Caray, Caray!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL!!

I'm looking forward to another year of the excellent company here at El Mundo de Telemundo.

The end of 2011 was fun for me. We bought a new server and new computers at work; we had been in the digital stone age. Spurred on by the excellence of what our tech did for the office, I asked him to help me buy a new home computer.

So now I'm many gigs ahead of where I was for most of the year, both at home and at work.

So, here's to 2012!
 

Feliz año nuevo, y'all!

Yeah, all of Telemundo's nightly novelas were preempted on Friday for movies...so this is a quick refrito of what happened on Thursday's La casa de al lado, or

Someone Set Up Us The Bomb *

* This is from the arcade game Zero Wing, which introduced Cats and his infamous meme "All your base are belong to us." For all intents Raquel in this episode has earned the right to be called Cats, especially since her popping up this close to the end of the show stinks a bit of writer fiat...which goes right back to the various characters (and us viewers) being set up the bomb, so...okay, I digress.

- Renato's still dead, but at least people finally know it; Javier, Mabel, Nibaldo, and Emilio (as handsome as he is, his single-multipurpose facial expression fails big time here) get to see the body up close and personal before the police show up, and Emilio is the one who tells Eva and Yolanda about it. Nibaldo later tells Javier that he saw "Pilar" leaving the house earlier, which conveniently leads into

- The majority of this episode, which is taken up by Cats talking to Pilar about exactly why she's doing what she's doing. ("All your base...") The abridged version is "bitch crazy," but the longer version does explain it; Cecilia gave Cats up for adoption as a child because she couldn't afford to support two children, and she ended up in a home with an adoptive stepfather who molested her for several years before she killed him on her twentieth birthday. (Really, show? Damn.) After going to and eventually getting out of prison for murder she reconnected with her adoptive mother, who apparently made a deathbed confession of her true parentage; this is apparently where Cats tracked down Pilar and Cecilia, lost the last bits of her natural mind, and decided to destroy Pilar because she had had such a normal life.

This is where things get crazy; Cats not only admits to killing Ignacia and Renato, but also brags about how she basically stalked Pilar for three years before implementing her plan. The plan also included killing Sebastian whatshisface, who was poisoned way back when; writing the manuscripts for La Casa De Al Lado and Condenados and arranging to have printed copies hidden hither and yon (and killing a librarian along the way); briefly disguising herself as Ignacia to screw with Javier and Gonzaki's heads; and basically planting enough circumstantial evidence about all this to set up Pilar for everything. Unfortunately this was not accompanied by the twirling of a mustache, or her voluminous locks in this case. Pilar herself spends the entire episode looking impactada about all this in various ways, especially once Cats drops the Renato bombshell on her.

- Oh, and there was a very brief bit with Adolfmael and Gonzaki closing out the year in whatever storage facility they're apparently in, with Adolfmael cheerfully disclosing that Gonzaki is going to die for betraying his Carola. ("You have no chance to survive make your time. Ha ha ha.")
 

Bill C, Great takes! It really does look like the writers were forced to wrap it all up nice and tidy just as you explained it.

My opinion is this show just has too much crazy going on at one time. They simply don't have room to connect all of it. Already with many things unresolved, and in the end what better way to tie it all together than this?

Kind of a bummer, I could really use another like Alguien that just had me glued to it.

The new one looks interesting...peligrosas.
 

Yeah, LCDAL definitely has a fair chunk of stuff to wrap up considering it's three or so weeks out from its finale. LIST! :D

- Cats, er, Raquel
- Gonzaki (still head villano, but effectively on a break)
- the Mora secret
- Javier stashing Rebeca in various places
- Carola in prison
- Emilio, Greta, and Hilda
- Karen, Nibaldo, and Yolanda
Optional: Ignacia's ghost

They can admittedly speed through a fair chunk of that, but Raquel and Gonzaki--in reverse order--should get the lion's share of what's left.

As for Relaciones peligrosas: I'm there for Ana Layevska and Maritza Bustamante, but I can't help thinking it's going to be one really, really long episode of Decisiones. Or La rosa de Guadelupe, whichever.
 

LA CASA

Thanks, Bill C, for the fine recap.

I agree, Rand, Alguien was exciting for me all the way through. This one has just thrown too much against the wall, and very little has stuck, at least for me.

It's hard to care much about a novela when every single character is annoying!
 

Novelera,

Exactly. It's like when Adolfo is going off on Gonzo or Javier, or Nibaldo o quien sea, I'm just hitting the 30 second FF button on my remote. It's like for me, doesn't matter what he has to say, doesn't make a difference, can't take any of it seriously. Sucks too cause the guy has so much charisma.

I do however get a kick out of the bad Pilar. Cracks me up and is super sexy at the same time.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO
The ties that bind...

¿Te has dado cuenta? Our show has rung in the new year with two of the principals dead, Ignacia and Renato. And of those who survive, nearly half hold the other half captive:

Old-fashioned duct tape and rope method:
Psycho Cellar Dweller Adolfael holds über-evil Gonzaki
Resentful, Rotten Raquel holds Pitiable Pilar.

The executive method:
Javier the Jorrible uses a corrupt shrink to hold the lovely Rebeca captive in a psychiatric facility.
Gonzaki uses the legal system to hold pugnacious Carola in a prison cell.

Javier may seem, on the surface, to be ahead of the game. But the Casa Conde is haunted and since his kiss-the-walls victory dance, he has not had a moment of peace in its sterile confines. Besides, Adolfael is gunning for him – the deadline has come and gone and Javier hasn’t managed to satisfy Adolfael’s demand: Get Carola out of jail!

Only Emilio and Eva are neither captor nor captive (although both seem to have lost everything worth living for).

Kids and servants have been spared:
Hilda, her daughter, Pilar’s kids and Yolanda are so far unscathed – well, physically -- while Nibaldo’s and Karen’s near-death experiences suggest that indeed, Mala hierba nunca muere . Some of these characters may turn out to be more deeply involved than we know (especially Yolanda and Nibaldo) and are unlikely to make it to the end.

Mabel is a threat to Ismael and Iñaki because she knows their secrets and is threatening to call the cops on Ismael.

Cecilia would be a threat to Raquel if she ever managed to utter a coherent sentence.

I can’t wait to see what happens next! Bwahahahaha!
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO -- lunes

Not much happened tonight.

Carola, (still unaware of Renato’s death), finally convinces the prison guard to deliver her precious libreta to the one person she can count on to do the right thing – Pilar Arismendi. Unfortunately, Pilar is ... um ... tied up at the moment. And evil Raquel is out enjoying herself. So it is Diego to whom the guard entrusts the precious diary. He means well. He really does. But, distracted by the doorbell, he drops the diary on the floor in his mother’s room and forgets all about it. Later Karen comes along, grumpily picks it up and lines it up neatly with a row of other books on a table.

Meanwhile, Adolfael lies low, peruses his favorite novel and taunts his prisoner, Gonzalo. Let me go, you fool, says Gonzo. Pilar saw his abduction and by now the police must be looking for him.

Raquel has a blast at Renato’s funeral, waving gaily to Eva, smirking and preening at the kerfuffle when Eva bodily removes Mabel from the place, and generally basking in the grief she herself has provoked.

Emilio overhears Javier accusing “Pilar” of being involved in Renato’s death. Emilio himself is convinced his father’s death was murder, not suicide. And since Javier was the first person on the scene, maybe he’s the one responsible ...

