Caray, Caray!

Looks like Univision decided that they were tired of these final episodes dragging on too. Or maybe they just like having a tidy November 30^th end date. In any case, they surprised me by cutting up and combining two episodes tonight. So, if you thought tonight’s episode felt kind of choppy, you aren’t crazy—It WAS! For example, I think the most important thing cut from #155 was the talk between Lorenzo and CL, since it’s exactly what many of us have suggested that Lor do.

You have the benefit of getting a recap of the ENTIRE episode #155 from me. And Judy has sent me her fabulous recap of the ENTIRE episode #156. Enjoy!

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Capitulo #155 (Recap by Vivi): Honor (Oscar), Love (Lorenzo), and Money (Gala) Motivate Our Characters to Make Changes and Tough Choices

Luciana has finally formally met her mini-me Mateo, who has woken from his hospital bed slumber as perky as ever. He exchanges hugs and kisses with Luci while Rod looks on with a smile. All of this call of the blood bonding seems to make Doña Chuy and Don Chelo nervous. They try to hustle Mateo out of the hospital as quickly as possible, but the little guy wants his buddy Rod to help him get dressed. No girls allowed!

In the Dungeon in the Sky, Gala has Brigida hand her the phone so she can give Rod his FDA approved daily dose of bitching, whining, and bitter recriminations. She wonders if his staying out all day (at the hospital) is part of their famous marital contract. They trade barbs back and forth about her late night (into morning) adventures, and the fact that he avoids HER bedroom like the plague. Rod says they’ll talk later that night. Oh, yes we will, says Gala. She’s got something VERY important to propose to him. She gives Brigida her daily dose of bitchy/snarky comments too, then wonders out loud to herself why she’s putting up with this hellish life with a man who doesn’t love her. If Rod wants his liberty, it will cost him dearly. (Viewerville wonders why Rod didn’t think of this solution before Gala did.)

Brigida fondles the damning baby hospital bracelet again, and makes vague threats to Gala in an empty room. (Viewerville wonders what the heck she’s waiting for.) Brigida thinks it’s going to cost Gala dearly to keep this quiet. It’s what Gala deserves, given that she’s as stupid as she is pretty. (Well, Brigida. We don’t think Grillzs is all that pretty, but we get what you’re trying to say.)

Luci and Rod have accompanied Chelo, Chuy and Mateo to their Boxcar Barrio. Chuy heads off to her place to bring them back a feast. Luci and Rod think they should head out since Mateo needs to rest, but the little guy is more excited to eat with his new friends. Luci mentions that they are headed to the children’s shelter to visit another little friend of theirs—Pablito.

At Continuous Curves, Violeta’s admirer drives by to give her the signal that he’ll be back at 3pm to pick her up for their date. Vio gives him a proud Magda/Don Aquiles wide stance and stare, but then she gets all moony eyed when he drives off. Delia whispers to Serena that if Vio won’t have him, she’s happy to pick up her sloppy seconds.

Bore-us is meeting with equally boring Lula. Lula’s advice—play hard to get with Hannah. She hates seeing Hannah make a fool of him.

Rod and Luci make it to the children’s home to see Pablito. Luci’s brought him chocolates and encourages him to share with his friends at the home. She promises this will be a regular thing and asks for a hug. Poor Pablito seems a bit more engaged today, but you can’t help but feel sorry for the little guy.

Bore-us doesn’t seem to understand the concept of hard to get. I guess that’s not a chapter in the Stalkers’ Handbook. Instead, he’s come to TL Corporation, where he grabs Hannah roughly by the wrist as soon as he sees her walk past. (Where the heck is security when the daughter of the owner is being manhandled?!) He demands to know once again if they are getting married or if they’re through. Hannah tells him yet AGAIN that she’s NOT marrying him. He thinks that by bringing up how many years HE’S waited for her, how much HE’S invested in their relationship, how much HE’S sacrificed, he’ll persuade her. Hannah points out that HE’S the one who gave her an escape hatch out of their relationship (no promises), which was why she agreed to date him again.  Viewerville starts to wonder if the problem isn’t the need for hearing aids when Bore-us asks again if they are or aren’t an item. Big resounding NO!!! from Hannah. Got that Bore-us? Apparently not. Now he brings up how much money his parents spent on their upcoming wedding, honeymoon (where he will now go with friends instead), and future home. “I’ve invested a lot of time and money in you.” He wants the money and his engagement ring back. Hannah seems to realize what a huge bullet she dodged by not marrying this putz, and says she’ll send the ring to his house. She walks off, and he makes crazy threats about keeping her and Lorenzo apart and getting her mother’s help to do it.

