Caray, Caray!

Mi Corazon:

Great recap, Jean! I thought Rodrigo's disguised visit to Diana's mom was silly too until it struck me that he may have illegally installed wire taps. I don't blame him if he did, considering the body pile up and the attempts on his own life. Good thing he didn't run into Diana instead of Andres on his way out! Diana would have torn the place apart looking for wire taps.

I'm very disappointed that Andres is still allowing Diana to live at his house as if to taunt Lola. Taunting her would only make sense if she had already dumped him for Angel (even if Angel was extorting her), but he openly cheated on her first for no "justifiable" reason. Moreover, Diana has TWO places to live safely now that dead Debora can't stalk her -- her apartment and her mom's. If she needs a third place, why not Sofia's mansion? It may be that Andres is now suspicious enough that he's keeping his frenemies even closer, so I'm hoping that he took Marcos over to meet Chabelita to pump family info out of him.

Regarding Mauricio, I think the police learned that he is a celebrity divorce lawyer, and he tellingly exploded when Rodrigo mentioned Angel's name. I hope Rodrigo will match Angel's prints in his file to the unidentified prints in Tiberio's mansion.

I wasn't expecting Angel to become so vicious since he had earlier renounced Tiberio's harsh punishments. Because Angel has such a "clean" corporate and high finance lawyer resume, it would be smarter and safer for him to swindle Lola through Bernie Madof ponzi methods instead of outmoded gangster threats, violence and slower dicey marriage property laws. It would also be great villainous irony for secret sex-trafficker Angel to get Lola to appoint him, the current kidnapper of her mother, to run her anti-trafficking foundation. This would be stealing a cover-up page from the pedophile priest-protecting Vatican's own "policing reforms". However, since his moll Diana is now going righteous on him, it was surprising fun watching him discipline her by rubbing her sanctimonious face in the misery of Vicky's grieving face. After all, it can possibly be proven that Diana shot Debora not in "defense" but as mob damage control. Diana deserves to age in jail where her hot body workouts will only attract lesbian thugs.
--Mary
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO – viernes
Part 1 of 2

The main events:

First, a surprising discovery about the mysterious book, La Casa de al Lado:

Q: How is it possible for a novel written in 1938 by the late Anderson Chuncler to describe events of the recent past and the present?

A: It’s not! Anderson Chuncler never existed – there is no record of his birth nor of his death. The man shown in his book jacket photo is an actor. And no book with the title of La Casa de al Lado was published in 1938, according to the records of the Library of Congress.

How do we know? Because Emilio has at least one OTHER talent: he is a skilled hacker who knows how to ferret out information.

One more chilling fact he uncovers: The public library is awaiting receipt of the sequel to La Casa. Its title: Condenados. (The Damned/The Doomed Ones.) And an odd thing about that book, the old librarian remarks to Emilio: he’s the second person in a short time to ask about it. The first? Why the librarian who preceded him, the one who left a couple of days ago.

Our trio of amateur sleuths guesses that Adolfo may be responsible. Clearly, someone very close to the family – even a family member (or someone from the house next door?) – is involved. The book must have be written expressly for THEM to read it.

For his part, Sebastián is sure Gonzo knows something. After all, they found a copy of the book in the sótano (cellar) of his house.

Meanwhile, Ignacia has caught Javier reading his own copy – he claims it was sent to him anonymously – and she has observed him pecking away on his laptop late into the night. He claims he’s writing his memoirs but he won’t let her see anything he has written; and he has a boxful of green leather-bound journals in which he claims he’s recorded the life and times of Javier Ruiz. To Ignacia, all this adds up to one thing: Javier is Anderson Chuncler!

Second: All about Rebeca
Gonzaki and Pilar have been incommunicado all day and all night as they haunt the hospital waiting room, anxious for news about Rebeca. Gonzo calls Javier and asks him to keep Andrea and Diego for the night but refuses to tell him why.

Pilar and Gonzaki doze off on the waiting room chairs. In a dream, Gonzaki dares to confess his guilt for all that has happened – he abducted Rebeca; he is Inaki Mora. He looks into Pilar’s horrified eyes ... and awakes with a start.

Then, taking advantage of the fact that Pilar is sleeping, he sidles along towards the Intensive Care area. Just before he manages to slip into the restricted area where Rebeca lies tethered to a ventilator, he gets a call from Adolfael, gloating over Gonzaki’s fears and threatening to get to everyone around him, one by one. Con Pilar no te metas snarls Gonzaki. (Don’t lay a finger on Pilar/Stay away from Pilar).
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO – viernes (continued)
Part 2 of 2

Perhaps Gonzo is there to make sure Rebeca never wakes up; but first he tells the unconscious woman how worried he was when she disappeared. Really. He feared for her life. She would have been better off staying with him. Who did this to her? Was it Ismael?

Whatever he has in mind will have to wait – one of the doctors discovers him there and shoos him out.

When Rebeca’s doctor finally appears with an update for the family, it is grim indeed. The patient is going to wake up and be conscious of her surroundings and her memory will be intact; but she will be completely paralyzed, unable to speak or communicate. Sebastián mutters: sindrome de enclaustramiento. (Locked-in Syndrome) (Never question telenovelamedicina, that’s my motto.)

Pilar is overwhelmed, too distraught to think straight. She leans on Gonzaki, her faith in him seemingly intact. But her faith in her sister is equally unshaken; Rebeca is no embezzler; and now it appears she never left Miami.

Gonzo takes charge and calls Javier and Renato with the news about Rebeca. No one has talked to Diego and Andrea yet.

The adults rush to the hospital. Javier strides in and blurts out his main worry – what about Rebeca’s pregnancy? Gonzo stuns him by his blunt admission: Rebeca wasn’t pregnant;todo fue una mentira. (it was all a lie.)
--------------------------------------------


Other stuff:

Sebastián tells Carola that Omar was obsessed with saving her because she reminded him of his beloved and beautiful sister who died of her addiction to drugs.
-------------------------------
Fake Inaki reconnoiters with Mabel and she pays him off for his services. He promises to stay out of sight. He tries to tell Mabel how bad he felt about tricking Renato but Mabel is in no mood to listen to his sentimentalism and she dismisses him brusquely. She hasn’t given up on Renato though.
------------------------
Even though both Andrea and Diego are scared to spend the night in the Conde house (she actually asks him if they can stay in the same room together), Diego tells Andrea he’d rather live in this house than move to the new one Gonzalo has bought for them. (Diego may be smarter than anyone gives him credit for.)
------------------------------
Adolfo, alone in his hideout, knocks a notebook and a copy of La Casa on the floor. When he picks up the book, a photo falls out: it shows Adolfo and an old man (the guy on the book jacket?); on the back is the inscription:
To Adolfo
Greeting (sic)
Anderson
--------------------------------
Nibaldo is over at the Ruiz house playing spy for Javier, pumping Karen for info on Pilar’s whereabouts, when a message from “Anderson” appears on Andrea’s computer. Snoopy Karen not only reads the message, she answers it, arranging a rendezvous for the following day. She’s claims she’s just acting in loco parentis. Well, in very loco parentis. (Shut up, she tells Nibaldo pleasantly, I’m doing this for my boss.)
----------------------------

Who says romance is dead?
Now that Emilio is a working man, he has something to offer Hilda. He pulls out a diamond ring (did she return it to him? I forget.) and asks her to marry him. Again.
 

LA CASA DE AL ALDO

NovelaMaven, your recaps are even better than show itself! :)

what do you guess about Anderson Chuncler's book? apparently someone has been fooling Ismael by it. but who? Javier? it means Javier knows all the truth about Adolfael & Gonzaki. too difficult to believe!
 

LA CASA -- viernes

Awww... thanks, Alex:)

Well Javier is certainly Machiavellian enough to have done it, but maybe a little obvious. Besides, Ignacia thinks it's Javier and Ignacia has never been right about anything.

This is probably way out there but if it wasn't Ismael or Iñaki, maybe we should be looking at some less obvious candidates -- say the servants. They hear everything. They see everything. Yet they are largely ignored, almost invisible to their arrogant employers.

Wouldn't it be cool if it turned out to be Nibaldo -- or better yet, Yolanda?

And then there's the inscrutable Mabel -- she may love Renato but she has good reason to despise Eva.

Could Igor have been involved?

Or Karen? Nah!
 

MI CORAZON INSISTE - VIÉRNES

Thanks for the great snarky recap, Jean, and for getting this week's ball rolling.

Indeed, the nearly always disappointing endgame of telenovelas is well underway. It's as if the good writers have a finite number of capítulos they've agreed to write. If the novela does well enough, they bring in the hacks to keep it going an extra month (or two!).

I can't see how Andrés could expect Ángel not to be in Chabelita's life if Lola married him.

I assume Ángel brought Diana there to torture her with having to confront Vicki, the mother of the woman she killed. He certainly can't plan for Vicki and Soledad to ever be free to include Diana in any criminal charges. He's certainly behaving like a mad dog with jealousy she's fallen for Andrés.

I read that the woman playing Sofía was Miss Florida, or some such, and that she and Jencarlos have been friends a long time. She appeared in one of his music videos. I am guessing he may have something to do with her getting the job playing his aunt in the TN.
 

FLOR SALVAJE - VIÉRNES

Amanda's reaction is very predictable after Sacto tells her Ana is living with Rafael Urrieta. She’s beside herself with worry. He also tells her Mariano is staying there. Her response: ¡Ana esta viviendo en un nido de serpientes!. Sacto threatens to tie her up if she tries to go to the hacienda.

Correcaminos invites Dudi and Gabriel to dinner. The boy thinks her food will make him sick!