No one is completely buying Mabel’s offer to help the Condes. Would she really betray her own son? She has to do something, she says (Yo tengo que tomar cartas en el asunto). He is totally out of his mind(trastornado) and she has to keep him from hurting anyone else. Besides, since Ismael is responsible for the Conde family’s financial ruin – it was he who burned down the two hotels -- she wants to get their house back for them.

That same evening at Casa Conde...
Mabel has just made Javier a generous for the house. When Javier steps out of his office to look for Nibaldo (Mabel has asked for coffee), Ismael makes one of his balletic leaps from behind a couch and makes the now trembling Javier an even more generous offer:
Vengo a ofrecerte en bandeja de plata a Gonzalo Ibañez.
(I’m here to give you Gonzalo[’s head] on a silver platter).

Do whatever you want with him, continues Adolfael.

Javier barely gets a chance to lick his chops at that thought when Mabel bursts out of the office, and orders Ismael to leave with her. When he resists, she pulls a gun and fires it just to show she’s not afraid to pull the trigger. But Ismael manages to wrest the gun away and escape into the night.

Javier gets his breath back (I suspect he’ll need to change his pants) and turns to Mabel: What the hell just happened here, Señora?

Outside, Raquel watches Ismael’s car peel out. She looks like she’s had a good day.

And in la casa de al lado, Cecilia is determined to help get Hilda and Emilio back together. Huh? Don’t you have more important things to worry about, lady?
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO -- lunes

NovelaMaven, tnx for the great recap

I liked this episode (#150)! lots of Mora scenes! haha

I think it was emphasized why Mabel is so afraid this time. "where are you Inaki? what should I do now?" she said to herself.
"I won't answer her [Mabel's] calls. see? she is going crazy about her favorite son being kidnapped." Adomael said to Gonzo.
if she really wants to keep the Condes and other people from hurting, she should give Inaki away as well but "Inaki is out of US" she said to Emilio.
now we can see what Adomael's "yo soy tu hijo favorito" exactly mean. Mabel even used her gun against Adomael. I guess he will have Gonzo pay for it badly.

"Cecilia is determined to help get Hilda and Emilio back together. Huh? Don’t you have more important things to worry about, lady?"
haha! just a boring meaningless filler. it would have made much more sense if we had seen her (just like Mabel) trying to save her child from her other child.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

Great recap, NovelaMaven! I liked all the offers everyone was making. I guess Mabel does sort of want to help, and she keeps saying she knows it's a little late, but she still can't go beyond certain limits. She should have shot Ismael in the leg, and called the police. Of course, she'd probably miss.

I also liked Javier's comment to Mabel about what is she doing waving a gun around in his house. As if HE hasn't done it a few times!

Too bad Diego didn't read the diary (or Karen).

Emilio usually suspects the wrong person. Last night he almost got on the right track, asking Mabel about her first born, but apparently Mabel's lie convinced him.

We have a whole lot of unhappy people in this show currently. Not only are the good guys sad because their loved ones are being killed, but most of the bad guys are sad, too, seeing the futility of their revenges. Adolfmael has a little swagger, but really can't figure out what to do with his brother and mother who have both betrayed him. Things are going from bad to worse for Javier. And last night, even Raquel (!) had a moment of true suffering after she told Cecilia she'd pay for abandoning Raquel as a child. Raquel is still hurting after all these years, but I'm not sure revenge will change that.
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN:

Sara has maneuvered Cris into a kiss, and just as he's getting into it, she pulls away, acting as if it wouldn't be right to get him on the rebound. This work perfectly, as Cris is later convinced that Sara is "noble" and "elegant". Tito thinks she's right for him. So does Amelia. Of course Cris has this little doubt, such as he keeps seeing Marisa, but he's trying to bury that doubt.

Bruno gets new gay clothes, and has started trying to befriend Tito.

Jerome likes his steroids so much, he's convinced all the other basketball players to try them too, falling right into Stan's plan. Gojo knows what's going on, though. Tania doesn't.

Victor needs a job. Of course he'd prefer one with no work and high pay, so he's turned downed most of them. He'll probably end up working for Stan, too.

Lalo can not only play the flute and the bongos, he also instantly masters the violin. But he's not happy, because his parents are not together. He knows his father is a disaster, but still hopes he can change.

There's jealousy between Marcela and Calixta. Marisa makes Marcela call Teo to say she's okay, but Marcela doesn't even want to discuss why she left Teo, except to say there were lots of reasons.

Marisa's back at her hotel job! This makes almost everyone happy, including Amador, Alicia, Belinda, Lety and Tania. But then Sara finds out. Uh oh!!
 

UNA MAID:

And Lalo has a plan. He goes to see Cris, and will probably ask Cris to give Victor a job!
 

LA CASA -- lunes

Alex, you're so right about all of Adolfael's jealousy coming out in this episode. He was so adolescent, I expected to see him holding a jar of Clearasil and reading a comic book. (Unfortunately, what he holds is a gun and what he reads is another psychopath's guide to murder.)

Hombre, your remark about all the unhappy people was spot on. I can't think of anyone -- not the villains and not the minor players -- who does not spend most of his or her time in the slough of despond, except for brief flashes of mean satisfaction or self-deluding distractions.
 

LA CASA - LUNES

First rate recap, NovelaMaven. I liked the image of Raquel "basking in the grief".

What? Wasn't that the first time the Condes knew that Adolfmael burned down two hotels? Did I miss something? But, if it was the first time they heard, there was zero reaction from Emilio and Eva.

There was another really creepy thing that happened a couple of episodes ago. The second evil psychiatrist who was taking over the role of prison guard for Rebeca drooled over how beautiful she was, making me at least think he was planning to take advantage of a paralyzed woman. Ack!
 

LA CASA -- lunes

Thanks, Novelera!

What? Wasn't that the first time the Condes knew that Adolfmael burned down two hotels? Did I miss something? But, if it was the first time they heard, there was zero reaction from Emilio and Eva

Good point. On the other hand, the Condes assume that Adolfael and his unseen, mysterious brother, Iñaki, are responsible for every tragedy they've suffered. They have no idea about wicked Raquel's role in the story. (Except for Cecilia and Pilar, no one even knows Raquel exists. Yet.)
 

FLOR SALVAJE – LUNES

Flor is confusing me lately. It appears that Zahra is right and that she really is falling for Rafael. Rafa continues to passionately express his love. He tells her that when he saw her motionless in the barranca, he was going to shoot himself in the head if she were dead and follow her to the other side. She asks him if he’s forgotten that she spent the night with Sacto, and he replies that it’s karma paying him back for all the bad things he’s done. He wants to be a better man for her.

Lourdes wakes up to see Mariano with a scarf poised for strangulation. Later he takes her to meet the three thugs to “settle up”. She’s nervous as a cat on a hot stove, asking why they have to meet these guys so far outside town. The main thug tells her that Mariano had arranged the meeting. As expected, the thug shoots Lourdes. Does this bother me one bit? Uh, no. And, predictably, Mariano shoots the thug. We don’t know why he apparently let the other two go.

Frigida further alienates her son by saying that Rocío doesn’t really need to see to work at servicing clients. JM tells her that, to begin with, Rocío doesn’t do that any more and could his mother have a little sympathy for another person. (Not bloody likely.) We see Ines thanking God for punishing Rocío for putting her eyes on HER man. Now could the Almighty get to work again because now JM pities Rocío. Don’t let her get my man, oh omniscient one! This is the last straw for me. I’m sure this self-righteous b*tch is not going to get JM. Unfortunately, the writers have written the cliché of clichés by having Rocío reject JM because she assumes he only pities her. Where is that Rocío that practically had sex with him on the examining table?

