Caray, Caray!

My DVR doesn't get the very beginning, so the first thing I see is Don Concho declaring to Maria that he's going to dock Jorge Alfredo not 1, but 2 days salary and next time, he's fired.  Colosso and Mirta both approve of this.

Out in the hallway, Maria is pissed at Colosso for giving Jorge Alfredo a hard time.  Colosso defends himself, saying that he's a man of his word…he even calls in one of the guys for confirmation…and since he promised he would make Jorge Alfredo's life hell until he left, he's just keeping his word. Never let it be said that Colosso doesn't keep his word.  Maria calls him jealous…"of him, of his voice, and because you know I love him!  But no one can separate us!"  Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Back in LA, Wendy meets Orange Giulius.  OG tells her that her dad insists on defending Santos, which is putting her beloved Bruno at risk.  He advises her not to warn her father that she knows what's up.  If she's ok with going against her family, OG can tell her how to play it.  "On the day of the hearing, walk into the courtroom and do exactly this…."

Santos/Jorge Alfredo is packing.

Ana places an order in the kitchen, then asks Fernando why he's moping around.  She asks if one of his lovers cheated on him and he replies that if she's going to love him, could she love him in silence, please?  Ana takes great offense and says women like her don't go for rats like him!  Fernando thought bubbles that Santos had them all fooled.

Santos/Jorge Alfredo rips up his full-color wanted poster and mopes.

Maria reports to the other two Saucy Wenches that her poor baby Jorge Alfredo is getting docked 2 days salary.  They're not entirely sympathetic, calling him a "buscapleitos" (always looking for a fight) who keeps getting into one scrape after another.  "And one of these days, you're not going to be able to save him!"

Santos/Jorge Alfredo moons over a picture and clutches it tenderly to his manly chest.

Ana comes into Maria's dressing room all riled up over what Fernando said.  She's distracted from her rage by Maria's new look…a rose behind one ear and the rebozo Jorge Alfredo gave her.  Maria says from now on she's wearing both as a symbol of their luuuuuuuurve.

Santos/Jose Alfredo leaves a note for Maria tucked into a blanket on his bed.  As he's leaving, he runs into Irasema.  She notices he's all packed.  He tells her that he's going far away. She wishes she could do that sometimes.  "You know, you and I are a lot alike."  He agrees that they both work at night.  "I sleep with men I don't love and you sing love songs to women you don't love."  She says it's sad to come home and not have anyone waiting for you and Santos replies that it's sadder to leave and have no one there to say goodbye.

Onstage at Ay, Jalisco, Colosso welcomes the patrons to the bar and introduces Maria, who sings "Ojala Que Te Vaya Bonito" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVs-ChUc5UQ)

I hope it goes well for you
I hope your troubles are over
And they tell you I don't exist anymore
And you meet better people
Who give you what I couldn't give you
Even though I've given you everything
I'll never bother you again
I loved you, I lost you, there's nothing to be done
How many things were turned on
Even down in the bottom of my soul
How many lights did you leave on
And I don't know how to turn them off
I hope it goes well for you

As she sings...Colosso listens from offstage, in front of the bar….Santos/Jorge Alfredo walks…people in the bar hold up lighters….

The train arrives and Santos/Jorge Alfredo watches a mother bless each of her children as they all prepare to jump on.

Everyone applauds Maria's performance.

The train gets closer, already with several people on top, and this bunch start heading for the ladders.

The mariachis face the back of the stage.  Colosso is still by the bar as one by one they face forward and some of the guys take turns singing the lines of "La Vida No Vale Nada" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Saatj7GVEWs)


It's worth nothing, life
Life is worth nothing
You always start out crying
It always starts with crying
And it ends with crying
That's why in this world
Life is worth nothing
Beautiful León, Guanajuato
The fair with its games
There you bet your life
And you respect whoever wins
There in my León, Guanajuato
Life is worth nothing

While they sing…Everybody in the bar gets depressed and cries…Santos/Jorge Alfredo watches the family try to get on the train. One of the kids is falling behind…The damn Tostitos sign behind the bar flashes on and off.  Don't make me hate you, Tostitos…Santos picks up the kid and shoves him onto the train, stumbling in the process.  He falls farther back and tries for the last ladder.  He keeps slipping until Fernando frickin' Milamores grabs him and hauls him up.  Is he not in the bar?  Nope.  I guess not, now that they pan across the stage and all the guys are facing forward.

