Caray, Caray!

LA CASA DE AL LADO – viernes*

The penultimate episode:
In which Raquel is slain in the slo-mo Battle of the Blondes; the bionic Mora boys rise from the ashes thanks, in part, to those moronic Conde kids; and Cecilia gets thrown in the slammer.

*Tonight’s episode is sponsored by Silver Duct Tape – for all your abduction needs

Part One: One Monster Slain:
These boots are made for stalking:
From Rebeca’s perspective on the floor, we first see the dominatrix boots, the slender legs covered in black. Now Raquel crouches menacingly over Rebeca. She guessed right! She climbed into the only lighted room and voilà! She pulls out a butcher knife. She knows Pilar will show up, sooner or later ...

Nibaldo and Yolanda go out looking for Cecilia and thanks to the moans the DUCT TAPE gag can’t contain, they find her tied up in the Ruiz kitchen. They bring her back to the big house. Call the cops, she tells them. Raquel is heading for la casa de al lado!

...Someone’s being sleeping in my bed ... and she’s still there!
Raquel doesn’t have to wait long. Pilar comes home and peeks in Rebeca’s room ... ah, she’s asleep. (Rebeca can’t warn her – her mouth is DUCT-TAPED shut.) Then Pilar hears a noise in the hall. It’s Hilda, about to give her baby her bottle and then put Rebeca to bed.

Uh oh. If Hilda left Rebeca sitting in her wheelchair, who’s that in the bed?

Pilar pulls the covers back and Raquel, revealed in killer black glory, leaps out brandishing a knife.

Hilda runs downstairs to tell – let’s see: Yolanda, Nibaldo, Eva, Andrea, Diego, Karen, Cecilia – what is happening upstairs. And they DO NOTHING.

Meanwhile, Raquel declares she’s going to complete the cycle by ending Pilar’s life in the very room where Iván was murdered by his brothers. But don’t count Rebeca out. She reaches out and somehow catches Raquel off-balance (or something – if someone saw this better, please fill in the blanks) and the knife flies out of her hand. It slides toward the doorway where Pilar is standing.

Now Pilar grabs the knife and the struggle spills out into the hallway. Mauritza Rodriguez grimaces and struggles heroically against herself in slooooooooooow mooooooooootion. Raquel forces Pilar to the floor. The camera follows the path of the knife. Finally we watch Pilar plunge the blade into Raquel’s belly. Raquel falls back and Pilar stares at her in horror.

Now that it’s all over, Nibs comes upstairs followed by Cecilia. Pilar is comforting Rebeca: Raquel está muerta, she tells her. Me salvaste la vida.

Cecilia proceeds to matter-of-factly wipe Pilar’s prints off the knife, replacing them with her own. She is the one who killed, Raquel. Get it?

The police arrive, too late to help anyone, of course, but in time to lead Cecilia away in handcuffs. Don’t worry about me, she tells them all, I’ll be where I belong. (It won’t be easy, Ceci – no pills, no booze, no l’Oreal de Tijuana).

Part Two: One Monster Loosed:

Emilio guesses Carola is in the country house with Ismael and rushes out to keep her from doing something crazy. ( As if.) Carola is deeply into Ismael’s shock therapy when she hears Emilio upstairs. She has to keep Ismael quiet so she runs DUCT-TAPE not just across his mouth but around his whole head. Several times. Then she runs upstairs and tries to get Emilio to leave.

Left alone, Ismael scoots his chair over to the lighted candles used for his earlier bikini wax. He backs up to a candle and aims the rope binding his hands towards the flame ...

Emilio’s not leaving without checking out the basement. But he and Carola wasted too much time arguing. Ismael is nowhere to be seen. There’s nothing for them to do but get out of there.

As soon as they leave, Ismael reveals himself, nearly naked, his skin peppered with the burns and bruises inflicted by Carola. He was hiding in the kitchen (note to self: Kitchens make you invisible). I’m not sure but I think he’s a little miffed.
 

LA CASA – viernes (continued)

Back at the apartment, Emilio reproaches Carola – She always screws things up! And by spurring on Ismael’s hatred and thirst for blood, she made him even more dangerous than he already was -- but she is unrepentant.

Part Three: One Monster Undead:

The day after Raquel’s death, Hilda catches Pilar just as she is about to leave Casa Conde. There is something she has to see at la casa de al lado ... She leads her back to the Ruiz house and shows her the book: Pilar de mi vida. Puzzled, Pilar begins to leaf through it... But it will have to wait. She is in a hurry. Before she leaves, she agrees to borrow Hilda’s cell.

Pilar opens the door only to find Javier on her doorstep. He was so convinced she was in danger, he persuaded his doctor to bring him there in a wheelchair.

In danger? Hell, yes. But he’s a little late, Pilar tells him. Does he really want to help her? Then how about getting her ma out of jail? (Did I miss the part where he got his license back?)

Meanwhile Diego is determined to find out what is happening with his grandma. Nooooooo! Watch out, kid! Ay, too late! No sooner does he leave the house than he is snatched from behind by a black-clad figure, a black glove covering his mouth to keep him from screaming.

Pilar has had a dream about Gonzalo taking her away, somewhere they can start over, somewhere they can live their love. And when wide-awake Pilar goes outside and meets up with the miraculously recovered and well-dressed Iñaki in the flesh, she exclaims with amazement: You’re alive!

But when he urges her to get in his car and come away with him just as they dreamed, to erase the past and start over – they can leave in a small private plane, go to someplace like Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic and then decide what they want to do -- it’s a different story.

She tells him that she although she loves him, she can’t leave with him. She can’t walk away from her family.

Iñaki has a surprise for her – they’ll all be together. See, he says excitedly, gesturing at his car, Diego is already sitting in the back seat. (Yes, gentle reader, Iñaki was the man with one black glove).

Pilar tries to bargain with Iñaki – she’ll go with him if he’ll let Diego free. Iñaki gets more forceful, more insistent, more ... insane. Finally he forces her into the car and drives off, deaf to Pilar’s protests.

We have to leave a few cliff-hangers for Monday, no?

Ismael lurks outside the Conde’s apartment building. (Emilio and Carola have gone out earlier.) Now he sees Eva and Yolanda leave and he heads for the apartment where Nibaldo is watching baby Ig. Nibaldo opens the door unsuspectingly ...

And when Yolanda, concerned when that Nibs isn’t answering the phone, comes back to the apartment, she finds a grinning Ismael holding baby Iggy in his arms, while Nibs sits helpless, tied in a chair. (Is his mouth duct-taped? Probably).

Through the bars of her jail cell, Cecilia tells Javier not to kid himself – Pilar will never come back to him. Does he still want to represent her?

On the open road, as Iñaki drives further and faster, Pilar becomes increasingly desperate. Finally she strikes out at him (it looks like she pops him in the nose!) and the car swerves. He is able to pull over safely and stop; but he is distracted him long enough for Pilar to escape from the front seat. While she is trying to get Diego out too, Iñaki starts up the car again, Diego still in the back seat. He peels out, leaving Pilar standing alone and frantic.
 

"Iñaki gets more forceful, more insistent, more ... insane." Well put, NovelaMaven. Dude seemed perfectly (for him) normal when he was trying to crawl around the hideaway in the previous episode, but now he's up and walking around and huh? Was I the only one thinking that Gonzo's presumably final act of evil/insanity was done just to kill off Pilar's borderline irrational love for him? That bugged me almost as much as those solid two minutes of super slo-mo.

I won't lie, though: I probably would have forgiven this episode all its trespasses if Gonzo had just used some of that duct tape on Diego. And with him and Nibs in this episode I have to wonder: has every single character really been abducted, injured, or otherwise stuck in the hospital at some point?
 

LA CASA

NovelaMaven, props to you for sticking with this mess. As always, a great recap. I couldn't do it, gave up on this one around Mon. or Tue and just started deleting the episodes.

FLOR SALVAJE

It's hard for me to get on board with Abel as the big powerful bad narco guy. He's too young and just can't sell it.

When the scene changed at the wedding and Fransisco was conveniently tied up with ropes in a chair (and no one else in the room who could have tied him up) I knew we were heading down another fantasy road. So Abel puts on the silencer and shoots him in the back of the head, then does the psycho neck stretches that we've grown accustomed to seeing Gonzo do in La Casa.

If you were a new viewer and didn't have all the history, you might think that Ana is just another ho earning a living at the 4P. But here's the deal, we know what's gone on. And as far as I can tell, I haven't seen her take even one client anywhere until last night when the helicopter landed with a bunch of rich dudes. You gotta love how the girls line up all giddy waiting for instructions from Flor and then run off with the rich guys like it's their first rodeo. Please. Aren't these supposed to be seasoned ho's??

This thing with Ines making up the pregnancy is going to backfire big time. I mean, even she recognizes that JM is a doctor...

Why is Abel running around the fields in two different baby hummers? One red one and one silver one? And why does his sicario help him in and out of the truck if he's the one driving?? Jeebus.

When he tells Jonny to get out and then gives him a beat down, again I was like come on now, just not believable. And El Asqueroso has been nothing but a loyal worker to the guy, what gives?

I liked the scene where Sacramento confronted Abel as he sat at the hotel with Amanda.

Loved the scene where Mariano came in and told Cat and Rocio about what was going on with Rafael. This guy never fails.

We already knew the ability of Rocio como actriz, but she's shining even more now playing a blind person. Really good.
 

LA CASA -- viernes

"I won't lie, though: I probably would have forgiven this episode all its trespasses if Gonzo had just used some of that duct tape on Diego."

Yes, Bill C! My thoughts exactly -- it would have been a Full Duct Tape Sweep!