Alicia does a song and dance number in the 4P, looking absolutely gorgeous. Johnny is impactado. When she comes off stage, he grabs her arm all ready to drag her off. Enrique intervenes. The jerk introduces himself and asks if Enrique is her chulo (pimp). Alicia tells El Asqueroso that she gets to choose her clients, and he surely won’t be one of them.

Flor asks Rafa why he couldn’t have been this way in the beginning. After so many mistakes and so much cruelty, it would have been so simple for us to realize that we were made for each other. Whoa!

Sacramento shows up while Rafa is snoozing in Flor’s bed. First he tells Zahra that he realized how much he still loved her when she was kidnapped. He wants to try once more. Yikes, how many times does she need to spit in his eye. Apparently once more with feeling, because that’s just what she does. Flor tells him that she was only an obsession for him, his fantasy of saving a woman from prostitution. She admits that she did love him. But what she feels for Rafa is sexual attraction. He indignantly says she can’t be in love with a killer. She then tells him that Rafa makes love to her like no one else ever did and that he makes her feel like a woman, which Sacto did not do. Whoa again! [I’m confused again. Is this really all true, or is she again trying to protect him from Rafa?] She goes on to tell Sacto that Rafael is the man she loves, the man she desires, and the one who makes her lose her head. When he brings up Pablo’s murder, she tells him she doesn’t care about that any more. He looks poleaxed. Typical for him: “You’re worse than I thought!”

Tío Francisco seems to have reformed. He’s no longer ragging on Zahra and presents her with a lovely candlelit dinner and another ring. He proposes on bended knee. [Didn’t he already do this?]

Diana throws herself at Sacramento after they meet at a table outside. They spend the night together and are discovered by Filomina, who never knocks, in the morning. What fun!

Cat immediately figures out that Mariano killed both Lourdes and the kidnapper.

Flor finishes off the bi-polar behavior evening by asking Rafa to take her to Pablo’s grave. He’s never directly admitted he killed him, so this should be interesting.
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN

I really hope Cris doesn't give Victor a job, if that is what Lalo is going to ask for. It would just be too weird. And where would Victor work? In the hotel? Marisa wouldn't be happy about that.
I fast forward through the Jerome on steroids storyline now. It's boring.
 

Una Maid
Feliz New Year to everyone!
Hombre, thanks as always for the solid recap including lots of little subtleties that I misssed.
I wish they would take Victor out of that stupid denim jacket! Has he changed clothes since arriving from LA?
J in Oregon
 

FLOR SALVAJE:
Great recap, Novelera! So much happened. Like you, I had no tears for Lourdes. I had been surprised how calmly Mariano had taken Lourdes' involvement in Rocio's blinding - I should have known he wasn't going to let her get away with it.

Of course, Mariano's story about how Lourdes got killed is full of holes and lots of people are going to figure out that Mariano set Lourdes up to be killed.

I loved the soap opera broadcast with the closeups of Manuela and Piru.

It certainly seems probable after Flor's conversation with Zahra about how Rafa is a murderer that she is setting him up. Her desire to find Pablo's grave seems to me to to support that.
 

FLOR SALVAJE - LUNES

Yes, Jean, a lot did happen last night. I was hard pressed to compress.

I also liked Manuela's new radionovela. It seems to reflect her thoughts, since she really likes Avelino, but has a bit of an eye for Piruetas as well. It's pretty funny when this apparently virginal creature puts on that sexy voice.

I also got a big kick out of Mariano sobbing away in front of Quezada after he'd arranged to get rid of the harpy. The one thing that might trip him up was said last night. The black servant (have we ever heard her name?) said she saw Mariano saddle two horses and that he and Lourdes rode off together. His story was that she told him what she'd done about hiring the kidnappers. When he told her she'd have to face the law like anyone else, she rushed off -- and then he rushed after her. This servant better be careful who she tells this or her life expectancy will go way down.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO -- martes

Raquel has her coming out party tonight and her guest list has just one name on it: Ismael.

When Ismael runs out of the Casa Conde, she follows him to his hideout and tells him they need to talk. She knows he has Gonzaki inside. She knows perfectly well who Iñaki Mora is. And she has a surprise for him.

He thinks she’s trying to trick him and as soon as he lets his guard down, she’ll call the police. Think about it, she tells him, and walks away.

Later, Ismael sneaks into the Ruiz house to hear her out. He still thinks she’s Pilar, the bat-shit crazy version, but his interest is piqued. Not here, she tells him, carving knife held casually aloft. She has a place in mind for their conversation ...

Just then Javier walks in on the two of them. They quickly stage a pantomime abduction scene – it’s Raquel who thinks on her feet, positioning Ismael behind her, knife held at her neck. Ismael fake-drags Raquel out of the house while Javier watches helplessly.

Raquel – all the while mocking Javier’s cowardice -- directs Ismael to her own modest house, the one she lived in before she usurped Pilar’s life, the one where she is now holding Pilar captive. Ismael can only gape in astonishment and then in admiration when Raquel pulls him over her threshold, switches on the lights and points at Pilar, bound and gagged and collapsed against the wall: Yo soy Raquel, she says. Ella es Pilar. ¡Te lo advertí!

Novelera, you called it! (It was you, right?) The night Pilar heard something outside, went to investigate and let out a horrified “No puede ser” was the night Raquel showed herself to Pilar for the first time. It was also the night she captured her, changed clothes with her, and moved in on her life.

Ismael listens raptly to Raquel’s story. He loves her idea of murdering Cecilia and framing Pilar for the crime. And they both think it would be a hoot to have Gonzo believing his beloved Pilar not only murdered Sebastián and Ignacia but also Renato Conde as well as her own mother!

What fun it would be, says Raquel, if you brought Gonzo here too! So romantic! Ismael thinks it sounds like a blast. [Here the plan gets a bit fuzzy. Will Gonzo see the twins together? If so, he’ll know that HIS Pilar is pure and true. And screwed. But hey, two out of three ...]

But these two crazy kids have had enough fun for the night. Raquel has to get back home before the police search gets too far along. And Ismael has to get back to Gonzaki to get in a few more kicks (literal and figurative ones).

Back in his ratty hideout, Ismael tells Gonzaki that Renato Conde is dead and he’s not the one who killed him. Was it Pilar? asks Gonzo miserably. Let’s just say Anderson Chuncler was the author of the crime, smirks Ismael.

Gonzaki pleads to be set free – for their mother’s sake, for Carola’s sake ... he’s the only one who can talk to Carola in prison and someone has to tell her her father is dead. (Has Gonzaki finally pressed the right button?)

Other stuff you might care about:

Carola’s little book? The one she hopes will expose Gonzaki, save her family and set her free? Raquel reads it and laughs.

Eva and Yolanda suspect Pilar might be involved in Renato’s death but Emilio thinks Javier is a more likely culprit.

Two troubled mothers meet: Cecilia catches Mabel searching Pilar’s room, looking for anything that might help the police find her. Ceci tells Mabel not to bother – it would be better if she stayed missing.

Stuff no one cares about:

After the fake abduction scene, Karen has had enough. Adolfo, she declares, is obsessed with her, it’s like “Fatal Attraction”. She seeks refuge in Nibaldo’s arms in la casa de al lado. She ends up jumping his bones on the livingroom couch.