On top of the train, Milamores asks him what the hell he was thinking.  "Don't you know they call this the train of death?"  Santos watches the family and thinks he knows it now.

Maria goes to check on Jorge Alfredo.  Irasema meets her on the stairs and tells her that he left for parts unknown.  "All he said was 'far' and that it was sad no one was here to say goodbye."  She says Maria can check for herself if she wants.  He didn't lock the door behind him.

The train has stopped and Santos and Milamores get up.  Santos stops by the family and hands the mom something--I think the food he'd packed.  He and Milamores keep making their way back.

Maria sees the apartment empty.  He even stacked the chairs on top of the table.  She pulls the flowers out of the vase and buries her nose in them, then lays them down on the table and leaves.  Hey, what did those flowers every do to you?!  She never saw the note on the bed with the traje and the blanket.

Milamores tells Santos he's nuts if he thought he was going to make it across on the train, with a kid in his arms, no less.  Santos says he was only thinking about himself when he got there, but when he saw that family…he realized his problems are nothing compared to the crap some other people are living through.  Milamores thinks Santos is a rich kid playing poor.  Santos claims he is, but it's not his fault he was born rich!  Milamores tells him he's wearing the wrong damn shoes to be doing this!  "I know!  What did you want me to do?  Go buy a new pair of fancy shoes?" Milamores says he could have just gone to the market and bought some tennies.  Santos laughs at himself.  Milamores says you have to prepare for something like this.  Go to meetings held by people who try to protect immigrants.  "Sure, I wanted you to go, but there's something in me that didn't want to let you go.  What were  you thinking?  What do all these people think?  They're going to die in the desert, left by the damn polleros [chicken herders; coyotes]?  Because that's what they do!  They leave people to their fate.  Did you think it was going to be a decathlon?  Swim across the river.  Hurdle…people don't know! You don't know!  That river  has a strong current.  I know it.  I know it.  Did you want to drown?  You don't know it, but that's how my father died."

Maria gets home and mopes.  This is the mopiest, saddest, most depressing episode.

"That's how my dad died…He went de mojado [as a wetback]…you know, following the damn American Dream."  Santos knows how that dream can turn into a nightmare.  "For that damn dream, my father…he left us.  I became a street kid.  For his damn American Dream.  Because he tried to cross the damn river and he found damn death.  All his companions, like all the people with you, saw him drown.  Die in that damn river."  Santos says he almost drowned in it when he got there.  Milamores doesn't believe it…a rich kid crossing like an immigrant?  Santos says the money he has didn't keep him and his family from being betrayed.  And now he feels like he's lost Maria--the most important thing in his life.

Maria continues to cry.

Milamores knocks Jorge Alfredo on the chin lightly as he mopes.

Maria cries.

Milamores and Santos/Jorge Alfredo start walking back.  Santos has to remind him to keep calling him "Jorge Alfredo."  Milamores wishes he was with his girl and a tequila playing his guitar.  Hell, I wish I was having a tequila…this episode is a suck fest!  Too much reality and not enough smoochies!

Oscar gets home and finds the whole place tricked out for a big romantic, uh, dinner?  Complete with chocolate fountain.  It's Elvira, of course…but what I don't understand is why go to all this trouble for a dude you're just shagging?  Oscar shows his appreciation for Elvira and her (actually not so skanky) little black dress with some face-sucking.  I cannot watch what these miscreants do with the fruit and the chocolate fountain and the flesh…for the love of all that is holy, why?  WHY?  What did that poor chocolate ever do to you?!

Milamores is pissed that Jorge Alfredo involved Maria in his hot mess of a life.  He knows, but he can't talk about it right now.

Maria wakes up on the loveseat in the living room.  In her head she hears the opening line of Fallaste Corazon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKoXAfh3ykM) "and here you thought you were the king of the world…."

