Caray, Caray!

Heading into the final stretch All That is Good and Holy takes the lead...Now Forces of Evil comes from behind... All That Is Good And Holy and Forces Of Evil are neck and neck... and ladies and gentlemen, you won’t believe this, they’re just seconds from the finish line and Forces Of Evil is pressing for the lead ... Now Forces of Evil pulls out in front...

Reprise: María comes forward to join Victoria on stage and collect her prize as best model. Vic is alarmed by María’s sudden nosebleed. An instant later, María, still holding a red rose, falls in a dead faint at her feet.

Blood and Roses
María lies unconscious, her skin pale against the red of vividly painted lips, fresh blood and rose petals. The shocked Casa Victoria gang rushes forward and Max gathers her up in his arms.

Of course not everyone is upset. Ximena brays to Rox that she’s glad that whore fainted – now she won’t even be able to enjoy her prize!

Max sets María’s still unconscious form on a white couch backstage. The family crowds around, nearly hysterical. Give us some space, barks Dr. Sabelotodo, and he begins a perfunctory examination.

The vecindad folks watch uneasily from the audience. Is this a pregnancy thing? Should they go to María? Juanjo and Leonela convince them to stay out of the way and wait to hear what the doctor says.

Dr. Todo doesn’t have the equipment he needs to examine María properly. Then let’s not waste any time, says Juan Pablo. Let’s take her to the hospital. Max once again sweeps up the alarmingly unresponsive María and he, Todo, Vic, JP and Fer set off. Luci, Pipino and Fabián will stay behind and pack up after the show.

Curses! Foiled!
Bernarda rides through the city night brooding over her defeat and blaming her incompetent staff: ¡una bola de ineptos! ¡estúpidos! She should never have trusted Ximena... The sound of her cell phone ringing interrupts her blame rant. It’s Eva with the latest about María: Hah! The winners didn’t even get a chance to celebrate! One way or another, the scandal is going to end up hurting Casa Victoria.

To the tune of Edelweiss: ♪Schadenfreude, Schadenfreude♪
María’s – and of course, Victoria’s – sorrows are more delicious to Bernie than the finest sherry. Eva’s tidings have just confirmed that, as always, divine justice is on Bernarda’s side.

Osvaldo, a Lear-like figure in his lonely room, figures the fashion competition must be over by now and wonders about the outcome. He switches on the tv and sure enough, there’s a reporter announcing TONIM (The Only News in Mexico): Casa Victoria has won the biennial! Os jumps up happily but his joy fades as the reporter continues: The winning model, María Desamparada, fainted right on the stage (en pleno escenario) and was taken to the hospital. Os grabs his jacket and rushes to TOHIM (The Only Hospital in Mexico).

The vecindad gang gathers at Mili’s place. Napo saw María’s nosebleed. Ah, caray, says Chente, unwittingly delighting everyone who reads this blog. He remembers very well:
Así se ponía Alonso cuando se daba una de sus crisis.
(That’s what used to happen to Alonso when he had one of his attacks.)
Maybe she caught what Alonso had, suggests Juanjo. Don’t even say that, says Nati, horrified. Mili voices everyone’s fear: Is she going to die like Alonso? Noooooooo!

At the hospital, Max sets María on a stretcher and as the attendants escort her to the treatment area, Dr. Todo tries to get everyone to calm down. This might be simple exhaustion or stress. He tells Victoria – hands clasped, eyeball to eyeball -- she has to show strength and the others will follow her example.

The vecindad gang continue to wring their collective hands. Alma had been watching little Juan Pablo during the show but now Nati takes charge of him. All the gang can do is wait for news. And when the Jarochas get up to make coffee for everyone, we learn – crash! – that in Spanish, you don’t have butterfingers, you have butterhands (manos de mantequilla). They talk about Cruz’s father’s illness. He never smoked, he tells them, but breathing in the smoke of a coal-burning stove all those years was probably what made him sick.

Finally Cruz gets a call from Fer. María is in the exam room (area de exploración), she tells him. Fer hopes there are no problems with this pregnancy...
....Cruz tells the waiting group: She thinks it’s a complication of the pregnancy.

Cruz tells Fer he’s on his way to the hospital. And don’t worry about your nephew, he says. Nati and Alma will take good care of him.

In the waiting room of the Sandoval Pavilion
Max paces restlessly. He wants to press the staff for news but Juan Pablo prevails on him to be patient. After all, Dr. Todo did promise he’d talk to them as soon as he knew anything.