Cecilia is not only playing cupid for Hilda and Emilio, she’s also telling Javier that it’s clear he still loves Pilar even if he has an odd way of showing it.
 

La Casa:

Cecilia going all yenta for Hilda and Emilio makes a certain sense, but for Javier and Pilar? It'd be different if Rebeca wasn't stuck in a manicomio on his orders, but I suspect that was ultimately another overt writer fiat: they can't have the last two surviving central characters not end up back together, can they? Barring an epic swerve with Gonzo, AIUI he's done far too much in his own right to get any sort of ending that doesn't involve prison. (Cecilia continuing to keep quiet on the Raquel issue is an even bigger writer fiat, but hey...)

And having finally seen Maritza Rodriguez and David Chocarro snacking on scenery together...as hilarious as it was, I couldn't help wondering which character is going to die first.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO -- martes

NovelaMaven tnx so much for the great recap (as always)

"I couldn't help wondering which character is going to die first"
I vote for Cecilia, Nibaldo and the other "Stuff no one cares about" characters!
well, holding 2 central characters (especially Gonzo that is the motor of the story) and 2 important supporting characters (Carola & Rebeca) captive, the writers have to fill the show with such boring stuff!

Raquel seem to be pretty eager to help Adomael torment Gonzo! let's see what these crazies will do next :)
 

Thanks for another great recap, NovelaMaven! I love the way you organize what's important.

After months of our speculating about who Anderson Chuncler was, the writers did surprise us, and it all does make sense. Except for everything with Cecilia. Why can't she tell ANYONE that Raquel is a twin? She's already admitted she feels guilty for much of what's happening. But whether the girls are hers or not, and no matter what she has to hide, why not just save the day (and lots of lives) by telling the truth? She almost told someone, but said it was "not the proper time yet". Aarrgghhh! The way this show is going, she could easily be killed before she blabs anything.

Yes, MAYbe Javier and good Pilar can get back in the end, even though it doesn't make too much sense. Javier offered to return the house for Pilar's life, and I somehow hope he does return the house. It certainly hasn't worked out too well for him. Then, if Eva, Carola and Emilio are killed, Hilda would be the owner. Okay, that's a bit ridiculous.

They sure do keep us guessing!
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN:

I'm not too happy that they've made a little boy a liar. But they did. Lalo DOES ask Cris to give Victor a job. Cris agrees. Lalo says Cris can't tell Marisa. Also Lalo isn't going to tell. And nobody's going to tell Victor how he got the job. Later, when Marisa gets home, she thinks Victor abandoned Lalo, which isn't true. Lalo just went off on his own. He lies to his Mom that he was tutoring another kid. She gets punished for not telling Marisa where he was going. She doesn't know he's lying. (Oh, but it's for a good cause. I'm not impressed).

Mireya and Joaquin share a passionate kiss. The music is nice, indicating they're good characters, but I still don't like something about him.

Gojo snubs Jerome because Gojo has spent his whole life working honestly in the auto shop, and would let one bad decision ruin it all (he hints to Jerome). Tania also notices Jerome is different, but doesn't know why.

Bruno's gay thing isn't working on Tito. He says Tito's not gay, but Sara thinks he is, just try harder. (Maybe Tito isn't gay, just got hurt in love long ago, and threw himself into his work).

Yaya's new assignment is to shower Lalo with toys, dress more down to earth to be about him, and use him to find out "everything" about Marisa's schedule and her life, then report back to Sara.

Hugo finds Belinda's BC pills and goes into a rage. You WILL give me a son! he roars.

Calixta's little box of memories is gone, and she realizes Stan knows who she is. She goes to him and asks what does he want. This can't be pretty.

Cris agrees to accompany his father on his re-election campaigning, to remind his father of all the humanitarian issues he supports.

Amelia is sad that only 1 out of 10 invitees to her next charity ball have agreed to come, since the Parker name is now mud, due to the Marisa affair, since Mari was found to be a "delinquent".

Marisa is back at the hotel. Cris doesn't know this yet. Nobody else knows that Cris now owns the hotel. Cris has asked Tito to get him an apartment, but this hasn't worked yet. Marisa and her galpals are to service the Presidential Suite (Cris's). Victor's new job? He'll work on the security team at the hotel! So, tonight, EVERYBODY will be at that hotel, and they'll all run into each other, and all be shocked. It almost sounds like a telenovela! :)
 

LA CASA -- martes

Loved reading your comments, Bill, Alex and Hombre!

Javier and Pilar together at the end? Oh noooooooooooo....

I think the psychos will be going after the mothers next (the two sympathetic father figures, Igor Mora and Renato Conde are already history.)

Yes, Carola's birth mom, Carmen, has been killed but she was just collateral damage, another poor soul that got pulled into Carola's obsessive web and paid for it with her life. I was thinking Mabel was on deck (with all the threatening noises she is making) but maybe Ceci will edge her out of the lineup.

If haughty Eva makes it through to the end, it would be delicious to see her back in the mansion with a complete role reversal -- she in a maid's uniform, waiting on Hilda and Yolanda.

And of course, Karen and perhaps Nibaldo could be in the kitchen, grousing and gossiping and groping when the occasion arises. On second thought ... nah!

I thought last night's show was one of the best yet, very true to the classic Who-Dun-it tradition with the antagonistas, Ismael and Raquel getting a chance to show their stuff as actors.

I'm going to miss this madness when it's over, especially since there's nothing remotely similar in the Telemundo pipeline -- or at least, that we know of.
 

FLOR SALVAJE – MARTES

Zahra accepts Francisco’s marriage proposal, and the two seem very happy. Zahra goes to the 4P and everyone except grumpy Ana is overjoyed. They decide to give her a bachelorette party to remember.

Filomina is giving Frigida a run for her money. I think these two should be condemned to live together in a small cell for all eternity. Anyway, she lays into Diana, asking where her son is and why is Sacto in her bed. Filo accuses Sacto of taking advantage of Diana’s fragility. In one of the very few instances of this character being funny, he replies: ”Frágil no era!” Sacto is shocked that he’s jumped the bones of Enrique’s wife and runs out. Diana blows up finally and tells Filo that her son treated her like she disgusted him, and she should stop meddling in her life! In the lobby Filo is still ragging on a shirtless Sacto accusing him of being a fortune hunter. Zahra and Francisco are there. Zahra takes no prisoners as usual and tells Filo that Sacto is a respected member of the community, owns a hacienda, and even has oil. He doesn’t need to sponge off any woman.

Mariano is beginning to appear even more sinister to me. He wants his sister to come live at the hacienda and tries to get her out of the Calle de Consuelo. I think he rather likes having control over his blind sister. Later in the episode he tells her he doesn’t want anyone to touch her; he doesn’t want anyone to look at her or do her harm. She is what he most loves in the world. She manages to put him off, saying she’s comfortable where she is.

He’s also trying to take control of Hacienda Lazarrábal. He tells Cat his sister will be coming so that “they” can take care of her. Cat tells Luisa that his mentioning Vicente staying there was more like an order than a request. She thinks he wants the rights over the hacienda and over her as well. Later on in the episode he makes sure to remind her that he knows about her attempts on Rafa’s life. And, he says, he’s a widower now. She needs to learn that they were made for each other. Cat looks like she just sucked on a lemon.

