Caray, Caray!

Is anyone else getting distracted by the facelift scars on some of the actors, and all the filler in Danna's upper lip. One side of her top lip is higher than the other. With all the close ups in HD I wish the producers would let these folks be a little more natural.
 

ITA, one of the drawbacks of HD: the makeup has to be impeccable because we can see everything but then if the actors are more "natural" will they look too old or flawed. IMHO HD is no friend of actors.

Jarifa
La Joya del Norte
 

The thing I most notice with Danna is what look like a mustache just over her lip. I don't think any actor on earth at any age is crazy about HD. I don't have an HD set which helps a little but you still spot the flaws. Actually the thing thsat really distracts me is the prevelance of silcone boobs. Elvira being a prime example.
 

Getting tired of Maria turning into a Victoria Ruffo-in-training with all those tears! Enough already!

The avances show an old friend of Pedro's telling JA that Pedro was the fielest of fiel husbands. Fernando also said the same thing. Is it possible that Concho was in love with Amalia and, like Coloso with Maria and Jorge, fixed it so that she (Amalia) jumped to the conclusion that her loving husband was infiel? If so, what a travesty, with the poor man no longer here to defend himself! And now Maria's disillusioned with her adored father.

Soyyo
 

I wish they'd tell us how old Maria was when her father died. I suspect she was a young child and Isabel was probably a baby or perhaps she was born after Pedro died.

I don't have an HD set either but a friend of mine made those very comments about US soap actors. My fear about HD is that it will shorten actors' careers instead of allowing them to be "natural."

At least allow any plastic surgery to heal properly first.
 

Good stuff, Jardinera. I stayed up for this and will be catching a few z's in a few minutes.

Lorena doesn't seem to have the sense to realize she has really lowered herself in front of their social circle with her histrionics. That's going to come back to bite her big time.

Or, as Maude used to put it "God will get you for that."
 

Jardinera:

Thank you for this marvelous, funny recap.

So Jantos escaped the cops this time. I wonder how long it will take before they do nab him.

I agree with Urban about Lorena. This will bite her in the butt later I think.

Poor Susanito. And yes, I think that Johnny Cash song was written precisely for our poor Susanito, A Boy Named Sue.

Does Rodrigo know his Mama Gloria has cancer and about the chemo? If he doesn't maybe she is preparing him for that, building his self confidence, telling him how he's such a good boy, so he can deal later with her treatment. Just a thought.

I really like Mil Amores. I like how he sticks up for what is right, but his handling of his women, not so much. He is nice to them, but won't settle for just one woman. I feel sorry for Ana, she truly loves him, but I don't think he is for her. He is just a rambling man.

Jantos and Maria, sigh. Something always gets in the way. I find myself each epi, wondering how long it will be before they break up and then get back together. It happens just about every episode.

Can't wait for Monday to finally have Oscar meet Gloria again, Surprise!
 

Thanks so much Jardinera. I could picture all the action. I was glad to read that her mariachi guys stood up for Maria. She would be foolish to have anything to do with Ruben and his job after this, but of course she still owes him a lot of money.
 

Gracias, Jardinera!

ay, yi, yi. I don't know what to say. Your recap was funny, the actual show was...pitiful.

For all her planning, Lorena's the one who ended up looking like an idiot. I swear that screen took half an hour to roll down while all the guests and mariachis waited patiently. The only thing it lacked was the usual "I thought I had the projector hooked up right" that happens at so many presentations. *facepalm*
 

Did the cashier accept payment? I thought she told him she couldn't accept his payment yet because the course of treatment had to be estimated (or something).

Santos needs to call his mum's cell phone from a pay phone somewhere and see if she could send him some cash via Western Union. It isn't realistic for him to be completely cut off from his family this way.

Also, now that he knows that Giuliano is implicated he needs a new lawyer! His parents could help with that, too.
 

@UA: I think the cashier started a tab on his credit card.
 

Oh that's good then if Ruben hasn't paid the money for the treatment yet. I'm not watching the show each evening so I didn't get that detail. Agreed. By this point Santos and his mom should have figured out a way to get him some cash in a way that would be hard to trace.
 

Hi, all! Happy Mothers Day to those who are and to those who plan to celebrate with Mama and Abuela. Back at ya later!
 

Attention, Altagracia: Make up a password for Santos, get some cash from the bank, and send your housekeeper with it to Western Union. Give her some to send to her family and a phone card to call them from a pay phone. Do not tell Wendy and do not discuss with Justo.
 

UA, maybe you should send that advice to Mejia.
 

Lorena is a snobby fool and deserves what she got by sticking with the slime ball. I loved how the mariachi's stood up to the so called upper class and showed their dignity and pride in themselves. I always hate it in novelas and it happens all the time the way the more educated, rich folk look down on the poorer so called lower class. I know it is true to life, having seen it, but found it interesting that lately in my local paper there were several stories about how people in Mexico are sick of the "don't you know who I am" antics of the wealthy and are sticking it to them on social media. They aren't getting away with it so easily these days.

