Caray, Caray!

Bad Bernie’s where we left her -- in front of the church-sized Cristo in her home, still gnashing her teeth over Victoria's learning the identity of her daughter:
¡Las tengo que separar para siempre!
(I have to separate them forever!)
Bells are ringing and it ain’t the Avon lady.

And the sad conversation between Victoria and María Desamparada by Choice is over. Now, outside the apartment, Victoria wonders if MD will ever be able to forgive her. While inside, MD leans on the door and sinks miserably to the floor and thinks:
Dios mio, no tengo fuerzas para perdonarla.
(My God, I don’t have the strength to forgive her.)
She holds the magical crucifix.

Max gets to the vecindad in time to meet Vic on her way out. She tells him how profoundly unhappy she is, that she is now paying for her arrogance. He wants to know if this has anything to do with María. It does, admits Vic. She is deeply wounded by something that happened but she prefers not to say any more about it. She heads out. And Max goes inside to see María.

I found my mother, María announces flatly. My mother is Victoria Sandoval.

Max is impactado: How do you know that? Who told you?

María tells him how she and Vic got into an argument and went into the apartment to continue scratching each other’s eyes out in private. It was then that Vic caught sight of the magic crucifijo (which -- holy Mejía! -- now twinkles). And she knew.

Max thinks that is just excellent news. María should be, like, happy.

Um. Not exactly. It’s kind of a downer to find out your real mother is an arrogant tyrant, a woman who has made you suffer so much. But Max insists she is being too hard on Vic. After all, he knows first-hand how much she struggled to find her lost daughter. But María isn’t budging. She nurses too many hard feelings, too much resentment, too much hatred. Quite simply, she says: No la quiero.

At home, tragic hunky Dr. Heri reflects on the promise he made to his wife on her deathbed. He swore – but only because she insisted – that when she was gone, he would find another woman to share his life with. He never kept that promise – he never found another woman to take her place. [Is it just me or did anyone else see the number on the bottom of the screen: 1-800-LUV HERI?] And then he thinks about Victoria…

Victoria, now back at Casa Sandoval, can’t stop thinking of María’s harsh words:

Understand once and for all that little María – your little María – is dead!

Osvaldo sees how stricken she looks. She tells him that what she was longing for has happened – she has finally found her daughter. And it’s ... Wait a sec. Set up the echo chamber, Sal. Okay, listo:
María Desamparada! María Desamparada! María Desamparada!

Let’s look in on the happiest couple in the vecindad, Fer and Cruz. They are in bed chatting about his plans to record a disco, his determination to become a vet. Smoochies, a red rose, weird animated hearts. ♪♪ Mi riqueza ♪♪ One thing leads to another. Bottom line: If Fer is not with child, it’s not for lack of trying.

At Casa Sandoval, it’s now Osvaldo’s turn to be impactado. He can’t believe it. María?

Yes, says Vic wretchedly. It's María. The same María who despises me and wants nothing to do with me. And it’s all my fault for treating her so badly. Even so, she tells Os, María’s rejection was the most painful moment of her life, more painful than losing her in the first place. She is sure that María will never forgive her, not after all the harm she’s done to her.

Back to Cruz and Fer, still snuggling in bed now in a smoke ‘em if you got ‘em moment. Fer decides she’ll pay a visit to Dr. Heri’s consultorio tomorrow to find out why she hasn’t gotten pregnant.

Victoria, alone in her bedroom, prays for a second chance with María and hopes the day will come when MD calls her “mamá”.

It’s a new day and María comes to see PJP at the church. She knows Victoria is her mother but it gives her no joy. On the contrary, the knowledge is bitter and painful. Juan Pablo knew. Why didn’t he warn her? He couldn’t, he tells her, because he was bound by the secret of the confessional. But he did try to prepare her. And María knows how much Victoria has suffered…

María doesn’t want to hear it. She doesn’t believe Vic even has feelings. She will never forgive her! Her stony declaration:
Last night Victoria ceased to exist. She is dead to me!

PJP begs her to show some compassion for Vic – it’s her own mother she’s talking about. And it’s not good to hold on to all that hatred. She needs to learn to forgive.

I can’t, says María. And how sad -- if this is my family, I was better off as an orphan.

Doña Bernarda de Iturbide has summoned Guillermo to her office. She has a little job for him:
Quiero desaparecer a Victoria Sandoval y a María Desamparada para siempre.(I want to get rid of Vic and MD forever).
[So Gui, before you sign on with Bernie, you might want to talk to some of her former employees. Oh wait. They’re mostly in hell, aren’t they? (Except for poor Tomasa who is in that pueblito norteño in the sky).]

At Casa Sandoval, Max understands that María’s rejection is very painful to Victoria; and he is sympathetic. But he also reminds her that she brought this on herself. He doesn’t know if María will forgive her; if she does, it won’t come easy. He’ll do what he can to soften María’s heart.

Victoria, remembering MD and Alonso together, tells Max she’ll never forgive herself if, because of her, he and María stop loving each other. That will never happen, he tells her.

Of course poor deluded Alonso thinks differently. And now, alone with María in the vecindad, he tries to help her sort out her feelings toward Vic. He encourages her to let go of her resentment and embrace the chance to be with her mother. He also reminds her of Bernie’s role in the way her life played out. If the Demented One hadn’t kept JP unaware of Vic’s pregnancy, things would have turned out very differently.

María tells Alonso the same thing she told Max and Juan Pablo: She can’t accept Vic as her mother.

I’d give my life to make you happy, Alonso tells her. [And here, some in the viewing audience are shuffling their feet impatiently.] You love me that much? asks María. She allows him to lean in and caress her face but she deflects his kiss to her cheek. I’m so sorry, she says, it’s just that… But Alonso won’t hear apologies. He promised he’d be patient.

But not all that patient. He’s downright grumpy when Max shows up at the door casting a large shadow: Are you here to trash María’s life again? Go away, Max, please, go away!

Fer and Cruz sit in Dr. Heri’s office at CRIT and explain their problem. Still no pregnancy “por más que nos aplicamos” (as hard as we try).
Heri thinks a second operation may help. Fer’s thrilled they have a chance and she’d like the surgery done “lo más pronto que se pueda” (as soon as possible).

Alonso is still trying to get Max to leave. After all, María has made her choice. But Max reminds him that he and María have a child together –

Here Alonso interjects pathetically: Soon little Juan Pablo will have lots of brothers and sisters --

But he grudgingly agrees to step out so María and Max can talk privately, maybe for the last time.

As soon as he is out the door, our lovers fly into one another’s arms. Te amo's. Smoochies.

In the final scene, Doña Bernarda de Iturbide comes to call on Victoria. She has a little disinformation to share: María Desamparada is not your daughter!

But Victoria knows what she knows. Her proof? First, the crucifix. Second, Bernie herself told her --
-- Hey, I lied, says Bernie.
And third her maternal instinct (mi corazón de madre) which drew her to María even when Bernie poisoned Vic against her. [No room for DNA in Victoria’s epistemology]

You no longer have any power over me, says Victoria. But the Demented One isn’t done. She asks her to recall how she lost María in the first place. Some heartless person ran us over, says Vic. Well, says Demente:
Esa persona desalmada fui yo. Yo las atropellé a propósito porque quería verlas muertas... ¡muertas a las dos!
(That heartless person was me. I ran you over deliberately because I wanted to see you dead – both of you dead!)

Say what??

Credits roll

Labels: triunfo