Caray, Caray!

Argh! I haven't had a chance to see or read any of these yet, but I'm up on all the comments:

Urban Anthropologist - you mentioned Kathleen E. Woodiwiss in your comments to the first ep - thanks, that'll prepare me for a bodice-ripper mentality right from the start. I liked the KEW novels as a teen, then became uncomfortable with them as I got older and learned more about real life... but I can't forget how compelling they were to me at first.

Susanlynn's size 5 feet - yikes. I have wide, thick size 8s, which means that size 8 shoes are usually too narrow/flat, but size 9s are too long. It's tough to wear shoes! And of course I recognized you with your Highlander reference. I can't wait to see those alleged lame-o sword fights. After Highlander, my standards are impossibly high.

Paula - happy birthday Bob! Now, where's my cake?
 

Hola a todos. I'm still somewhat confused about the time sequence here. Yesterday, Hipólita wasn't even showing in her pregnancy but was talking about going to see her mother. Today, she's on the boat that will take her to her mother, and she's got her three-year-old son with her. Huh? Was there a "3 años después" that flashed across the screen when I wasn't looking?
 

Juanita- "Was there a "3 años después" that flashed across the screen when I wasn't looking?"

Yes.
 

Julie, the first of her books I ever read was Shanna, which should have eventually become a movie starring Adrian Paul as Ruark. I haven't caught up to her last ones.

But I always had an insatiable appetite for swashbuckler types. When I had the pleasure to meet Christian Meier at a Telemundo party I told him he better do a great job as Zorro, as he was my childhood hero.
 

holy moley.......Kathleen woodiwiss is my favorite author..read The Flame and the Flower.....fabulous great book...
i have all her books up to the last one b4 she died....i felt they should of all been made into movies......BNinCA
 

Clarification, please?

1. Antonio met his uncle Prospero at his mother Adelaida's funeral. The uncle told Tony he would inherit the property, whether or not he had a child. That’s the opposite of what Adelaida always told Tony. My question is, A. did Prospero change his mind at the last minute? or B. did Prospero just say that to Adelaida, but he always intended to give Antonio the property, regardless? or C. did Adelaida lie to Tony all along?

2. Hipo & Martin talk about the Count & Co on the boat. Is it that Hipo wants to know, or that Martin just wants to tell her?

3. What's up with Luis's trip? It’s about problems with the mine, right? Did Luis decide to go, or did Diego send him? I gather that Diego ordered Gasca to bushwhack him on the way, right?

4. Didn’t Hipo get her big idea to return to Mexico, before the “Tres Años Despues” placard? E.g. before Rafael was born? So did she just hang out, washing dishes at the brothel for three years before she actually implemented her plan?

I have a feeling I’m going to have to start using CCs for this show. I prefer not to, because I fixate on the CCs and miss too much visual stuff. But I can see, with this show, I’m missing a lot without the CC’s.

Thanks, all!
 

Good morning everyone. Paula, I'm going to try to answer your questions:

1. Antonio already knew his Uncle Prospero. When Adelaida brought up his name before, to remind Antonio about the terms of Prospero's will, Antonio became visibly upset. He doesn't like his Uncle Prospero and he didn't like the terms of the will. Adelaida wasn't lying to Antonio but she was certainly cramming her desires down his throat. Prospero arrived at the funeral and told Antonio he would now inherit everything regardless. This was a change from before. However, we see that Antonio still has a negative reaction to Uncle Prospero.

2. When Hipolita finds out that Martin knows her mother she asks about the rest of the family. He shares information about other family member she knew little about, including Diego, Juana and Luis Manrique.

3. Diego is the Conde and owns many assets but he has no business sense. One of his important businesses is a mine. The scene between Diego and Luis has two purposes. First, Diego is setting Luis up for an ambush. Second, through this scene we learn about the characters of Diego and Luis. Diego does things on the cheap and to the potential endangerment of his workers (the miners) to realize a bigger profit up front. Luis does not agree that cheap shortcuts are the way to go. Not only does he view the business as a long-term endeavor, he exhibits benevolence and wisdom regarding the safety of their workers.

4. Yes, I believe Hipolita and Adalgisa hung out for a few years. They probably did not want to travel while Hipolita was pregnant and likely had to earn some money to make the trip from Panama to Veracruz.

Sorry to be so long winded. I noticed last night that I had to stop looking at the closed caps and just pay attention to the action.

Last night was a great episode to help set up the characters. Thanks again for posting Paula.
 

I also think that Luis is the guy in the family who goes around to check on their businesses, make the deals etc., not only because he's also earning money for himself (making his own fortune), but also because Diego hates to travel. I think Luis likes to travel because he enjoys his work and he likes getting out of the house.
 

Perla sighting!

Paula, Sylvia answered your questions, but I thought it was funny that Prospero offered felicitations to Antonio over his mother's death. Antonio asked him if he changed his will in an attempt to expiate his sin. Prospeo weakly said, "Tal vez."