Francisco is complaining that the competing newspaper got the scoop about the 4P opening and also about the kidnapping of Flor Salvaje and the blinding of the mayor’s sister. I’m pretty sure Enrique is free lancing for this paper.

Rufino is smelling trouble. He tells Rafa that showing Flor Pablo’s grave could be his perdition. Rafa tells him to butt out. Flor doesn’t care about material stuff, and this is the only thing she’s asked for. He’s going to give it to her. And Rufino should butt out and not mention it again.

Our new character is introduced, Jonathan Islas. He played the youngest Del Monte in Los Herederos del Monte, Lucas. In this one he’s a major narco, living in a mansion. So far, I’m not able to see him as a narco. He is employing Johnny to find out information about Rafael and Zahra. I have a suspicion about who he may be, totally not a spoiler. He’s looking for revenge against Rafa and Zahra.

Sacto has figured out that Cat may have also been in on the Flor kidnapping. He goes to confront her, and she tries to turn the tables, talking fast and “How could you accuse me of such a thing? I’m having your baby.” Sacto asks her to swear to him on the life of the child that she had nothing to do with it. Mariano rescues her, popping in and saying that of course she didn’t.

El Asqueroso keeps pursuing Alicia. He’s now telling her he can get her placed high up in the drug business. Also, he's pretty sure “the boss” would go for her in a big way. Alicia turns him down flat about working in the cartel. Later she also asks Abelardo where he’s stashed the drugs at the 4P. He says they’re behind the stage. Could Alicia be planning to destroy them? She has told Johnny she doesn’t want to ruin Flor’s business for the second time. But she keeps on lying to Enrique, telling him in bed that she didn’t know this Johnny until he came to the bar.
 

FLOR SALVAJE:
Great recap, Novelera.

Mariano was creepissimo with Rocio. As we have already seen, he is obsessed with her in a bad, bad way.

Zahra and Tio Francisco are happy but for how long?

I think Frigida and Filomena should be struck mute and sentenced to changing the sheets and cleaning the bathrooms in a whorehouse.

It is clear the Flor is looking for vengeance against Rafa. Rufino has a much better appreciation of the dangers of the situation than the besotted Rafa.

I agree that Lucas from Herederos doesn't play so far as a vicious narco kingpin but we'll see. Do you suspect that Islas' character is Zahra and Rafa's son who didn't get aborted after all? That would be a typical novela developement.

I'm not sure what Diana hoped to achieve by sleeping with Sacto and then throwing it in Enrique's face. Does she think he will be jealous?
 

FLOR SALVAJE - MARTES

Jean, that was EXACTLY what I was thinking -- that the Jefe of the Cartel is Rafa and Zahra's not aborted son. I wasn't sure I should speculate. What doesn't make sense is that I remember Zahra discussing Rafa forcing her to abort with Olga. Why would she lie to Olga? And I can't imagine anyone would think they'd aborted a full-term baby. Premature?

Or maybe the writers decided we wouldn't remember what happened before and wanted to extend the novela with a new plot.
 

FLOR SALVAJE:

Novelera, you watch enough of these novelas and the writers go back to the same tired plot devices. If we are right (and this is just speculation not spoilers), they will probably have some lame explanation of how the kid came to be born.
 

Flor Salvaje...

another excellent summary novelera!
thanks!
so many details I miss,

on Johnny's new boss,
I have been on a wait a see thingy,
but, wow, your summary opened up so many doors,

their son?

or maybe, he could be related to Pablo, his wife, a brother maybe,
and possibly be the instrument to bring down Rafael

Amanda is just not that evil.
 

UNA MAID:

I meant to say HE (Lalo) gets punished. Sorry about the typo.

I also learned a new word. It means to undermine someone's authority. Marisa said to her mother "No me desautorizes", or don't undermine my authority. Desautorizar can also mean to refuse permission or to discredit.
 

Una Maid
Thanks Hombre for the commentary. The story line with Belinda and Horrible Hugo is truly disturbing. She needs to take lessons from Tania!
I think what is troubling about the School for Gifted Minds is that the kids were saying to Lalo that when they go on tour, they hardly ever see their parents.
It just feels too creepy.
J in Oregon
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO

Hi guys,

Just wanted to let you know I'll be travelling over the next few days so I won't be commenting -- I'll catch up with you early next week. See ya!
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN:

We got a little more hint of Joaquin last night. It's not just that the kids will be on tour away from their parents, it's all about money! Joaquin sees Lalo and two other kids play a song on three instruments, and tells Mireya these kids are like a gold mine for the program (and maybe for his own pockets!) They can charge admission for the kids to play concerts. Ahah!

Tania and Lety now know that Victor charged $5000 for his interview, so they're not on his side anymore.

Yaya gives Lalo a video game, and also tries to get info from Marcela. This is painful for Marcela, since she doesn't want to admit that Yaya is the daughter of Emilio, Marcela's dead husband.

It turns out Stan did NOT steal Callie's baúl (chest or trunk). One of the "good" workmen (now fired) took it, but when he found there was no money, his foreman returns it, and apologizes to Callie. Meanwhile, however, Stan knows there's a box, and orders Tarek to find it. Tarek does, looks inside, but reports back to Stan that it's only "boring photos". Stan yells, that's what I wanted to see, you idiot! So Tarek will have to try to get it again.

Victor accepts the job as supervisor of security, apparently the boss of kindly Javier. Cris gave him health insurance, a good salary, but balked at Victor's demand of a bonus. At the end of the show, Marisa is shocked to find that she and Victor are both working in the hotel!

Cris is going to help his Dad campaign in Queens, which will provide even more chances for our characters to run into each other.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

Confrontation time! Mabel wants to trap Adolfmael. But he won't return his calls. So she goes to Javier, and asks HIM to call. Raquel is there, too, acting super weird (as far as Javier is concerned). Adolfmael finally answers, and it's a prisoner swap! He'll give up Gonzalo to Javier, who can do anything he wants to his longtime rival. But Javier has to turn over "Pilar" to Adolfo. They meet at an abandoned trainyard for the transfer.

Meanwhile, Javier has caught Karen and Nibaldo doing the cuchiplancheo, but the end result is he agrees to hire Karen! She's exultant, she's now the queen of the Conde castle, and so long, sucker to Hilda! But based on our predictions yesterday, wouldn't it be funny if Hilda ends up OWNING the Conde house when everyone's dead, and she's Karen's patrona?

Cecilia enlists Diego and Andrea in some cockamamie plan to get Emilio and Hilda back together. We don't know what it is yet. But I do think Adolfo and Raquel have some plan to kill Cecilia and make it look as if Pilar did it. They were talking about her killing her own mother. Yes, I'm definitely ready for Cecilia and Mabel to get it. They're both guilty of the crime of "extending a telenovela by refusing to reveal helpful family secrets which could end it in one day", so they have to go!

Carola can't understand why nothing came of her little diary, which the guard sort of delivered to "Pilar". Dream on, Carola.

Mabel can't take it anymore. She follows the prisoner swap crew to the trainyard, actually calls 911!!! What? They can do THAT?:) So, Adolfo knocks out Gonzalo, who's on the ground. Adolfo kicks his gun over to Javier. He tells him, go ahead, kill Gonzalo! Javier picks up the gun and aims it at Gonzalo. Raquel doesn't say anything, but you know she's up for this, too. Mabel steps in, saying hold it right there! This has got to stop. I've called the police.