Victoria, flanked by Toni and Fer, encourages them all to pray that the doctors are on their A game (que Dios ilumine a los médicos, that God enlighten the doctors). Not a bad prayer.

Next on the scene is Osvaldo. He does his best to reassure Victoria. Max and PJP fill him in on what is happening and then PJP heads off to the chapel.

Now Leonela makes her entrance. She explains carefully that she has no intention of getting in anyone’s way. She just wants to be there for her son. Then she turns to Fer and asks for two minutes alone with her. Fer refuses at first but when Os nods his encouragement, she follows Leonela out.

In the chapel, PJP prays for his daughter.

Fer and Leo make nice
In case you’ve lost track of snits, Fer has been in one ever since she caught Leonela stealing a kiss from Osvaldo some time back. Now Leo pleads ... er ... confusion. When she kissed Osvaldo, she was feeling alone and unprotected; in her confused emotional state, she thought she was in love with Os. But Os immediately set her straight: he loves Victoria more than anything in the world. And ever since that time, she has only looked at him as a dear friend and the father of her son. Nothing more.

These days Leo is struggling hard with her recovery. She has no desire to cause suffering or break a family apart.

Fer listens, believes Leo’s words, accepts her apology and offers her forgiveness.

Cruz arrives and joins the family in the waiting room. When Dr. Todo walks up, everyone starts talking at once but Os quiets them so Todo can speak. He gives them the grim news: It looks like María is infected with a virus. And according to their tests, it’s the very same one that Alonso had.
Vic buries her face in her hand and looses a handful of restrained “Mi hija nooooo’s”

I’m as surprised as you are, folks. Who knew an infection could be infectious?
What can we do? Os asks Dr. Todo. Todo -- or maybe we should call him “CasiLoTodo”? -- doesn’t really have an answer for Os. He acknowledges he is also surprised and worried by this turn of events. There’s no question that María has the same symptoms Alonso did. Their tests have confirmed the diagnosis. The one good thing he can say is that María is just in the first stage of the illness.

So how many stages are there? asks PJP. Three, answers CasiLoTodo. And it is essential for her to be kept in isolation. The virus is poorly understood and there is no cure. The only thing they can do is try to control it. We want to keep the illness from progressing to the second stage. The effectiveness of the treatment depends on her body’s own defenses, as well as on her desire to live, on her faith and on her love. [And most of all – on the will of the writers.]

[Apparently we are the only ones wondering why CasiLoTodo never considered that Alonso’s illness might be contagious. But I bet if he were here, clasping our hands, fixing us with his hypnotic gaze, lulling us with his basso profundo, we wouldn’t be asking any questions either.]

The Wicked Queen is at the Door
In María’s apartment, only little Juan Pablo, in his whimsical white polka-dotted jammies, seems unconcerned. Nati and Alma are worried sick about their friend. Well at least they can take care of her son until she is well again. Suddenly, the door opens and a gust of evil fills the small space – it’s Bernie! And she has different childcare arrangements in mind. She demands that Nati hand over Juan Pablo at once.

Alma rushes out for help. When she comes back with reinforcements a moment later, somehow it is Bernie, not Nati, who holds the baby. What the...! How did tough, smart Nati let that happen? Have her pregnancy hormones turned her soft and stupid?

The vecindad gang lose their collective mind
Bernie claims that as a blood relative, as his great grandmother, she has a legal right to the child. When Milagros objects quite reasonably that María Desamparada wouldn’t want her son in the hands of a murderous psychopath, it is Napo who dismisses her objection. Bernie is right, he says. She may be a crazy psycho bitch but she is family. [Are you sure you want to marry this guy, Mili?]

Bernie marches out triumphantly, babe in arms, leaving them all staring stupidly after her.

The only thing we can do is call Padre Juan Pablo, says Juanjo.

Once more Bernarda rides through the city night but this time, with little Juan Pablo settled in her lap, she is gloating. You’re mine, she tells him, and I’ll fight to keep you forever. God has given me a chance to raise another Juan Pablo Iturbide!

Pause to cue the chant.

Now we have a glimpse of the driver. Is he listening? Will he have a role to play later?

Bernie rants on: A pure soul and body to save my soul! Your only destiny is to save me!

From the hospital, Toni calls Pip and tells him they’re still not sure of anything. Pip’s face, notwithstanding the giant pink feather hat which frames it, shows his concern. He and Luci and Fabián will be at the hospital as soon as they are done at the show.