Tío Francisco finalizes the purchase of the hotel in Nueva Esperanza and later on in the capítulo tells Filomina (Enrique's mother) that he's planning to set it up so the printing of the newspaper La Verdad will be done there.

Now that Sacto is an heir of an important person, Cat is convinced that she'll end up with him someday. The "other woman" in a telenovela never gives up hope.

Mariano rubs it in about Sacto's inheritance to Rafa. Rafa responds: a veces los malnacidos tienen un poco de suerte, thus falling right into Mariano's trap, who responds: Tienes razón. Si tú no incontraste con Catalina, a pez gordo, hubieras sido un muerto de hambre. This reminder of Rafa's fortune hunter past drives him nuts, and he hits Mariano and is hit in return.

It's truly sickening watching Ana suck up to Rafa, putting something on his cut lip. She keeps telling him she's a better bet than her sister. Plus, now that Sacto is going to be a hacendado, Amanda will love him even more (she would!).

CC and Dudi tell Gabriel over dinner that she's given up her oficio de antes and is only going to dance and sing at the 4P Bar.

Zahra insists that she and the P's must go to Raimundo's house for his velorio because of how good José María has been to them all. At said velorio Frigida becomes hysterical when José María tells her he wants Sacto to have his share. When she keeps saying "over my dead body", I'm thinking: if only!

José María goes outside and is hugged by each of the P's. He goes back for a second hug to Rocío. Meanwhile inside the house Frigida tells another woman that she almost lost her husband to one of those awful woman. Of course, this is at the bottom of her rotten behavior. In my opinion, Raimundo only felt duty toward her and really loved Penélope.

I still can't figure out Ines. She was looking on sort of shell-shocked while JM was hugging each prostitute in turn. But she never seems really to do anything mean or sneaky. And later, when JM is crying, blaming himself for not having saved his father, Ines tells him that what caused his heart attack was what Frigida said to him! Unfortunately we didn’t get to see how he reacts.

Tío Francisco goes to the 4P Bar and requests time with Zahra. When they get to her room, she is very cold toward him and says he's only another customer to her. When he protests, she tells him she knows what he really thinks of women like herself - he showed it by breaking up Alicia and Enrique.

Filomina has advised Diana to have sex with Enrique to seal the deal. When he arrives home, Filo is gone for the night and Diana is in his bed in her undies. She tells him it's OK with her if he paints for a living and asks him to paint her. She pulls him onto the bed and it looks like her plan will work.

Meanwhile, we see a desperate, addicted Alicia go to the street where the street hookers hang out. She goes off with a “client”.

Gabriel watches his mother dance and sing from the wings and also sees how much applause she gets. He smiles. Looks like the healing has begun for these two.

We see a snake crawling into Cat's bed.

Sacto awakes to find Amanda gone. We see her walking through, I think, Nueva Esperanza, hair braided back and walking in flat sandals. Uh oh.
 

LA CASA - VIÉRNES

That was a first-rate recap, NovelaMaven.

They've slightly piqued my interest about who may be the author of the book.

Of course Hilda is going to find out how Emilio has this sudden influx of cash, so I don't see how things will work out for these two.

The actress playing Rebeca must have groaned when she read the script. Or maybe they kept it from her until she was in too deep! Like Mathilde in Alguien te Mira, it appears that our Rebeca is going to be only able to move her eyes. And Gonzaki is going to show up in her hospital room to threaten her. Sigh. If I were her, I'd fire my agent!
 

MI CORAZON INSISTE:

Thanks for the recap, Jean! I do think Andres is purposely being nice to Diana, to get her to slip up and let out some secrets. He doesn't trust her at all anymore, and is trying his own brand of detective work.

Mary, I also thought Rodrigo may have installed wiretaps. He was dressed up as a telephone or electric company guy, after all.

As for Diana going to Harvard, maybe her resume with Exportex wasn't accurate, and no one checked. She could have told the truth on all her schooling except Harvard (maybe she put Yale). I do expect the cops to find some connection between Mauricio, Angel and Diana (okay I admit it, that's what it looked like in the previews).

I think Angel is trying to make Diana realize how deeply she's involved, so she can't just go to the cops.

The actress playing Sofia was also in Alguien te Mira, playing a crazed young massage therapist who worked for the doctors in the show, and had a crush on the very conservative, very married lawyer for the doctors who also worked there (a very different role from this one). Her name is Cynthia Olivarria, and she was Miss Puerto Rico, and competed in Miss Universe in 2005.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

Great recap, NovelaMaven, super funny! I especially liked "in loco parentis"!

They sure fooled us all with Gonzalo's admission of being Inaki just being a daydream. I guess one day he'll admit it, at least to Pilar, but that day may be far off.

Who wrote La Casa de al Lado is a total mystery. I doubt Javier did it, since I agree that Ignacia is an idiot and is almost always wrong. I think Adolfo wrote it, took the picture with the actor, signed the note to himself (he is a bit nuts, you know). But it could be lots of people.

I also think it's ridiculous that Rebeca can't talk, just as in Alguien. It was bad enough she had to go barefoot and wear the same dress for 10 episodes, but now this! She does have expressive eyes, though :)

Too bad all the various doctors that keep finding Gonzalo inappropriately with a patient in intensive care can't get together and share notes.

As terrible as Adolfo is, it's a good thing he's on the loose, since he can really put the pressure on Gonzalo. And he did "save" Rebeca. BTW, Gonzalo told Renato that Rebeca's condition was irreversible. But do we believe this? Of course not.
 

LA CASA - VIÉRNES

Hombre, Gonzaki also told Pilar that Rebeca would never be able to speak or walk again. That was particularly cruel, and his adored one jumped all over his case. Methinks he's trying to convince himself.
 

LA CASA

Novelamaven, great job! So I really enjoyed watching this one, quite a different feel to it than Flor, more like Alguien. I thought the same thing when I saw Rebecca in the hospital, just like Alguien, here we go again.

FLOR SALVAJE

Novelera, great job by you too! When Jose Maria stepped out to see the girls, I was watching Rocio as she was hiding and not showing her face while the others were going up one at a time. Poor thing! Then when she finally went up to console JM you could see the timidness in her step and in her face. JM trying to give her a message I think like sometimes life isn't fair, meanwhile Ines paying close attention.

I think in the end Rocio will end up with JM.

Alicia is falling faster and faster into the world of addiction.

Funny how Olga's hands healed up so fast?? Didn't they say that she suffered 3rd degree burns?

Cat is dreaming, no way Sacramento ever goes back to that after what's happened recently with Amanda.

Too bad they don't show more of Louisa, so pretty.

The scenes with Ana and Rafa are tired.

I still like the scenes with Mariano, this guy is one amazing actor. I think he's really got feelings for Cat, but Lord help her if she succumbs, this dude is seriously off as we've already seen.
 

LA CASA

Gonzaki didn't want to kill Rebeca. it was a misleading scene to make the audience worry, I think.
 

LA CASA -- viernes

Novelera,

The actress playing Rebeca must have groaned when she read the script. Or maybe they kept it from her until she was in too deep! Like Mathilde in Alguien te Mira, it appears that our Rebeca is going to be only able to move her eyes. And Gonzaki is going to show up in her hospital room to threaten her. Sigh. If I were her, I'd fire my agent!

Jajaja! Well when Maritza Rodríguez (Pilar) was on Cristina's new show, she said the actors are only fed a few pages of the script at a time. So neither the actress nor her agent could have known in advance what would happen to the character of Rebeca.

Still, as several people have pointed out, the story lines for Rebeca in La Casa and Matilde in Alguien are so similar (and remember both had their true loves murdered by the psychpath as well) that it's hard not to see it as deliberate, a kind of writer's joke, a way of goofing on (or with) the audience, sort of like Alfred Hitchcock always making an appearance somewhere in his movies.

Anyway, as Hombre says, the actress does have expressive eyes:)

And yes, Hombre, they sure faked us out with the "It was just a dream" shtick. Gonzo isn't ready to come out quite yet.

Rand, I'm glad you decided to give it try. It'll be fun getting your reactions to this nutty show.

Alex,
Gonzaki didn't want to kill Rebeca. it was a misleading scene to make the audience worry, I think

Maybe so. As long as Rebeca can't speak (or sign or blink, etc.), she's no threat to Gonzaki and he'd rather not have her ghost haunting him. He has enough voices in his head already.
 

FLOR SALVAJE - VIÉRNES

Thanks for chiming in, Rand! Yes, I agree, the scenes with Ana and Rafa are becoming tired and repetitive. The silly fool has chosen a cruel, obsessive man instead of her family. Her reasons are partly from envy of her sister. (She wants to replace Amanda in Rafa's affections.) And partly from greed. (She wants to be kept in luxury.) And she seems unable to read all the signs that we can see: Rafa doesn't give a rat's patootie about her. As Zahra and Sacto keep saying: Es solamente un anzuelo. She's only bait to get Amanda back.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO – lunes

Our Sleeping Beauty, Rebeca, seems determined to defy Gonzaki’s bleak exposition of her prognosis. First she opens those magnificent blue eyes in Pilar’s presence. And then when Javier – the same Javier who has been railing about how Rebeca deserves her fate for daring to fool him, for making him believe she was expecting his child just to keep him from filing attempted murder charges against Gonzo – when Javier slips into her room and weeps and tells her how very sorry he is that this is happening to her, SHE MOVES A FINGER!

Karen, pretty in pink, and Nibaldo – pressed into reluctant service – arrive for the rendezvous with “Anderson”, on behalf of “la niña pálida”. Adolfo lurks, then lunges toward them with a scary knife left over from the “Alguien” set. But he misses and the two idiots escape.

