in EVA LUNA, asked for him to take her to the movies in exchange for her silence (not dinner). I think she was jealous of the girl who invited him to the movies. Was that Javier and Pilar's daughter? I am not sure how the father's character is going to play out either. He seems like a good guy, but also has been involved in some bad things, I think.

I also like the acting. Re your former comment: I don't find the actor playing Javier over the top. My cousin was married to an abusive man, and I think the actor has it down pat. Re Pilar: she is like the typically abused woman, but I am not sure what she is hiding and just how "good" a person she is. Is Eva the real mother or a stepmother? It's hard to believe she is the biological mother. I think she plays Genoveva in TERESA, and although she is a "bad" person, she certainly was a loving mother.

I hope others join the comments, because the mystery inherent in the story and the characters will really make discussion of this telenovela interesting.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

NJ Sue, I think some other people are watching, but they're either going to watch over the weekend, or they're a a day or two behind. They'll probably add to the comments soon.

Thanks for the correction that Hilda wanted to go the movies. I confused "cine" with "cenar". Yes, it was Andrea, Javier and Pilar's daughter, who asked the brother to the movies. And his name is Emilio. Diego is the little boy.

Yes, Hilda was Eva Luna's sister. Of course her hair was a different color.

I feel sorry for your cousin, being married to an abusive guy. I guess Javier isn't really that unusual. But that was really something, smashing his computer and Pilar's cellphone!
 

NovelaMaven: I have a recap for LaPola ready to roll. Since it is a little long, I will post it in segments. But, if you want me to email it to you, let me know your address. I have been in contact with BlogMom and thought she would have sent me a link by now since it appears OK with her to post recap. Anyway, I haven't gotten the link yet.
 

La Pola -- general

Pasofino,
If your post is a bit on the long side, I'll copy it to a separate page and link it to all the active discussions (ie triunfo, teresa, cuando and telemundo).

If it's only a couple of hundred words long, I'll also copy it directly onto the new telemundo page which Jean is about to post -- if it sits here it will languish unread once everyone turns the page to the coming week.
 

This comment is regarding my mi corazon insiste.

I have watched a few episodes, and I must say that I am really disappointed, jencarlos is beautiful so is his co-star. However, wrong pairing he is better suited with more seasons actress. Mi Corazon insiste is about this great love, however, the storie does not fit the theme song. On like Amor Quedate which was a perfect theme song for jencarlos and Gaby, that was true love storie not mi corazon insiste.
 

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