Did I mention that we had a Perla sighting?

Carlos
 

Carlos, thank you for adding that bit about Uncle Prospero possibly wanting to expiate his sin. I think that little detail right there answers Paula's question best of all.

Oh, and did you notice we had a Perla sighting last night?
 

Urban A, you met Christian Meier? Be still my heart. I thought he was a fantastic Zorro. That's another telenovela I wouldn't mind re-watching.
 

By the way, Esperanza used a nifty word last night:

galeno... which means physician

Luis cautioned her that the doctor had said that she is too weak to safely carry a pregnancy...

she, on the other hand, had it on good authority (Virgin Mary appeared to her in a dream) that she is destined to have a son... who is he gonna believe, the Holy Virgin or some galeno?

Carlos
 

Sylvia--We noticed, didn't we, that when Martin was describing other family members to Hippa that a) Luis lived in the palace with Diego, b) was very prosperous in his own right and c)FAILED to mention that he lived there with his wife!!! Dum de dum dum.

"He takes a lot of trips because he likes to get out of the house," very cute. We like him on trips because he's usually on horseback.

Carlos--I had a Perla sighting, too. She stood out in that crowd, for sure. Lovely gown, appropriately accessorized, coiffed to perfection and quite demure.
D.Nube
 

Paula--In Martin's descriptions of other family members Hipolita's ears perked up at Juana's name, because it was mentioned in the letter from her mother that Adalgisa brought back from Sta. Rita.

It was kind of sad when she admitted that her mother only wrote occasionally (every few years). She never got to read any of her mother's letters growing up because her grandmother just read parts of them to her, so she treasured this one.
D.Nube
 

Sylvia and others, thank you for the clarifications.

Sylvia, you said Martin shared information about other family members Hipo knew little about. Are you saying that Hipo is related to Luis and Diego?
 

Carlos, i also had a sighting of Perla. She almost blinded me. The two sister choking and gasping for air reminded me those of Ivana from STUD.
 

Paula, I'm not sure how Juana and Hipolita's mother are related, maybe by marriage. As far as I know and can recall Hipolita has no blood relation to Luis and Diego.
 

Carlos, will you permit me a bunny trail? I assume that "galeno" is a reference to Galen, right?

Now, Galen's authority started to be discredited with Vaselius in 1543, and it seems that he was almost entirely discredited with Harvey in 1628. Yet here we are in Spain's colonies in the 1700s, and they still refer to Galen as the term for a doctor.

Do you think the term persisted because:
A. In the backwater (e.g. the colonies), Galen's influence still reigned? My Great Courses series said that some were still following Galen into the 1800s.
or B. Was the term a slam against doctors? e.g. Galen didn't know what he was talking about, and neither do doctors today.

(I recognize that Galen was RIGHT about some things, and he did much to advance medicine beyone Hippocrates, but he was mistaken on many of his foundational postulates.)
 

Paula, I really like the word and have heard it used before in a TN. Neither time was is used with a great deal of respect for the Drs. referred to. I wish I could remember the other TN. I think it was contemporary and we actually discussed it a bit.

I don't think the fact that a lot of what he believed was discredited is responsible for the somewhat negative connotation, but for the somewhat negative opinion of physicians in earlier times and among less well-educated people. After all, we have a history of grave-robbing and blood-letting (both practices were embraced by Galen by the way).

Also Galen's medical concepts were adopted by both the Romans and the Moors and of course both groups had a great and long-term influence in Spain.

I suspect that galeno is perhaps a step above matasano in reference to medicos.

We've been called worse.

Carlos
 

Thanks, Paula, for setting the stage for us again. Hi, Julie ! Good to see you again. Iremember that you, Carlos, and I are all Highlanderv fans. Urban A. ~~~I used to read Kathleen Woodiwiss, and I agree that Adrian Paul would have made the perfect leading man for one or any of her novels. Where did this episode end I don't want to give any spoilers. Carlos~~I'm happy for you. Perla is certainly a sight to see. P.S. We saw ''X-men'' today, and it was good.
 

I really enjoyed this episode and am looking forward to tonight's. Poor Luis looked like he was about to pass out from shock after seeing Hip!
 

Didn't he look absolutely smitten? I had to rewind.
 

I feared that he might fall right off that balcony and take poor Marcos with him.
 

Hee, no kidding. The episode ended at this very scene. I just watched it again, poor guy was hyperventilating!

I don't know if they used existing boats for their sailing scenes or if they built sets and models, but to me the boats looked very authentic.
 

As opposed to the barge on Pasión, Cap'n?
 

OMG you are totally reading my mind! I actually wrote that but was afraid it might sound too disrespectful or that I might offend someone so I erased it. I can't put one by you amiga. Your eye for detail is apparently so good that you even catch the ones I deliberately leave out. Too funny.
 

Cap'n, I still remember when we saw it on Pasíon. My husband called out, "It's a barge! It's a freakin' barge!"