Pilar is sure Adolfo abducted Rebeca and is responsible for her current state. (Well, she’s half right.) She is filled with rage and a thirst for vengeance -- Adolfo is going to pay. Karen ... um ... just HAPPENS to know where Adolfo is hiding. She’ll tell Pilar as long as she doesn’t have to explain HOW she knows. Trato hecho.

Pilar continues to believe in Gonzaki despite his ever more bizarre behavior. (She notices when he’s nutso. And sometimes she seems really creeped out and scared. Yet listen to her! Gonzalo loves them, she tells her children. He is a good man who lives to make them happy.)

Emilio is trying to convince an understandably sceptical Hilda to accept his pricey engagement ring and agree to take another chance at marriage. But when she steps away for a moment to take care of something in Sebastián’s office, he gets an Orlando summons on his phone. When she returns to her desk, he is gone. (Say what you will, Emilio is all about customer service.)

The amateur sleuths meet at Sebastián’s place and Emilio tells them what he’s learned about the book, La casa de al lado. But more importantly, he tells them about the new Anderson Chuncler book the library is expecting: Condenados. CONDE-nados. Says Carola: The author is writing the life – and death – of the Condes. The doomed ones.

Carola stomps into Gonzaki’s office and throws “La casa” on his desk. It’s no use denying knowledge of the book – they found this copy in the basement of his new house.

Javier sits at Renato’s old desk and works on his laptop; he seems to be consulting the green journals. He summons Nibaldo and orders him to fetch Diego – he wants the boy in the house, whether Diego wants to come or not.

Ignacia doesn’t feel so good. Sleep only makes it worse -- she has her usual nightmare about being murdered, only this time the one pulling the trigger is Rebeca. But before she does so, Rebeca tells her she’s pregnant.

The following day, Ig takes a pregnancy test. Javier walks in just in time to hear the results: They’re going to be parents! She’s pregnant! Javier’s eyes widen in something like consternation.

Renato misses his house. He goes over to the old place and stands outside and stares at it with misery and longing. Mabel suddenly materializes and joins him. She wants to help him get his house back, she says. Renato isn’t convinced. But she loves him! Then suddenly Mabel notices Renato’s attention has been caught by something behind her; she turns and finds herself facing Eva. What’s going on here? demands Eva.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO – lunes

tnx NovelaMaven. a great recap again.
this episode was almost a break; the only move was Ignacia's pregnancy.
I really disliked Karen-Nibaldo-Adolfo scene. what was it for? totally aimless!

I'd like to see some progress in the Anderson Chuncler mystery. I think Hombre must be right; who could have written it but Adolfael??
 

Mi Corazon:

Bummer! -- my local Telemundo stopped broadcasting from about 8:30 to 8:45 PM, so I'm confused about what happened when the picture returned.
--Mary
 

MI CORAZÓN INSISTE - lunes

There was something wrong with the sound levels in the hideout that, combined with the suspenseful music, made it very hard to hear the dialog in that part of the show.

Vicky goes batsh*t after Ángel tells her that Diana was the one who killed her daughter. Finally, Felix drags her into their prison where he is kind of nice to her, advising her to keep a low profile. He even says that he will bring her some hot chocolate to calm her nerves.

Ángel then taunts Soledad with Diana's conquest of Andres and his upcoming marriage with Lola.

Andres and Lola discuss Andres bringing Marcos to her house. She is unhappy about it. Andres asks what possible harm there could be from bringing a lonely kid to see a baby.

When the goons have taken Soledad back to her cell, Ángel tells Diana that he brought her to the hideout to enforce discipline and to focus her on the plan. He reminds her that if he goes down, she goes down with him. Diana replies that she has already proved her loyalty. Ángel reminds her that it was she who warned him not to trust a woman in love and that she has admitted that she is in love with Andres. What should he think?

Andres tells Lola that he and Adelita are going to take Chabelita, Diana and Marcos to the parachute jumping place. [I thought Lola didn't want the baby to leave her house?]

Ángel comes into this conversation and then Marcosito comes downstairs. At this moment, Lola gets the second call from Felix. Felix tells her that what happened to Camilo was a warning and that Ángel has been sticking his nose where he shouldn't and if he doesn't stop, he will be the next victim. Soledad is heard trying to speak through a gag.

When Soledad is returned to the cell, she tells Vicky that her daughter is in danger because of her and says that she would be better off dead. Vicky replies that they are strong women. She has learned to be strong from Soledad. If things work out, they may soon have an ally.

Andres takes Marcos back to his house where Diana is waiting. Out of the mouth of babes, Marcos tells Andres that Ángel yelled at his mother outside his school. Once again, Diana is forced to come up with a lie. She says that Ángel was once again forcing his attentions on her.

Rodrigo is not convinced that the threat against Ángel is real and this suspicion is fortified when Andres tells him about Ángel's confrontation with Diana at Marcos' school.

With Ángel present, Lola arranges for Adela to go with Chabelita to see Andres do a parachute jump with Diana and Marcos. She is trying to have a civilized relationship with Andres.

Rodrigo shows Diana a picture of Felix and asks if she knows him. She denies it and then he reminds her that she saw Felix when he scooped up Débora when she was shooting at Diana in the parking garage. Diana claims, with justification, that under those circumstances, she could not be expected to remember Felix's face.

Ángel orders Felix to act quickly and kill Andres cleanly and with no loose ends.

DIana confirms to Rodrigo that she never met Ángel before she started working at Exportex. Then Diana calls Ángel and leaves a message warning him that the police think that she and he are working together. "Tell me something I don't already know," says Ángel to the answering machine.

Lola has one of her prophetic dreams that Andres will die the next day.

Mora shows Rodrigo the information he got from Harvard that proves that Diana knew Ángel when they were students together.

The next day everyone goes to the airfield. Diana sees Felix there. He tells her that he is there to kill Andres.
 

MI CORAZON:

Jean, thanks again for another great recap. Although I didn't see the whole show, I'm getting a very bad feeling about Diana's staying alive. It just seems that the police could really put a lot of things together now, unless she were out of the picture. Since she loves Andres, and Felix wants to kill Andres, she might do something rash to prevent it.

I would love to see Vicki and Soledad somehow outwit their captors, and maybe make them suffer!

This show is weird in that there has been a revolving cast of bad guys, not one from the start. Remember when Marcos and Ramon were the bad guys? Debora? Tiberio (who wasn't even in the show at the start)? All dead. So now we have Angel, Diana and Felix, none of whom were in it back then. Weird.
 

MI CORAZON:

I meant Marcelo, not Marcos!
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

Thanks for the recap, NovelaMaven, funny as usual and able to capture lots of dialog and events in just a few paragraphs, as I try to do.

I was actually impressed that Nibaldo was able to physically match up with the younger Adolfo. Karen called him "my hero".

Doesn't Pilar notice when Gonzalo isn't happy that Rebeca woke up? Sebastian stepped in to go with her to see the doctor. This of course allowed Gonzo to go taunt Rebeca. It's always funny in these shows when someone is in a coma or paralyzed, how various characters come in with monologues. Yesterday we had Gonzalo and Javier. Eventually we may see each character's thoughts as they talk to Rebeca.

Diego really has it bad with father figures, in that he's afraid of Javier, and doesn't really like Gonzalo. At least Ricardo Merino isn't around. Yes, eventually we hope Sebastian will fill the void, but that's a long way away (if ever).

Carola is really something how she actually knows just about the whole truth. But almost no one believes her, and she never seems to get the proof. Her latest accusation about Gonzalo and the book probably won't work, either. Despite her past destructive behavior, I feel sorry for her, and hope SOMEDAY she'll get some justice.
 

LA CASA -- lunes

I'd like to see some progress in the Anderson Chuncler mystery. I think Hombre must be right; who could have written it but Adolfael??

Alex, did you notice the scene where Carola wants to take advantage of Javier's absence from the Conde house to check out what he's been working on -- and Ignacia persuades her not to do it? Not very like Carola to give in, is it? But a way to keep the viewers guessing...

It's always funny in these shows when someone is in a coma or paralyzed, how various characters come in with monologues.

Hombre, it IS one of the more obvious novela conventions, isn't it? I bet the actors like it though -- it gives them a chance to strut their stuff.

As for the actors muted by coma, death or duct tape, they're usually plenty active in other characters' dreams and hallucinations. (In Alguien, the writers gave policewoman Eva her best material when she was a ghost -- or I thought so anyway.)
 

Mi Corazon

Jean, Great recap, I keep closing my eyes on this one and missing some moments.

Hombre - TV y Novelas said the same thing about this TN, how quickly they keep changing the bad guys...they also said they hope by no means this TN is extended, it should end when it's supposed to end.

I can't comprehend how Diana and Anhell would think they could hide that they went to school together? For any job for any reason people can check that, why did they think they could get away with it here? Why didn't the cops pick up on that a LONG time ago?

I missed how she spotted Felix, if she did why didn't anyone else. If Felix is truly there for a hit on Andres why was he out in full view?

I too have wished that Soledad and Vicki turn the tables on their captors. That would be a hoot!!!

Anhell and Diana remind me of the ending of the characters in the movie Duel in the Sun (with Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones), I wonder if that's what's going to happen here. (Sorry didn't want to write a spoiler here in case someone wants to see the movie.)
 

MI CORAZÓN INSISTE

Thanks for the great recap, Jean!

I'm more than ready for the end of this one.

Who do they think they're kidding having Ángel tell Félix to kill Andrés? Actually it might be interesting if they DID kill him off. Are they planning the "mess with the parachute" thing again, as happened with poor, vain Apolo?

