Caray, Caray!

Hi Jules. Nice followup on Cheryl's title and enjoyed your nod to that infamous Joan Crawford book. Also laughed at your speculation that "the water temperature in her bath just plummeted" when Fina gave her marching instructions. The only thing worse than being hated by Fina (Renata) is being loved by Fina (Roberta). A bum deal no matter how you cut it.

Like you, I don't care for the child with leukemia, plucky little parents story. Is it some extended PSA? or will this somehow play into the dynamic of the two main couples. Can't figure out why this part of the story is there.

Sympathize with your What-day-is-it? confusion. On holidays, my teaching schedule gets changed and I feel a little confused myself.

Thanks for a lively recap of a rather blah episode. More romance more romance! puh-leeze.
 

Thanks Jules - your great recap filled in some gaps for me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having my sons home from college, but my one son has a habit during commercials of grabbing the remote "just to check on the Score" (usually Indians game) and by the time he switches back, I missed some of the show. Argh!!

I guess the true attribute of a great TN villian is that they literally can make you feel sick, because I have to say that Fina just turns my stomach. Feeding Gonzo that baloney about Roberta really being in love with Matias - WHEN??? Think Gonzo, boy hasn't been home that long.

So I'm thinking our fearsome twosome will start planting the seeds of doubt into Jero now knowing he's Rafa's half brother. With her fantasy scenarios, Fina will come up with some doozies I'm sure.

Gonzo seeing engagement ring :(. So sad.....

Mr. In for me was Matias - what a jerk trying to sour Nata on Jero and just not getting the point that she doesn't love him. Oh, and failing to mention he just slept with her sister. What was he planning, win her back so he wouldn't be stuck with Roberta?

So was that Carlos in the previews getting clobbered? Only caught a gimpse.
 

Daisy I agree 100% Mr. In was Matias. I know he's hurt but really!! I do have a little sympathy for him, however because we all know what he's in for, and he is clueless about what what's coming!!

Judy, I could not have said it better about Fina, your screwed either way, your better off not knowing her at all!!
 

Thanks Jules. Man oh man, the clueless father and son team of Gonzo and Matias don't stand a chance against the diabolical mother/daughter team of Fina and Roberta.

This is going to sound weird, but I kind of feel sorry for Roberta. In the scenes with her of a child she was kind of a spoiled thing, but she also cried a bit when Fina was cruel to Renata. Instead of making Roberta feel loved, equal and every bit as delightful as Renata, Fina instead kept reminding Roberta that everyone like Renata better so therefore Renata is a bad person. That kind of negative reinforcement can really mess with one's head. Like JudyB says, Fina's love is more toxic than her hate. I'm glad that Roberta will likely decide to keep the baby even though the reason is not good. Somewhere down the line if and when the truth comes out Jero will be very happy to know that his brother fathered a son. I also hope that some day Roberta finds out that she was truly loved for herself.

Daisy, it looks like Carlos is jumped by a couple of bad guys. Hopefully this will have the effect of making Jero scurry back to the wine country. That oughta pith off Augustin.

Oh dear, the previews show Jero laying another violent looking kiss on Renata. I wish he would throttle it back a notch.

Thanks again Jules, I love the lively tone of your recaps. Matias gets my vote too for Mr. Inappropriate. I guess he was making a last-ditch effort but still!
 

Jules, Thanks for your wonderfully clear recap. It is a pleasure to read. So I will vote for Matias again too. I had momentary hopes like Renata did that he showed up a Adriana's door full of regret and seemed ready to cop to being an adult, sad but knowledgeable then veered right off the track pulling his whole ego wounded mind off the bridge and into the water. Aye Caumba, he was so close to being the hero of the evening, but I agree with those who say his punishment will exceed his crime of being ego stuck. Fina and Roberta are a fearsome duo. Yes Roberta does show moments in flashback of knowing that someone really loving does NOT hate with the force and energy that MomFina shows. She is redeemable and perhaps having her own baby will snap her into understanding of how awful Renata's chlldhood was and hers wasn't so great either.
Lots of head thumping to come, I fear.Augie and Fina are both just to violent to contain themselves. Gonzo looks infinitely sad and it will only get worse for him. Getting free of Fina will be daunting. But, he is such a good guy, I hope he can succeed.
 

Thanks so much Jules for getting this up so quickly after realizing what day it is. :)

Yes, Matias was almost a hero last night, but then veered off into inappropriateness. Gonzo was also a bit scary with his mafioso "no one messes with my family" line, referring to Jero. I really hope Diego doesn't give into Roberto and recant, but I'm guessing he will. Surely, Connie and Honorio won't believe it. But will doubting Thomases Gonzo, Matias, and Jero?

Already from the previews it looks like Fina gets the upper hand and starts playing mind games with Jero about Rafa and Renata. Otherwise, why the rough kiss from Jero? I'm going to be so sad if the sweet loving is done, and he goes totally into revenge mode with poor unsuspecting Renata.
 

I meant Roberta, not Roberto, above.

