Thursday, August 09, 2012
Por ella soy Eva #18 Thurs. 8/9/12: Being a Woman is Hard Work.
Thank you, Ithabill, for writing the recap for tonight's show.
At the big colorful table Adriano welcomes Helena to Grupo Imperio, but lets her know she's there because Plutarco vouches for her. Mutt and Jeff are assigned to work for her. Everyone leaves, and Mutt and Jeff give Helena a hard time about working for the company she claims stole her project. They tell her, "What starts bad, ends bad." In Adriano's office, Toni tells her brother that Helena appears decent and professional. Adriano is not convinced. One of his bimbos calls about the job he promised her, and Adriano excuses himself telling Toni it's his dentist on the line. She sneaks a chocolate.
Marcela shows Helena her new office and is the first person to be nice to her. Helena asks whose office it was and hears it was JC's. On the desk she finds the memory box she gave him, caresses it, and remembers. She cries.
Mimi bursts into Grupo Imperio and hugs Marcela (who she's never met) for the loss of JC. Her pretext for being there is that she owns a travel agency, but she's really on a fact-finding mission. Adriano walks in the hallway and Mimi addresses him Hola, machote (Hello, stud). She's obviously struck by him, and he's so flustered by her attention he walks into the elevator door. JC steps off the elevator- in his Fidel Castro disguise- and Mimi urgently shoos him away. She later scolds him for taking the risk of showing up there where he's supposed to be dead.
Helena apologizes to Santiago for disrupting his wedding, and he tells her that's the trouble with women- they act first and then think. She tells him that she's glad he works for her and not the other way around (oh snap!). They glare at each other.
Plutarco sends Onesimo to investigate Helena. Helena and Plutarco agree they want Playa Managua to be as successful as Acapulco. Rebecca tells Mutt and Jeff they need to put Helena in her place before it's too late. They all agree to make her look bad.
Helena and her team are presenting the project at the big colorful table. Plutarco nods at Helena in agreement. Toni looks rapt. Rebecca does a lot of eye rolling. Fernando reads his notes scribbled on his hand while Toni looks on bewildered at his unprofessionalism. Finally he says the project will be ready to begin in 5 years. Adriano is livid and says obviously there's a communication problem within the new Super Team. Helena takes the responsibility.
JC tells Mimi he needs records, a new identity. She has her cousin's [prima] records- birth certificate, etc. - and JC is incredulous. He can't be a woman. Why not, she asks. Acting is in his genes from his mother.
Helena tries to smooth things over with Mutt and Jeff, but they give her a hard time about being a single mom, that this is no job for a woman, blah, blah, blah. Helena tells Plutarco that with the way things are going she needs a female assistant. She has someone in mind (Lucia) but Rebecca doesn't like the idea and says there are protocols to follow.
JC calls Grupo Imperio in a disguised voice and learns that Helena is looking for a female assistant. The light bulb goes on, but he asks himself, "Me a woman? No, it's crazy."
Mutt and Jeff make a joke at Helena's expense about tours, and she realizes they were JC's accomplices in the big swindle. She scolds them and tells them she's going to have as little to do with them as possible. Plutarco hears details of Helena's life from Onesimo, and is particularly interested in her having mortgaged the house. He says that except for the kid, she's perfect. He looks at her picture with what appears to be longing. (well, aside from being The Putz, he is the only man in the business to treat Helena respectfully)
JC is in the park in his hoodie disguise, observing women and copying their mannerisms. Another man gives him a strange look and JC shoos him off.
Bastardo summons Silvia and tells her the mortgage is in danger of not being paid. He roughhouses her a little and says that if they wind up in the street it's her fault. She says bite me. no, wait. That was in my head.
Toni tells Rebecca to give Helena a chance. Rebecca tells Toni that Helena is a single mom and will take advantage, but Toni respects the double duty single moms do. Rebecca seduces Toni with a box of truffles and Toni caves.