Vicki and Soledad DO have each other, and that's a good thing. They seem to alternate in falling apart at the seams, while the other one bucks them up.

I also think Diana is doomed.

I miss Tiberio. This is two novelas in a row where I haven't liked the actor who plays Ángel. He was crap in Herederos, and I'm sick to death of his toothy grin in this one. I think his death should be prolonged and painful!
 

FLOR SALVAJE - LUNES

Mariano rushed in to get the snake out of Cat's bed. They kept saying snakes, but I only saw the one.

Amanda walking around in Nueva Esperanza was kind of a fake-out, as Zahra was right there to intercept her. She talked sense to her, saying that she'd BEEN to see Ana and she didn't want to leave Rafa. Ana's behavior is awful, and she has a big comeuppance coming her way. She goads Cat, saying she'll be the dueña of the hacienda some day! She's totally mean to Luisa all the time. If she had a brain in her head, she'd be trying to get some allies to bolster her position there.

Zahra goes with Amanda to see Tío Francisco and is asked to leave the hotel patio by a little twerp, who's been a regular at the 4P's. What Zahra wants is help getting Amanda back to Timotes without being seen. Tío comes out and chews out the twerp. He agrees to help. Later he calls a meeting of all employees telling them how to treat ALL customers.

Diana's seduction plan has worked to the extent of getting Enrique to have sex with her. But the next day he looks completely bored. As he leaves, obviously not planning to marry her, he tells her te falta malicia.

Rafael goes to Amanda's (and Zahra's) former house, weeping at the loss of the woman he loved. Zahra comes in and says she never thought he was capable of love, but he does love Amanda. We get to see a little of his soul in this scene. He says that in his ambition he lost himself. Also he says that Cat's father was very cruel to him, saying he was nothing.

Rafael later shows up at Rocío's house and says he's backing her candidacy. He gives her a wad of money to use for flyers, etc. And he also says he'll be at the next debate to air some of Mariano Guerrero's dirty linen.

I'm finding the scenes with Alicia very hard to take. The make-up people have done a good job making her look really bad. She again hooks up with Abelardo in the street and he shares a bottle with her. He then takes her back to the restaurant and proceeds to jump her bones on one of the tables. Amanda walks in on this. At first Alicia, not seeing who's come in, thinks the guy has brought her to where his wife is. Then she sees Amanda. It would be wonderful if Amanda can help her.
 

De nada, amigos.
MI CORAZON: Indeed, what is Felix doing wandering around in full view at the airfield when his picture was all oner the news and the police were looking for him? He's not even dressed as a flight mechanic or anything. He ran into Diana when she was coming out of the bathroom, I believe.

So Lola has a premonition that Andres is going to die the next day and her dream involves him falling without a parachute and she just lets Andres et al head off for the airport the next morning without at least a warning that he could ignore? It wouldn't have been hard. She lives right across the street.

When things like the revolving villains happen, I always wonder if the writers planned it in advance or, as I suspect, they ran out of plot and are improvising.
 

Mi Corazon:
I agree with everyone here about the plot holes. Andres hasn't been curious enough about Diana's background, why Marcos has no dad, why she'd pretend her son was her brother, and why didn't he warn Lola that her "nice guy" fiance has also been hitting on her arch rival Diana? Lola dumped Andres over his infidelity with Diana, and now she's about to double her other woman misery with Angel. Andres was glad when Daniel and others told him about Debora's affair with Marcelo. Of course, Lola didn't warn Andres about her skydiving nightmare, so they're even in the oversight department.
--Mary
 

MI CORAZÓN: martes
Mary mentioned plot holes - well, tonight we got plot chasms. It was like they skipped an episode. Plus, at least half the episode was flashbacks. We saw the flashback of Diana killing Débora and Ángel killing Tiberio twice!!!

We started off where Monday's episode ended. Felix calls Ángel to asks him what to do with Diana. Diana pretends that she is ok with killing Andres. Ángel tells Felix to keep her close to him. Felix then tells Diana to keep an eye out while he sabotages Andres' parachute.

I guess Lola oversleeps after her premonitory dream because she misses Andres leaving his house for the parachuting club so she has to go there to warn him. She, Daniel and Adelita discuss how to warn Andres whom they know won't believe her. She calls Rodrigo for advice. They decide to go to where the parachutes are stored.

Cut to Mora telling Rodrigo that the boss has given permission and the helicopter is ready. A helicopter for what? We don't know.

Cut to Felix telling Andres how the plan to kill Andres failed because the sabotaged parachute was discovered and, moreover, Adelita saw and recognized Felix. Did we see any of this happen? We did not.

Felix has a showdown with Ángel telling him that he is with him to the end and will never betray him but they have to focus on the goal, which is to get Tiberio's money and get out of town because the police are closing in.

Then Adelita tells Lola and Daniel that she thinks Diana is pregnant because she was barfing at the parachute club. Did we see DIana barfing at the parachute club? We did not. We don't know if she was pretending to be sick so as to be with Felix or if she really was sick.

Cut to Felix having sex with VIcky. We had a one-scene foundation for that development. Afterwards, Vicky is disgusted that she had sex with the man who killed her husband. (Actually, Ángel fired the gun that killed Ramon, as we see in the obligatory flashback, but Felix was there so he would be guilty of the murder as an accessory.) Soledad tells her that she is doing it to help them survive. They decide once again that they have to escape or get a message out to Lola about Ángel and Diana but they don't have a plan.

Lola and Andres have their same old conversation.

Andres goes to see Camilo who is home and seemingly almost completely recovered even though the accident happened like the day before.

Etelvina is jealous of Pepe's pleasant memories of Chabela. (More flashbacks.)

Diana want to flee but she tells her mother and herself (with flashbacks) that she can't because she needs some money for Marcos to go to a good school.

Finally, Rodrigo shows Andres the evidence that Ángel and Diana knew each other at Harvard. Andres (aided by flashbacks) figures out that Diana and Ángel must be working together and that it was not by chance that DIana ended up at Exportex. He also figures out that Ángel is interested in Lola because of Tiberio's inheritance. Unfortunately, Rodrigo hasn't discovered evidence of any crimes committed by Diana or Ángel so there's nothing he can do.

That was about it. Very weird.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO – martes

This round goes to Gonzaki:
Gonzo deftly wards off Carola’s accusation about having THE BOOK in his basement with a threat to have her arrested for breaking into his house. And with her criminal record...

Pilar’s Pursuit of Adolfo:
Our girl knows the psychopathic serial killer’s exact whereabouts. Does she call the cops? Oh really. If you answered yes, you haven’t been watching this show very long. She calls Gonzo – perhaps she knows instinctively that it takes a killer to catch a killer -- but he’s busy fending off Carola’s attack. So she goes to number two on her list, Sebastián.

She in her six-inch stilettos, he dragging his vast misgivings, the duo enter the creepy warehouse where Adolfo lurks. They don’t catch the man but Sebastián captures a trophy – Adolfo’s very own copy of THE BOOK and the snapshot of him with the fake author.

Wussiest line of the evening: That doesn’t speak well of you, Pilar!
So Sebastián admonishes the lady when she confesses she wanted to smash Adolfo over the head with a lead pipe for what he did to her sister.

The Big Tease:
Adolfo fakes his death. Again. And this time, the decoy dead guy is a hapless security guard who takes a header off the hospital roof while Adolfo plays possum and then makes his escape.

What’s interesting about this: Gonzaki may or may not believe that Ismael is dead but Ignacia – of all people – insists on looking at the body. After all, she’s been faked out before. So Ignacia KNOWS the dead guy isn’t Ismael.

Also, she makes a mysterious call after leaving – what, the morgue? – and she tells the person on the other end: Do what I tell you.

What was Adolfo doing on the hospital roof, you ask? Well, he was running away from Gonzaki who had discovered little bro about to suffocate long-suffering Rebeca. [Okay. Seriously, writers. Have any of you ever been in an Intensive Care Unit? Do you have any idea how many people are around at every moment? Patients are observed and vital functions are measured ALL THE TIME. At least put your looneytunes killers in scrubs or a lab coat. Sheesh.]

Finally a bun in the oven – and NOW he tells her he’s allergic to gluten!
Nibaldo overhears Ignacia and Javier arguing about her pregnancy and he runs across the way to tell Karen. Andrea, of course, is in the shadows listening. And she is NOT happy about the news.

When Nibaldo tries to obey the boss’s orders and fetch Diego, Andrea won’t let him near her brother, shooing Nib and Spanglish Girl away with surprising force. In the end, it hardly matters. Javi is so drunk and miserable about Ignacia’s embarazoso embarazo, he has forgotten all about Diego.

Emilio’s romantic evening out with Hilda is ruined by an unexpected encounter with the Silver Boys madam in the restaurant.

Carola sneaks into Javier’s study and steals one of his journals. He actually catches her in the act but she dispatches him neatly with a punch in the gut.

Later, Sebastián is fascinated by the obsessive detail in the journal entries. He and Carola agree that someone could have written THE BOOK from their contents.

Gonzaki has been busy notifying everyone of undead Adolfo’s death. He calls Pilar with the good news and then goes to the Conde apartment to deliver the glad tidings in person. Everyone is surprised when Mabel arrives; but Ignacia admits she called her – she certainly has a right to know. Aha, says the viewer. THAT’S who sneaky Ignacia was calling from the morgue... Ignacia and Mabel and Ismael. Hmm.
 