So who do you think will get shot? Nobody, Adolfmael, Raquel, Gonaki, Javier, or......yes, Mabel, you never should have called 911! (my prediction)
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO

great recap Hombre. tnx.
"extending a telenovela by refusing to reveal helpful family secrets which could end it in one day"
haha! great point! but I like Mabel. Mabel is a very well written & portrayed character. just opposite of Cecilia. I wish they kill Cecilia first.

I can't understand why should Adomael be interested in Pilar?! I mean the whole prisoner swap doesn't make much sense. but I liked the location! :)
 

LA CASA - MIERCOLES

Hombre, great recap! You are so right about "guilty of the crime of extending the novela". I say string 'em both up right now!

This thing is such a muddle. Javier was supposedly SO over Pilar and ready to begin his life with the one he'd really loved all along: Ignacia. Now, the Yoda-like character, Cecilia, has diagnosed him as in love with Pilar all along. Blech!

When they first introduced Cecilia she was a mess, drinking constantly and blathering on senselessly. Now, she's the savior of the Ruiz family, standing up to her homicidal daughter, Raquel and working on a plan to save Hilda and Emilio's marriage. Please.
 

Una Maid
Oh really now! Victor, a shiftless booze-hound with no experience, gets the job of security supervisor? What planet is Cristobal from? He is playing with this hotel and its employees as if her were playing "Monopoly".
Also, it was truly painful watching Lalo rolling his eyes as he soulfully played the violin.
Sorry, I was ranting and forgot to thank Hombre for the fine recap.
J in Oregon
 

FLOR SALVAJE – MIERCOLES

Part One

El Asqueroso tells Abel [aka The Mouse that Roared or the wimpiest looking narco on the planet] that Zahra is very happy right now because she’s going to marry the owner of the hotel in town. And Rafa is very happy because he’s got Flor Salvaje, the hottest babe in town. I must say it is a pleasure to see our Johnny on his back foot, bowing and scraping in front of El Jefecito. Johnny tells Abel that he has a woman in mind to work for the cartel. Abel replies that this is a man’s business, but he’ll consider her. If she says yes, maybe it will work out. If she says no, they’ll find her floating in the river. Gulp.

Rafael goes to see Zahra to congratulate her on her plan to marry Tío and asks her forgiveness for all the bad things he’s done to her. Ain’t love grand! Later Zahra tells Olga that she still loves Rafa, but Tío is the calm love, the one she wants to be with.

We are treated to still another rant by Filomina, who’s castigating Diana for not fighting for Enrique. Enrique takes off his wedding ring and clanks it on a table. He tells Filo that she can’t have everyone in the world doing what she wants. Enrique also tells Tío that, as I suspected. he is earning money selling stories and photos to the competition.

We see Abelardo selling drugs to some customers in the 4P Cabaret. It looks like the clientele has changed since the re-opening. The drug buyers look more upscale and well dressed than the petroleros.

Lourdes’ velorio features a weeping Vicente, the only wet eye in the house. The Gov shows up and, in an aside to Mariano, tells him that Cat needs a man to run the hacienda, obviously music to his ears.

Sacramento brings the girls to see Flor, while she and Rafa are having coffee after she’s cooked him a meal. She’s rather cool to the girls.

Abel goes to the altar of La Santa Muerte to make a cash offering and leave photos of Zahra and Rafael. [If you don’t know about this made-up religious figure worshipped by a lot of Mexican narcos, google it. It’s quite interesting.]

Zahra is crying over a tombstone (?) that says Recuerdos de mi Rafael. She says that she can’t be truly happy because he isn’t with her. Francisco has followed her. He’s curious, but she says she can’t tell him right now. Rats! I’m curious about how they’re going to wiggle out of the fact that they told us she had an abortion, and now there’s a tombstone. Do they do tombstones for fetuses in Latin America?
 

UNA MAID:

Thanks for the compliment, J! ITA agree about Cris. Not only is jeopardizing his hotel, but
-he's lying to Marisa by not telling her he bought the hotel
-he's lying to Marisa by not telling him he hired Victor. In fact, he told Victor, that if Victor told Marisa who hired him, he'd be fired!
-he also told Tito and Lucas not to tell, so they're lying
So he's given Marisa lots of reasons to get mad at him, and make sure they don't get together for a while.

About the song, I thought it was pretty lame. They should have used a nice grand piano sound, not a cheesy 80's piano sound. And the song itself was very boring and childish (probably composed by the producer's brother in law). As long as these kids can instantly play a song they've never practiced or heard before, why not go for Beethoven? :)
 

La Casa de al Lado: Miercoles

Delusional bilingual Karen is love. There, I said it.

Forgot About Dre: Carola still being stuck in IKEA Women's Prison, wondering where the hell Pilar is. Come to think of it, this probably also applies to Greta--where'd she run off to after Emilio trashed her office?

I do think Hombre de Misterio is on to something: going off the avances for tonight's episode, somebody's definitely taking a bullet. Mabel may be the most expendable of the group, since they don't necessarily need her to out the Gonzaki/Mora secret (Carola can do that, as could Raquel). But how about this for a wild card: what if it's Raquel? It might be the one thing that finally gets Cecilia to up and say "Oh, hey, people? About Pilar? She's not Pilar...what, you couldn't tell? It's the lipstick, everybody!"
 

FLOR SALVAJE – MIERCOLES

Part Two

When Cat comes to the office of the Oil Company to return the papers she was reviewing about Sacto, Rafael tells her that Mariano may have forgotten about the attacks on Flor and Rocío but he has not. He knows what she’s capable of, evidenced by her attempts on his life. She tells him she was just defending herself and he basically laughs in her face, saying that she was trying to get an obstacle out of her way. If she tries anything against Flor again, he’ll kill her.

Alicia finally tells Enrique what’s up with Abelardo and the drug sales when he overhears Abe and her arguing. She tells him that their lives are in danger. She confesses everything: that she met Johnny in Timotes, became addicted, and ended up selling drugs. She tells him she and Abe were present at the big narco shootout, and that she thought Johnny had died. Enrique tells her he’s a reporter and used to threats. She says not like these guys. They’re powerful. I am so relieved she’s not lying to Enrique again.

Abel calls Francisco to suggest a meeting about a possible investment. Tío is pleased by this, and invites Abel to the wedding. Zahra is not pleased, saying she doesn’t want strangers at her wedding. But she doesn’t get too upset. This should be interesting, if our suspicions about who Abel is are true.

Flor has gone to the hacienda to see Mariano. She wants him to help her get Rafa arrested. At first he thinks it’s a trap, but when she tells him Rafa is going to take her to Pablo’s grave, his eyes light up. Close to the end of this scene, we see Rufino eavesdropping. We don’t know how much he overheard, but this is not a good development. Later in the episode, Rafa shows up with some papers he’s had drawn up by his lawyer. The 4P Bar and all of the Calle de Consuelo now belong to her. She can even boot him out if she wants.

Two free-lance hookers approach Sacto in the street. He looks ready to make a deal with them. Zahra and Francisco look on with horror. When Zahra reproaches him, he tells her all the women in NE are like her. Francisco is ready to punch him out. He tells him that Zahra treated him like a son. Sacto is back to being an aggressive a**hole again. When Zahra gets close to him and asks him how he could treat her that way, all his pain comes out. He tells her that Amanda has told him he’s less of a man than Rafa. Without her, he doesn’t want to live. Zahra can’t hold back. She tells him that everything Amanda is doing is to protect him from Rafael. And that she's going to get vengeance for Pablo!
 