"...I have to wonder: has every single character really been abducted, injured, or otherwise stuck in the hospital at some point?"

Or in jail, Bill C. Let's not forget that Carola's not the only one with antecedentes. Both Eva and Pilar have spent time in the slammer.

Hey Rand,
You'll get no argument from me. All I can say is, with all its flaws, there was something here that kept me coming back each night. And I'm the kind of person who doesn't hesitate to walk out of a movie or concert when I'm disappointed in what I hear and see.

I wish the thing had been as short and tight as Carola's miniskirts, as elegantly designed as Eva's wardrobe and the writing as sharp as the heels of Pilar's stilettos.

But then it wouldn't be a telenovela -- it would be a film. (And maybe a really good one.)
 

LA CASA - VIERNES

NovelaMaven, what to say? Your recap was SO outstanding, dripping with prime snark! Yep, they definitely wiped out the Florida 7-11's and hardware stores of their duct tape stock for this one.

Actually, I didn't think Pilar stabbed Raquel. Pilar had the knife, they struggled, and it looked to me like Raquel kind of fell on it.

I couldn't believe it when Hilda went up there to feed her baby and, I think, check on Rebeca and then LEAVES HER BABY UPSTAIRS WITH THE MANIAC and goes downstairs to tell all the fine folks who, as you said NM, do absolutely nothing.

Loved Ismael's "bikini wax".

And that Iñaki has some amazing immune system, doesn't he? One day, I think, after being shot and unable to support his weight in whatever weird warehouse he was in, he's all GQ and let's hop a plane out of here, baby.
 

LA CASA -- viernes

Thanks so much, Novelera. You know what a fan I am of your writing so your words mean a lot to me.

"Actually, I didn't think Pilar stabbed Raquel. Pilar had the knife, they struggled, and it looked to me like Raquel kind of fell on it"

Raquel fell on her own sword? Even better?

And great point about Hilda leaving her baby upstairs with Raquel on the loose -- I didn't even think of that.

It's not just Iñaki with amazing recuperative powers -- who (of the survivors) has NOT been brought back from the brink of death on this show? And look at Javier go -- one minute he's in intensive care hooked up to oxygen, EKG's, IV's running, his wounds swathed in bandages, the next he's The Best Lawyer in the Country consulting with his client across the bars of her cell.
 

FLOR SALVAJE – VIERNES – Part 1

It turns out the helicopter is not there to whisk Flor off for a Paris weekend. It’s full of billionaires to sample the wares at the 4P. Ana, Correcaminos, La Mina, and Fideo are each assigned a ricachon by Flor.

In Sacramento’s talk with some of his workers, he learns that only people with large families are hired for the big bucks at the new hacienda. [More next-of-kin to threaten if they want to leave?] Sacto says he’s not going to take this lying down and will go right to the guy. Whoops! His life expectancy just dipped precipitously.

Mariano Guerrero spends a lot of time in this episode assuring everyone that Abel Torres is going to be the new savior of Nueva Esperanza. Guess that was a princely sum on that slip of paper that he will receive mensualmente.

Abel is getting on my nerves big time. And our fierce Flor doesn’t slap him down for his carping lectures on her past and current behavior, especially her love for Rafael Urrieta.

Frigida shows José María the fake positive pregnancy test. He looks like he’s on his way to the gallows. She also comes up with the “poor Ines was too modest to be examined by him” story. She doesn’t know Ines practically raped him on the examination table.

Rafa wakes up after his night of torture, covered with cuts and bruises and with a silver bullet sitting by his side. He confronts Quesada, asking how could his guys have let someone into a cell with a knife and handcuffs. Quesada can’t believe it; his cops always search prisoners. Rafa asks him if he thinks he’d have let someone do this to him if the guy weren’t armed and hadn’t handcuffed him. What’s a bit funny here is Quesada calls him “Don Rafael” at one point. He hasn’t completely lost his mojo by being a prisoner.

José María goes to tell Ines they will marry. At first she’s thrilled. Then he mentioned Frigida showing him the test, and she realizes that she’s about to be part of a shotgun wedding. When she talks to Frigida about it, she tells her that, by the time José María wises up, they’ll already be married and, furthermore, go jump his bones a lot so it will be true.

There was some rather confusing stuff about the drugs. I guess Diego sold them to recoup the money they got from Francisco to buy them in the first place. He sold them to the local cartel guys, who were very aggressive about where he got them. He told them they’d been stolen from a police evidence locker. Abel also wants to trace these drugs.

Flor and Abel have a long conversation. He asks her to sit with him at his breakfast table. This is where he annoys the crap out of me. He says he can’t believe she’s still in love with Rafa, knowing how much she cares about Zahra – and Rafa killed him. They get into a riff about forgiveness. Flor says it’s important to do that to move on. He says forgiveness is hard for him. He appears to have carefully researched her. He knows all about what happened with her brother, Emilio, and Mariano Guerrero and that she’s an orphan like him. I can’t believe she isn’t outraged he’s pried into her personal life so much.
 

FLOR SALVAJE – VIERNES – Part 2


Just then Sacto barrels up and confronts Abel about stealing his peones. He’s beyond rude to the guy, asking him what he’s going to grow anyway. Abel smirks at him and says it’s the “law of supply and demand”, buddy. When Flor confronts him about being so rude, Sacto says he might have known she’d befriend another guy with a dark cloud over him. Abel jumps up and says he won’t stand for him speaking to Flor that way.

After Sacto leaves, Flor tells him about his inheriting a hacienda and that he was left at the church door as an infant. This softens Abel up a bit. When Flor tells him she was married to Sacto, he wonders how she could have left a virtuous guy for a murderer.

Mariano is gleefully telling Rocío and Cat about what happened to Rafa in jail. He can’t believe he let that happen to him. Flor must have castrated him. After Cat leaves, he tells Rocío that Rafa deserved it; every human being gets what they deserve, don’t they? Rocío responds: then I guess I deserve to be blind. He calls her muñequita [Jeez, this guy makes my skin crawl.] and says, of course, she was an innocent victim.

Sacto shows up to complain about Abel and briefly puts his arm around Rocío. Mariano can’t stand to see even a friend touch her. Naturally, his rant about Abel falls on deaf, bribed ears.

Flor discusses her conflicted feelings with Zahra. Abel makes her doubt her love for Rafael and to feel guilty about it. She tells her about the helicopter full of ricos. Zahra says he’s really trying to impress her. She warns Flor that Abel is very intelligent. Stay away from him before it’s too late.

Rafa tells Rufino what happened. He doesn’t know the guy who did it to him. Rufino is ready to murder the guy, but they don’t know who he is or where he came from. Rafa correctly says that someone hired him to do it.

Filomena has a meeting in her hotel room with two lawyers. She invites Enrique to sit with them. She’s preparing her legal action against Zahra.

In the last scene we see Flor running into Pablo’s wife [forgot her name]. When Flor asks what she’s doing back in Nueva Esperanza, Abel moves in, smirk in place, saying he invited her.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO – viernes

awesome recap NovelaMaven.

only 24 hours and Inaki had a 180 degree change! both physically & mentally. well, they needed the big evil for the final. however I think the kidnapping theme is toooo repetitive.

it seems that each family is going to finish one Mora boy off. fair.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADA:

Great, funny recap, NovelaMaven. I agree that just about every character has been tied up, abducted or been to the hospital for something life threatening. It does seem that if you actually make it to the hospital, you'll be fine (unless someone kills you while you're in there :)

I know there was slow motion, but I liked the way they shot Pilar vs. Raquel, really making you forget it's the same actress.

I think Javier's license was just threatened to be revoked, not actually revoked (although it should have been for various other things). I'm sure he'll tell Cecilia he'll defend her even without getting Pilar back, but I wish he'd let her rot in jail. I still can't see her as a good character. Even her taking the rap for Pilar is annoying to me (Pilar would have been not guilty because of self defense anyway). And that book, Pilar de me vida, very cute, Pillar of my life. How sweet. Not!

Yes, the kitchen makes you invisible. I think when Cecilia was tied up in the kitchen, Hilda went to check the house, thought she heard a noise, but didn't check the kitchen, and later reported back that nobody was in that house.

Gonzaki needs to hold onto Diego, as his "ace in the hole". But what in his sick brain thinks they could ever start a new life after the way he's been acting lately. I'm sort of hoping Diego somehow uses Dish Latino to save the day.

My other hope is that Hilda will be the hero. Or (as I hoped a few weeks ago), all the Condes will be killed, leaving Hilda as the owner of the house.

One thing we can be pretty sure of: Emilio and Carola are too stupid to be the heroes. I think.
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN:

In order to keep evil Hugo out of her apartment, Belinda has Gojo change the locks. What she doesn't know is that Hugo is already hiding in the apartment the whole time. So after everyone leaves, he pounces, and threatens her so much that she may give in to his pressure. Earlier, Hugo tried to make an analogy, asking Gojo if he'd want to give up his favorite tool. Gojo tried to point out to Hugo that Belinda is not an object, Hugo didn't get it.

Marcela does use a key to look in Calixta's secret chest. She finds the pictures of Cali's dead husband (Stan's brother) but doesn't know who it is. Cali's working on a deal with Stan, which makes the others wonder what's wrong with her.

Among other dirt thrown at Marisa, some of the bad guys are hinting since she didn't get Cris, she's trying to get "too friendly" with Ty. Marisa's ideas about the hotel did get noticed up top, and Cris, Tito and Ty realize how smart she is.

Tania tells Jerome he needs to go to treatment for steroid withdrawal the next day. He grudgingly agrees, but he's not going to any live in place. He's got his NBA career to look out for!