Mi Corazon
Jean, thanks very much for filling in the gaps. Did I see most of the episode? I did not. I kept falling asleep--woke up to see Vicky in bed with Felix (!!!) --and promptly fell back to sleep. Still trying to figure out if Andres is really smitten by Diana or if he is playing along to get information.
J in Oregon
 

FLOR SALVAJE

The girl who plays Alicia is doing an amazing job at acting the junkie...all the subtle movements, the eyes, the shaking. I think the guy who plays Amanda's father plays a pretty good drunk too.

Why doesn't Sacramento get some shirts off of the mens rack, looks like he's been shopping in the kids section always wearing a smedium. Come on now, dude is fit but the gear is tacky.


LA CASA

Novelamaven, awesome job!

I feel like I'm in the nuthouse with this one, lol. This show has crazy at every turn.

Karen seems to get the goofy role in all of her novelas, eh? Must be typecast. The only question I have is if she's gonna throw that much Spanglish out constantly, wouldn't she need some reciprocation?? I haven't seen anyone respond to her in anything similar, not sure if they understand her because she always comes next with the translation...ahhhh that's right, for the viewer ;)

Emilio: Try getting your pants on the outside of your boots bra..haha. Well dressed for an evening out and he's got his pants riding the top of his unlaced boots.
 

Mi Corazon:
Jean, you're right about the plot chasms -- they're Grand Canyon size. We should have been shown the tampered parachute being found by whomever (police in the chopper sent by Rodrigo, Lola or Andres himself?) and Adelita glimpsing Felix. We should have seen Andres' face when he realized he could have ended up splattering like Apolo. But I don't think we saw Andres again at the air park after he left his posse to suit up. I kept wondering where he was and I was aghast that Lola allowed INFANT Chabelita to go along. Infants watch skydiving? Moreover, the standby baby kidnapping could have occurred. Diana may have mentioned that she was feeling ill at the end of Monday's episode. And why did Lola waste time driving to the park if she overslept? -- why didn't she just call everyone? Since her nightmare woke her up in the night, she should have called Andres and Rodrigo right then! Rodrigo could have at least accompanied everyone there as a spectator and he might have glimpsed Felix too.

J, if you had stayed awake, you'd be more confused!

Among all the flashbacks, I think the police figured out that Angel and Felix murdered Ramon and Lopez. Rodrigo and Andres tallied and compared all the weird coincidences involving Angel and Diana and their too convenient shootings of Tiberio and Debora. Why hasn't Felix instructed Lola to transfer her inheritance to a Swiss account in order to free Soledad? Angel, Felix and Diana should be planning their new identities and escape to countries with no extradition.

Vicky's behavior with Felix is very confusing since she knew Debora blamed Angel and Felix for Ramon's death and they threatened Vicky also. Felix often looks very sympathetic to Vicky's plight, so I thought maybe he was falling for her with his offer of chocolate. But I think he then cruelly claimed to have killed Ramon AFTER they had sex to humiliate and discipline her as Angel did with Diana.
--Mary
 

Corazon

Thank you Jean, I too thought they had skipped an episode, I did not get what they showed. Important scenes were not shown, too many flashbacks, but at least we saw Tiberio again. What a mistake they made killing him off and substituting the poor character of Anhell. His smirk is definitely getting to me. But I would like to see him without that vest, as if the vest is holding him up.

I think I noticed for the first time in the introduction that Lola was fully clothed, long blouse and pants walking with Andres!! I thought I had escaped to an alternate world.

More Vicki and Soledad, please.
 

Mi Corazon:

P.S. Jean, perhaps the "missing" scenes are due to local Telemundo stations running more commercials??
--Mary
 

LA CASA DE AL ALDO

Novelamaven, awesome job indeed! tnx

I'm not sure if Ignacia was talking to Mabel. she talked as if they had had some specific discussions before. it could be a red herring though.

and still no new clues about Anderson Chuncler :(
 

Mi Corazon:
Nellie, you're right. A more tantalizing love/hate triangle/quadrangle would be Tiberio vs. Angel over Diana and Soledad refusing to compete with Diana over Tiberio. Tiberio should meanwhile still be alive and healthy but mob plastic surgeon shopping in Latin America so he can escape arrest with a new identity. Debora could be with him, shopping for her own Lola-look alike/win Andres back makeover. Tiberio should have treated Diana to a free Harvard education in exchange for sex, not realizing she and fellow mob protege Angel would hit it off by hitting the sack and producing a secret love child they must then hide from him. Angel's logical rejection of Marcos should be his own fear that a DNA test would put him on Tiberio's hit list for disloyalty. Meanwhile, Angel and Diana promote themselves in the media as "rescuers" of trafficked women, but have to off a few rescued women who can identify them as traffickers. Lola rudely discovers her foundation is running dry because Angel and Diana siphoned funds to the Cayman Islands. How's that for an alternate resurrection of the sorely missed dead?
--Mary
 

LA CASA

I thought it was interesting last night when Adolfo was about to put the pillow to Rebecas face...he pondered how must it feel to know that you're going to die, yet not be able to feel it.
 

MI CORAZON INSISTE:

Thanks for the recap, Jean. ITA about the plot holes. Mary also made a very good point that Andres should tell Lola that "good guy" Angel has hit on Diana twice. And he should do this with Diana present. Either Diana or Angel would have to admit something. But this scene probably will never happen.

If Diana IS pregnant, it could also be Angel's, since they had their villain sex recently.

I think Vicki and Soledad spoke about now having an ally who could help them. I guess they mean Diana, but she's not an ally at this point.

Back at the start of the show, Lola always wore pants, usually boots, and often a bare midriff top. Now that she's a "rich girl", she had to switch to miniskirts and spike heels, as these are required for that job.

After Felix stared down Angel, almost daring him to kill him, they both agreed they had to do some final thing now, but we don't know what it is. It was implied that it involved killing Soledad and maybe Vicki.

Rodrigo told Mora that since they now know Angel and Diana must be accomplices, there are two possibilities, 1) they took over Tiberio's gang, or 2) they are both defrauding Exportex for money. There's no proof as to either, yet. Rodrigo also thinks that Diana and Angel have Soledad. Again there's no proof.

The trick will be for the cops to stay quiet (for once) and not tell too many people. Is that even possible?
 

MI CORAZON:

Mary, I love your ideas! Lots more fun that what they've been giving us.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

Hilarious recap, NovelaMaven! The show never fails to knock us for a loop, often producing more questions than answers.

I thought it was strange that Gonzaki barely looked at the guy under the car, assuming it was the security guard, and thought the guy on the ground was Ismael. He didn't want to look under the tarp to identify the body. I actually think he believes it is Ismael, but he really should have checked.

The idea that Ignacia is in with Adolfmael and Mabel seems far fetched, since she's such a space cadet, but with show, it makes perfect sense.

Emilio is just going to have to tell Hilda the truth. But of course he won't (for a while). Of course we knew their first date would involve him running into someone from his secret job.

Andrea told Ignacia she should marry Javier and take him and the baby away, now that Pilar and Gonzalo are starting their new life. She doesn't realize that Javier won't go for this, no way.

Pilar is an idiot.

The actress playing Karen did have a more humble role on Perro Amor, playing a hard-working, shy mother of the best friend of a character who started good, but turned into a villain. Her "son" is now Camilo on Mi Corazon. ITA how funny it is that no one ever answers her English in anything other than Spanish, although they always understand her.
 

LA CASA:

Sorry for the typos. I meant 1) I think Gonzalo does think Ismael is dead 2) as to Ignacia and her allies, with THIS show, it makes perfect sense.
 

LA CASA

Gracias, chicos!

I agree, the running joke of Karen and her Spanglish makes no sense -- even so, it's a hoot. IMHO, the funniest variation on this theme was several episodes back when Karen is greeted by an English-speaking store clerk. Karen, who obviously can't understand her, can only sputter in reply: Do you espeek espanish?
 

MI CORAZÓN INSISTE - MARTES

Jean, I agree 100% with all the points you made in your excellent recap. Make sense? It did not.

I think maybe Vicki and Solita may think that their ally is Félix. They've watched him getting humiliated over and over by Ángel through their peephole, and Vicki probably thinks her great sex has sealed the deal.

And, yes indeed, Andrés is very concerned about Lola marrying Ángel, not only jealousy but because he intuited he was a rat even before there was evidence. So why doesn't he tell her he SAW Ángel groping Diana and she told him he had done it a second time?
 

LA CASA - MARTES

Stellar recap, NovelaMaven! "Does she call the cops?...."

What, if anything, goes on in Javier's head? He convinced Ignacia not to leave him alone in the Conde mansion by promising her a baby. And immediately jumped her bones. I'm pretty sure I remember him thought bubbling that this time he'd have a real boy; i.e., one not with homosexual tendencies. When presented with the plus sign on the pregnancy test, he freaks out.

Hombre, you said it succinctly: "Pilar is an idiot." She oscillates between being a sniveling coward, clinging to whatever man is nearby (Gonzaki or Sebastián) and being a snarling, vengeful agent of retribution.

The scene in the restaurant with the owner of Silver Boys made absolutely no sense. The owner of a real escort service would, presumably, expect her employees to have relationships outside of work hours. And she would not approach the table of one of her employees, who is sitting there with an obvious non-cougar and smirk at him and virtually drive him out of there.

Mabel and Eva are in a dead heat for me as the two most annoying characters in the novela, with Pilar gaining on them. Mabel keeps stalking Renato and Eva behaves like a jealous high school girl, not listening to any of her husband's explanations.
 

FLOR SALVAJE - MARTES

Rand, I agree. Carolina Gaitán is doing a GREAT job in her role as Alicia.