Anyway I though the big poster of Susanito was cruel. Obviously the macho mariachi's think he is gay. The guy has to stand up to his mother pronto.

No poor Rod doesn't know how bad off Gloria is. Can't help wonder what will happen to him because I don't see Oscar stepping up to the plate and being a father. He's still into frat boy antics and chasing mi chica who he refuses to accept isn't and never will be

Bruno does seem to have some vestiges of a conscience which is more than can be said for Orange J and Arnie. I too look forward to seeing Wendy get the cruel news that she backed the wrong horse and betrayed her brother for a worthless wimp. Get the buckets ready for a crying fest on her part certainly not mine. LOL

 

I am still having difficulty with the idea of Pablo Montero playing someone evil. He seems to be having a good time with this character, though.

So far Oscar hasn't put anyone in the hospital and appears to have no intention of killing anyone. I am guessing he won't because the real villain is Giuliano. Bruno is his stooge and Wendy will be their accomplice based on her current behavior.

Since Rodrigo is 14 or 15 there isn't that much parenting left to do, so it isn't as though Oscar is being handed a pre-schooler. There will be different difficulties with this adjustment. However, the kid will have some decent honorary uncles in the rest of the band.

Susanito needs a name transplant and his own apartment before his mother drives him into the giggle jacket.
 

We know that Susan is a female name in English, it does't even cross the gender lines. But is it a female name in Spanish? I know a boy named Alexis who is Mexican, and Alexis is a female name here.
 

His name is Susano. This name like many others can be male and female. For example, Maria and Mario, Alejandro and Alejandra, Valentino and Valentina.
Alegria
 

Anon

I would be ironic if Concho turned out to be an older version of Coloso. I remember him saying that Pedro was a fraud. It also seems to me that Amaelia has a pretty good head on her shoulders and wouldn't have been easily fooled. Most of us are thinking that Isa is Pedro's daughter by some amante so who knows. Novelas like to have parrell story lines the current one repeating as past one so who knows.
 

That is quite commonplace with novelas, so it would not surprise me.

However, we know that Maria won't make Amalia's mistakes, whatever they are, and will have her FPS at the end of the story. We will just have to endure a roller coaster path to it.
 

Does anyone have any idea whether we're still in extended episodes tomorrow night?
 

I don't see Oscar as evil. Just stubborn to the fact that Maria doesn't want him. I think he will do bad things in the name of courting Maria but I don't think he's "evil." The only evil person on this show at this time is Orange Julius.
 

As for HD, glad I don't have it. Digital is fine with me; as for Isabel's true parentage, IMO she may really be a bastard child from one of Concho's affairs that he pawned off onto Amalia as one of Pedro's, and the same may be the situation for Maria.
========
Lorena's tantrum was long overdue, I'd say. She did go overboard, though. I'd have gone the route of a private detective and then to court long before now. If humiliating him at the nightclub didn't work, then why did she think humiliating him again at his birthday party would have worked any better? Childish for a rich-bitch.
========
Speaking of guys who just don't "get it" when a gal says no, here is a perfect example of harassment versus a legitimate but unwanted, love interest from a guy with simply a healthy male ego and labido. I'm surprised nobody has made mention of it this time around and in these terms.
===========
Madeleine: yup, obviously you and I were on the same wavelength about Susanito's name. I think Maria is also used for males as well as females in Latin America. Anyway, I have a hard time with it everytime it's used in this show. LOL!


 

5 Ft: I don't understand directors' use of wooden child actors on screen myself. Obviously there are some great child actors. The ones in Destino and Abismo were very good. As for Jorge Salinas using his real voice, I thought his interview said it was his real voice when doing the serenade from the horse. Why wouldn't they have just mechanically doctored his voice a bit with the miracles of 21st century sound technology and kept it real?
 

Jardinera, I totally agree with your theory about Isabel's origins. The big clue is "not feeling like part of this family," which really blows my mind because it's obvious that Maria and Paloma love her.

Lorena's tantrum in the first week was more than enough. After that it became time for cooler heads to prevail. As you say, a private I and real evidence, including a hotel charge on his credit card (which he won't have). As it stands now she has made a fool of herself. However, I have doubts that she sees this yet.

As Felix Unger would say, "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar... you're not getting it." Oscar is still a frat boy at this stage and just as spoiled by what his looks and talent can get him as Elvira is spoiled by what her dad's money can buy. He can easily get someone as nice as Maria but he's not looking past her. It's possible that he wants someone who shares his musical passion; that's normal and a good thing. However, he's ignoring all obvious evidence that she isn't interested in him this way.

I think we need someone from Mexico to clue us in on the state of "hostile work environment" stuff there. Maria has a hell of a case against Oscar for his stalking and attempts to sabotage her relationship with Jorge Alfredo and an equal one against Don Concho for attempting to pimp her off to Ruben.

Did I imagine this or did it look like Jorge Alfredo and Oscar were willing to forget their differences just long enough to protect Maria at that horrible birthday party?