When Marisa catches Victor and Lety, she first reams out Victor. Later, Lety admits she was guilty, too. Marisa tells her please don't make this mistake, she'll just be hurt. Lety says that's the way she's always been, jumping in, then regretting it.

Catalina and Sara keeping plotting against each other. On her show, Cat hints that Sara made up the Cinderella Queens thing to draw attention to herself, and get Cris for herself.

Meanwhile, Tito wants to sue the TV station (Sara gave him this idea, but he never mentions that). Cris is sort of opposed, wants to concentrate on his Dad's health, but says Tito can proceed on his own.

At the end of the episode, a drunk Victor blurts out to Marisa that he can't be fired, after all, he was hired by Cris! This shocks Marisa. If she confronts Cris, there's no way he'll say Lalo requested it. So once more Marisa and Cris will be forced apart. You asked for it, Cris!
 

LA CASA -- viernes

"I'm sort of hoping Diego somehow uses Dish Latino to save the day."

Oh yes, Hombre, that would be perfect! :)

"it seems that each family is going to finish one Mora boy off. fair."

True, Alex. Nice symmetry there. But what if Pilar slays ALL the dragons? She's already 2 for 2!
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN

I think once Marisa finds out Cris bought the hotel to give her job back to her and then hired Victor, it won't go over too well. I bet when she confronts Cris, he'll say he hired Victor because he felt sorry for him after the interview on Catalina's show and he won't mention Lalo asking him to do it. Marisa still won't be happy though. But hopefully, Cris will start to fight more to be with her and won't allow everyone and everything to continue to keep them apart.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO
Thanks Novelamaven for such a wonderful and funny summary. Other commenters have been right on.

I would still like to see Inaki and Ismael kill one another. I found Carola's sadism sickening. It seems like Javier is being painted as a poor depressed lonely sad sack. It would really be il colmo if he and Pilar end up together.

Anyway, like the preceding weeks of this show, there is nothing to resolve; nothing makes sense. So whatever ending they come up with will be fine --just as long as this lunacy is over,finally!!!!
 

Una Maid
I missed the entire episode Friday so am very grateful to read Hombre's fine recap. Victor is a buffoon. Didn't Cris tell Victor that if he blabbed about Cris hiring him, the deal was off and he would be fired?
Guess I'm glad I missed the scene with that psycho Hugo hiding in Beli's apt and then terrorizing her. Those scenes are just too chilling. Ugh.
J in Oregon
 

LA CASA -- viernes

NJ Sue, Thanks so much for the nice words.

I can't help thinking that when this show started spinning out of control, it wasn't the fault of the writer, "El Chascas", and that he probably wasn't too happy with what was done to his story by a bunch of network hacks flogging Dish Latino.

I have great hopes for the final episode: maybe it will be WRITTEN by the actual WRITER and reflect the vision he started with.

(On the other hand, maybe I'm just whistling through the very large graveyard needed to accommodate all the bodies already buried.)

I completely agree, by the way, about Carola's sadism -- I made fun of it because it was the only way I could bear to look at it. With her behavior, she joined the ranks of the monsters.

And I would also HATE to see Javier salir con el suyo after all is said and done.
 

LA CASA

CAROLA
too bad that her sadistic behavior was not criticized in the story. I hope she is not going to be considered as the heroine!

THE WRITER
I don't think he was obligated, for example, to pump so much stupid filler into the story. I believe he could have done a much better job with this show. yet something made me keep watching this show all along. the great cast sure had a big part but there was also sort of magnetism in the plot.

Javier
I too would hate to see him salir con el suyo >:(
 

Guys, it's salirse con la suya whether it's referring to a male or female person getting away with something.
 

Guys, it's salirse con la suya whether it's referring to a male or female person getting away with something.
 

LA CASA

Hey anon 5:35,
Thanks so much for the correction!
:)
 

La Casa

I admit I have not watched every episode of this, I got turned off when I realized Gonzalo was the culprit very early on, and it's similiarities to the far superior Alquien Te Mira, but what has kept me coming back was you guys. Without this blog and the wonderful writing I would have turned off of this permanently a long time ago. I think Telemundo personally owes you guys a dinner at one of the best restaurants.
And with that I say thank you again, to the writers and for this blog.
 

Is anyone else SICK of hearing Andrea scream and whine about everything?! She drives me insane!
 

LA CASA

Alp, I agree. Andrea's default behavior is spoiled brat. Her good side has been her love for her brother. But she does screech when she doesn't get her way.
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO – GRAN (if you say so) FINAL

The final score:
Bad guys: Zero
Good guys: Um ... oh ... that’s right, there are no good guys.

Adolfmael’s fate:
Carola douses him with gasoline and tosses his own lighter at him. He dances his way to hell, a human torch shrieking in pain. Eva and Carola look on, sharing a tender mother/daughter moment, seemingly unconcerned that the whole apartment building and everyone inside it are also in danger of bursting into flame.

Gonzaki’s fate:
After a chase scene filmed low-budget style (lots of shots of various people sitting in various obviously unmoving cars; many opportunities for Iñaki to do his facial muscle exercises.) -- and will you look at that man run on his injured leg!--, he is captured by the police and sent to prison.

Just before he is put into the squad car, he and Pilar exchange one final look. Her face softens and turns sad. On his face, we see the trace of a smile.

Later, we catch a glimpse of the delights of his new life. Not many men can wear orange with such aplomb. We sense he will make many fast friends.

Two matriarchies rise up from the patriarchal ashes:

Eva is the head of the redefined and realigned familia Conde. The viewer is expected to let go of the past – Carola’s horrifying sadism, Emilio’s history as a man-whore, Hilda’s adjustment problems, Eva’s domineering snobbery, baby Iggie’s genetic disorder: these are all airbrushed leaving a beautiful and harmonious family living the upper-middle class dream in a house that seems as lovely, if not quite as ostentatious as the old Casa Conde. And Don Renato? Renato who? Baby Iggie shows off her first shaky baby steps ...

... And in la casa de al lado, so does Rebeca, apparently on her way to a complete recovery. Here’s the redefined familia Arismendi: Pilar, Cecilia, Andrea, Diego, Rebeca. Karen’s there too, maybe just for a visit. Mysterious boxes of books? Cecilia’s legal problems? Her out-of-control use of alcohol, pills and eyeliner? Meh. Let’s keep moving along, folks.

Okay, okay. One more nod to the heart of the story:
Pilar turns away from the group and catches a fleeting glimpse of Gonzalo standing behind a tree, a benign expression on his face. This is the Gonzalo she fell in love with. A moment later, he has vanished.

That’s show biz!
Two international stars are launched:
We hear mariachi Nibaldo singing the tragic story of two brothers. But the message of the song is upbeat -- ♪♪Borrón y cuenta nueva♪♪ he croons. Later we learn that he, accompanied by Yolanda – their love now rekindled – is on a successful South American tour. Karen’s doing well too – so much talent in the servants’ quarters. Who knew?

Javier’s fate:
He lost a little blood chasing after Diego. And he was a little hurt when Diego -- Dieguito, hijo mio -- newly freed from Gonzaki’s clutches, ran right past him and into his mother’s arms. He looked, at least momentarily, bereft when Pilar asked Emilio to take her home. Did he expect her to come running back to him?

But now he has recovered. His pants are still too tight, he is still given to maudlin musings and he is still an arrogant womanizer.

After a sentimental soliloquy and a nod to the ghost of Ignacia, we see him strolling outside. He meanders over to la casa de al lado and introduces himself to the new guy moving in. The guy is a businessman, specializing in exports. And he’s in the market for a corporate counsel. What luck to move in next door to the Best Lawyer in the Country! His wife – well, let’s just say she makes Javier forget his problems. Game on!

FIN
 

La Casa

Thank you NovelaMaven. La Casa al Lado, may it RIP.

BTW, I understand the new telenovela Relaciones Peligrosas will be an interactive one with the characters using tweets and facebook. The cast looks too young for me to be interested.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/telemundo-social-tv-strategy-relaciones-peligrosas-284155
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO:

As always, NovelaMaven, you've graced us with wit and style. Too bad the show itself didn't have too much of that.

They sort of turned it into a Univision style final, without the wedding. All fluff. I did enjoy Adolfmael getting his due, although given the way Carola was treated by the cops throughout, you'd think she'd be in trouble again, with all her "priors". But no.

And as you point out, not a word about Cecilia's book. And now two families, living in two houses, and not a job in the bunch. Emilio, Carola, Eva, Hilda, I don't think any are working. But at least they're happy.

As for the next show, Relaciones Peligrosas, I'm definitely watching. Ana Layevska is my all time favorite novela actor. She's a master of disguises, a master of accents and languages, can play so many different parts. And I also love Maritza Bustamante, whom I've seen in Perro Amor and El Fantasma de Elena.
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN:

Although I like the nice characters and the bright colors of this show, it really doesn't have a whole lot of drama, is often silly, and I may watch El Talisman on Univision starting next week. If so, I probably won't be commenting any more on this one. We'll see.

We did have some drama last night, as Ty goes in for his heart bypass, and he may have died! It all comes down to a battle between the praying that some of the characters have done, vs. the bad premonitions those same characters have. Nothing to do with the doctors, of course.

Evil Hugo has totally broken down sweet Belinda. He forces her to kiss him, then apparently has rough sex with her. He tells her 1)she now has to quit her job, and 2)she'd better not tell anyone what happened, or he'll kill himself, but he'll kill Marisa and
Gojo first! Belinda comes to work with her neck covered up, and tells everyone she and Hugo have made up. Right.