Isolation Shmisolation
Dr. Sabecasilotodo pleads with Max to understand: since María is in isolation, only members of the medical team wearing adequate protective clothing can be near her. Meanwhile they are continuing to do tests in the hope of keeping her illness from progressing to stage two. Isolation, shmisolation, says Max. I need to be with her regardless of the danger.

For Triunfo fans ... when the tinfoil beanie isn’t enuf: I find the discussion of isolation very muddled. Sometimes CasiLoTodo seems to be talking about protective isolation, for María’s sake; and other times he seems to be talking about protecting the people who come in contact with her. And if this virus is SO contagious and SO virulent, why isn’t Todo ordering tests on all María’s (and Alonso’s) contacts?

We did the best we could
Napo tells Mili not to be upset. There was no way she could have kept Bernie from taking the baby. Nati says María will be worried to death when she finds out Bernarda has her son. So far no one has been able to reach Juan Pablo.

Now the super comes by to say Cruz is on the phone.

Back at the Sandoval Pavilion, Fer begs her brother not to make things worse. If he goes to María’s bedside, the family will have two people to worry about instead of just one. Victoria and Leo chime in with their agreement. Max, whose beard seems to be growing along with his anguish, tells them he doesn’t want to cause them suffering. But this is something he has to do.

Then he takes Leo, Vic and Os aside and asks them to look after his children in case anything happens ...

I’m her mother! Let me be with María, begs Vic tearfully. Max pleads with her not to deny him the chance to be with the woman he loves. Now Leo advocates for him. Let him follow the dictates of his love, she says. Victoria and Leonela look to Osvaldo and he nods his approval.

Chente, Juanjo and Napo come back to the apartment after their phone call from the hospital and share the glum news: María isn’t pregnant. She is sick with the virus that killed Alonso. They’re keeping her in isolation but Max wants to be with her.

They also report that Napo was finally able to tell PJP that his mother took the baby. What did the Padre say? Nothing. He was strangely silent for the longest time. Then he said he’d go to his mother’s place right away. He’ll most likely take care of the problem, don’t you think?

Victoria won’t stand in Max’s way. He is the one who deserves to be with María. Max thanks her and asks for a moment with Osvaldo.

Max slips Osvaldo the cell phone with the video testimony proving Bernie was behind little Juan Pablo’s kidnapping and asks him to get it to the authorities as soon as possible. He’s afraid the woman who testified might get cold feet and run away. Os understands the urgency and he’ll see that the video gets in the right hands. He wants Bernarda to get the punishment she deserves. Victoria is watching father and son. Does she hear their words?

Victoria gives Max her blessing and then CasiLoTodo takes him to suit up for the isolation room.

The mood in the vecindad is mournful. Mili is sure Bernie will take good care of the baby but Bernarda is such a fanatic, she’s afraid she wants him for “religious practices”...

Did somebody say fanatic?
Right on cue, there she stands before her giant crucifix, little JP in her arms. She is a vision in white wearing either a) a hooded bathrobe she stole from the Hilton; b) her KKK costume from last halloween or c) a monk’s habit. She offers up the baby to the priesthood and to God. Just like the lamb of God, he will save her soul. Little Juan Pablo spits up placidly and studies Bernie’s fingers and his own.

Cut to the isolation room where the white infection control suits are a visual echo of Bernie’s habit. Max suits up in bulky coveralls, hat, mask, and gloves and then joins María in the confines of her plastic tent. María, with her lovely dark hair spread out on the pillow, looks a bit like Snow White in her glass coffin. Well, if Snow White had a tube in her nose. Then her eyes open, she looks around and asks, in confusion: What happened? Where am I? Why are you dressed like that?

A doctor, not CasiLoTodo (And is it too much to hope that this guy is actually an infectious disease specialist? Well yeah, it probably is.) answers from outside the plastic tent: You most likely have Alonso’s virus and you need to be in isolation.

But my son...my son needs me, says María.

Don’t worry, says Max. Everything will be fine.

Max defies the doctors
He steps outside the plastic tent and under the doctor’s disapproving eye, he removes his mask and hood. He is sweating and his hair is matted down. His face is a mix of despair and resolve. He continues to strip off the protective clothing, stepping out of the coveralls and peeling off the gloves. Finally, now in shirt sleeves, he lifts the plastic barrier and steps back into the tent with María. He takes her in his arms and kisses her.

Sweet William Levy in a kayak. Ah. Those were the days.

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