Irasema is surprised to see Jorge Alfredo back already!  She tells him Maria was there looking for him and went into his room to check he was gone.  He goes right to the bed, to see the note still there.  Fernando asks what was in the letter.  "I said goodbye and told her the truth."  Fernando wants to know what the "truth" is.  Jorge Alfredo points out where and how he's living and how hard he's been working…"If I was really a criminal, would I be living like this?"  Actually, Fernando thinks it's a brilliant way to hid from the law.  "But the mob?  With them it's either they take care of you or they kill you."  He swears he had nothing to do with money laundering or the mob or any of it.  Someone's setting him up and they're doing a damn good job of it.

Orange Giulius gives Justo the records of the investigation so far.  There have been some inconsistencies in the investigation, which he's thoughtfully Post-it flagged for Justo's review.  So Justo can review them.  And figure out how best to defend his son.  I thought that's what Justo told OG to do?

Jorge Alfredo tells Fernando he really hurt his sister. She's convinced he screwed up her life and ruined her wedding.  Fernando says that's how chicks are, yo.  They spend all their time thinking about how to bag 'em and the day they tag 'em!  And a woman in love…hijole!  She'd be capable of turning her back on her own family for love.

Wendy catches Orange Giuliano on his way out of the house to ask how Bruno is doing.  OG hints that Arnold and Bruno might turn on each other because Bruno loves Santos so much he'd even lie for him.  Wendy swears she's ready to do what OG told her to.  Just a guess…walk into the courtroom, catch Bruno's eye and mouth "I'm pregnant"?  That would convince him not to leave Wendy alone out there, no?  And once they're safely away on a tropical island somewhere she can either tell him she lied or do her damndest to make it true.

Jorge Alfredo explains to Fernando that his dad didn't help him.  He couldn't understand why he would run if he was innocent.  "My lawyer told me to do it!"  Well, there's your mistake, says Fernando!  All those guys do is suck other people's blood!

The orange bloodsucker whines to Wendy about how his heard is split in three, but he can't save them all.  Either he saves Bruno and Arnold or he saves Santos. He warns her that what she does tomorrow will mean the end of Santos.  Poor sucker Wendy cries.

Fernando thinks that Jorge Alfredo is either the unluckiest man in the world, or one hell of an actor!  What the hell…he believes him.  He sets a new condition to things returning to normal.  Today…today, mind you!...he has to tell Maria the truth.

Maria decides to get off her mopey sofa and go find Jorge Alfredo.  But where?  Amalia hears her fussing and asks what's going on.  Maria brushes it off and says she'll fix her coffee.  "Oh, yeah, I slept.  I just got up so I could take care of you."  Amalia's not buying it.  She knows this has something to do with Jorge Alfredo. Maria breaks down and admits he leeeeeeeft.  Without saying goodbyeeeeeeeee.

Why did we get the "Semana de Estreno" before the commercial break?  Uh, no, Uni, this is the THIRD week.  And still they insist on cramming everything into a show with only 1 break over half an hour in.

Fernando says Maria deserves to know the truth and then she can make an informed decision about whether she wants to stay with him or tell him to go to hell.  Get your beverages ready, cause Jorge Alfredo says if he tells her…say it with me, now…he'll put her in danger…DRINK!  Fernando isn't buying that.  JA says everyone near him has had their lives ruined.  "It's better she keeps believing I'm Jorge Alfredo Vargas." He swears 20 minutes before the cops get him, that's when he'll tell her.  "If I do it now, she'll be my accomplice."  Sure, he's terrified of losing her, but that's not why he isn't telling her the truth. He wants her left out of this.  The only thing she could be accused of right now is having been deceived.  Fernando says if the time comes and Jorge Alfredo isn't honest with her, he'll be the one to tell her.

Amalia consoles Maria for that boy breaking her heard just like she always knew she would.  "Let's assume he's a good guy, like you say.  Maybe he left like this on purpose, to break your heart so you'd forget about him."  Amalia says they've only been in love for, like, a minute and a half, so Maria will forget him soon enough.  Maria swears she'll love him foreeeeever.