Jerome tells Tania he's fine, no need for the doctor, pumps the exercycle, and promptly has heart pains. The doc tells him his steroid use is going to cause a heart attack. What a surprise.

Marisa gets a raise from Mr. Frost. When he leaves the room, she looks at some papers he left on the desk, and finds that Cris is the owner of the hotel! She's not a happy camper.

Lety gets rid of Bob, the one night stand, who apparently thought when she said "don't ever leave me" in the middle of an orgasm, that meant he should move in! No, Bob.

Marisa tells drunk Victor to stay away from her, and from Lety. Vic thinks he a grown up who can make his own decisions. I disagree.

Bruno has sex with Sara, barely avoiding getting caught by Tito, later has sex with Catalina. After this second one, he steals back the $50,000 check which Sara had paid Cat to be quiet, which Cat had just left right out in her purse. Very believable.

Okay, can you see why I may be trying that other show? :)
 

LA CASA DE AL LADO
As usual a wonderful recap of a truly terrible "Gran Final."

So many questions --most of which were posed by Nobvelamaven. But how did Cecilia get out of prison after confessing to the killing of Raquel?? Javier must really be the best lawyer in the United States.
But then again, I missed how Pilar was never on trial for Riccardo Merino's murder and got out of jail as easily as her mother. As for Carola, she is really as sick as the Mora brothers. For most of the segments, she was hell bent on destroying Gonzalo for revenge. Why suddenly did she develop such a hatred for Ismael which made her more sadistic than he was, and drop her revenge against Gonzalo --who was more of a menace to her. I found the burning scene literally disgusting, and couldn't believe Eva's response. She looked like there was a bad smell nearby,forgetting about the fact that her daughter had just set a man on fire. I've seen this actress before, and while she's not a great actress, she was not as pathetic as she was in this. Same for Angelica Maria --who is a good actress and was not only great in LA FEA, but also in MUJERES ASSESINO. Was the director phoning it in? Or were they directed to act as cartoon characters? And finally what happened to Baby Ignacia's terrible genetic disorder? Perhaps it was fixed by the best lawyer in the u.S. as well.

Finally,obviously there is no punishment for Javier-the-Horrible. It seemed as though it would be loneliness, but to end on that cheap note of his hitching his pants and following the sexpot....
Oh well, why did I expect something better?

For a long time, the show, the recaps, and especially the comments were great fun. Thanks to all.....
 

Hombre, you are the king of the short recap (apologies to Arturo Pérez-Reverte). Thank you for the clever, beautifully written miniatures that you cranked out day after day!

Thanks to NJ Sue and Bill C for chiming in now and then. Alex, it was fun having this conversation with you. Nellie, Novelera – thank you for egging me on in this folly by letting me know you were out there. And to anyone else who stopped by (Erin, I hope all is well), thanks. Jean and I are quite used to playing to a small room but it’s reassuring to know it wasn’t completely empty.

I was curious about the original version of this novela so I took a look at the final episode of the Chilean show, La familia de al lado.

http://tinyurl.com/7dhttvm

Some obvious differences:

First, Renato survives to the end. It is he and Eva who are Ismael’s hostages, not Yolanda and Nibaldo. And the baby isn’t in the scene at all.

Carola is in jail until the last minute so no gratuitous torture in the basement. Ismael dies in Chile just as he did in Miami but this Carola and Eva look on in sorrow and horror mixed with relief that their ordeal is finally over.

Gonzalo is said to have confessed to killing Ignacia so I guess that means there was no evil twin for Pilar.

Gonzalo has Andrea and Diego in the car with him and Pilar. Pilar escapes with Diego and it is Andrea who has to endure the final chase.

When Gonzalo is captured, he has a chance to say:
Perdóname Pilar. Perdóname – te amo.

Days later:
The cast gathers for the baby’s baptism.

At the family dinner table, Renato announces his new business venture and purchase of a house.

We see that Pilar and her children are their new neighbors. Karen is caring for Rebeca, much more impaired here but recovering.

(Pilar has the same fleeting vision of Gonzalo.)

Javier introduces himself to the new guy: “They say I’m the best lawyer in Chile.” If there’s any drooling over the man’s wife, it’s behind the scenes.

Also some musical differences: The Chilean version had two theme songs:

For Gonzo and Pilar, Camila's "Aléjate de mí"

For Emilio/Benjamin and Hilda, Enrique Iglesias's "Cuando me enamoro".

About the new show:
I like Ana Layevska too and I’m also a fan of Sandy E, so I’ll probably take a look at the show. But I won’t be writing about it except maybe for a comment now and then.
 

LA CASA - GRAN FINAL

Thanks, NovelaMaven. Well written as always. Enoch on Telenovela World calls these unresolved plot points "hanging chads". We had a lot of them. The book about Pilar seemingly written by Cecilia annoyed me no end.

I actually liked Javier perking up at the sight of the sexy neighbor. It gave Varoni one last chance to be a jaunty rogue. It was also kind of sad, and a bit funny, the way he talked to Ignacia. Apparently she's a regular in the house. He asked her if they should order a pizza. After all, she can't cook either. He's sort of hoist with his own petard. He lost his family from being such a jerk and is now alone except for a ghost.

I'm also going to give El Talismán a try. I kind of miss the folks in the Univisión part of the blog.

But I'm staying with Flor Salvaje for the duration.
 

FLOR SALVAJE – LUNES – Part 1

Abel’s having brought Lucía to Nueva Esperanza rightfully makes Flor suspicious. Good. I was thinking her spidey sense of a villain was completely gone. She asks if he did it to harm her. In this scene and several others Abel sickeningly states that he’s an honorable person, standing up for justice. I’m not sure exactly why he’s doing this. Rafa has already admitted doing it. Maybe it’s to rub Flor’s nose in it so she’ll give up on Rafa and turn to him? Anyway, the stated purpose of Lucía being there is to take Pablo’s remains back to where he was born so his son will have a grave to visit. Abel says he’ll push the cops to release the body as soon as possible.

Mariano tries to goad Rafa about the beating he took in his cell. As usual, Rafa gives as good as or better than he gets. He criticizes the lax prison system set up by Mariano. He also tells him that the same person who killed Francisco had him beaten and the silver bullet is the evidence. That silver bullet is a major point in Rafa’s favor. There’s no way he could have gotten that into his cell.

Filomena arrogantly calls Zahra to her room. She has some papers already drawn up. If Zahra gives up her inheritance and completely disappears from NE, then she won’t go after her anymore. Zahra behaves with perfect dignity in this scene. She tells her it would be like admitting she killed her husband, and that she will never do. When Filo sputters “How dare you defy me?”, Zahra tells her she’s not afraid of her. Go ahead and do your worst.

Alicia insists that Johnny vacate her room, where he’s been recuperating. She reminds him that if Flor sees him with her, the jig is up. When he snarks that he can handle FS, Alicia pulls a knife on him. He actually leaves, with a parting line that Alicia may turn out to be a more ruthless narco than he is.

The head peon, Raúl, tells Sacto that they’re on the verge of losing the crop for lack of workers. Sacto mounts up and gallops toward Abel Torres’ lands, rifle in hand. He looks exactly like a guy in a 1950s western. He’s looking around what looks like that place they were going to process coca, but doesn’t see anything suspicious. Maybe they’re in the ante-room where they were going to brew coffee? Just then Johnny shows up for a refuge. Sacto recognizes him immediately. Johnny runs. Sacto pursues on horseback and somehow shoots Johnny off his motorcycle without actually hitting him. Johnny does get away.

Frigida is raving on with Manuela. Manuela thinks it’s odd that someone as “virginal” as Ines would be pregnant before marriage. Frig loses the train of thought and raves on about the importance of bringing this “gift” to your husband when you marry. Manuela reminds her that Ines gave JM her “gift” ahead of time.
 

FLOR SALVAJE – LUNES – Part 2

Ines and José María talk. She feels badly when he says he’s ready to get married. She didn’t want it to be because of that paper. She almost tells him the truth when Caridad looms up out of the shadows and puts on a show of indignation. As soon as she asks JM to leave she grins in triumph. Later JM meets with Ines again and says they’ll get married in two weeks.

Rocío's famed “blind instincts” aren't doing her any good when it comes to Abel Torres. She tries to convince Flor that he’s a good man and that the reason Flor is against him is because she’s in love with Rafa.

Lucía tells Abel that Rafael Urrieta is a mythical figure in this town. People still think he’s powerful, even though he’s in jail. Torres says he wants a “public spectacle” of giving Lucía Pablo’s body. This, he thinks, will remind the town what Rafa is.

Alicia and Enrique talk about their situation. Enrique, I think, tempts fate by saying that Diego is completely loyal and will keep their secret. I think what’s going on here is that Enrique, when all is said and done, is a rich kid who believes things turn out right. Alicia is more realistic about the danger they’re in. She reminds him they’re caught between two different drug gangs: the one currently selling in their area and Johnny’s bunch.

Mariano appears to have decided to help Abel Torres blame Rafa for the murder of Francisco. Sacto barges in and says he found Johnny, a known narco, on Abel’s land. Mariano tells him to be careful; Abel Torres is a respectable man. Abel claims not to know why the guy was there and asks Sacto out for coffee. He sucks up to him by telling him that denouncing a narco was a brave thing to do. It kind of appears as if Abel’s sense of solidarity with Sacto as children of mothers who deserted them is going to keep him from bumping Sacto off for his defiance.

Vicente tells Rocío that Mariano is a bad guy. When Mariano married his mother, he was thick as thieves with Rafael Urrieta, a known criminal. And he got over the death of Lourdes waaay too fast.