Names are always an interesting subject. I have only ever heard "Maria" as middle names in male nomenclature; it's a Catholic thing. I still don't like it. In Soviet Russia there was a law forbidding sexually ambiguous names and I would back a law like that here. Susano may be a legitimate name in Mexico although this is the first time I'm hearing it in 20 years of novela viewing. However, Mancia didn't do her son any favors with it.

Finally, I agree about Jorge Salinas' singing. Either enhance his real voice or use one singer for dubbing. I hate how we can't predict how he will sound and I wonder whether that got on his last nerve.
 

UrbanA:

"Did I imagine this or did it look like Jorge Alfredo and Oscar were willing to forget their differences just long enough to protect Maria at that horrible birthday party?"

Naw, I got the same vibe a couple of times last week. The enemy of my enemy is my friend...maybe.

IMHO Santos gave himself away to the authorities if he used the credit card for real. ITA Mama should have wired him cash via Western Union. That option existed when the original version of the story was written I am certain. And if Michael was going to before he was jailed, then certainly Santos could have gotten Mama who believes in him to do it instead. The real reason he would stick around is for Maria and to avoid the law getting him any time soon.
 

His wallet was stolen his first night in D.F. The thieves would have used his credit or ATM cards. Santos never had a chance to use them and already knew the risk in doing so when he declined to use the phone in the Tijuana motel.
 

UA

I laughed at your comment about Jorge Salinas' voice. I thought I was the only one who thought they were using more than one singer to dub his voice. It's beyond stupid. it's like they bought a bunch of mariachi/ranchera CD's and when they like a particular song they use one recording, another song another voice.

Concho is a bit of a dog, OK a big dog but I can't see him passing off one of his bastards on Amelia. Even if he did I would think he would have found ways to check up on the child and he never has. I do feel for Isa with her feeling that she isn't part of the family. I've heard that adopted children sometimes feel that way before finding out the truth. It is so sad especially since big sister and Amelia clearly adore her.

 

I have been wondering whether the were:

-- looking for a perfect match and didn't find it right away (which could help explain the production delay), or
-- doing this on purpose for some reason.

The right voice -- if there is no perfect match -- would be Alejandro Fernandez'.
 

After some thought I am theorizing the following about Isabel's origins:

Concho had the hots for Amalia back in the day, but couldn't stand a chance against Pedro. Pedro may have traveled in the name of finding work, not always with Amalia at his side. If he had half the voice the older characters say he did he would have had many opportunities to cheat on Amalia. Concho could have been doing the cheating himself (His wife is certainly a bitch on wheels who married him for his dinero) and got a little careless with prevention. Isabel's birth may have been shortly enough after Pedro's murder (shot to death) for Concho to take advantage of the timing to blacken Pedro's name in Amalia's heart. Not to mention he also knew that Amalia was a good mother and his own wife probably a mediocre to bad one. Besides, how would he explain a baby girl?

Which makes us wonder whether Isabel's birth mother is still alive. I don't think Mirna is her birth mother.

Concho kept his distance all this time for his own safety and possibly to avoid allowing himself to love Isabel.

On the face of it, the battle between Santos and Oscar is a more even one than the one between Pedro and Concho. Concho exploits this for his own monetary gain in every way he thinks he can get away with.

It will be interesting to see his reaction when he finds out about Rodrigo. Had Isabel been a boy instead he might have found some way to explain adopting him.
 

Jar--There was indeed a super Kodak moment, but it was JAntos climbing the "trellis" outside of Maria's window. It looked more like a ladder twined in vines to me. But ni modo, he certainly did look elegant on the white horse singing his heart out.

Thanks for the visual mind images, but also the very clever turn of phrases that you always inject into our recaps.

Loved...

..the mariachis are now sneaking a grammar school giggle over Sue’s sad state of dishabille.

..cousin Giuliano, the worm meister

..they make up for lost time, putting the bed sheets through the wringer.

The three metrosexual nincompoops huddle.

..Does a bear go er…berry-hunting in the woods? Is IL Papa Catholic?

Up to this point, I was going to suggest that Mejia may have made a mistake casting JS & PM in these character. They should have reversed the roles, as JS can do brooding mad very well. But as soon as I associated Colosso with highschool hijinks, I must retract that suggestion entirely. JS would have a hard time doing hs hijinks.

So, who thinks Mil Amores should open up an abused women's shelter and help make it all better with some serenading. He's got Roxana waiting in the wings, now Lorena and before very long, it'll be Lourdes. I think he'd be rolling in cash before long.

Don't get me started on Rodgrigo, the wooden puppet. Maybe he's the son of an important production cast member and thinks acting is easy. The tete-a-tete with his mother was painful to watch, and not because she's making her despedida, either. From the time he walked in the door from school until the hug at the end and...you're the best mama in the world...it wasn't worthy of Pinocchio himself.

Anita, La Dama del Queso

 

Oops! I should have remembered the robbery of Santos' wallet and credit cards. He'd have had to pay cash then, right? From his paltry savings?

La Doña de la Recamara
 

Yes; whatever cash he had in his pockets at that point.