LA CASA

Alex, you were wondering what interest Ismael has for Pilar. None. They just write it all in and try to make sense of it. This Racquel character supposedly did the work of at least 10 people for a period of something like 3 years and now she needs some help? And from all people, Ismael? Please?

The whole scene where she was on the phone actually conversing with this guy when Javier approached her from behind I was like you gotta be kidding me.

There isn't even one loose end in this thing that I need to see resolved, someone pull the plug already.
 

FLOR SALVAJE

So this thing has gotten really good lately. Many different things going on and they all have my interest.

The scene tonight with JM and Rocio, so tender and has me glued. This will be worth waiting for, even with those beautiful eyes covered, she's radiant.

Flor setting up Rafael while he's actually trying to become a better man, this one is good too.

Jonathan Islas (Abel) with Zhara and Francisco. Meeting him Zhara was full of smiles and the way that she slowly changed her expression, really good acting I thought. Looks like Jean and Novelera called it, the son of Zhara and Rafael. This looks really interesting too.

Diana taking an interest in NE and platicando con Olga.

Olga and Rigoberto...only a matter of time. I'm gonna like this one too I think :)

Jonny working for Abel, el capo. Running la merca in the 4P. and now Enrique looks like he's going to go undercover to help Alicia? I'm confused, if everyone already knows that he's a journalist...

They need something new for Sacramento. Can't believe we're gonna have to watch him make one more run for it with Amanda...

Mariano and Rocio. Mariano and Cat. Both are interesting. So far I don't see Rocio getting anything that she can use against Mariano, but he'll surely tell her he had Lourdes killed for what happened to Rocio. I wonder if she'll stick to it and try to bury him? She's certainly a lot more calm around him now than she ever was before.

Pirutas is tired and boring.

I wonder if Rafael suspected and led Flor to a spot with nothing. Maybe to see if he was being watched? Gonna be nasty if they start digging tomorrow and find nothing. Then again, gotta keep the story moving so I imagine they'll pull up the body.

I did like it yesterday when Beba and Susana complimented Frigida on her cooking and then just being sinceras let her know that they would still never call her grandma :)
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN- jueves

Belinda's on the phone with Marisa. Hugo stalks in, really mad, and proceeds to violently beat Beli! The phone drops to the floor, but Mari can hear. She calls the cops, and rushes out. Gojo comes to help. They find Hugo about to kill Beli with a knife, but Gojo jumps in with a punch. Hugo fights back, holds the knife to Gojo's throat, and Belinda manages to clock him with a vase. The cops arrive, Hugo's off to jail, and Belinda goes to stay with Marisa for the night. Gojo's shop also got robbed in the interim, Tarek just watched idly while someone stole the receipts from the cash box.

Is Tito gay? Lucas is having a friendly discussion with him about families (Lucas's is still in Mexico, he wants to save up money and maybe go back). Tito doesn't really have one, so Lucas goes hmmm. Hmmmm what? asks Tito. Well, you're not going to have one, cause you're gay, right? Me, gay, no way! says Tito. Yeah, just like the other three guys in my family, responds Lucas. Apparently they all denied it, but were miserable (so this means that maybe Tito IS gay, but just denies it. We'll see).

We also get some background on Bruno. He was an ugly duckling in high school, skinny, glasses, braces. He was attracted to this beautiful blond named Cindy. Sara convinced him to get contacts, etc., and Cindy would like him. He did, she didn't (she humiliated him). Sara consoled him, and they both lost their virginity after the senior prom (I think). But I'm not positive if this means he's forever in Sara's debt, or maybe he actually hates her, and wants revenge. Anybody know? One thing we DO know is that Bruno likes Catalina.

Victor is actually just a regular security guy in the hotel, not in charge. In fact, he has to do a lot of footwork. Javier warns him he could get fired if someone gets robbed, if he sleeps on the job, gets drunk, etc. So of course Bruno immediately swipes a liquor sample, and has a sneaky drink.

Tyron's campaign is coming to Queens, and Cris is with him. Of course they immediately run into Marisa.

Amador has a first date with Callie.

Lety gets approached by a nerd, and maybe she'll be happier with him than with the fast talkers she was hanging with.

Amelia and Tyron think Sara is wonderful, so classy. Maybe she'll be their future daughter-in-law. Sara is organizing a fashion show for Amelia's charity ball. Sara vaguely describes her family background, something about French royalty, which of course might mean that she's a total fake! (knowing these shows).

Tania tells Jerome if he's violent one more time, he's gone.

The fun continues!
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

I know not everyone is happy with some of the plot holes on this show, but I just love its wild craziness, which continued last night!

Mabel tells Javier and Raquel to skeedaddle, she'll handle things. They leave (mainly Javier pulling her away), and Raquel calmly tells Ismael he could never shoot her. He turns away, saying you're right, but I could shoot HIM! He fires at Gonzaki w/o looking, and Mabel was just leaning down over him. SHE's hit, and she DIES on the way to the hospital, accompanied by Gonzaki, who is destroyed! (note: no police ever showed up, and Adolfmael got away).

Karen parades down the steps, she's a rich lady now! Javier catches this, and she says she just wanted to know how much her new salary would be. He writes her a check, saying you're worth every penny of this, and it's your first check and an advance on later pay. She smiles, he leaves, she looks at the check, and too bad Karen, it's apparently quite small. Hah!

Carola's libreta gets shuffled around. Andrea starts to read it, but doesn't get past the title. Cecilia grabs it, and they're all going to read it together. Just as they get started, Raquel pops in and grabs it. Then the lady prison guard shows up, telling how important it is, and Raquel blows her off, saying I hope that drug addict Carola rots in hell, the matter is closed!

The kids later look for it, but Raquel says she threw it out. The prison guard reports back to Carola, who's shocked about Pilar's behavior. The guard says just tell me the secret, I'll tell the family. But Carola says I can't, everyone who finds out ends up dead.

And sure enough, Gonzalo comes back, and Cecilia tells him this stuff about the prison guard. Gonzalo leaves like a shot, and I'm guessing the prison guard is a goner.

Earlier, Pilar rushed out, Gonzalo followed her, and Emilio followed him. They all went to Adolfo's hideout, but he wasn't there. However, Pilar knocks on the door and says "Ismael, it's me, Raquel". Gonzalo heard this! Who's Raquel? Gonzalo yells at "Pilar" who tells him to stuff it and leaves. Emilio shows up, now Pilar's your ENEMY? And why were YOU so destroyed by the death of MABEL? Gonzalo tells him to stuff it.

Adolfomael goes to Raquel's place, sits down in front of Pilar, puts his gun on the table, and weeps, I want to die! (since he accidentally killed his own mother). Will he have pity on Pilar and loosen her gag?

Raquel is back home, Cecilia yells at her, where do you have "her" hidden? Tell, me Raquel! The kids heard this! Who's Raquel? I think someone's got some 'splainin' to do!
 

LA CASA:

Correction to first part, MABEL tells Ismael he could never shoot her. Sorry!
 

Exactly what Ma Bell's purposes are for what she did is as yet unclear.

The have now bumped off 2 of 5 Condes & 3 of 5 Moras -- when will they start whacking some of Los Ruiz?

Yes, they are all annoying characters.

They are running out of time to show us some fun Bonnie & Clyde stuff with Raquel & Adolfmael.

