Caray, Caray!

DANG! I love this show!

My heart was racing through the whole second half! I have not enjoyed a new novela this much in five years!

I love that the plot is galloping along. Here we are less than three weeks into it, and already the villain's trap has been sprung. And already tomorrow we'll have the big turning point (Juan's accident), and we'll go into Phase II of the show - in only three weeks!

I love that our hero is a hero, not a ninny. He quit his job to halt the deception. He chased after Helena after the meeting and didn't let Adriano delay him. He keeps his promise to Lalo. Everyone is convinced he's a criminal but he doesn't give one thought to his own repurtation; he throws todas sus fuersas into finding a way to clear Helena.

I love that the show is a comedy, but without a lot of stupid slapstick or interminable annoying useless banter ala Dinero. (The Mutt & Jeff useless banter scenes are kept mercifully short.)

I love that Helena's first reaction to betrayal is not a long spate of ugly crying. At least not so far.

I love that very soon we'll have scenes of Camil & Paty Navidad together - I can't wait.

And of course, I love watching anything with Jaime Camil (well, anything except Tontas). I could watch the man paint a fence. With a bag over his head. And the sound turned off.

DANG! I love this show!
 

Hi Paula...well, I LOVE your passionate involvement with this show and its main actor. I'm sure eventually I'll get caught up in the flow of your enthusiasm, but I have a very hard time during the villainous parts. Still, totally with you in that I CAN'T WAIT for the Paty Navidad female impersonator part of it to begin.

Thanks for posting this...I'm sure it will lead to a good discussion today. And I imagine more folks will jump on board once the Olympics are over.
 

I don't even remember much of the first 20 minutes. I know Juan found his mom at the theater, "practicing," and brought her home.

Helena stands up to her father and stomps out. Stunned look on his face. Will he have a heart attack? Is this the Big One? Commercial break.

No heart attack. Dad gives Helena his blessing in the most grudging and unpleasant way possible.

That's all I've got for the first 20. The next thing I remember is where you start, with Eduardo warning Juan not to hurt Helena.

My guess is that Eduardo can either kill Juan OR go another day without having a heart attack. But not both. More likely he could die trying to kill Juan.
 

Paula H - Thanks. Wow, a lot happened yesterday.

I think Eduardo warned Helena not to let another guy get her pregnant again without marriage, which made me wonder if she might already be pregnant. Also, to her father’s crap about women being no good in business yada yada, Helena let him know that she had in fact left her job at GI and started her own travel business.

Loved when JC declared his love for Helena smack in front of everyone in the business meeting.
 

I'm with you, Paula. I like the show and I like Camil -- but not in Tontas.

Telenovela rules require that a man with a secret will get interrupted every time he tries to come clean -- but was that all that the Juan's missing mother scenes were about? When Juan thought of finding his mother at the theater, the scene which followed was so tender and sweet. Camil's face and tears as he watched his mother's delusion that she was playing to a full house were just wonderful.

It is hard for me to watch the anvils fall in a torrent so this episode was hard for me to watch even though I love the show. The fact that Helena had to suffer utter ruin as well bothers me.

Güera
 

I have to say that Eduardo's rant about women being no good in business made me want to throw something at the TV. Men like that put me on the warpath.

The whole fake Argentine thing was getting on my last nerve and now I'm ready for the next phase.
 

This was a very hard episode to watch. I kept switching to Olympics, so I missed most of it. Thank you for providing the high (low?) lights! Well, it's a relief to have (some) of the truth revealed. Now JC can start the LONG hard road to winning Helena back. I am so not looking forward to Ed being "proven" right when he finds out about Helena's love-life and work-life disaster.
 

In some ways this TN feels like some sort of re-do of LFMB. It's a little surreal to see Jaime Camil in this role. So many of the things that Fernando Mendiola did wrong for months and months, JC has repented within days.

Niecie, that scene at the theater, I wondered if JC's mom would remember enough about Onesimo's visits to tell JC something that could be a clue. But it didn't happen. But maybe it's to establish that she sometimes gets confused and wanders off. That could become a very serious problem.
 

things that Fernando Mendiola did wrong for months and months, JC has repented within days.

Yes, YES, YES!!!

I was totally feeling that last night! I'm glad I'm not the only one - I thought it was just my Fea obsession coming back.

* Don Fernando didn't even realize he was in love until Lety started rejecting him after the letter. And he kept the fact hidden from everyone. Juan Carlos recognized he's in love right away, and told everyone.

* Don Fernando proposed but then postponed speaking to Lety's father. Juan Carlos proposed, and spoke to Helena's father the same day.

* Don Fernando continued to hide his lie long after he fell in love. Juan Carlos tried multiple times to confess his lie as soon as he fell in love.

* Don Fernando fell in love but still never considered Lety’s pain until he read the diary. Juan Carlos fell in love and immediately put Helena’s interests before his own, to the point of quitting his job.

* Don Fernando swore to Lety at the resort that he'd break the engagement, but sitting on his chair that night, he decided he had to break his promise, and the next morning his world was destroyed. Juan Carlos swore to Lalo that he'd be at the game and based on the previews, he went, at great personal risk.

* When Don Fernando’s world crashed after the board meeting, all he could see was his own pain. When Juan Carlos’s world crashed after the board meeting, all he cared about was rescuing Helena.

And the very best one:
* After the board meeting, Don Fernando abandoned Lety because the boss ordered him to. After the board meeting, Juan Carlos abandoned the boss and ignored his orders, and went to chase down Helena. When he did, I wanted to jump out of my seat and cheer as if he’d just scored the winning goal at the Olympics!
 

Ay Paula! What a great comparison of the two characters (and I only saw bits of Fea). Yes, JC has come VERY far in a short amount of time, but I think he'll have to pay for his early misdeeds for a very long time.
 

I started getting Fea flashbacks as soon as JC started talking about el mar... and they got more intense when Helena and Mom were trying to hide him from Dad (at least he wasn't wearing a big red drag queen outfit this time)... and then there was last night's Big Meeting.

On another note, I'm dreading Helena's wrath. I keep thinking of how Lucero's character flipping out in STuD after being jilted. I hope Helena doesn't take it to such a great extreme. (She has my permission to cut her hair, though!)
 

Paula...I'm with you. "Dang, I love this show" too.

And I agree with the thinking that this was a very tough episode to watch.

It will be a long, long time before we see these two in a dear embrace again. Jaimie Camill is so wonderful. But Lucero positively lights up the screen with that smile of hers.

The villains are particularly villainous and it looks like it will be many episodes down the road before there's any hint of justice.

Hope Jaimie and Patti Navidad get the ball rolling soon because I'm feeling a little broken-hearted at present.
 

Once again, Eva gallops along! Two huge developments in only two days! What a relief that they didn't drag out a week of Helena's rage and Juan running from the law. Three weeks into it, and we're already in the next etapa! Juan is "dead." Can Patty Navidad be far behind?

Dang, I love this show!