Rodrigo is having trouble getting Paloma's attention in class.  The teacher gets after him and threatens to kick him out of school if he doesn't pass the next Spanish exam.

Gloria has been putting off starting chemo and her doctor insists she can't anymore.  Gloria wonders where the hell Oscar is.

Elvira, et al, hang out at the club. Elvira only wants to bang Jorge Alfredo, not marry him.  And she's not interested in dating inexperienced little rich boys who don't know how to steer around her curves, if you know what I'm saying.

Jorge Alfredo and Fernando analyze the news reports.  Tomorrow is the hearing.

In their cell, Bruno mopes over Wendy.  He hates having told her that Santos was guilty.  Arnold says he has to chill before the hearing and be sure about what he's going to stay.  Bruno is pissed at Orange Giulius for using them.  He'd rather see OG behind bars or on the run like Santos.

Jorge Alfredo thinks that tomorrow Bruno and Arnold will testify to his innocence.  After which, he'll turn himself in.

Elvira is pissed that Oscar came looking at her at the club.  Her parents will kill her if they see him there.  They need to get moving on hooking her up with Jorge Alfredo to separate him from Maria and Colosso has a plan.

Maria sees Jorge Alfredo across the street, or thinks she does.  She walks along, continuing to mope.  She bumps into him.  She demands to know if it's true that he left without saying goodbye.  They stand there staring at each other while he gives her the puppy dog eyes and she cries.

Milamores meditates on the mystery of Santos/Jorge Alfredo.  He doesn't think he can hide the truth from Maria.  He wants to be on the side of justice.  He decides Maria needs to know the truth.

Jorge Alfredo admits he left…because he luuuuuuurves her too much and he felt like he had to.  "I wanted to solve my problems quickly to come back to you so we could live our love freely."  He says her tears would have stopped him for leaving.  It was just an impulse, but her kindness brought him back to her.  Maria wants an honest answer from him.  She knows he was drunk when he declared his love.  He says sure the drunkenness played a factor.  "I only babble like a dumbass when I'm drunk.  Being drunk gave me the courage to go to your house at 5am, but I didn't say I loved you BECAUSE I was drunk.  That came from my heart."  Smoochies! Finally.

Paloma catches up to Rodrigo, who confirms that he's getting kicked out of school if he doesn't pass the test.  She's determined to help him so he can stay.  He'd really like to stay too. You know, cause he's in luuuuuuuurve with her.

Susanito is bringing home some groceries when he bumps into Irasema's looooong legs.  She smiles at him before getting on her bus.  And Susanito watches it drive away.

Jorge Alfredo asks if Maria threw herself at him because she meant it or because she was half asleep.  She gets pissed and says fine, she was half asleep.  And if she'd been awake, she would have kissed him with less desperation and more love.  They're both stupid.  But I like them better with smoochies than without.

Elvira skankifies.  Huh.  That looks more like a cheap Vegas wedding dress than something a skank ho would wear clubbing.  She brags to et and al that he won't escape tonight.  They all laugh over how her dad is going to serve Jorge Alfredo up to her on a plate.

Don Concho warns Jorge Alfredo that if he crosses him one more time, he's fired.  He talks about Maria's dad.  The traje has brought back memories.  Pedro was a great singer.  Women would just fall at his feet.  But he wasn't exactly a nice guy.  He got into too many fights. He never cheated on his wife, though…he loved her too much.  Concho thinks he was a two-face and Amalia had to put up with it.  "Hey, don't tell Maria any of this.  Her dad was a fraud."

Fernando paces outside Concho's office.  When Jorge Alfredo emerges, Fernando starts a very loud argument with him about how they're deceiving Maria, it's not fair, she's in love with a lie, he has to tell her the truth….  Colosso hears this and asks what truth they're talking about.

Tomorrow: Colosso's plan is put in play, including some incriminating cell phone pics.  I predict that Maria asking "What proof are you talking about?" will happen right at the end of the episode, just like Colosso's "What truth are you talking about" featured so prominently in last night's avances happened right at the end of the episode.

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