In my mini-cap yesterday I forgot to mention that Gabriel brought Elena (Correcaminos) breakfast in bed! The kid is totally impressed that his mother is un artista

Amanda interrupts her father trying to mount Alicia on one of the restaurant tables. Alicia can barely stand up. Amanda wants to help her.

The same lawyer that was "representing" Cat is telling the Rojas family that the will cannot be read without Sacto present. Frigida freaks. I think I can just insert FF from now on to describe her reactions. The lawyer says the will was made out weeks ago. José María, apparently having been told exactly what Frigida said to Don Rai on his death bed, tells Manuela that their mother is not what she appears to be. All that praying just covers up a resentful and envious person. Frigida looks shocked.

Zahra tells Rafa that the difference between he and Sacto is that Sacto put Amanda ahead of himself. He tries to convince her that Ana is his bed partner. Zahra: Estoy segura que la justicia se hará cargo de castigarte donde más te duela. In other words, she's sure he's still got ED. She wonders about his supporting Rocío for mayor. He tells her what he wants is to bury Mariano, to take everything from him.

Tío Pancho hires Piruetas to find Alicia. I would not have paid that jerk in advance.

I felt a bit of hope when Amanda cared for Alicia, cleaning her up and feeding her soup. Sacto was a disappointment, making judgments and not wanting her near Beba and Susana. Amanda asked him what all that time with priests was about if he didn't have any charity in him.

The ghastly creep who started Alicia on heroin shows up at the restaurant looking for Abelardo. He thinks he's trying to horn in on his pimp territory. He gets impressed with the restaurant, thinking maybe Abe is not such a big loser after all. He wants him to sell drugs out of the restaurant, or maybe permit "Dr. Johnny" as he calls himself, to sell them himself. When Abelardo resists a bit, he tells him he'll kill him if he doesn't comply.

José María comes to talk with Cat since she knows where Sacto is. Rafa shows up before they can conclude their conversation. He tells JM with a sneer that surely they can't be thinking of giving the son of a prostitute the same privileges as a Rojas. [Rafael Urrieta is obsessed with class differences.]

Enrique's mother still thinks she can force the wedding between her son and Diana. He looks at her with contempt in the newspaper printing area and tells her that the only thing that matters is what people think. He then goes to NE looking for Alicia. CC tells him she's gone.

Cat asks Rafa if it's true that he will give her a divorce if she reveals Sacto's whereabouts. Ana is listening at the doorway, looking shocked.

Tío Pancho has prepared a special evening for Zahra, a beautiful dinner.

José María is impressed with Ines' work as a nurse and asks her if she'll come to work for him when she finishes her studies.

Alicia sneaks out of Amanda's house in the middle of the night and meets up with Dr. Johnny. I'm losing hope that she will be redeemed and united with Enrique.

Mariano rapes Ana at the hacienda. The guy is a real sexually perverse psycho. I wonder if Ana will tell Rafa.

Amanda, as always concerned about her sister, calls the hacienda and Rafa answers. He's thrilled by just the sound of her voice.
 

LA CASA

Gracias, novelera. And I continue to enjoy your marvelous Flor capettes even though I only watch an episode now and then.
 

Flor Salvaje- tuesday


Hi Novelera,

thanks for another wonderful summary!

a small point I just remembered,
didn't Mariano's guys finally track down where Sacramento and Amanda live,

as compared to Catalina, who only knows where he works.
 

MI CORAZON- I am sure that Vicky was referring to Felix when she told Soledad that they might have an ally. It just seemed ridiculous to go from the relatively mild affection that Felix was offering to them together in bed without anything in between.

If Diana said that she felt sick at the parachuting club, I missed it.

And I totally agree that it was crazy for Lola to let Adelita take Chabelita to the parachuting club. It doesn't make sense for Lola to go from super protective to letting the baby go out with her ex and his girlfriend to a place with such potential danger as a parachuting club.
 

FLOR SALVAJE:
Thanks for the great recap! I was thinking the same thing about Carolina Gaitán's performance as Alicia. I hope she can be saved. Henrique is so passive, though. He lets himself be manipulated by his mother, uncle and finacee.

I loved the scene where Gabriel brought Correcaminos breakfast. Very heartwarming in an otherwise rather grim novela.

Zahra is running low on prostitutes. With Ana, Flor, Rocio, Alicia and Correcaminos out of the business or not around plus the two dead girls, there's Mina and who else?

You wrote: "José María, apparently having been told exactly what Frigida said to Don Rai on his death bed...

It was Ines who overheard this conversation and told JM.
 

FLOR SALVAJE - MARTES

Jean, what I meant by José María apparently being told "exactly" what Frigida said was this: I can't remember if it was here or on TW, but someone opined that maybe Ines might have been less than truthful in what she told JM, since we never heard what she said. I knew it was Ines who spilled the beans but, until we saw his cold attitude toward his mother when the lawyer was there, we didn't know for sure if Ines had directly quoted Frigida.

And thanks Deb for putting in an appearance here!

And also thanks to NovelaMaven for the kind compliment.
 

FLOR SALVAJE- Ah, claro. It's true. We don't know what Frigida actually said and we don't know Ines' agenda.
 

MI CORAZON - miercoles
Fortunately for recappers who are super busy, not much happened plotwise in last night's episode, except flashabacks, of course. There were lots of flashbacks.

Basically, Angel took Lola to the courthouse and suggested that they get their marriage licenses and tie the knot in three days. When Lola hesitated, Angel got all nasty, which might have caused a reasonable person to reconsider marrying this guy but didn't faze Lola who also admitted to herself that she still loves Andres and will need to learn to love Angel. Right.

The rest of the episode was the various characters' reactions to this announcement, most of it negative.

Diana did tell Andres that she isn't pregnant, which is a good thing.

And then for Hombre, we got to see Lola and a bunch of other scantily clad ladies in a class at the gym doing a vigorous dance for exercise. Is that zumba? I have no idea.

That was about it.
 

Corazon

I hope this is not a repeat, I typed this and then it disappeared.
Thank you Jean for your recap and comment. I too wonder if Lola's outfits meet Hombre's expectations. Although now I'm just waiting to see if she has any pants in her wardrobe.

What happened to Andres brother, he seems to be an extra these days.
 

MI CORAZON:

You ladies are right - as soon as that exercise routine started, I hit record!

Some other minor things:

- Soledad and Vicki hear the bad guys celebrating, but don't hear that it's because of the wedding
- Rodrigo tells Andres not to tell Lola about Angel and Diana, because she won't believe it
- Adelita calls Andres a coward for not stopping the wedding. As soon as a someone is called a coward, all restraint is gone, so Andres will definitely do something.
- Sofia and Camilo moving slowly closer towards fulfilling their love
- And Felix (whom I agree is the one Soledad and Vicki are calling an ally) seems to hate Angel, hinting to the other henchman that after they get the money, Felix may do away with Angel (I think that's what he meant). Felix then went back for more sex with Vicki, I think. I don't know if he'd really help the ladies, but I do know he's disgusted with Angel (as are we all!)
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

Gonzalo loves to blame people. His previous strategy of blaming Rebeca worked pretty well. Now he's telling everyone (Ignacia and Pilar, to start) that maybe Carola is "behind all these horrible crimes." Ridiculous? Yes, but everyone knows of Carola's drug problems. Gonzo calls a buddy, and gets a big baggie of flour (oh sorry, it's "drugs"), and we can see what's coming.

He has to do this because when Carola asked Rebeca if Gonzalo was Inaki, she moved her hand! And she did it again when Pilar was in the room! So Pilar finally has some doubts, and confronts Gonzalo and Mabel, talking about her "son" right there! Mabel protects Gonzo, acting as if she doesn't know him. She's devastated about Adolmael's death.

But when she gets in her car, who's that lurking in the back seat? Yep, her baby boy. Not dead. Since no one else knows this (especially Gonzalo), this could provide some fun.

Javier has a deal for Ignacia. Have an abortion, and I'll give you and your family back the mansion. What a guy. Of course, Ignacia tells him he's scum of the earth even to suggest this. But later, with her Dad moping about his lost house, she does start to consider it. Maybe.

Diego tells Andrea they shouldn't anger their Dad, maybe he should play along for now. He's not too happy about moving to the new house with Gonzalo. Pilar has Karen packing up their things.

Emilio tells Hilda the lady in the restaurant was his boss, that's why he hustled Hilda out of there. Right. Especially weak when he tells her he's a "webmaster". Yeah, that's the kind of job where you avoid your boss at all costs (actually, maybe it is:)
 

FLOR SALVAJE - MIÉRCOLES

We open with Mariano attempting to rape Ana, telling her that he was her first and has the right to use her when the mood strikes.

Amanda has called the hacienda and blurts out: "Ana?" Of course, it's Rafa who's picked up and he is more than pleased to hear her voice. She asks him what she can do to get him to let Ana go. He replies that it's simple. If she returns to him and comes to the hacienda, she can take Ana's place and Ana is free to go. Amanda doesn't respond.

Ana struggles and a lamp is broken. Rafa hears this and catches Mariano in the act. He says that he has the right to shoot a rapist in his own house. MG never has any flies on him and promptly said that Ana initiated what was going on. Then Rafa really rubs salt in MG's wound. He calls in Cat to witness what he was doing. It's pretty obvious that Ana wasn't willing. She's sobbing hysterically.

Sacto disappoints me again. When he finds out Alicia slipped away, he says it's for the best. Then he rather sharply asks Amanda if she went to look for her. She lies and says she did not.

When Ana is blubbering that she did NOT attempt to seduce Mariano because he killed her brother, Rafa throws it in her face that she accepted him as her first.