Sacto isn’t buying Abel’s overtures of friendship. He tells him he doesn’t think they have anything in common. He also tries to manipulate Sacto by criticizing Flor for having left him for a guy like Rafa. Still no sale.

Rufino catches up with Sacto and tells him Rafa wants to talk with him. Meanwhile, Flor has come to visit Rafa. Mariano sticks his nose in and tells Rafa Flor gave away his special table to Abel Torres. Flor denies this, saying it was because the bar was full. Rafa wants to get her out of there (because he wants to talk to Sacto) but she is hurt by his relative coldness. It appears a rift may be imminent for these two.
 

FLOR SALVAJE

Monday's episode of FLOR was one of the weirdest I've seen in a while because they had a bunch of scenes where the actors weren't all present at the same time when the scenes were shot, so they were using a bunch of doubles and disorienting close ups of heads.

I've noticed they do this a bit on Telemundo's Colombian soaps. They did it a lot during DONA BARBARA when Katie Barberi was ill and when Genesis Rodriguez injured her arm -- they'd shoot an establishing shot showing only the back of the actor's double, all the other actors would do the scene, then, at a later time, they'd shoot Katie or Genesis's part of the scene, all in close ups which would later be inserted into the scene.

But they used this technique in about three scenes last night. They did a scene with Mariano, Abel and Sacramento where clearly, none of the actors were in the same room with the other. Then, they did a really weird insert shot of Monica Spear in the scene where she goes to Alicia's house and tells Alicia to run the bar that night.

But it was especially funny in a scene toward the end where Monica Spear and Tony Dalton had a scene with the other actor not present -- they ended up with Flor just stroking the shin of Tony's double as he sat in bed. Then, a close up of Mariano's taunting head was inserted into the scene as well.

On the new soap, I don't see it appealing to me much as I don't give a flip about young people's problems, but I've come to adore Ana Layevska. It's funny, I always found her a bit of a bore in her ingenue and protagonista roles at Univision, but she's become a hoot since moving to Telemundo. I'm thinking I'll just watch the scenes with Ana and Maritza Bustamante, whom I also like.
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN

Thanks for another great recap, Hombre! I know what you mean about this show lacking major drama. I fast forward quite a bit now, but I still enjoy the Marisa/Cris storyline and want to see how it all works out, so I'm sticking with the show. I hope you do too! I'll definitely miss your recaps if you decide to watch another show.

Based on how much time they spent on Ty telling Cris and Marisa to continue his work without him, I doubt he'll make it in tonight's episode. I can't even look at the Belinda/Hugo storyline anymore. It's disgusting, ridiculous, annoying, etc. I don't usually watch the Jerome/Tania storyline anymore either because that has gotten ridiculous too. I guess I just keep hoping the show will get better overall.
 

LA CASA - GRAN FINAL

NovelaMaven tnx for the 2 excellent recaps (as always)

the only parts of the Gran Final that I liked were the scenes of Gonzalo and Pilar.
to me the scenes of Javier were ridiculous. (I agree with NJ about the cartoonish portrayals of some of the actors in this show and I think Javier was one of them in last episodes)
the other parts were just "a Univision style final, without the wedding" (tnx Hombre!)

thank you all for the great comments & recaps. to me this blog was the most interesting part of watching this show :)
 

FLOR SALVAJE - LUNES

Thanks for dropping by, argee2. You obviously have a more discerning eye about how scenes are shot than I do. I didn't really notice what you did.

It's good to hear from another FS viewer. I still like the novela a lot.
 

Una Maid
Hombre, I understand if you give up on Una Maid. Really. But it will be so sad if you do--your recaps are so helpful and full of little important details. If only Univision was included in my cheapo cable lineup, I would probably be switching too.
However, I hope Nancy will keep watching...
:o)
J in Oregon
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN:

J in Oregon, I do feel bad about "jumping ship". If El Talisman isn't any good, I could return.

Anyway, last night's Una Maid was more of the same. Hugo/Belinda: Same. Jerome/Tania: Same. Sara/Catalina: Same. Tito might be gay: Same.

A few things caught my eye, though. First, Ty DID survive. Yay! So the power of prayer beats the power of premonition. It was funny to hear the doctor say "come on, let the procedure work" almost as if he were praying. He then tells the family the next "48 hours will be critical". Later, Lalo returns from his tour. He tells him Mom he "researched Ty's illness on the internet". In Lalo's opinion, "the next 48 hours will be critical". Genius!

Marisa did tell Cris she was hurt that Cris bought the hotel. SHE can't be bought! (not sure if it's exactly the same thing).

And Lety finally stands up to Victor. She says something like "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free." He says, yes but I need to try out that milk first. She says, nope, you'll have to buy the cow first. That is, no nookie until he woos her with flowers, etc., and gives her a ring. Good girl, Lety!
 

RELACIÓNES PELIGROSAS - Gran Esteno

Well, here we go with our new Telemundo novela! The first episode introduces the characters, and the dramatic setup of the key relationship in the story.

We begin at a high school party in a house near the beach. This is Leonardo's house, but he's not one of the main characters. At the party, which has techno music and lots of drugs (ecstasy, I think) and alcohol, we meet 6 young people. Gonzalo is a druggie. He wants to turn on two other guys, Rodrigo and Oswaldo (not sure of his name). The two take the pills into the men's room, but Rodrigo's older brother Sebastian confiscates the drugs, yelling at the two to grow up. Sebastian later goes home.

But the two boys don't grow up. Gonzalo gives them more stuff, they all swallow the pills, and start "tripping". Gonzalo wakes up the next morning in the bathtub of Leonardo's house, remembering very little. Rodrigo and Oswaldo weren't so lucky. They almost raped a teacher (see below), jumped in a car, sped away, argued, had a big crash, and Oswaldo was just about killed. Hearing the cops approach, talking about 10 years in jail for the driver if he was doing drugs, Rodrigo flees the scene. The next morning, the cops come to his house, see blood on the floor, and question Sebastian (the big brother). Sebastian is a rich kid, says get out cops, if you don't have a warrant. But he knows Rodrigo may have been involved. Oswaldo is in critical condition, I think he's going to die.

The other people we met at the party were twins, Mauricio and Sofía. Mauricio is very responsible, but Sofía's a party girl, and they don't leave for a long time. Their family lives on a boat. The father is Manuel, didn't catch the Mom's name.

While Sofía is partying, Mauricio goes for a swim. It turns out that 4 new teachers from the high school were having a wine at a restaurant next door. You have Miranda (Sandra Echeverria), Juan Pablo, a handsome guy with dark hair and facial hair, Patty (Ana Layevska), the shy one, and Santiago (Camilo on Mi Corazon), a fun loving guy.

After they break up, Miranda is walking along the beach when Rodrigo and Oswaldo, high and out of control, attack her without thinking. Mauricio in his bathing suit sees this, and rescues Miranda, the guys fleeing. They then had the car accident. Mauricio and Miranda are drawn to each other, he tells her he's 21 (she thinks he looks 25), she's 27, one thing leads to another, and they end up making beautiful passionate love. Despite the age difference, they want to continue the relationship.

Unfortunately, the next day is the first day of school. A couple of things happen. Juan Pablo gets a threatening message saying you'll pay for what you did, and Patty sees it. JP says it's a book he's working on.

But the bigger shock is that in Miranda's first class, she finds Sofia and Mauricio are her students. He's only 17, and they've slept together!!
 

RELACIÓNES PELIGROSAS:

Besides Mauricio's incredible good looks, Miranda is drawn to him for his mind. He quotes Shakespeare, and later, before they kiss, she is a little hesitant. He quotes someone else saying something like "the best things in life are experienced with your eyes closed. Crying, dreaming and kissing." He then kisses her, and she melts.
 

Relaciones:

Hombre- I watched this last night, mainly to see Sandra (who I just watched in La Fuerza del Destino) and Ana (who I saw in Querida Enemiga). It was all a bit too over the top for me, but boy were they enjoying showing all the young male flesh! Every young man got the opportunity to strut his thin, toned self around in speedo-like boxer briefs. :)

I was surprised that Miranda and her young Romeo jumped into the sack (and onto the table) so quickly, especially after a near rape. I would have been way more cautious, but I guess the attraction was just too strong.

I wondered if the druggie kid with the overbearing/controlling older brother listed him as "Big Brother" on his cell phone ironically (1984), or if it was just a wierd translation of what someone would call their older brother in Spanish?

The episode was a bit over dramatic, but it did leave us with a great cliffhanger ending-- both the kid throwing himself off the balcony and Miranda's discovery.

Not sure if I'll stick with this on a regular basis. But I do like those two actresses. The Televisa/Telemundo actor exchange program did it's job because now I want to see what else Sandra E. can do and have followed her to Telemundo. I did learn last night that she is as terrible a kisser on Telemundo as she is on Televisa. She needs lessons.

Thanks again for the recaplet Hombre!
 

FLOR SALVAJE – MARTES

Rafael has a conversation from his bed with a very suspicious Sacramento. He tells him he’s always admired him for his honesty. When Sacto asks why he’s in the hospital and full of cuts and bruises, Rafa tells him the same person did this to him who killed Francisco Losada. He asks Sacto to protect Flor from Abel Torres. Sacramento admits that Abel gives him a bad feeling, but he’s still resentful and throws it in Rafa’s face that he got Flor back by threatening to kill him if she didn’t return. Rafa tells Sacto that Abel pretends to be something he’s not, while he himself shows his true face. He also tells him that Abel’s sources of income are mysterious and that he came to Rafa’s cell to tell him he wanted him destroyed, along with everything that matters to him. Sacto looks troubled and tells him about finding Abel and Flor having breakfast together.