JC says to himself that with so many women in his life, it can't be hard to imitate them. He starts the physical transformation himself by asking why do they put centipedes (false eyelashes) on their eyes? He struggles with fishnet stockings, puts on a wig, lipstick, and red shoes with heels, and goes out looking like a horror drag queen barely able to walk. Four workmen make fun of the awful drag show- "with legs like that you look like a spider-" and chase her off. Mimi scold him for trying it himself and promises that tomorrow she'll transform him.
Helena appreciates Toni being so nice to her. Toni asks about her son- Toni had wanted children herself. Rebecca eavesdrops and mutters to herself that the whale and the piranha are now friends.
Bastardo derides Helena's new job and wants Helena to give him custody of Lalo so she can have the life she wants so badly. She punches his sour face. no, wait. Me again.
Many women have come to apply as Helena's assistant. Adriano tells Rebecca to only consider the young, pretty ones with good presence. Marcela looks disapproving. Adriano catches it, but Marcela denies it. Lucia stumbles into the lobby, spilling her papers in front of Rebecca who scowls at her. Rebecca learns she's Helena's friend, asks if Lucia is titled, and when not Rebecca dismisses her.
Mimi begins Juan Carlos' transformation! We see the brief scenes we've been seeing earlier this week. Mimi tells JC that being a woman isn't easy- it's hard work.
Labels: por-ella
I'm really glad that Antonia seems to be giving Helena a fair shake.
I'm still trying to decide what fate I would like for Rebeca, assuming that she doesn't suddenly become a nice person (it's a comedy, though, so who knows). It was good of her to be horrified by Pluto's flippant attitude towards JC's supposed death, but at the same time she is pushing truffles at a woman who has diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and I forget what else.
Glad Helena and Toni are getting along so well, and I think Toni will suss out that Helena will be doing all the work on the project. I think Santi and Ferni are mad at Helena cause JC loved her. He even told them so. Course Santi is mad at her for breaking up the wedding, but I don't think he was ever going to go thru with it.
I hope Rebecca is redeemed too, but right now she is as bad as the Putz, but at least she has feelings not like the Putz who gloats alot.
Julie-it will be fun to see Juan as "Eva", it will be a fun transformation I think. I can't wait to see what he does as a "woman". It should be a gas.
Ithabill, please forgive me for calling you a "she." Que bobo soy yo!
I loved it when Juan found out that the assistant position is for women only. He hung up the phone and had this whole detailed argument with himself, without opening his mouth. Camil is the master of the silent monologue - I love it!
So, JC has a plan to win back the woman he loves by becoming her assistant. Yet another LFMB parallel.
OK, so Plutarco thinks well of Helena. No surprise that he would plan to kick her out when she has all her ducks in his row. Nicely fattening up the goose. But I'm suspicious about what other plan he might have for Helena seeing that he says she is perfect except for the child.
Adriano's "good presence" was really a euphemism for a candidate to have a good bustline.
I actually watched the whole show last night! For me the draw was Paty Navidad - she's fabulous (just like everyone said). I had to listen for Paty's "Sinaloa" accent - its pretty subtle, but I guess when contrasted with Juan Carlos' more sing-song Chilango accent, it's a bit more obvious. Loved Mimi's interaction with Adriano - hilarious!
Of course, watching JC get ready for his transformation was hilarious too.
Actually, it's more than a pet peeve for me. Ironically, telling me I'm being emotional when I'm not will probably make me very emotional. I'm gonna get really mad.
I thought Helena handled those guys pretty well yesterday, considering it was her first day. I'm more interested to see how she handles Rebeca.