MG keeps trying to convince Cat he's not a rapist. Says Ana came for him. She reminds him that he's a married man. He really gets his Pinocchio on, telling her he doesn't sleep with Lourdes. Cat asks him why he's telling her this. Does he expect her to be the substitute? He pretends to be insulted and says Para este rey, una reina. Gag me with a spoon.

Dr. Johnny, who I have re-named El Asqueroso has a drug scheme involving Alicia and Abelardo that I don't completely understand. Please chime in anyone else who has a clearer concept. For sure, EA has told Alicia she has to become closer to Abelardo.

Enrique finds out from CC that Alicia started to drink too much, fought with a client, and ended up being asked to leave by Zahra. He rightfully blames himself.

Tío Pancho has proposed to Zahra at the end of the romantic dinner and has a big diamond to give her. She is gobsmacked and doesn't give him an answer, needing time to think about it.

MG is back in town. It looks like he's planning to choose one of the remaining P's. [This, after he swore to Cat he doesn't frequent prostitutes.] He finds Rocío talking with Titi about the election and goes nuts thinking she's going to sleep with him. Rocío, I think, makes a mistake during their argument and tells MG that Rafa is financing her campaign. A big surprise at the debate would have been better.

MG goes back to the hacienda and tells Rafa he will stay away from Ana if he stays out of the election. Rafa lays on some heavy insults and MG jumps up and puts the baton to his neck. Immediately two of Rafa's guys point their pistols at MG's head.

Rafa has put arsenic in a salt shaker that Cat uses on her breakfast eggs. Later she gets horrible stomach pains and MG takes her to see JM. She finds out that she was poisoned by arsenic and that she's pregnant. Could be either Sacramento or Rafael. Rafa "used" her one time a while back and she had happy sex with Sacto.

Enrique is in Timotes looking for Alicia and almost sees her. She is in the company of some drug dealer guys (or drug buyers - I'm not sure which).

At the end the cat was poisoned by the salt. [What kind of cat eats salt?] Ana sees this and, we assume, realizes what Rafa did.
 

FLOR SALVAJE- Wonderful recap, Novelera, as usual.

I can't help you with what was going on with Alicia and El Asqueroso's drug gang. I also don't understand what Abelardo's role is.

Maybe the cat ate the leftover eggs with the arsenic on them. I agree that was weird.

You didn't mention the cute scene with Elena and Dudi. Elena comes home from the 4P's and finds Dudi asleep in her bed with Gabriel. She goes to sleep on the couch. In the morning, Dudi gets up with Gabriel still asleep. He wants to have sex with Elena and they get started but Gabriel wakes up.

Poor Dudi has to conceal the lingering evidence of his desire with a cushion. He leaves the house telling Gabriel that Elena borrowed the cushion and he is taking it home. Elena suggests that he come back after Gabriel has gone to school.
 

LA CASA -- miércoles.

Nice work, Hombre! Thank you.

"Gonzalo loves to blame people."

hah. He does indeed and is pretty good at shifting attention from himself when things get uncomfortable for him. But a love of shifting blame is a trait he shares with almost every other character in the story.

The notable exception is Renato who takes responsibility for the tragedy around him -- maybe too much responsibility.

Mabel's grief last night sure looked real. So maybe the actress is acting like a really good actress or the call we heard Ignacia make was to someone else -- Adolfo? (We do know she called Mabel too, but that may have been off-camera.)

It's odd that Iñaki has all these underworld contacts that we heard nothing about before -- I was surprised how easily he produced the crooked doctor who treated Rebeca in the cellar. And now he makes a phone call and moments later, a sketchy character delivers a bag of white powder.

The Indecent Proposal thing is interesting. What will Ignacia choose -- the kid or the casa? I'm guessing neither because something unexpected will happen making the need to choose irrelevant. Still, Javier has another line to add to his Curriculum Vitae as patán.
 

Corazon

If by chance the castmates of Corazon especially Lola makes another visit to the Seaport, Hombre, I promise I will get Lola's autograph on a skirt for you.

Have a great weekend!!
 

Flor Salvaje

Yes, Jean, I did forget to write about that very cute scene with Dudi. They don't often allude to biological realities in TN's and it's so funny when they do so.
 

FLOR SALVAJE

I think the drug business is something like this...the merc will be stored somewhere in the restaurant (well until Sacto or Amanda find it) and somehow Alicia is supposed to bring the clients there for the exchanges as El Asqueroso stated that the cops already know him and keep tabs on him.

This guy is dumber than I thought. You gotta be kidding me if he thinks they can move the dope with a constant stream of customers right there in the restaurant. Even if Alicia is to just go there to pull from the stash and them move it on a corner....please.
 

FLOR SALVAJE - MIÉRCOLES

That's a good surmise of what's going on, Rand. What I was confused about was whether those guys Alicia went into the restaurant with were buyers or sellers. They didn't look like drug addicts.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO – jueves
Dirty Tricks and Dedications

Part 1 of 2

Ismael’s is the dirtiest trick:
He’s alive (though not at all well). But what a cost – yet one more innocent man has been murdered.

Questions a beanie-wearer should never ask: Why doesn’t the medical examiner see the dead man was strangled before he fell? That he didn’t jump from the roof but was thrown? And most importantly – that he’s not Adolfael?

Mabel is so relieved that her favorite son is alive, she gives him an awkward hug. Is her relief mixed with horror at Ismael’s latest murder? Nah. And she’s not the only one who was grieving when she thought he was dead – you should have seen Carola, she tells Ismael. Carola, muses Ismael ... so loyal, so faithful .... Ignacia is the one to watch out for.

Javier’s dirty trick that may turn out to save a life:
He bullies the doctor into discharging Rebeca into his custody and then stashes her in the ill-fated upstairs room where two men have already been murdered (Leonardo and Igor). He is obsessed with her in her own right but mostly she serves as a Pilar magnet, a way to keep her in the neighborhood.

Lucky for Javier that Rebeca is still a muñeca – that is, without bodily functions or needs. Because if she were a real person, she would be accompanied by a small army of nurses, therapists, and aides caring for her 24/7.

And lucky for Rebeca – or at least menos mal – that she is at the mercy of the sadist least likely to murder her.

Gonzaki’s dirty trick:
He plants 2 pounds of cocaine in a bag in Carola’s red jeep. (The bag itself is made of the same cloth as Eva’s favorite pink and black spotted dress. Thrifty.) Then he arranges for the cops to raid the Conde apartment and vehicles, find the drugs and arrest Carola. Or try to. Because Carola runs and Sebastián helps her escape – Dr. Earnest Flattop, who was almost killed earlier in the evening over his insistence on seeing what was in Gonzaki’s bag, is shown driving Carola’s get-away car. I guess he’s in a hurry to join his old friend Omar in the great beyond.

(Omar, by the way, makes another ghostly appearance to Carola just before she enters the Conde apartment where Gonzo has set his trap: Cuidate, he repeats. Watch out.)

Will anyone check the baggie and discover that Carola’s fingerprints are absent but Gonzaki’s abound? Nah.

Ignacia uses the incident as another excuse to blame Carola for everything that has happened to their family. Yes, she tells Renato, we know what Adolfo did. But he needed an accomplice – and that was Carola -- crazy, druggie Carola. She’s capable of anything. And no one should be surprised, considering where she comes from!

Renato and Eva aren’t buying it. And Ignacia’s crack about Carola’s origins infuriates them both.
 

La Casa: Part 2 of 2

Anderson Chuncler strikes again:
The latest Chuncler book, Condenados, is now in Emilio’s hands. He reads the dedication aloud as Ignacia listens with increasing alarm: It is the dream speech we’ve heard so many times, the if only you had stayed in your studio painting speech that the cast takes turns reciting before pulling the trigger...

Who knows these words well enough to write them down? Well, there’s Ignacia herself. And her lady psychiatrist. Hmm. We haven’t seen her lately but I have a feeling she’s going to make another appearance.

Hilda follows Emilio to las oficinas de los muchachos de plata and sees him talking to the Madam of the establishment. He is angry and upset when he sees Hilda watching. Hilda’s interpretation of his reaction: Emilio is ashamed of her, tan poca cosa compared to the elegant lady he works for. Boo hoo hoo.

Pilar’s household is packed up and ready to move in with Gonzaki:
But one look at Pilar’s stricken expression tells Andrea, Diego and Karen that it isn’t happening any time soon. Pilar explains about Rebeca. Karen blabs that Ignacia is having Javier’s baby so Pilar shouldn’t feel any guilt or sense of responsibility toward him.

It doesn’t matter. Pilar’s not going anywhere as long as Javier holds her sister captive.

The Conde family realizes Carola needs a lawyer:
Who to call? Javier? (Are you kidding me?) Gonzalo? (Hah.)

Gonzo has his own problems. He had the darndest time getting out of the Conde apartment and down to the basement parking garage to plant the baggie in Carola’s jeep. He was detained by a slow-moving chatty “old dear” (as Agatha Christie might have described her) who was very interested in her new neighbors, the Conde family. And when Renato’s phone call comes through, he is emotionally spent, speeding along in his car, having another head-splitting Igor guilt vision.

Gonzo shows up on Pilar’s doorstep, shaken and miserable. (When the bell rings, the children and Karen cringe, fearful that it is Javier at the door.) He is ready to be the good man she believes him to be; he is ready to move into the new house with her and her children.

Sorry, Gonzaki. Javier holds the Princess captive and the Queen isn’t going anywhere without her.
 

LA CASA - JUEVES

Wow, NovelaMaven. What a snark fest! I loved every line of your recap.