Time for the ladies to change their phone number in Het Het. Since she got hold of the number, Roselena seems to feel she’s part of their friends and family circle. This time, she’s called to harass Paz. Paz says she’s got better things to do than listen to Rosa’s crazy self. Rosa thinks she’s being clever when she asks if those things are washing or ironing (Madga has a basket of laundry behind Paz), but neither Paz nor Viewerville thinks there’s anything wrong with doing one’s own laundry. Paz doesn’t spend her time going around ruining people’s lives, especially the lives of her kids. Well, well. That’s exactly the reason why Rosa called. Lorenzo has dared to set his eyes on her daughter! “Make your son leave my daughter alone, or you will be the only one responsible for what will happen!” “You touch one hair on my son’s head, and I swear to God that even if I have to spend the rest of my life in jail, you WILL know me!” “You’ve been warned Paz.”

Lorenzo is having a sad about the whole Hannah-Rosa situation. Fabian tells him for the millionth time to forget about her, like that will work. Like a true Romeo, pining for his Juliet, Lorenzo says he’s willing to die for his love of Hannah. Fabian doesn’t like this death talk. If he’s going to be in love, then enjoy it! Lorenzo decides to get some real adult advice. He calls Claudio to meet up later for a talk.

Rod drops Luci off at her home and she thanks him for taking her to see Mateo. Rod must have been eating his Wheaties today, because his brain cells seem to be firing. He mentions that there are things that just don’t add up (cuadra) about Chelo. Luci feels the same way! Oh well, Rod can’t seem to hang on to an intelligent thought for more than a few seconds, because he’s already forgotten what he said about Chelo and gone on to trying to romance Luci. However, Luci is still thinking about Pablito and Mateo—she likes Mateo so much. Rod agrees. In fact, he thinks Mateo looks like her! He has her eyes. (Ok kids. Keep going with this thought.) “Now more than ever Luciana, I have the feeling that our son is still alive, and closer than ever.” He promises again that they WILL find their son, then he gives her a chaste hug (no stolen kiss this time).

Gala is now singing her new tune in her office—she’s tired of life with Rod and ready to move on with Mirko. Valentina warns her that she might be giving up what really counts for a fleeting adventure. Gala’s ready to LIVE, LIVE, LIVE! Fernanda agrees, but wonders why there are so many men wanting to seduce married women. (Guess she’s not having much luck while being a single gal.) Gala thinks it’s because they love the forbidden, like herself. “I’m going to go back to being the attractive and secure woman I was before.” (And hopefully she’ll go back to her old wardrobe too.) Val points out that she has a treasure in her daughter that she shouldn’t neglect (descuidar).

Vio’s mystery man returns for their date. She turns him down. He says he’ll be back. The other girls urge her to open herself up to love. She can’t live in the past, soured by old Lemon Face Marcial.

In Het Het, Don Aquiles comes back and scares the bejeezus out of Procopio, who wasn’t expecting him back so soon. The trip was quick, but effective. Don A is now 100% sure that Vio is his daughter.  She’s a tall, beautiful Amazon, with a heck of a temper and personality. Of course she’s his! Copio asks if he’s going to officially recognize her as his daughter. Aquiles doesn’t see the need. He knows and she knows that she’s his kid. He starts struggling for breath when he talks about how exciting it was to see her and to know he isn’t alone in this world. He grabs his chest with one hand and Copio with the other! Copio drags him to his chair and runs out for help just as the town priest arrives. They try to revive him.

At the Dungeon in the Sky, Alexia and her Papa Rod enjoy some popcorn as they chat. Since she knows Papa Rod does not have a lot of brain cells to spare, she asks if he remembered to give Mateo back his medallion. Of course he forgot, so they decide to go right that minute to visit Mateo. Rod looks quite excited to see the little guy again that day.

Luci and Claudio are at her place, and also speaking about that certain special quality Mateo has. A phone call from Het Het interrupts their conversation. Paz begs Luci to make Lorenzo return to the pueblo right away! Luci tells Paz that she shouldn’t let Rosa get to her, and in any case, Lorenzo is a grown man. Paz thinks Lorenzo is too good and sweet to be able to deal with Rosa’s brand of evil. Luci knows, but the kids are in love. What can they do? This does not calm Paz down. She thinks he needs the advice of his papa Galdino at a time like this. “If my brother loves Hannah, then he should fight for her. He should fight for his love.”