Rafa later tells Rufino that because of Sacto loving her, he’ll have to protect her. He tells him he’s never had an enemy like Abel Torres, who spent big bucks impressing Flor with the rich clients. Rufino asks if maybe Abel is falling for Flor. Rafa thinks he might be and tells Rufino to watch Flor. If anyone harms a hair on her head, he’ll escape and kill them.

Arsenio is Abel’s henchman. He’s captured Johnny and brings him to the shack on Abel’s land. Interesting thing: It looks like guys with protective masks are processing something in the background, but he just planted his coca crop. Johnny grovels and begs for his life. After pointing a gun at him, calling him an idiot, and saying he put his business and reputation in danger, Abel says he’ll spare him if he does this one thing. Later Johnny and Abel appear at the 4P and tell another tale to make Abel look heroic. Johnny tried to sell drugs to Abel. I think they said Abel beat him up, but later they also talked about Sacto beating him up - unclear. Anyway, Johnny saw the light, came to Abel to apologize because he’s going to give up drugs. Abel offered him work, and that’s why he was on his property. Flor doesn’t look like she believes this, but doesn’t say anything. Ana asks why he didn’t take the guy to jail instead of bringing him to the 4P.

Alicia knows that it will get back to Flor about Johnny being in town. So she and Abelardo go to preemptively tell her he’s here. They thought he was dead. Flor tells them that if any drugs are sold in the 4P, she’ll see to it they are both arrested.

José María comes to Rocío to tell her he’s marrying Ines in 2 weeks and, by the way, she’s pregnant. She tells him he’s no longer part of her life; she wishes him well. He begs her to let him operate and restore her sight. She refuses. Later, she cries in Catalina’s arms. These two are developing a friendship that I think is good for both of them.

Mariano Guerrero, in his new role as Bootlicker in Charge, is doing Abel’s bidding by trying to get Pablo Aguilar’s body released to his wife.

Piruetas plans a solo reading with the new star, Manuela. Flor agrees and everyone is thrilled. Maybe she’ll be a once a week attraction.

Zahra has a confrontation with Filomena, who is planning to take Enrique’s body to the capital to be buried beside his brother, her deceased husband. Zahra absolutely refuses. She’s the wife, and he’ll be buried in Nueva Esperanza after a wake with all his and her friends.

Zahra disappoints me in this episode. Sacto asks her what she thinks about Rafa’s concern about Abel Torres. Zahra tells him Abel is a good man and is helping her ward off Filomena. Major denial.
 

Relaciones- A repeat of the gran estreno was on when I was home for lunch so after reading Hombre's excellent recaplet, I turned it on about halfway through.

Rodrigo was determined which hosptial Oswaldo was in by checking a patient list on the internet!! If this is supposed to take place in the States, I guess they don't know about HIPAA.

When Rodrigo goes to the hospital, he overhears the doctor says tha Oswaldo is probably brain dead.

That was all I saw. I might watch. As Vivi mentioned, lot's of eye candy.
 

RELACIONES PELIGROSAS

Hombre, thanks for starting the conversation with an excellent résumé of this first episode. I'm not sure if I'll stick with this one but I'm definitely going to watch for a few days, at least until El Talismán begins.

I'm pretty sure the "Big Brother" caller ID display was deliberately and ironically Orwellian.

The actors slipping back and forth from English to Spanish would be more convincing if they -- in their roles as children of privilege living in Miami -- were fully bilingual and their English didn't sound so awkward.

I like the dynamics among the four young teachers so far. And the actor playing Mauricio is pretty easy on the eyes:)

And I buy the premise that Miranda (Sandy E's character), already at a vulnerable juncture in her life -- new place, new job, no real friends around her -- would give in to her impulse to go to bed with her hero (and Mauricio's rescue was very Clark Kentish, I thought). If she had actually been raped, it would be a different story, of course. As it is, she is the modern damsel in distress rescued by a beautiful young man who seems literate, sensitive -- Mr. Perfect.

Unfortunately she'll end up paying for her impulsive behavior for the next -- what? six months?
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN

J in Oregon - I'm definitely sticking with this show, so I'll keep commenting on it. :)

On last night's episode I was disappointed to see Marisa bring up the hotel when Cris was trying to thank her for being with him & saying how much it meant that she was there. Bad timing on her part. I think she needs to give him a break. I'm glad Lety stood up to Victor. Maybe she can help turn him into a good person, though it's still doubtful at this point.

Hombre - I agree, there was a lot of the same stuff going on. Hopefully, there will be some excitement on tonight's episode.
 

Relaciones Peligrosas:

Vivi: Hi! Hope you watch this one. And thanks for adding the part about the guy jumping off his ledge. My DVR stopped before the end and I missed that. We should see it repeated tonight.

Jean, also thanks for filling in some important things I forgot.

NoveleMaven, I also believed that Miranda could still sleep with Mauricio after he saved her, especially since she wasn't raped, and also, they spent a long time talking before anything physical happened. Of course, I'll believe just about ANYTHING in a telenovela!

I also realized there's no need for an accent in "relaciones" (which I added to my title) because the stressed syllable is the next to last one. Ooops!
 

Flor Salvaje - tues

thanks novelera!
for another wonderful recap,

I'm wondering if these last couple of shows were filmed over the holidays,
with all of the little problems associated with that,

loved all of the action scenes on monday,

loved seeing Ana again last night,
she puts a different slant on things,
I wish she was around more,
adding her comments,

I don't think Johnny can take much more from his friend of 7 years,
Abel, the good man,
he is looking pretty bad,
and getting worse,

I wonder what Rafael will cook up for Abel,
of course Mariano will always be standing in the way,

maybe Rafael and Sacramento,
both loners,
will ride together,

thanks again!
 

FLOR SALVAJE

Yeah, judging by actors tweets, it seems the show took two weeks off for Christmas, so some of the disjointedness was probably the production rushing to get in as much as they could before the holidays.

I liked the Flor/Ana scene last night. Ana can be a pain, but she also has moments where she shows she truly does care about her sisters. I also thought her disdain over Manuela having a fan club was pretty funny.

Zahra's actions don't make much sense to me. She all but put together that Abel very likely killed her husband a few episodes ago; for her now to, I guess, not only force herself not to believe that, but to somehow, also, be making an argument that Abel is actually a good guy -- denial or not, I can't buy that. It also isn't like her to possibly be putting Sacramento and Amanda in danger by not revealing her previous suspicions about Abel outright.

But then, a lot of character motivations are getting a bit fuzzy now. Extensions always hurt these shows. A shame. Up through the episodes where Rafael took Flor to Pablo's grave, this was probably my favorite Telemundo soap ever. The soap has lost some of its luster for me since it became the Abel show (how can I possibly care about this character and his perma-smirk over the characters I've spent the previous 100 episodes following -- Abel is dominating storyline; I'd prefer to watch even secondary characters like Corre or Manuela because at least I've spent the previous months watching and getting to know them), but I'm sticking with it until the end because I do love watching this cast.

RELACIONES PELIGROSAS

I didn't much care for the first episode of this soap. I'll admit, I have some trouble telling the boys apart, a problem I also have with teen vampire movies and CW shows. I also thought the whole thing moved too fast, with too much stuff crammed into the first episode. I think the first episode cliffhanger would have been better served as a cliffhanger for Friday's episode, so they could develop the characters and the relationships a bit more. I did like the teacher getting the mysterious notes plot line. I'll give it a few more episodes.
 

FLOR SALVAJE - MARTES

@argee2:

Loved "perma-smirk"!

Yes, Zahra's behavior is frustrating. I love her dignified refusal to be bullied by Filomena. But telling Sacramento that Abel is a good man?

The only thing that I can conclude is that she feels so guilty about not actually raising Abel herself that she's willing to actually blind herself to his many serious faults.
 

Relaciones Peligrosas

I'll admit, I'm watching this purely for Ana Layevska and Carlos Ferro--my favorites in Mi Corazon. I just wish we would have seen more of the grown-up storylines rather than the teen stuff (argee... I had the SAME thought about the young guys all looking alike!! I still have no idea who's who...).

I also thought it was very rushed, would have liked to see the Sandra/Mauricio thing take a little longer to develop, but then I guess the "walking into class" reveal wouldn't have had quite the punch.

I may hang in there for a while on this one... I've been reading about it on the official website and I'm interested to see how some things pan out.

AnotherAmy
 

Una Maid
Things I liked last night (Tues): Lety put Victor in his place. And I got to watch more of Bruno in action. Tania putting her foot down with Jerome.
Things I didn't like: Lalo telling his gran'ma that enchiladas are too greasy--he wants salad. Marisa getting in Cris's face at the hospital when his father is swinging between life and death. Belinda giving in to the will of the evil Hugo. Ugh!
J in Oregon
 

Relaciones

Have to admit stumbled upon this last night and I got sucked in. Just read the recaps of the first night, thank you Hombre. I guess I will start watching this, it moved fast and I was happy about it. I like the actress who plays the girlfriend of the guy who jumped off the ledge, and of course Ana. Never been a fan of Sandra, but can tolerate her.

LOL to who said Sandra needs kissing lessons. Truly funny.
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN:

Getting worse:
--Hugo has completely terrorized Belinda, who is afraid to ask her friends for help. Hugo has rough sex with her again, says "If THAT didn't produce a baby, we're going to the doctor!", as Belinda whimpers, clutching the covers. What a guy.

---Stan visits Jerome and Tania, and lays down the law. Jerome has to keep selling drugs, or he goes to jail, and Tania may get killed. Tania and Jerome are together in fighting this, but feel they have no options.