The one thing that keeps coming up for me is how Pilar and su hijos were going to move into that house. I don't see how Gonzaki ever bought it. He killed the real estate lady who was showing the house. They never showed him actually buying it. And, if he didn't buy it, won't the agency put another agent in charge of the sale, one who would show up to review the selling points of her new commission opportunity?

It's just ludicrous how dumb Ignacia is. One word from Gonzaki, her faithless ex-husband about maybe Carola being behind everything and she's totally on board.

I hadn't considered that Rebeca may be better off with Javier. I was too busy being outraged in two ways. First - that Javier is snake enough to pull that off, and second - that my IQ is going down just watching the ridiculous premise that a brother-in-law can highjack his helpless sister-in-law and the idiot doctor just babbles a few things and lets him do it.

I'm glad Carola ran. For one thing, you're right, NM, the cops will never test the baggies for fingerprints and Carola needs to keep playing Nancy Drew and get the goods on Gonzaki.
 

MI CORAZÓN INSISTE - JUEVES

Where it left off, it appeared that Lola and Andrés might actually reconcile. I doubt it, though. She'll probably break away from that passionate kiss and insist she's marrying Ángel.

For a minute there it looked like Vicki might be willing to take Félix up on his offer to get away with him and his share of the dinero. And also let Solita be killed. But she did tell Sole the whole thing, especially about Lola marrying the ever-smirking Ángel in three days.

I'm enjoying Sofía and Camilo getting closer and closer. Frankly, it's the only bright moment in the Telemundo evening lineup. Everyone else's relationships are in tatters.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

Terrific recap, NovelaMaven. Yes, there were many, many telenovela coincidences in this episode. I was thinking that telenovelas are a specialized art form, and all their impossible events are fine with me.

In a real world, Carola probably wouldn't have left her keys on the table, disappeared with Emilio for a long time, left her purse in her car, etc. As pointed out, Rebeca would have nurses. We wouldn't have someone pop up in the back seat of a car two nights in a row. We wouldn't have helpful ghosts. The police might actually search for murderer on the loose. People wouldn't always get pregnant the only time they had sex. People wouldn't fake there deaths, then go bankrupt through lack of insurance because of it. Just about every family member wouldn't be in the hospital for separate incidents within one year. But this isn't the real world. And that's what makes it so delicious!

Javier continues to crack me up every time he opens his mouth. I definitely can't drink hot coffee when he goes on one of his rants.

I agree, it almost seems as if Ignacia could have written the books. Is she that psycho? Don't answer.
 

MI CORAZON INSISTE:

We continue with all the flashbacks. Vicki and Soledad now know it's three days until the wedding, and one week until Angel gets the money. Then, all hell breaks loose. Felix wants to escape with Vicki. But she can't abandon Soledad. Soledad vows to stop the wedding.

Angel is going to get Lola to sign a power of attorney so he gets rights to the money. Then he's going to kill her. Diana somehow wants to save Andres, but it won't be easy.

The cops are closing in. The budget was cut, but Rodrigo convinced the higher ups to fund it a little more, so they can continue this investigation. They're going to talk to the Harvard professor who was the thesis advisor for both Angel and Diana.

Andres kidnaps Lola with the help of Camilo's handcuffs (left over from his dallying days). He actually does win her over, and they have a deep, passionate kiss. Of course, with a few weeks left, tonight she'll probably pull away, and go back to being "practical".

The 3 days until the wedding may take quite some time (lots of flashbacks to get in).
 

FLOR SALVAJE – JUEVES

Part One

Cat tells José María that Rafael was the one who poisoned her and also that he was the one who did something to her horse's shoe that caused it to go nuts, resulting in the injury to his father. He isn’t as outraged by this as I would have expected. The guy is way too passive.

Sacramento is stupidly risking all of Amanda's regard for him by never letting up on Alicia. Over and over he tries to convince her to let Alicia go down the tubes. Amanda is definitely maturing and becoming wiser. She correctly calls him on his behavior - that what's at the bottom of it is that Alicia was a prostitute and her very presence reminds him of what Amanda was. He pretends to be over what she did, but his judgmental nature won't really let him.

We learn that Rafa has hypertension, so Luisa cooks without salt. And that Cat always adds it to her food. Elementary, my dear Watson!

Mariano is NOT happy Cat has asked him to bring Sacto to her side. He grumbles that he saved her life and that guy has more "privileges". He rightly intuits her feelings for Sacto.

One thing bothers me. The writers seem to have forgotten that, if Cat dies, the hacienda and the land with the oil on it go to the church. I know Rafa said he was lining up some other properties, but it still seems odd he's trying to bump her off.

It turns out the drug deal was that El Asqueroso waits outside with one guy, who has the cash. Then Alicia and Abelardo give the drugs to the other guy. When they use the two-way radio to let the guy with the cash know the drugs are in hand, he gives the money to El Asque.

Alicia shows she's not a total loss when she goes after El Asqueroso, actually trying to strike him. ¿Cómo fue capaz de meter mis amigos en sus negocios? Están rompiendo los lomos para adelantar su negocio. He's mad the drug deal didn't go as quickly as he would have liked. She defiantly tells him that, if he doesn't like the way she does things, find another. There's a brief moment of hope, then he waves the packet of drugs in front of her. Game over.
 

LA CASA

Thanks for the nice words, Novelera and Hombre.

Hombre:
"I was thinking that telenovelas are a specialized art form, and all their impossible events are fine with me"

They're fine with me too. It's just that sometimes it's fun to play "How many mistakes can you find in this drawing?"

Novelera:
Yeah, the Gonzaki house theme IS silly. (But then, see above.) I don't think he ever bought it -- the agent didn't live long enough to seal the deal. And I believe the agent found the house in one of those multiple listing sites -- I don't believe she was the one listing the property. She said the house had been empty for a year and the owners were out of the country. So without pressure from the sellers, and considering how crappy the housing market is right now, especially in Florida, it's credible that no one has come out to check on the property.

What's not credible to me -- and another commenter made this point the other day -- is that the agent's disappearance hasn't been investigated. Her trail would certainly have led the police to Gonzaki.

But hey, if I can believe that women walk around the house in those shoes even when no one is watching them, I can believe anything.
 

FLOR SALVAJE – JUEVES

Part Two

I loathe Filomina. She's heard from Tío Pancho that Enrique is coming back to the city, distraught because he can't find the woman he loves. She tells Diana there will soon be a wedding. The point she's missing is that the fact that he couldn't find Alicia doesn’t mean he will love Diana.

Tío sends some beautiful flowers to Zahra, causing a tizzy with the P's.

Mariano comes to the restaurant in Timotes to fetch Sacramento. Their first reaction is fear that Rafa will find them. MG tells them not to worry. He's going to have his cops protect Sacto. Sacto isn't going to go, but Amanda, demonstrating nobility, says he should go because she's in the hospital. He seems upset she isn't jealous. She tells him that jealousy is not a real sign of love.

Rafa shows up and demonstrates again that he's a monster. He sees the flowers and gets jealous and possessive that Zahra may have a man in her life. She has to eat the note Tío sent to keep him from finding out who sent them. The guy is delusional. He's upset she'd "choose" someone over him. Let's see, a man who sends beautiful flowers and proposes marriage, or a man who tried to burn me alive? What to do. She tells him to leave her alone since he loves Amanda. He tells her that Amanda is his love, but she is his possession, to maltreat as he sees fit. Nice.

There's a party going on, with Rafael in attendance. Drinks, food, and music (plus La Mina promising some free sex), all to promote Rocío's candidacy. La Mina opens her mouth to tell Rafa who is Zahra's admirer. Tío Francisco's life expectancy just got reduced a lot.

Sacto shows up in NE and is herded away from that party by the P's, who don't want Rafa to see him. He goes to the medicatura and first speaks with José María, who wants him to put in an appearance at Casa Rojas for the will reading. Otherwise, no one gets anything. Sacto agrees. I’m going to have my finger poised over the mute button for this one to avoid Frigida’s shrieks.

Cat tells Sacto she's expecting his child, all dewy eyed. Funny. She wasn't so thrilled to be pregnant until she figured out it was a card to play to maybe get Sacto back in her life.
 

FLOR

Thanks for the wonderful recap. I'm following the story through your narrative and enjoying it hugely.

You said (re Flor and Sacto):
He seems upset she isn't jealous. She tells him that jealousy is not a real sign of love.

Funny how the people who write these stories always assume that it is.
 

LA CASA

NovelaMaven, tnx for the great recap

"Gonzo shows up on Pilar’s doorstep, shaken and miserable. He is ready to be the good man she believes him to be; he is ready to move into the new house..."
I think he was looking for an excuse for not moving into the new house, and Rebeca (Javier!) saved him.
 

LA CASA - JUEVES

I agree, NovelaMaven, that it's credible that no one has come to check out the house Gonzaki pretends to own.

What amazes me is that he thinks he can move Pilar and the children in there. Does he think the owner of the property NEVER returns from their travels and asks what ever happened with the efforts to unload that house? How does he know another real estate agent, if the multiple listing part is true, won't show up when he's not home and spill the beans to Pilar about the house still being on the market?

This is, of course, a moot point because Pilar isn't going anywhere after Javier's nutty move.
 

FLOR SALVAJE

Nice job novelera, great recap. The way Cat was giving the news to Sacramento with bright hopeful eyes was too much. What? She expected something other than the look on his face? Please. His look said it all and she should have known that was coming.

Wow, El Asqueroso needs some remedial training on drug dealing. Walkie Talkies during the buy?? haha. What ever happened to the runners moving the dope on a corner and paying the man at the end of the jornada??

LA CASA

Whole lotta crazy in this thing! Another great summary novelamaven!