Yesterday there were some musings about who would come around in their attitudes about women and the consensus seemed to be that Eduardo would never change because he seems to actually dislike women. I have another feeling about that. Bastardo's attitude is so harsh that he must be harboring some deep hurt which comes out in angry resentment. I think that makes him a candidate for a deep transformation when something happens to make him face that old resentment. Just hopin'
I loved how Helena foresaw that she couldn't count on her pair of doofus assistants -- so she did her own calculations even though the number crunching was supposed to be their job. Even though she took responsibility for the "miscommunication" -- but then she stepped up & plugged in her own numbers -- and took control of the meeting. You go girl!
Güera from Syracuse
(Are you really from down the road in Ithaca, Bill?)
Since I'm out of work I'll be around and if most of you are around we can continue our discussion of novela cliches and what we would do if we were writing novelas.
I will cross-post this in the other discussions and if most of you are around we can have that discussion then.
Back with comments on this show in a few minutes.
Trivia: Jaime Camil is of Brazilian and Egyptian parentage.
It was hilarious watching Juan trying on women's clothes. Jaime Camil is over 6' tall, so Eva in Heels will be very intimidating when the time comes.
I'm sure he'll also learn a hell of a lot about how many men treat women and come with a meeting of minds with himself.
Do Mexican men in business really think that little of women?
Favorite lines:
"She says Bite Me. no, wait. That was in my head."
"She punches his sour face. no, wait. Me again."
Also, just in general, I love your short, crisp,to-the-point sentences. Were you ever a newspaper reporter? That is very much the style of effective writing encouraged there.
And finally, do hope you'll become a regular recapper. The male point of view is always treasured here (thought NOT the male point of view in this story.)
Güera, interesting point about Ed. He hates women so much, it has to come from somewhere. And so many times after a conflict, the camera hovers on him, alone and upset. Maybe his mother abandoned him, and to survive emotionally he convinced himself that he didn't love her, then that grew into a hatred of all women.
Camil gets his personality from his Brazilian mother's side - she's a firecracker! In fact she seems even more spontaneous and excitable then he is if that's even possible (and Jaime's long-term girlfriend is very subdued and placid just like his father). But his looks are entirely from his father who is half Egyptian. During the Egyptian revolution I kept seeing Camil-look-alikes in the crowd scenes.
Paula - regarding "caramba" - maybe they're all channeling Bart Simpson. No? OK, no.
Ed's bitterness - I've wondered if it didn't have something to do with Silvia herself. Maybe she let him down in some way. (For one thing, she committed the regrettable crime of giving birth to a GIRL! And maybe she burnt his toast a few times.)
Maybe he thought there was going to be a LOT more money when he married her, but she invested it unwisely and lost it, or something like that. There's more than a hint of something really ugly in their past.
MAYBE HE'S JUST A JERK
I'm going with that one.
Now, Rebeca. Yeah, I can just imagine how she must feel right now. (I don't have to; she's articulated it clearly enough.) And while she seems to have more success at handling the sexism at GI than some of the other female employees, her main strategy seems to be 1) reinforce it, and 2) sleep with the VP. So the truth is that she's as much a victim as any other woman who works there. If Pluto gets tired of her, she'll probably be out of a job unless she blackmails him.
Rebeca is ACTING like a jerk, but that may just be how she's coping with a difficult situation. She might be redeemable if her situation changes. Eduardo, not so much, because his behavior doesn't seem to be a coping strategy.
Have we ever seen Ed interact with any man besides JC? That would give us a better idea of how jerky he is.
Time will tell...
It was so strange to see that a couple of you have lived here, and Guera lives an hour away. I hadn't expected that since I imagine people on a blog like this live all over the world. Although I do suppose this blog is primarily for English speakers. BTW, I've tried to use the English CC's (CC3) when I'm too lazy to work at doing it myself, but they always stop mid-sentence when the sentence is longer than the screen, and then don't necessarily continue with the next line. And I think, really? With all our technology this is the best that can be done? Do other people experience this? It defeats the purpose for which I started watching TN's to begin with though, so I let it go.
Which will not happen for Amor Bravio.
I do mine over the weekend with an online video without subs. If I had subtitles I'd get lazy.
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