--Yaya: Bruno tells her "Repeat after me. I am just a hobby for Bruno. I'll never be in his league." She is forced to say this.

Staying the same:
--Calixta has given Stan $50,000 to buy some real estate. But she keeps calling some secret friend, and they're planning something.

Getting better:
--Catalina is informed that her job is basically over. She now has to appear in court, since Cris's company sued the station. (This is worse for her, but we like it, so I put it in the better category).

__Marisa and Cris: Although Mari was very mad at Cris for hiding his ownership of the hotel, all her friends say it actually shows Cris cares for her. And at the end of the episode, Lalo admits HE asked Cris to hire Victor. This should make Marisa much more forgiving of Cris.
 

RELACIONES PELIGROSAS:

Those of us who can't recognize the boys have less to worry about, since both Oswaldo and Rodrigo (the two who got high and tried to rape Miranda) are dead. Oswaldo dies in the hospital, and Rodrigo lauches himself off of his 10th story apartment ledge, landing flat on his back on a car (well shot, like a movie). His brother Sebastian is destroyed, as is his father Orlando (played by the guy who was Sebastian in La Casa de al Lado). The mother, Mariela, who works for a congressman, I think, and is divorced, is bitter, and blames it all on Orlando, her ex. The police determine that Rodrigo was high, in the car with Oswaldo, and killed himself from the guilt.

But who supplied the drugs? We know it was Gonzalo, the bad boy of the class, who has stick up brown hair, shaved on the sides. Nice boy Alejandro (black droopy hair combed down, looks weak) overheard Gonzalo talking about the drugs in the bathroom. Gonzalo was talking to rich boy Leonardo (more curly black hair, rounder face, very sure of himself). Leonardo may help cover for Gonzalo.

In the classroom, Miranda (called Ms. Miranda by some, Ms. Cruz by others) is shaken to find Mauricio is 17. She teaches literature, and the first book is Tristan and Isolde. She points out that Tristan BETRAYED Isolde, and LIED to her, hinting about similar behavior by Mauricio. The kids wonder why Mau has the book already (he says it was on the reading list). Mau's girlfriend, Elizabeth, or Liz (pretty, straight dark hair and bangs) is possessive of him, which upsets Miranda even more. Miranda remembers a lecture given to the teachers that if they have relations with students aged 16 or 17, and they're over 24, it's a major crime. Miranda dreams she's hauled away to jail. After class, Mau begs forgiveness for lying about her age, and says he'd never turn her in. But he wants to continue their relationship.

Patty, who teaches chemistry, is having a rough time with the rowdy boys, who say they're making "roofies" with their project (she never heard of those drugs). The kids all call her Patty or Miss Patty, not by her last name. She goes to the principal for help, but gets little.

BTW, the principal, Teresa Vargas, was Etelvina on Mi Corazon. She looks a lot better here! The Vice Principal is Armando, and he's Santiago's father (he was Nibaldo on La Casa!). These two inform the school of the deaths of Rodrigo and Oswaldo. Everyone's shocked, especially Nora (dark hair, messy, not as pretty as Liz), who appears to have been Rodrigo's girlfriend. We also meet Yesenia (blonde, curly hair).

At the end of the episode, Mauricio tries to kiss Miranda, and she can't resist. Guess who catches them in the act? Patty.
 

Relaciones-
Thanks so much for the recap, with helpful id tips for the characters.
I am sort of sucked into this one, too.

How dumb was it for Miranda to succumb to her desire to kiss Mauricio in a public place.
I hated Sandra Echevarria in El Clon but it was the character, not the actress so I'll give her another chance in this novela but her character is not starting off very well in the smarts department.

I thought the scenes with Sebastian and his family dealing with Rodrigo's death were well done.

Did bathroom-listener Alejandro have a picture of Rodrigo or some other guy in his locker? I'm picking up that he is the gay character.

It seems ridiculous that chemistry students would have test tubes and chemicals to fool around with on the first day of class.
 

Una Maid
Nancy thanks for the moral support--good to know you are out there watching with me!
Hombre, as always, muchas gracias for the recap.
By the way, what threats was Catalina screeching at Bruno when she found out her cheque was missing? I couldn't hear it, but Bruno looked pretty impactado!
J in Oregon
 

FLOR SALVAJE – MIERCOLES

Abel pokes his nose into the gathering of Zahra’s family and is accepted as one of them.

Sacto doesn’t buy the story of Abel just running into Johnny in the street and confronts him at the Zahra Family Gathering. Abel promises Zahra he’ll pay for lawyers and whatever else she needs to keep Francisco’s grave in NE. I’m getting confused by his sticking up for Zahra so much. Has he dropped the vengeance plan against her after killing Francisco? Or is he trying to win her over in order to stick another knife in her back? At this same gathering, Rigoberto apologizes to Olga for having been so nasty about the P’s. He’s seen what close friends they are. He wins a kiss on the cheek from Olga.

Caridad, Frigida, Ines, and José María are about to drink champagne to celebrate the upcoming wedding. JM reminds Ines she shouldn’t drink any. He also says they will know EXACTLY when their baby was conceived since there was only the one time. Whoops! Ines looks worried. He then asks some pointed questions about her retraso (how long since her last period).

Sacramento tells Flor to watch herself with Abel Torres right in front of Zahra. He doesn’t believe anything he says. Then he walks right by Diana on his way to Cat’s prenatal checkup as if she doesn’t exist.

Abel tells Johnny he’s going to share a cell with Rafa, and he knows what to do. At least for this episode, nothing happened. In fact, Rafa has the guy thoroughly intimidated. He tells him he knows he’s one of Abel Torres’ guys. [Jail conditions are pretty bad in NE. When they put two guys in a cell, there is still only one narrow bed in the background.]

Zahra just refuses to believe Abel killed Francisco and tells Olga so. She’s practically convinced herself Rafa did it.

Filomena arrives in rabid dog mode, demanding the body of her cuñado to take to the capital. Mariano appears unsure of what to do until Abel steps in and says he’s consulted his lawyers, and the widow has the right to decide where her husband is buried. Filo’s lawyers agree with Abel. [Why didn’t they tell her this in the first place?] Filo’s newest idea is that Abel and Zahra are lovers, in fact were lovers before Francisco died. This is how she explains Abel helping Zahra.

Cat shows up for her prenatal exam, and Sacramento gets to feel the baby kick and hear its heartbeat through a stethoscope. He’s absolutely thrilled. Later Cat tells Luisa how happy she was seeing his delight.

Caridad gives Ines seduction advice. When JM shows up for “dinner” with some flowers in hand, Ines is posed in her sexy underwear in bed. Later we find out that nothing happened. The witches have come to wake Ines for a full report and are disgusted the plan has failed. JM later discusses what happened with Sacto. He says first Ines tells him no sex until they’re married. [This was after he wanted to wait for a wedding and she said this to spite him.] And now she’s trying too hard. He thinks she was sad and ashamed. So he didn’t go through with it.

Rufino is watching Flor, as per instructions. He sees Abel approach Flor at the wake and again when she goes outside for air. Flor asks if Abel is pursuing her. He wants her to confide in him. He says it would be an honor to be the shoulder she cries on. He moves in for a kiss, while Rufino looks on furious.
 

Relaciones:
Thanks for the recap Hombre. I missed last night. Glad Miranda being hauled off to jail was just a dream and not for realz. So Mau has a girlfriend? Aside from lying about his age, he is starting to look even less like a young hero.

Two deaths already. I laughed when you said we won't have as much troubel telling the boys apart now. ;-)
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN

Hombre and J in Oregon - can't wait for your thoughts on Catalina all dressed in black to attack Sara! Hahaha, I laughed out loud at that! We wanted more excitement, so I guess this is it. Hombre, how can you stop watching now? Haha :)

So happy to see that Marisa & Cris are reuniting.

Things are finally happening!
 

UNA MAID EN MANHATTAN:

You're right, Nancy, things ARE happening! For the last few weeks, Catalina always wears red. But after Steve tells her that in the lawsuit against the station, he's going to tell the TRUTH (heaven forbid), she apparently gets desperate, and switches to sort of a Catwowman costume, black, skintight leather, boots and a hood, and goes to attack Sara! We'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, Calixta has the Migra haul Hugo away for deportation hearings. Belinda is shocked, because she fears that Hugo will get out of it, and REALLY come for revenge. Marisa also thinks what Cali did was too extreme, they've all fought hard to immigrate here, and this is sort of hurting our own people. But Calixta says something like when you lay down with dogs, you're gonna get dirty. Life is rough, and if she hadn't done this, the next time we saw Belinda, she might be a corpse. Marisa isn't so sure this was the right thing to do.

Now that Lalo told Marisa that HE asked Cris to hire Victor, Mari goes to apologize to Cris, and things are looking good for them.

Jerome wants to pay back what he owes to Stan. Then he and Tania will leave town and start over somewhere. But Stan tells him he can NEVER pay that amount of money. Jerome has to do his bidding, as long as Stan wants!

Lalo (with Vicki, the little girl ballet dancer by his side) tells Joaquin the kids should be PAID for their concerts. Joaquin says they need money for the foundation. Lalo has done the math, and says donations already cover the expenses. Lalo agrees to ask his mother, but Marisa's not so sure the kids should be paid.

Sara tells Yaya her new assignment is to go live in the barrio, and find out what's going on with Marisa. Yaya doesn't like this new job.

BTW, here's what I predict for Catalina's fight with Sara. Victor is going to save Sara (he and Javier saw the "Cat" burglar on the security monitors). Then, Sara and Victor are going to fall in love!!! (or lust) Okay, it's just a guess, but the same kind of thing happened on Un Gancho al Corazon, the rich snotty girl who was trying to get the rich handsome guy ended up going with the earthy ex of the poor girl lead. I'm guessing same thing!
 