The Het Het Doctor tells bedridden and pale Don Aquiles that the problem is his heart. He recommends an EKG. He also recommends that Don A go to a hospital in the capital. “If I have to die, then I’ll die here, in my bed, with my boots and my hat, and my chamber pot (bacinica) under my bed!”  The doc recommends a low fat, low salt, low alcohol diet. Oh, and no angry outbursts either. (Does anyone think he’ll follow this advice?)

Hannah complains to Pato in his office about Bore-us’ complaints about his wasted time and money. Max comes in and wonders where Oscar is and who is this “friend” he went to meet. We cut to Oscar at lunch with Pedro Campos. Campos says any friend of Don Jeronimo’s is a friend of his, but why the interest after all these years since Jero’s death? Oscar wants to know what the name Claudio Linares means to him.

Chelo watches Mateo sleep and wonders who he really is. Chuy says he’s an angel. Chelo gets pensive. When he entered the hospital room and saw Mateo with Rod and Luci, they looked like a family. Chuy wonders, what if they ARE Mateo’s parents? Rod and Alexia enter before he can answer that question.

Claudio and Luci speak about the Lor-Hannah situation. They both agree that Rosa is dangerous. Claudio thinks the only thing they can/should do is support the young lovers. Luci broaches the subject of CL’s love life again. He tells her not to worry about him. She’s like him—she’s a one man (one love) kind of woman, and he’s a one woman kind of man. His heart was buried along with her mother. His only two loves now are Luci and his grandchild. Luci smiles and says that since she met Mateo, hope has come back to her heart.

Mateo and Alexia are adorable together. He asks after Luci, whom he says he likes a lot. Then Alexia places Mateo’s medallion around his neck, hugs him, and asks her papa for a similar medallion, so that she and Mateo can be like siblings! Chelo and Chuy give each other a meaningful look.

Rosa bitches to Connie about that old, senile traitor Mati. Connie tells her she can still change herself before it’s too late…

Oscar asks Pedro Campos the hard question—How could he let CL rot in jail for 20 years for a crime he didn’t commit? “Look young friend. There are three things that motivate a man: Honor, Love, and Money. I did it for MONEY. Such a large amount, that had I had family, I could have showered them with luxuries and comforts. They wouldn’t have had to work. That’s why I did it. For money.”

Money Man Max, is trying to lure Vicky to his penthouse lair with promises of luxuries and comforts. She promises to return the favor that night by pampering him and treating him right.

Rod drives Miss Alexia and explains they are going to see Mati at her sister’s house because she is visiting her. Alexia thinks it’s just like her visiting Mateo at his house, only he isn’t really her brother, he’s her friend. Alexia says she wants her brother to be just like Mateo!

We beam over to a tawdry hotel, where Gala has just had her afternoon delight and heard the words she’s been dying to hear for five years. “Gala, you were marvelous!” Mirko wants her to stay for another round, instead of returning to that empty house of hers. She tells him soon they will be able to have afternoons and nights of pleasure. They fall back onto the bed. Olé!

Alexia goes off with Estelita to play with Marianita’s old dolls (wonder if we’ll ever see her again?), while Rod begs Mati to come back to the Big House. (Why can’t they all understand that it wasn’t her choice to leave?) “Your mother is still your mother. And no matter how much of a crazy bitch (my words) she is, she would still give her life for you.” (I am not so sure about that.) She refuses to return.

Gala tells Julie her plan to divorce Rod over a glass of champagne. Julie freaks. All she’ll get is a trickle of money each month as the ex-Mrs. TL. The TL lawyers will ensure she gets almost nothing. Gala is sure that she has the way to make Rod pay, BIG time.

Lorenzo and CL meet for dinner and have a serious discussion about how Lorenzo would support Hannah and how they would make their relationship work. Lorenzo needs to be able to offer Hannah security. CL advises that admiration has to also exist in a relationship. He and Hannah should be able to admire each other, discuss ideas, and share about their work.  Lor admits that he’s never been a scholar. CL advises him to go back to school and CL will help him. He has to learn and become a man of the world. “Leave your pride aside and think of your future.” Lorenzo agrees to get back to his studies. He knows he’s good at business and can get ahead. CL advises that he combine his business interests with studies, and study business. Lor seems really pleased with this idea.

Luci arrives at Casa TL looking like she means business with her bright red lipstick. She’s come to speak with Rosa. Ruh roh!

Rod finally makes it home, and finds Bitchy Cheerleader Barbie waiting for him. The usual argument ensues. But with one big difference this time. Gala suggests they part ways, FOREVER!

Capitulo #156 (Recap by Judy B.): Fear Holds Close; Love Holds Dear*