Speaking of her, even if she marries Matias, what makes her think she'll have control of the business. Fina has been married to Gonzo for how many years, and she doesn't have any control over his business.
 

So does anyone know about this word "esquincle"? I looked it up and it's translated as "kid", but they way Roberta has used it, it seems more like "damned little bastard". Wouldn't want to misuse this word if that's the case. Well, hopefully she comes around and gets to be the one redemmed in the end. It's really not her fault she's evil with a mother like that
 

Kelly- It basically equals calling a kid a brat in English. Often times it's teamed with or interchanged with mocoso (snot-nosed brat!). As you can probably guess, it's usually only the villains who say this, as everyone else usually fawns over babies and children.
 

Thanks Jules... excellent. Very detailed and of course, very amusing.

Poor Matias, another Mr. Inappropriate award. Somehow I see him as likely a regular contender. His best hope is for us to enjoy more scenes with Dr. Nesme, although I look for his daddy and Jerry to be reliable and regular candidates as well.

Interesting that Alfonsina and Augustin have different ideas about pruning (poder) the vines. The other day he was all set to begin the procedure himself until Carlos pulled a gun. Alfie, on the other hand, thinks it should only be done by women. Sylvia, don't you know some wine people?

Speaking of Alfonsina, didn't she look great? She convinced me.

I'm ready for Renata to take Augie up on his invitation. A little trip'll do her good. Wouldn't surprise me to see her take a job with his operation. Too bad he's evil. I think that they make a handsome pair.

Judy, I'm with you on the kid. Generally I like the kiddies (Dani in un Gancho was a love) but this kid is too... heck, can a kid be too sweet?

Maybe he'll be a 10%er.

Carlos
 

Carlos, my sister (a high school french teacher) works about one weekend a month at an excellent winery up in the foothills in our area. I was at an event there a few weekends ago and tortured the vineyard manager for quite some time about their sustainable growing techniques. Hence my comment about the snake a few days ago. He told me that they prune the vines by hand for the purpose of thinning the vines and intensifying the flavor of the remaining grapes. Fewer grapes = more flavor. Unfortunately I did not ask him about how they harvest but I assume they must do it by hand because I think a machine would damage the vines. It's not clear to me whether Alfonsina and crew are pruning and thinning or whether they are harvesting. I think they are pruning which takes a lot more finesse than harvesting. Maybe at La Bonita the women do a better job because they are better at taking work direction from Alfonsina and they do it her way.

Up at Ridge Winery where my sister works I'm pretty sure that men are allowed to prune the vines too.
 

Sylvia :I love the "pith off". That never fails to crack me up...

I'll also add I'm not getting why the need for the sick child storyline. I know the parents are friends and associates of everyone else, but why the sick kiddie. And yes, Carlos, he is very sweet. Same little actor was cute in Llena, until he got sick, and then he just turns the charm meter up a few decibals. Maybe that's why he got cast.
 

Kelly, The term escuincle is oricinally from the hairless dog that people kept as pets, sometimes ate and now the word really is as mild as little rascal, not really ugly when used by most people except that everything that comes out of Roberta's mouth seems like a curse these days. Here is one link to see about them:
http://www.gomanzanillo.com/features/dog/index.htm
 

Thanks for posting that link Cheryl. I especially like the picture of Frida Kahlo and her escuincle.
 

Thanks for a great recap Jules. As for the mixup on the days -- it happens to me all the time.

Ditto to Matias a s Mr. In today. But as many said he's in for a hard payback for his mistake with Roberta -- a girl who had to close her eyes and pretend he was Rafa (or was it Jero) in order to do the nasty with him just this once. What a marriage that will make.
 

daisynjay- This kid isn't the same one in Llena. But he is the same boy that was in Eva Luna.
 

Sylvia, indeed they are pruning the vines. They were using the verb podar (to prune). I like the idea of women having a gentle touch for this process.

Carlos
 

Thanks, Jules, for the fine recap. I've found I can really handle only one telenovela at a time, and I decided that the one would be the re-run of "Alborada." But I've spent quite a while watching CME, and so I'm very grateful to you and the other recappers for making it possible for me to continue to follow the story even though I'm no longer watching.
 

ViviDC and CherylNM- Thanks for the info. I'd heard of the Xolo dogs (I'm sure they're much cuter in person), but not the escuincle.
 

I didn't get to comment yesterday--I kept getting the dreaded message--Internet cannot connect. Oh, well. Here was my comment (abridged):

Glad to have the recap, sometimes I miss a minute or two switching back and forth to Pola.

Escuincle--Remember Daniela Castro in Mi Pecado, the way she said it made you afraid for the life of the child.

Vivi--we got our wish, more lovin' from our couple. They had such a cute love fest over the horse. This is the first tn couple I've seen that truly enjoy being in each other's company and getting to know each other. Methinks that some of it is adlibbed and I love Renata's laugh.

Jero was honest in his answers about whether he was going to go back to Spain.

Shame on Mat for trying to use Jero as a maybe pasajero (temporary) love interest.

Mat gets my vote for Mr. I last night, too.
NOK