RELACIONES PELIGROSAS:

Some corrections from my previous posts:

1. I don't think Rodrigo and Oswaldo tried to rape Miranda. The main rapist now appears to have been Oliver, a short version of Gonzalo (blond, spiky hair, shaved on the sides), who has a skull tatoo on his neck, which Miranda remembers. Maybe Oliver and Oswaldo were the attackers, and Rodrigo was arguing about it with Oswaldo in the care, which led to the accident.

2. Not exactly a correction, but a confirmation. As someone pointed out, Alejandro (short guy with droopy dark hair) does appear to be gay. He had Rodrigo's picture in his locker. When Nora (dark hair with a side braid, purple streaks) goes to hug Sebastian, Alejandro joins the group hug, just a little too close to Sebastian.

A number of people suspect Gonzalo of supplying the drugs (he did). Sebastian almost pushes him off the ledge to get him to confess, but he stays mum. Sebastian takes his cell phone, which has pictures that could incriminate Gonzalo. But Gonzalo is best friends with rich boy Leonardo Maximo (who is also the boyfriend of Sofia, Mauricio's sister, and whom lots of people call Max). Gonzalo pleads with Leo Max not to let the cell phone inculpate him. Max is a tech wiz, so Sebastian asks him to "unblock" Gonzo's phone. He does, but I bet he also hid or erased the bad pictures.

Juan Pablo, the handsome gym teacher (the kids call him Mister JP) who has a beard, and who also is receiving threatening notes about his past, apparently likes Miranda, and is making a play for her. Patty, the funny, deluded chemistry teacher, tells Miranda that JP has a thing for HER (Patty). She can just feel the "chemistry", she says :)

What's NOT so funny is that Patty quizzes Miranda to no end about the kiss with Mauricio, giving her "helpful" statistics about the teachers nationwide who have ruined their lives by having sex with students. Miranda tells Patty about the rape, and says they kissed, but that was it. She also tells Mau to back this up.

Mau tells his Mom Carmen he has an impossible love. Carmen asks "You mean, you're gay?". Mau lies, says yes. Carmen says I support you, but don't do anything foolish that will hurt your chances of getting accepted to college at Columbia University, the Ivy League school in New York.

The next day, Miranda is called to the office of Teresa the principal. So is Mauricio. Mauricio's Mom is there. Miranda starts to feel faint, this is the end, Carmen has found out about her and Mau, a complaint was filed, she's going to jail, her life is over. But NO, the paper which Principal Teresa opens up is Mauricio's acceptance letter to Columbia! And Teresa orders Miranda to be Mauricio's SPECIAL TUTOR, all year, to make sure he learns everything he needs to know. Uh oh!!!
 

Relaciones:

Thanks Hombre for the recap and the corrections. If Mau has already gotten early acceptance into Columbia, I'm pretty sure he doesn't need a "special" tutor by this point. Oh well! Plot contrivance to push him and Miranda together. The one thing that you didn't include is that tatood rapist kid remembers Mau saved Miranda and seems to suspect that those two have something going on. Looks like he will blackmail her to keep her mouth shut about the attempted rape.
 

Thanks for keeping track of who's who with Decisiones Mas Extremas, Hombre. :) Barely three episodes in and there are already two people who need to be hit by a bus (Oliver and Gonzalo)...

Oddly, I thought Patty trying to scare Miranda straight about Mauricio--oh, if only she knew!--complete with the show's second mention of Mary Kay Letourneau (after the original TV spot) was a little funny. Only a little, though, and that was mainly because Patty was so utterly deadpan about how Miranda would be screwed if she "let things go too far."

Speaking of Miranda and Mauricio, though: is anybody else unsure what to think about how the show's been throwing up a lot of the usual fated-novela-couple trappings at them while being so deliberate about establishing just how wrong (if in a lovestruck way) Mauricio was in the first place? I get the logic behind it--keeping it so that Miranda has done nothing wrong, though of course when this inevitably gets out everything will snowball on her--but that disconnect, for lack of a better word, is kind of offputting. (And IIRC Mauricio did tell his mother he wasn't gay when he was talking about his "forbidden love," but she then went off on that whole "It doesn't matter if you are or aren't" jag.)
 

FLOR SALVAJE – JUEVES

OK, I’m officially sick and tired of the Abel Torres character. I want Rafael to squash him like a bug. Flor tells Abel not to kiss her again. He says it was an impulse, won’t do it again, and insists on seeing her home.

Rafa tries to strong-arm the truth out of El Cobarde (formerly known as El Asqueroso). But the fear of Abel is too strong. He continues to lie, but Rafa doesn’t believe it for a minute.

The ever-present Abel has convinced Lucía to talk to Flor and ask how Pablo died. He leaves the two of them alone to talk. Flor tells her what happened in the cave. Lucía asks for his last words. Flor remembers him saying: Amanda, te amo just before the gunshot. But she tells Lucía that his last words were about her, Lucía and wanting her pardon. She also lies and says he mentioned his son.

Flor, in tears, tells Abel she knows he set it up for her to relive that horrible experience. He says he wants her to remember so she won’t fall into the hands of a killer. [What a freakin’ hypocrite! We know he killed Francisco; how many more we don’t know.]

Rocío decides to confide in Catalina, after insisting she check the whole house to be sure no one can overhear her. She tells her that Mariano found her with her lover, Emilio, Amanda’s brother, imprisoned him, and then buried him alive. She went to work at the 4P to punish herself for not having been brave enough to take her own life after Emilio died. Her only goal is to make Mariano Guerrero pay for what he did. Cat agrees to help her. She tells her she’s afraid of him. He was fairly obsessed with getting Lourdes, and then she’s pretty sure he killed her. Now she feels that same obsession toward her.

Dudi talks Susana into going to the movies and having Beba say she’s studying with friends. Beba is bribed with ice cream. But self-righteous Gabriel finds out and tells Sacramento. Dudi is about to kiss n Susana in the movie theater when Sacto arrives in a rage, knees him in the groin, and orders Susana out of the theater.

Ines has gone to the Halloween costume store and rented a “porno nurse” outfit. She tells JM she just wants to be desired and know that he isn’t marrying her out of obligation. She’s cancelled all his patients for that day. He finally gives up and they get up on the extremely narrow examination table. In reality at least one of them would fall off if there were any enthusiastic sex.

Abel tells Lucía that there may not be justice in this town for the death of Pablo Aguilar. Plus, Flor is in love with the man who killed Pablo. He gives her a gun for “self defense”.

We see a well-acted scene with Flor and Abelardo. When he tries to comfort her, having found her in tears, she isn’t having it, and tells him her life would have been a decent one if he hadn’t deserted his children after their mother died. Abel eavesdrops and then moves in to work on her some more. Flor tells him she knows he did it on purpose (getting Lucía in NE) and it worked. She tells him she can’t understand how she forgot that awful experience in the cave. She sobs and puts her head on his shoulder. More smirking from Abel.

Lucía convinces a guard she should be allowed to see her husband’s murderer, but he says he has to search her first. Rafa grins at her and says the last time he saw her she was crazy with jealousy. I guess the same guard searched her as the one who searched the guy with handcuffs who beat up Rafa in his cell. Because she pulls out the gun and shoots him.

Quesada tells Mariano that Pablo’s body won’t be released because the body the coroner has been examining is one of the peons shot during the confrontation between Rafael and Sacramento over the disputed land. They’ll have to let Rafa go! [I guess we have to give them dramatic license over this one. I wouldn’t have thought that shooting was far enough in the past for the body to be unrecognizable and thus confused with Pablo.]
 

Maid in Manhatten. Am I the only one who noticed that Camila was wearing stilettos while dressed as a ninja? What Ninja wears FM shoes to do battle?
 

UNA MAID

I caught the end of the episode last night with the ninja woman reporter skulking around the hotel. Hilarious! I liked the two security guards reaction watching on the monitors. "That looks suspicious." Ya think? Amazing how they are able to discern the subtle giveaways in human behavior (like dressing like Catwoman) and sense danger before it happens. I haven't been following this soap, but now I just have to watch tonight's episode to see what happens with Catwoman.

FLOR SALVAJE

More boring Abel manipulation, but some good work from Monica Spear. That girl is so twisted up emotionally and psychologically, I don't see how she can possibly end up with anybody by the end of this show.

One thing I hate that is developing on the show is it seems only the men -- Rafael and Sacramento -- are allowed to be suspicious of Abel. Up to this point in the story, the women were often smart enough to figure out what was going on and who meant them harm.

Also a good scene with Rocio and Catalina, but I hope they don't just drop that Catalina is partly responsible for Rocio's blindness. I don't think Catalina's a bad person, but she is too easily roped into the plans of bad people, and I hope there's some fallout between Rocio and Catalina, even as they bond over hatred of Mariano.

RELACIONES PELIGROSAS

I liked the last two episodes of this soap a lot more than the first. It's absolutely true, the killing of those two boys in the first episode has helped me in figuring out who is who. I wonder if we'll be getting a lot of fantasy and dream scenes. I think there's been one in every episode so far.
 

Una Maid
Yep, yep, yep to Nancy, Anon and Agree2: the skulking stiletto'd catwoman was a hoot! Although it/she did look pretty sinister on the security cam, and obviously that is what tipped off the security guards that something suspicious was going down!!! And I'm going to be watching to see if she has hat-hair when she rips off that mask...
J in Oregon
 

The show was awesome with lots of twists & turns including counter-plots!

On Javier: Once a playboy, always a playboy!