I think that Raquel is supposed to be the arch-villain.

I am tired of the women being tied up. I say, Let'em loose. & when do they learn that they can lick & bite thru duct tape, then bite thru ropes or crawl being so poorly tied up?


I predict that Gonzaki will be totally recuperated by tonight from his torture & go after Adolfmael -- but will he continue to go into buildings looking for Adolfmael without his gun drawn?
 

FLOR SALVAJE – JUEVES

Part One

Rand, I agree with you about some very interesting events coming up. To clarify, I think Enrique means for Alicia to be the one to be undercover in the cartel. Maybe he wants her to say “yes” to Abel about dealing the drugs to entrap him.

Sacramento immediately believes Zahra when she tells him about Amanda’s plan for vengeance, especially the part about Rafa having arranged to burn down their little restaurant and having threatened to kill Sacto if she didn’t go back to him, When Sacto says, of course, she hates Rafael, Zahra tries to tell him that she’s fallen in love with Rafa, but Sacto rushes off to find her.

Cat tells Luisa about Rafael threatening her if anything happened to Flor. She also tells her Mariano has a plan to get him out of the way. Luisa assumes this means murdering him, and says that Mariano is worse than “Don Rafael” ever was. And, furthermore, Cat won’t be able to get him out of her hacienda even at gunpoint.

Sacto is riding around the countryside on horseback, looking for Flor. Rocío told him that Rafa was going to take her to Pablo’s grave and that the plan was to arrest him. Sacto thinks Rafa will kill her for the betrayal and is trying desperately to find them.

Abel arrives in town. Tío Francisco greets him warmly, shows him to the presidential suite, and doesn’t even ask about the obviously criminal looking bodyguards. But Abel cleverly volunteers that he’s a rich man, and there have been several kidnapping attempts.

Alicia and Enrique brainstorm about what to do. They haven’t come up with much, and Alicia has gone to the 4P looking for the “merchandise”. Abelardo sees her doing that and immediately confronts her about her having told Enrique. She denies everything. Later, Enrique tells Alicia that the only way to save themselves is for Alicia to be “undercover” like he had done before as a reporter in some “sting”. This way Alicia can bring down the “capo”. Scary stuff.

Diana asks Olga to join her at her table in the hotel patio. She starts pumping her for information. Olga tells her that Nueva Esperanza was a quiet town until they found oil. Diana interrupts this town history to get to the point: “What about Sacramento Rojas?” Olga tells her that his father didn’t recognize him until recently. But he left a good inheritance to him, and now Sacto is one of the most important men around. He even has oil on his land. Diana asks if it’s true he was married to a prostitute. Olga says that he was married to Flor Salvaje, but she left him. He hasn’t recovered from that and keeps on loving her.
 

FLOR SALVAJE

Part Two

Zahra is introduced to Abel on the hotel balcony by Francisco. When they shake hands, she gets such a bad feeling that she nearly falls over. Later she tells Francisco that Abel has a strong energy, and his gaze gave her a horrible feeling. One thing is for sure, she says, this guy is not bringing anything good to Nueva Esperanza.

Meanwhile Rafa has driven Flor in the sports car to a little outdoor love nest he’s set up beside a babbling brook. There’s a bed and some wine. They make passionate love. Rafa asks Flor to give him a child. Flor is very sad. When Rafa tells her he’s taking her to Pablo’s grave, she pulls him to her and asks him to kiss her. This seems to be her reluctantly saying goodbye to him forever.

El Asqueroso shows up to talk with Abelardo. Could there be an accident in the 4P cabaret that would crush Abelardo’s skull, like yesterday. He babbles on to Johnny about how the big problem with Alicia is Enrique, who sticks his nose in. Johnny says that the next time he’s around taking pictures, Abe should let him know and he’ll arrange an accident. There will be a headline about a dead reporter.

There’s a very tender scene with José María and Rocío. He has brought her one of those white canes blind people use. She agrees to have him show her how to use it as long as they’re clear that they’re just friends now. He gets behind her and practically nuzzles her neck. She senses this and blows up at him. Meanwhile, Ines is talking with Manuela and is thrilled to be called cuñada. She’s afraid JM is going to back out, but Manuela assures her that JM is a man of his word. Ines tells her that what worries her is that Rocío and JM have been lovers.

Zahra is very upset and crying over meeting Abel. She pulls out a photo of a boy around 8 years old from her wallet. No, it can’t be! What? First there’s a supposed abortion, then there’s a tombstone, and now there’s a photo of a kid. I guess time will tell if this Abel is really her son.

Rafa takes Flor to a place that absolutely doesn’t look like where Pablo was buried. He tells her he buried him here. Actually, Rufino buried him in an open plain that had some trees there. He notched one of the trees. I don’t remember seeing any water. So, is Rafa just making up a place to please her? Is he on to her plan? It doesn’t seem likely he suspected a trap since he was so very loving toward her in their little sylvan love nest. I guess we’ll find out tonight.

I try to condense these things, but they just keep getting longer. Is it because there’s not as much repetitive filler in this novela?
 

LA CASA DE AL ALDO - Thursday

tnx Hombre.
yes the prison guard seems to be a goner. but I still hope they don't repeat the annoying routine of killing minor characters that are helping Carola.

Mabel died :'(
as one of the most important characters of the story her death should have been emphasized more.

again I don't understand why Raquel is hiding Gonzo's secret if she hates him.
 

FLOR SALVAJE -
Thanks for your usual great recap. I think you are right that there isn't that much filler in this novela. It's very dense. For example, there aren't many pointless, time-wasting flashbacks.

Who carted, built a bed over that stream for Rafa's love nest? The actors were having some trouble talking over the sound of the water.

At first I thought that Zahra was looking at a picture in Abel's wallet but that can't be. Maybe we were wrong and Abel is Rafa's son by some other prostitute at the 4P's and Zahra hid him from Rafa and arranged for him to be adopted or something. Very weird.
 

LA CASA - JUEVES

Thanks, Hombre, for your excellent recap.

OK, I think Cecilia again needs to be arrested for stalling the plot. First, she insisted Andrea stop reading the book so she could hear the big news about Karen decamping. Big Whoop. And she keeps keeping her mouth shut about Raquel over and over again.

I did like Eva's slap. About time someone got one over on Raquel.

And Emilio and Gonzaki both heard her called Raquel, but never really pin her down about it.

Karen used to annoy me, but she's hitting her stride with being funny now. So I'm over it. I thought Nibaldo was going to go back to Yolanda, but he's the one with lots of 'splainin to do since he and Karen are groping each other all over the Ruiz mansion.
 

UNA MAID IN MANHATTAN

Thanks for the recaps! I was a little behind, so I haven't posted in a couple of days, but I'm all caught up now. Well, except for tonight's (Friday) show. It hasn't aired here yet.

Anyway, I'm really glad Cris and Marisa ran into each other and they'll hopefully have a lot of screen time with each other tonight. They haven't had a scene together in a week.

I can't believe that Belinda was still telling Gojo that Hugo is her husband and things like that happen after the big fight and arrest. I'm glad Gojo was like, "What?!" and looked at her like she's crazy. She is crazy if she goes back to Hugo.

I kind of like Calixta and Amador together, but it seems like he might be a little too normal to get caught up in what's going on with her. He already sensed something strange when he walked in and Estanislao was there.

It's really annoying how Cris's parents love Sara so much. I hope they see soon how fake she is soon.